TrueHD on Blu-ray Transformers "Smashes" DD+

[Nighthawk]

From two reviewers:

Joe Whip:

Guess what folks, I was WRONG. The lossless Dolby True HD track here smashes the Dolby Digital Plus track in every way imaginable. If the HD-DVD track rates a 5, the Dolby True HD track rates a 7. To start off, lets look at the bass response. The bass here is much richer and fuller than that on the HD DVD release. The Blu-Ray release rocks the house. I also found the dynamics on the BD release to best the HD DVD release by a wide margin as well. This is a reference audio mix if I ever heard one. I also found the imaging and channel separation to be better giving the audio a much deeper image, allowing you to hear into the sound field much further than the HD DVD release which sounds a tad flatter in comparison. FInally, the audio on the BD disc is much smoother and open without even the trace of hardness, even much more so than the HD DVD. You can really crank this baby up without any issue of listener fatigue. Hearing loss? Well, that is another story.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/2008/08...nsformers.html

Ralph Potts:

I ran a few comparisons between the Blu-ray Disc and the HD DVD. Upon comparing the quality of the video I saw no discernible difference between the two. I compared the lossy Dolby Digital Plus and Lossless Dolby TrueHD sound tracks. After level matching I ran all of the aforementioned sequences. I powered up both players and cued up the beginning of each sequence. I watched them one at a time switching back and forth. There have been reports (two from writers whose opinions I respect) of a 6 to 10 decibel increase in volume on the TrueHD mix. I did not experience that in my evaluation/comparison. What I did notice was an improvement in low frequency reproduction. It seems as though the minor attenuation (for lack of a better word) of the bass present on the HD DVD is no longer present. The bass has better tactility and improved depth which can be felt not just in the room but within the body as well. The improvement here seems to be related to the deeper bass frequencies and is most appreciable in the scenes in the film that contain lower bass content. That is not strictly the case though. An example would be in chapter 18 where the cryogenic freezing apparatus where Megatron is being held has begun to fail. There is an alarm that begins to sound and the scene switches the control room. There is a low bass tone that accompanies that transition before the scene switches again. It was detectable on the HD DVD but on the Blu-ray Disc it could be felt as wave of punchy low bass energy. The beginning of chapter 2 (mentioned earlier) definitely had a more distinct and powerful low bass presence than on the HD DVD. I ran these scenes along with the others mentioned earlier in this review 3 times each and double checked to ensure that output levels were the same. I also ran these same scenes using the PS3 rather than bit streaming the audio from my Panasonic and Samsung players and the results were the same. I am satisfied that the Blu-ray version of Transformers does in fact offer an improvement in this area over the HD DVD. I want to be clear that the low frequency effects on the HD DVD are quite good and the difference here is not night and day but is certainly noticeable. As far as any appreciable differences in the overall sound quality I would say that if present they are minimal.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1057518

So, as for those of us who have patiently waited for the Blu-ray, it looks like the wait was worth it. And it also shows that although both got 5-star audio scores from Peter, the TrueHD is noticeably superior.

[RoadLizard]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

From two reviewers:

Joe Whip:


http://www.tvpredictions.com/2008/08...nsformers.html

Ralph Potts:


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1057518

So, as for those of us who have patiently waited for the Blu-ray, it looks like the wait was worth it. And it also shows that although both got 5-star audio scores from Peter, the TrueHD is noticeably superior.

.... Even though the version of the movie earned a reward for its soundtrack last year and was highly priased at the time. Not that I give a crap, just saying that many of these reviewers/websites have very short memories.

But yeah, the version of this flick is probably just ducky. Not that Im replacing the one I have or anything.

[GizmoDVD]

Phew.

Now that Transformers BD is better then HD DVD ...what's next guys? Anyone? What's our next step in Blu-ray world domination? Should we get some fliers and pass them out?

We are going to move Blu-ray from less then 1% of DVD sales to 1.4% this year! The time has come!

[DaveS1138]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Phew.

Now that Transformers BD is better then HD DVD ...what's next guys? Anyone? What's our next step in Blu-ray world domination? Should we get some fliers and pass them out?

Well.......the Bourne trilogy would be nice Maybe Serenity too

[GizmoDVD]

Got those on HD DVD - what else?

I'm looking for or less for Troll 2 or Leonard Part 6.

[Solstice X]

Let's not forget The Matrix Trilogy. Once that is released, I can put away my HD-DVD player.

[GizmoDVD]

But that's coming with the same audio options so there is no Blu-ray domination there!

[goatmother]

Aside from Transformers, I'm loving that Universal is also pumping out superior blu-ray versions

[crazzeto]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

But that's coming with the same audio options so there is no Blu-ray domination there!

they'll be sharper just like transformers was

[DaveS1138]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Got those on HD DVD - what else?

I'm looking for or less for Troll 2 or Leonard Part 6.

Just saying that for those of us that didn't invest in a dead format they would be a nice next step

More serious answer......the next step is the same as the last one. Great titles from all studios to drive Blu-ray sales during Q4. Iron Man, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight.......these will all see Q42008 sales eclipse Q42007 sales.

And now we are no longer seeing Blu-ray being handicapped by HD-DVD ports we should demand stunning PQ/AQ from all these titles that will show just how superior Blu-ray is to SD-DVD.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by DaveS1138

Just saying that for those of us that didn't invest in a dead format they would be a nice next step

More serious answer......the next step is the same as the last one. Great titles from all studios to drive Blu-ray sales during Q4. Iron Man, Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight.......these will all see Q42008 sales eclipse Q42007 sales.

And now we are no longer seeing Blu-ray being handicapped by HD-DVD ports we should demand stunning PQ/AQ from all these titles that will show just how superior Blu-ray is to SD-DVD.

Universal still has about 200 HD DVD titles to go. Warner a dozen, Paramount a dozen and Weinstein a dozen.

[DaveS1138]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Universal still has about 200 HD DVD titles to go. Warner a dozen, Paramount a dozen and Weinstein a dozen.

Yet another reason why a pointless format war should never have happened. No war and all these titles would already be available leaving these companies free to concentrate on bringing us new releases and the best of their back catalogs.

[GizmoDVD]

No war and we would never have had BD-50 Discs so quickly.
No war and we would never have BD players at $400.
No war and we wouldn't have half the titles available on both formats due to factory's not making enough discs.
No war and we wouldn't have had any BD BOGOs
No war...

[Solstice X]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

But that's coming with the same audio options so there is no Blu-ray domination there!

I understand that, however, transformers and matrix are the only set of discs I would need to replace to have an all blu-ray library. I will keep the HD-DVD player but it will be put away like my turntable, tape deck, 8-track (I know, I just dated myself), and my laserdisc player.

[JAWoOKIE]

Dont forget the Animatrix is in HD now too