Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on October 18, 2009 at 13:32:45

In Reply to: RE: Pitch Black posted by user510 on October 18, 2009 at 05:26:09

I have both the DVD and BD versions.

I have yet to come across a film I've had/seen on DVD that doesn't look better on BD but the visual improvement is not always of the same degree. Some DVDs are much better than other DVDs and some BDs aren't as good as other BDs. A so so BD transfer of a film that had a really good DVD transfer won't show as much improvement as a good BD transfer of a film that received a poor DVD transfer.

That said, I haven't watched the DVD of Pitch Black for ages but my memory is that the improvement is noticeable, especially in the way the light under the different suns is handled and also in the way the lit objects come through during the eclipse scenes. As a general comment, I'd say that there's been a quite noticeable improvement in picture quality over DVD with every sci-fi film I've seen on BD. If you're a sci-fi fan, then you're being very well treated by BD in my view.

There's also the improvement in sound quality from the DTS HD-MA soundtrack. I'm always intrigued by people who only think of picture quality improvement with BD yet I find the biggest improvement in some discs is in sound quality.

If you can play BD and you have a choice between the BD and DVD versions of this film, then I'd definitely go for the BD.


David Aiken