Home Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

Clark, I'm surprised…

Not a single mention of the difference in sound quality between the uncompressed/lossless options on BD and the older, compressed soundtracks on DVD. I would have thought that rated a mention and I would have expected a BD like "Blackhawk Down", which I own on BD but never owned on DVD, would show that up superbly.

My DVD player is/was a Denon 2910, not a bad player by any standards if not up to the best and now retained only to play non-Region 4 discs since Sony won't release a zone free PS3 here in Australia even though I understand that their stand-alone players, like those of every other major manufacturer, are zone free as a result of a court ruling many years ago here in Australia. Overall I'd have to rate the PS3 as equal to the 2910 and maybe a fraction better, though I occasionally see something I think the 2910 handled better. As a DVD player the PS3 certainly represents superb value for money.

In general I think I'm happier with BD picture quality compared to DVDs than you are. That may well be a function of our displays since mine is a 32" Loewe 1366 x 768 LCD TV, a little different to your projector setup. Even on a BD like "Lady In The Water" where the reviews I've read were pretty equivocal about picture quality and suggested little improvement, I've been quite pleased by what I see as an improvement. Maybe I'm looking on the sunny side of things and perhaps it's partly my eyes since I've got the start of cataract development which I don't tend to notice when viewing something at home on a bright screen at a close distance but which really annoys me in a cinema with a dimmer screen and greater distance because movies in the cinema no longer look in focus to me and the contrast becomes degraded as well. Whatever the reasons I've been really happy with the picture quality results on BD for every comparison I've made.

But sound quality! BD high def sound quality is noticeably better than DVD sound quality. Voices sound more natural, as do other sounds, and everything sounds richer with better dynamics. How could you discuss the PS3 and talk about differences in picture quality for BD compared to DVD and not make even a passing comment on sound quality?

Clark, this is a sad day…





David Aiken


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