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It's Over! Blu-Ray Officially Wins!
somunny:
--- Quote from: AtomSmasher on February 26, 2008, 01:26:42 pm ---DVD's also introduced 5.1 surround sound, which was one of my motivating factors when I upgraded to dvd's.
--- End quote ---
Actually, laser discs had 5.1 audio a couple of years before the launch of the DVD format.
ahofle:
--- Quote from: boykster on February 27, 2008, 12:36:17 am ---DVD quality is good, but HD is spectacular.
--- End quote ---
Depends on the transfer. I've seen some pretty mediocre HD DVD and Blu Ray movies (looked like DVD to me). I wonder if Blu Ray will be just like DVD in its first years -- a bunch of really ---smurfy--- movie transfers.
boykster:
--- Quote from: ahofle on February 27, 2008, 01:22:26 am ---
--- Quote from: boykster on February 27, 2008, 12:36:17 am ---DVD quality is good, but HD is spectacular.
--- End quote ---
Depends on the transfer. I've seen some pretty mediocre HD DVD and Blu Ray movies (looked like DVD to me).
--- End quote ---
True. A bad transfer will be bad no matter the media.
A good example of a GOOD transfer to compare is Transformers; it has a very nice clean DVD transfer, but the HD-DVD transfer is head and shoulders above the DVD transfer in quality. That is one of the movies I have used as a test with one of my HTPCs so I have firsthand comparison. DVD upscaled to 720p vs HD-DVD content output @ 720p (same video card, same PC). The clarity and level of detail in the HD-DVD content is not only "kind of" better than the DVD, but it's considerably better. So much so, that my wife, who really could care less about "videophile" type stuff said "wow, this looks way better than the DVD".
AtomSmasher:
--- Quote from: somunny on February 27, 2008, 01:12:16 am ---
--- Quote from: AtomSmasher on February 26, 2008, 01:26:42 pm ---DVD's also introduced 5.1 surround sound, which was one of my motivating factors when I upgraded to dvd's.
--- End quote ---
Actually, laser discs had 5.1 audio a couple of years before the launch of the DVD format.
--- End quote ---
Then introduced was the wrong word, but laser disc was never a leading format and we're comparing the transition of dvd to bluray and vhs to dvd, so I feel my point is still valid. I still remember the first time I bought my 5.1 receiver and speakers and thinking how much more I enjoyed the movies. Actually hearing helicopters or gun shots going from one corner to another (the first movie I fired up after hooking up the system was Predator :) ) had a bigger impact on me then the superior visuals because I had a crappy 19'' tv, but a kickass audio system. I don't see the upgrade in the audio department from dvd to bluray being even close to the difference from vhs to dvd. I'm sure I'll upgrade to blueray in a few years, but I'm in no hurry to do so.
MaximRecoil:
--- Quote from: ChadTower on February 26, 2008, 10:02:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: bfauska on February 26, 2008, 09:26:40 pm ---NOPE.
Front Left+Center+Front Right+2 Mono Rears (same sounds 2 speakers)= 4 channels of audio not 5 or 5.1
--- End quote ---
PL2 has 5 full channels plus a sub. I can't remember if I've seen any VHS with PL2, though it is certainly possible as it comes from a two channel source just like PL1.
--- End quote ---
Dolby Pro Logic and Pro Logic II are not on the media itself, but rather, they are the decoding technology. They both work with stereo audio (2 channels), which is what is found on VHS (there was never more than 2 channels of audio on a VHS tape).
The stereo signal is encoded in a particular way that is intended to work with DPL, by using phase-shift techniques. The encoding is generally known as simply "Dolby Surround". Your DPL hardware then decodes that to a 4.0 signal (center, right, left, mono rear). You can add a subwoofer by using either a crossover or allowing the natural rolloff frequency of the subwoofer to do the crossover work. This is the same way subwoofers are typically implemented in home or car stereo setups, and it works very well if done correctly.
DPLII came out somewhat recently (2000 or so) and is more versatile and improved compared to DPL. First, DPLII encoders create 6 discrete channels (5.1) from the stereo source, plus, it can do that with standard stereo sources that were not encoded with DPL or DPLII in mind, such as a typical audio CD. There are also phase shift matrices for the stereo source that are intended to be used specifically with DPLII for better results.
So if you have a VHS movie that is simply normal stereo, or "Dolby Surround" that was originally encoded with standard DPL hardware in mind, you can use it with DPLII hardware and get 5.1 sound.
However, with DPLII used with a standard stereo source, the 6 channels it creates will be directed to each speaker as the DPLII hardware sees fit, so it is not as ideal as true 5.1 encoded soundtracks, which direct the channels as the movie-makers see fit.
So it goes like this:
Dolby Pro Logic works with "Dolby Surround" encoded stereo tracks. Has no affect on ordinary stereo tracks. End result is 4.0 surround directed as the movie-makers saw fit, albeit with less precision than they may have liked.
Dolby Pro Logic II works with standard stereo tracks, "Dolby Surround" stereo tracks, and stereo tracks that were encoded with DPLII-specific matrices. End result is 5.1 directed as the movie-makers saw fit (more precision with the DPLII-specific matrices than with DPL-specific matrices; though still better than what DPL decoders can do with DPL-specific matrices). In the case of what it does with standard stereo tracks, it just "makes stuff up" so to speak, but its "judgment" is generally pretty good.
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