Man, oh man!

We bought a copy of this movie on the new Blu-Ray format. Was mostly a lark. We like it, and her Dad really is into newer TVs. Thought he would enjoy the movie.

Turns out, this is the best I've seen a Blu-Ray do!

I'm a huge fan of Technicolor. Without getting all technical right out of the gate, the technology exhibited excellent intensity and color balance, with good saturation.

It's warm color temp really brings out the color of people and nature.

What I didn't know was it's sheer resolution! Man, I've seen some technicolor on the big screen, and the Blu-Ray media exceeds that in every way! Detail, overall purity of image balance, all of it, but for sheer size.

(and it sure seems to me, the art of Cinamatography has been somewhat lost with newer technologies. It was a lot of work to get it right, with film --especially that film, but the results are best in class)

My set does 24P, meaning the motion is frame for frame with the projector. No pull-down. Things like wagon wheels and people moving and dancing are just spot on perfect.

Watching this last night was a treat. Highly recommended.

Which aspect ratio did you watch? There's one that they call "bow tie" or something like that. Gives the feel of a Cinerama screen which was the format it was shot in.

"So far, I've not seen any compelling reason to ditch my NTSC investment"

Did "How the West Was Won" change your mind ?

I have tried both.

The bow-tie thing works, but only when the display screen occupies greater than half your field of vision.

(so I sat somewhat close and enjoyed it)

I actually prefer the 16:9. However, the bow-tie is a nice option to have. IMHO, it's immersive to a greater degree than I thought it would be.

Jr_tech: Absolutely not.

For 90 percent of my TV / Media viewing, NTSC is just excellent. I run S-video or component level stuff, meaning the color artifacts and noise are very, very low. Often the signal is pixel for pixel, reproduced nicely on my older SONY.

Where there is some art to it, like there was in this film, I will enjoy it. For drama, or information / news, there is no value add.

Besides, NTSC is open. I can record, burn to media, transcode, etc...

For anything enduring, NTSC is the only viable option at this time. (and that means up to DVD quality video)

ok... just thought I would check... do no BluRay rippers exist yet? Or is it a big DRM mess?

Missing, go get the Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" if you don't already have it.

I saw a small part of it on a friends HDTV and Blu-Ray and I promise it will be the first Blu-Ray I buy when I get an HDTV and Blu-Ray player!!!

The video was shot in Cinerama and I saw it that way when it came out. The opening was spectacular in that. It started narrow....16X9, then both sides expanded (wiped) to give the surround effect. It was spectacular.

I do have the DVD version and it is good. It is not Cinerama but for widescreen, it is fine. I only buy DVD's in widescreen format. If someone gives me a full screen as a gift or whatever, I give it back to them. Black bars at the top and bottom don't bother me on a 4X3 set.
Yeah, I am fussy and set in my ways. If I watch tv, or fly on a plane, if it says reformatted to fit the screen, I turn it off. Some say reformatted to fit "your" screen. How do they know what screen I have?

My How the West Was Won is 2.89:1 Looks good on my 65"TV.

"Some say reformatted to fit 'your' screen. How do they know what screen I have?"

In the mid-1990s when VHS publishers first started doing this, widescreen TV sets were still somewhat of a rarity. The majority of people who had VHS at the time were viewing them on a standard 4*3 set. Thus, "your" screen would more than likely be one with the standard 4*3 dimensions, exactly what the content of the tape was cropped or re-composed to fit.

Nowdays with widescreen sets starting to become somewhat common, that particular saying is starting to become passe' (I think.)

Personally, I have never had a problem with fullscreen and I sometimes find letterboxing distracting. Whenever I go to purchase (!) a recording on DVD Video (kind of a rare occurence) I usually default to the fullscreen version if there is one available. I've a 36" 4*3, I intend to fill all viewable pixels of it. Yes, I am stubbornly set in my ways............

(In fact, "Koyaanisqatsi" was never designed to be shown in anything *but* the Academy format to begin with!!)

Right now, Blu-Ray can be ripped. It's messy though. From what I see, very good results are possible, but it takes too much mindshare. I'll wait that out a bit, snagging software code releases as I see changes happen.

(just in case I might have to compile and build my own --you never know)

Essentially, this time around the DRM creators allowed for upgrades and the revoking of player keys. What this does is create a game of cat 'n mouse where newer titles use some different element of the cryptospace, and older ones then are cracked, and some players end up revoked, unable to play newer titles.

That last bit has not happened yet. Wonder what the bitching will be like when it does?

The cracking of the DRM is currently legal in Holland, where the original author of the DVD DECSS was tried twice and won at the supreme court level. If he wins again, it's over. Settled law at that point.

That is how their system works.

Reverse engineering strong crypto is legal elsewhere too.

Here in the US, it's actually legal, given you do not share any element of it with anyone. Meaning, if you are a genius, good for you; otherwise, playing media you own legally, on a player you own legally, might actually be criminal.

Ugh...

My favorite Linux DVD player is like this. I like it because it has hardware up-scaling done by a MATROX video card, ignores user control restrictions (meaning no forced content), and plays great.

It's a crime to use it actually...

Anyway, that is pretty much ignored these days, and the user restrictions on the DVD's have become far less onerous. I'm happy to use a pre-assembled player (ha!) and do.

I have noted the Blu-ray media is fairly aggressive about user restrictions, and the whole connection between the player and display device is DRMed. HDMI will basically reset the disc, if any interruption occurs, such as a quick look at the TV to check the time, or verify a program time. Takes a while to get back to the movie...

One problem with the new format is just what to do with it once you've transcoded it to another format. You can cram it onto a dual layer DVD, or play from hard disk, but only on operating systems that are open.

That's XP and Linux basically. Vista will degrade the HDMI output to standard definition, unless it sees the right DRM signals. Damn PITA.

Now, before anybody goes off and calls me a cracker, pirate, leech or any other thing, know I buy a fair number of DVD movies. I prefer it to the theatre, and the cost is about the same, and I get to watch it on my time and terms.

The open nature of it appeals for storing my own stuff, placing a copy on a computer for travel, loaners --never loan out the masters. I do copies and just ask for them back and get them usually.

Also kids destroy these things. Too much info on a small media carrier. A scratch or two and you could be cooked, unlike the fairly robust CD.

All that adds up to being able to actually make use of my investment. I'm kind of funny that way.

Either license it, so that I am free to obtain replacement copies electronically, or sell it to me, in which case it's mine and I'm entitled to backup, transcode, etc...

Until the Blu-ray gets there, I'll just spring for the occasional thing, use Netflix, and keep the investment low key, until I know it's enduring.

Motozak2,
I know many people feel the way you do. However, I have never found letterboxing distracting. My viewing on 4:3 sets has been pretty much on 62" and 72" TV's since 1983. You don't complain to the theatre that the walls surrounding the screen are distracting. The black around the picture aren't distracting to me.
Besides, I want to see the "whole" video as it was shot. Pan and scan or clipping the edges to fit a 4:3 format is missing a lot of the video. I saw the comparison between original and reformatted movie "Hud" with Paul Newman. The difference and what you were missing was significant.
Currently, My tv is a 65" widescreen set that I sit about 10 feet from. My audio system in that room is THX. I agree with Missing in that I prefer watching movies in my home theatre. It sounds just as good or better, I can watch on my time, I don't have to put up with the commercials and promos, I don't have people walking in front of me, making noises, fiddling with candy wrappers, putting hands in buckets of popcorn and cups....etc., plus it is cheaper.
My daughter said she would buy me a blu-ray player for my birthday if I want one..... Lot of money. With summer coming, I probably won't watch much until the Fall rains come. My free time will be out on the river....a much better way to spend time.

I hear that. People are feeling somewhat better this year. We are going to get out more. I'm looking forward to it.

My rig is just in the living room. It works. I've never been all that picky about the little things. Great when I have them, but the art of things shines through whether or not they are there.

The sound I have is integrated with the Blu-Ray. It's pretty great. Took a while to sort out, as it did not come with an auto-calibration feature.

Do get one of those, if you can afford it. What takes a coupla hours can take 15 minutes, and the things just nail it cold. I passed, again because I don't actually have a theatre place (until the last of the kids leaves the nest), and the unit was integrated with the TV, and that's pretty nice.

Really, the specs on most of the sound gear will exceed our ability to appreciate them. It's all about speakers, their placement and calibration. The unit I have will go plenty far down that road.

Theatres kind of suck now a days. They are noisy. Been considering building a cell jammer for when I do buy in. heh...

And unless they really pay attention to their screen, it's not such a good experience. The cost is NUTS. Basically a new DVD runs about $15. I've 500 of those aquired over time, the dollars coming from turning off subscription TV, and avoiding the theatres.

A Blu-Ray is at the $30, right where DVD once was. Probably will take a year or two before it settles. Until then, I'll score used, early order and just Netflix.

Don't have the gear to rip one yet. A friend does. When you cram it down onto a dual layer DVD, the results are damn good. But...so is an ordinary DVD. Not worth it.

If your OS can play high-def media from a portable disk, or it's system disk, then that basically works out to equal the original media. Kind of worth it, I guess. I don't think I'll be watching that kind of detail on the go. Might do loaners though, but that's a problem too. It's gonna take some serious gear to play it properly.

Way to early for that kind of thing. Again, just like DVD was in the early times.

Moto, I was right there about filling the screen with pixels. I bagged on it, after missing some seriously good scenes. Pan 'n scan kind of sucks --once you are used to seeing the whole thing.

Give it some time. Try a dark room and clean your display device.

One thing that really helped with me was to not see noise in the margins. Hate that. With most DVD media, the noise level is really low.

Either generate or obtain a DVD with some scales on it. You can calibrate whatever display you are using and get some damn good results! Even old gear really shines.

I once posted the procedure for tuning older sets here. For newer ones, you probably need the service menu to get it right, but...

Display a grey scale, turn off the color controls on the display, and set so that each grey step is visible, with the black one blending into the background.

Ramp up the color and you should just see it fade in. If you don't, then the drives are hosed. Service menu, or screwdriver in the back time.

For those use the grey again, and balance it so that each grey step is actually grey, not blue grey, or red grey, or green grey.

Then bring in the color again. Some sets will change a little. Tweak with a color pattern, cutting the brightness to a level where the outside noise is diminished or gone.

For night time viewing, make sure black is really black, as in not emitting at all on the display, but also make sure the very next black up on the scale can be seen.

On older TV's run them a little soft in the brightness department to prevent blooming and washout of the darker areas from very bright ones.

Also on older TV's, run the color saturation as low as makes sense. Typical settings we are used to are actually way too high. Roll this back and it really makes a difference. If there is noise in the color, some older TV's have a color gain setting where you have to take the back off, or hit the service menu to use. Back this off, then up saturation. Repeat until it looks fairly golden.

S-video or component in is huge. Do that.

Turn off your lights, sit back and enjoy the aspect ratio. ;)

"Reverse engineering strong crypto is legal elsewhere too.

Here in the US, it's actually legal, given you do not share any element of it with anyone. Meaning, if you are a genius, good for you; otherwise, playing media you own legally, on a player you own legally, might actually be criminal.

Ugh... "

UGH indeed!
This stuff needs to get resolved in a manner similar to the "Betamax Case"... Frankly, I see no harm in throwing a copy of "Plant Earth" on to the hard drive of a laptop to watch on Max For now, a "low def" analog transfer is just fine, But in the not too distant future, it would be nice to legally and easily rip a newly purchased BluRay disk at full resolution to an entertainment server (along with old files from laser disks, DVDs, VHS and Beta tapes, selectavision records) for easy access!

Well, the content creators, IP investors and major media and corporations strongly disagree with you.

Right now, a secret multi-national treaty is being considered that will very drastacally change how copy right is handled. Europe, US, Japan and some others are on board.

Public and groups like EFF are excluded. Only a leaked document from an early draft has been seen.

I strongly suspect we won't have computers and devices we own AT ALL, if things go their way.

It's all about pay per play, NO FAIR USE, and strong IP protections for companies who profit from owning things rather than innovating on things.

I don't really steal, but I seriously am pissed at my right to use, learn and modify being so threatened.

Hell, I make my living from understanding and using things. Believe me when I say my interest is more than casual media cost / use oriented.

At least my preference for NTSC and open computing capable hardware is clear now