Page 1 of Any HD DVD owners here? If so, what do you think. Put your reviews here!

I`m thinking it would be a good idea to collaborate and let us know what you think of particular releases, and to chat about what`s coming out etc.

So far I`ve got:

King Kong - Free with the drive, but still the standout for me in terms of picture quality. In fact, its so good you notice so much more going on in the film. The opening shots of the city are spectacular, with so much thought put into each frame. Maybe I`m noticing more because I`m trying to, but it still wipes the floor with the other HD DVDs in terms of image. The extras though, are next to none, which is very frustrating and a bit of a joke when you look at previous DVD releases and the amount of content available. Undoubtedly that`s for a later bells and whistles HD DVD release.

The Departed - Still not checked out the extras yet, but the fact that its a combo disc is a bonus. The image is great, albeit with a bit of noise on screen. But its as good as you`d expect from a new film. Haven`t watched it through yet, since the original cinema outing, but its on my to-do list. Worth noting that it`s a US bought copy and HD Drive refused to play the HD DVD at first, which was worrying.

Superman Returns - Like The Departed, the picture is good. Its possibly not stunning, but I`m sure it would look better through 1080p (if the drive actually supported that). The extras are great, and I almost spent a day watching through them all. Not hugely in-depth, but loads of behind the scenes. There`s alot more to come regarding deleted scenes, from what I`ve read, but what is supplied is a bonus. I`m not sure how it compares to the normal DVD release, but its good to see its not a barebones release.

Children of Men - Haven`t got around to watching the HD version, or looking at the extras yet.

Overall its hard for me to judge sound, as I`m going through a Yamaha YPS800 which isn`t configured correctly due to the shape of our living room. But so far I`m impressed; as is my fiance who isn`t really that fussed with technology usual.

So, what has everyone else got and what do you think?

Here`s what i got....

Superman Returns
Superman
Superman 2 : Richard Donner Cut
King Kong
Departed
Constantine
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
HollywoodLand
Casino
Goodfellas
Lucky Number Slevin
Batman Begins
World Trade Center

Only watched a couple so far but pic is great and sound too. Looking forward to getting Smokin Aces soon

The thing is, I own most of those on DVD and there`s no way I am double dipping! Would be tempted by Lucky Number Slevin if it was cheap.

Don`t know if you got the HD add on box for the 360 but the US version of children of men is suppose to have playback issues according to High-Def Digest, great film though

This item was edited on Sunday, 1st April 2007, 21:29

Yeah I`ve read that. Haven`t tried it yet, so I`ll let you know when I have. Worrying, as The Departed had a similar issue, and then worked again after taking it out and putting it back in again.

So far I have only two titles, Batman Begins and V For Vendetta. The picture quality of Batman is pretty stunning and I think it`s a good `demo` to show of HD DVD to others. Although I haven`t watched V for Vendetta yet, it looks really sharp.
My first general impressions of the format is that whilst it is an improvement I don`t think it`s the technological leap people were predicting. "The biggest thing since black and white to colour" Nah I don`t think so!!! Also when I compare against some dvds with fantastic transfers such as Star Wars and LOTR I think the difference isn`t enormous. I do like the fact though that you can mess with the options whilst the movie is playing..

`One love, one heart, one soul. Republic of Mancunia..`

My copy of the Departed also gave me trouble, had to plug out drive a few times before it played. I even bought the drive in the states

I actually think its down to them being combo discs personally. That`s the only thing I can think of that differentiates those discs from other disks that work 100% ok.

With King Kong and the Departed (which are the only two that I have currently watched) when you set the screen to auto - does it flicker between a large picture and a smaller picture?

I tried changing the aspect of my tv to auto and 16:9 and it would appear that certain scenes have been shot in 16:9 while other scenes seem to fill a larger picture.

For example, when you see Matt Damon graduating, if you set the screen to auto, it fills most of the screen. However, just as he gets in the car with Nicholson it goes to 16:9 and then a minute or so later it flicks back again.

Dont get me wrong, I am impressed with the quality, but if all the movies are going to be in the middle third of the screen then it almost negates the purpose of having a large plasma doesnt it? Are there settings within the xbox add on that can be changed?

Well I`ve got a 42 inch plasma and it does window slightly, but doesn`t do any kind resizing at any ppoint. It always stays at that fixed frame size. Sounds like a problem moreso with your TV?