First ever High-Def Disc Awards conclude
Earlier this summer, The Departed and 007: Casino Royale swept up the spotlight at the first Entertainment Merchants Association's Home Entertainment Awards to hand out honors for high-definition titles, and now the first ever High-Def Disc Awards have doled out their own laundry list of victors. Presented by Home Media Magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and the EMA, the awards were decided upon by a panel of critics / bloggers, and 300 was the only film to take home more than one award. Notably, of the two it won, one (Title of the Year) was on Blu-ray and the other (Best Bonus Feature) was on HD DVD. Other winners included Ratatouille for Best Animated Film, Transformers for Best Audio Quality and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for Best Picture Quality. Hit the read link for the full rundown, and don't be shy in voicing your support / outrage at the selections.[Via FormatWarCentral]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dynamius @ Dec 6th 2007 4:40AM
I find it strange how the Blu-ray version of 300 received Title of the Year when it is identical with the HD DVD version less the PiP and web enabled features. The decision for this was obviously not based on which version was better but was probably based on the format preference of those who decided on this.
Nfinity @ Dec 6th 2007 4:45AM
Exactly..more fluff from Blu-Ray suckups.. panel consisted of critics and bloggers.. LOL.. says quite enough..
TrentD @ Dec 6th 2007 8:44AM
Yes, it is impossible in any way to claim that the Blu-ray 300 was better than the 300 HD DVD. The video transfer was the same, TrueHD or PCM on both, but 300 had none of the aweseome special features.
Pretty funny, though, that Transformers won Best Audio, considering it had "lowly" Dolby Digital Plus - score one against the spec hounds.
locke6854 @ Dec 6th 2007 5:54AM
Transformers won for best audio.
didn't even need a lossless track
nigel @ Dec 6th 2007 6:32AM
BR 300 dosen't have any next generation features. The awards panel must be wearing blu underwear.
MAK42868 @ Dec 6th 2007 6:41AM
I just find it funny that Transformers won best audio, after everyone was whining about not having "lossless" audio. I think that says a lot about HD-DVD's capabilities, even without a 51GB disc.... don't you guys?
Maybe they gave 300 on BluRay the Title-Of-The-Year award because then no movie would have received two awards? (300 on HD-DVD would have had two awards, then).
Either way, I don't see how you can spin this toward either camp, but I'm sure people will give up hours of their life trying :)
acidrock @ Dec 6th 2007 8:26AM
What? LOL
1. Please explain how Transformers' lossy audio winning an award 'says a lot about HD-DVD'? I don't care which movie+format wins the AUDIO award but for christ sakes at least choose a lossless format.
2. Your excuse for 300 HD-DVD not getting the title-of-the-year award is laughable, they wanted to be nice and only allow 1 award per title? They should have just gone with a different movie or declare the pick non-format specific.
The awards seem evenly split but these 2 decisions make the whole 'award' meaningless and ridiculous. I don't have an HD player at all as I'm awaiting my Samsung Duo so I have no preference for either format, but anyone with common sense could call these 2 choices poor in judgment whether its bias or ignorance.
h4ldol @ Dec 6th 2007 7:45AM
What a joke. Transformers winning audio with its lossy dolby digital plus soundtrack? This "award" must be bankrolled by Toshiba and Microsoft. Another lame excuse for putting lossy audio on the biggest release HD DVD will ever have. Only a simpleton would think that the limited capacity of HD DVD has nothing to do with the widespread lack of lossless audio on HD DVD discs, as opposed to blu-rays that often have TrueHD *AND* PCM audio. Just another embarrassment for HD DVD.
jonto81 @ Dec 6th 2007 8:10AM
I would have thought that Transformers with its "lossy" soundtrack beating every single Blu-Ray with "losseless" audio?
but hey when you get over yourself h4Idol and actually start to look at things objectively perhaps we can have a sensible comment from you?
Ben @ Dec 6th 2007 8:17AM
I'd bet 300 one on Blu-ray rather than HD DVD, because overall it sold more copies.
As for Transformers, most can't tell the difference between lossless and lossy, I don't know about anyone else, but I can't tell the difference between a high rate MP3 and flak.
MAK42868 @ Dec 6th 2007 9:06AM
"What? LOL
1. Please explain how Transformers' lossy audio winning an award 'says a lot about HD-DVD'? I don't care which movie+format wins the AUDIO award but for christ sakes at least choose a lossless format.
2. Your excuse for 300 HD-DVD not getting the title-of-the-year award is laughable, they wanted to be nice and only allow 1 award per title? They should have just gone with a different movie or declare the pick non-format specific.
The awards seem evenly split but these 2 decisions make the whole 'award' meaningless and ridiculous. I don't have an HD player at all as I'm awaiting my Samsung Duo so I have no preference for either format, but anyone with common sense could call these 2 choices poor in judgment whether its bias or ignorance."
What's REALLY funny is that you waste time posting that, when I was being sarcastic. You seem so set on pushing your insecurities on other people that you fail to read through a post. Geez.
And then you have H4Idol right below saying the awards were rigged. It's amazing how facts are made up unless it's something you believe in, lol
Get a life, guys.
TrentD @ Dec 6th 2007 10:43AM
You don't own either format, and presumably haven't watched Transformers on HD DVD, but yet you have an opinion on whether or not it should have won the Best Audio award?
The fact that you believe that a lossless track is always better than a lossy track shows your lack of understanding.
Kevin Murphy @ Dec 6th 2007 2:42PM
"I don't care which movie+format wins the AUDIO award but for christ sakes at least choose a lossless format."
Ummm, why? Because it _ought_ to be better? That's a lousy reason. Like saying "pick the more expensive car, it must be better."
Fact is, if you use the compressors right, with some thought and attention to what you are compressing, there's no reason that you can't arrange that "lossy" format to actually lose almost nothing. Only works for pre-recorded stuff, but that includes quite a bit.
The Fuzz 53 @ Dec 6th 2007 8:57AM
Either H4idol just shit a brick because Transformers with it's "inferior compressed audio" won the award for Best Audio, or he's coming up with a way to discredit the judges.
The Fuzz 53 @ Dec 6th 2007 8:57AM
Either H4idol just shit a brick because Transformers with it's "inferior compressed audio" won the award for Best Audio, or he's coming up with a way to discredit the judges.
HD Tom @ Dec 6th 2007 9:57AM
Bottom line, is there really a noticeable difference in picture quality between BD and HD-DVD?? I watched 300 on my HD-DVD player and was absolutely floored by the picture quality! I'm sure it would be equally good on a BluRay player.
Folks, debating the minute differences in details between the two formats isn't going to decide this "war" and you know it! It's all up to J6P, who doesn't give a damn about loss-less this or 1080P that, or anything other than "Uh ... which is cheaper."
These awards mean squat as to which format will win. It will be decided by which format can get the most players in the hands of the most people (by a wide margin) first. Neither has done so yet, and we've got a long way to go on price before either format is mass adopted. That's just the plain truth!
These little nit-pick discussions that go on here daily mean NOTHING to what will actually determine the winner! Search your feelings - you know it to be true!
acidrock @ Dec 6th 2007 5:14PM
my point is with all the BD and HD titles out they gave an award to a lossy soundtrack. Never did I claim lossless was always better. Transformers should have included the lossless soundtrack so I have a problem giving it recognition. Hi Def discs offer the large capacity for he highest video and audio quality so IMHO lossless should be standard not optional.
But hey, keep swinging your e-penis around Mr Wizard.
chilicoke @ Dec 6th 2007 11:29AM
I like how all the early poster decided to ignore the most important aspect of hi-def: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for Best Picture Quality"
wysiwyg @ Dec 6th 2007 11:55AM
It's not surprising that pirates won. There are many films that are on par so for Pirates, it's selecting one out of many good ones since VC-1 and MPEG4 is basically indistinguishable. It just depends if the studio spent time and effort to make it a good transfer. The bigger deal is that a lossy DD+ won over all TrueHD and lossless PCM when a lot of blu-fans are beeaching about how they are bluray is superior because of higher capacity to include lossless audio. It just shows that DD+, which uses less capacity, is just as good if not better than lossless.
andy @ Dec 6th 2007 12:24PM
I have not read any comments.
I would just like to point out that all of these awards are crap. How can a fully computer rendered cartoon lose on the picture quality category to something that was shot in film and transferred? Answer: The awards are jacked.
Juice @ Dec 6th 2007 1:09PM
A rendered cartoon isnt always better, plus its minor point in overall sales to compare, Pirates was a great transfer it looked great, and Transformers had great audio, compared to any other HDDVD or BD it really does have the best sound, now this doesnt mean it wouldnt sound better on lossless, but the truth is when I compare DD+ and DDTrueHD to my friends most cant hear any difference and I have a Anthem D2 and P5, serious coin in my sound system, so I hardly doubt most others will hear any difference, sorta like the whole 1080p vs 1080i vs 720p debat, there are lots of people out there who wont see any difference.
HDpurist @ Dec 6th 2007 9:05PM
No surprise that Blu-ray was the winner in all categories except audio. Regarding 300, the BD version is better/sharper than the lower encoded HD-DVD version.
dynamius @ Dec 6th 2007 9:43PM
@HDpurist
That's actually an incorrect statement. As with all Warner films, both HD DVD and Blu-ray versions share an identical encode. The HD DVD version, however, contains more material and features than the Blu-ray counterpart.
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/887/300.html
Juice @ Dec 7th 2007 12:53AM
Yeah both versions of 300 or identical in quality, same video, and DDTrueHD, DTSHD MA, and PCM (it just takes up more room and in general it is more likely your reciever can decode it) all have the same quality, you cant get better than lossless so if its lossless its as good as it gets period, no matter the format. Blu Ray probably took it because it sold more not because the disc itself was better or those reviewers dont know what their doing. I have the BD version myself, got it as a bday gift but would of rathered the HDDVD combo so I could play it anywhere in the house. The whole quality debate is dead, both offer same quality period, BD has more capacity so more can be put on the disc, but if 51GB HDDVD become reality then we can call it a tie as 1GB doesnt really make a difference. I am most excited about the HD/SD on a single side disc, 30GB is enough room for great quality minus extras for any movie (look at kong it was a pretty long movie, LOTR extended maybe the only exception, but one movie shouldnt be the deciding factor of the format war, plus just put it on a 51GB disc and you get the same feature as BD), put extras on a second disc, or sell it to me cheaper and forget the extras completely. I just dont see why more people arent more happy about the SD/HD one sided disc, think of all the players people wont have to upgrade, such as in the vehicle, portable players, laptops, kids bedroom, that sort of format gives a future to something that will surpass DVD, at the moment while I see red or blue winning the HD war, neither is close to taking the throne from DVD. There just not enough people at the moment who see any value in replcing their DVD collections.
locke6854 @ Dec 7th 2007 2:59AM
I'm just happy they didn't have Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl win for best video... considering its the only movie with 8 minutes of heads cut off.