8mm Forum: HD PLAYERS/MOVIES IN THE UK.

This is topic HD PLAYERS/MOVIES IN THE UK. in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on February 04, 2007, 03:18 AM:

Hello fellow members.Well the HD players are now here in the uk.
Does any member have one yet?...
and what of the movies you can buy on HD/DVD?.There is a small selection available,and the quailty is superb.Getting down to the nitty gritty,in my view this new version will indeed take off!Andy.

Posted by Michael Hyde (Member # 748) on February 04, 2007, 04:30 AM:

Hi. Yes its the old chestnut again tho,at present,HD vs Blue Ray,tho both still expensive and not worth investing in as yet,there be only one winner ultimately,as with VHS & Betamax,,lets wait and see,,we still have film to keep us going

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on February 04, 2007, 07:06 AM:

I to will stick with the super8 format,forever.Unless you have the room and £25,000-£30,000 on a top model VP,then you are restriced to the box in the corner.Andy.

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on February 04, 2007, 10:16 AM:

Hi Andy, Michael is right about adopting a 'wait and see' position regarding HD/ Blue Ray. I recently saw a HD demo and wasn't overly impressed. However, I have a Panasonic 700 VP and project onto a 7.5 ft scope screen [the same screen I use for 8mm and 16mm at home] and the picture is superb.(depends on the quality of the disc of course)The 700 cost me less than a used GS1200.
I am not knocking 8mm at all, just honestly saying what I see up on the screen. I've been collecting 8mm for 35 years and have no intention of giving it up. In fact I am giving an 8mm presentation in a social club to a group of retired railway workers next week and will love it.
Andy, you really don't have to spend thousands on a digital set up, has someone misled you at some time?
regards, Mal

Posted by Michael Hyde (Member # 748) on February 04, 2007, 12:04 PM:

Hi Mal,, Quite right about not spending thousands on VP`s,like you,i have owned a Sharp XVZ1E for around eight years,mostly because i wanted to watch and listen to the Dolby 5:1 encryption that the "new"dvd`s used on a ten foot screen.On a visit into Derann`s store a few weeks ago they were selling a new sony vp with nearly 50% more light output and at only £500. Incidentally i will always watch and buy 8mm and 16mm, i just love watching films in any format,and i must say has anyone listened to the audio in a home cinema with 5:1 or better,the opening sequence of Swordfish for example with that explosion and ball bearings whistling past your ears...WOW.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on February 04, 2007, 01:39 PM:

Michael
Just over a year ago I replaced my old second hand amp with a new Dolby Digital/DTS Yamaha, our friendly salesman steered me away from the cheaper amps they were selling as I wanted one with plenty of grunt, [Cool]

I landed up with a RX-V750 still paying it of. Buying the amp was the easy bit setting it up took me ages, what surprised me is that I had to plug it into a TV monitor for "set up" also it came with a Optimizer mic, I also fitted a optical input from the DVD player to the amp, this thing was high tech compared with what I had used before, when I ran my first DVD "Battle Of Britain" I couldn't hear anything from the Surrounds no hiss, nothing, [Confused]

well that quickly changed when a Spitfire flew across the screen the sound of the merlin engine moving through the surrounds blew me away, my exact words at the time was "bloody hell where did that come from", [Eek!]

even old movies like the musical "Oliver" sounded great with its 5:1 soundtrack, and with reasonably good speakers positioned corectly and a active sub woofer it sounds great. The thing is these days good sound systems dont cost a fortune like they used to.

Graham [Smile]

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on February 04, 2007, 02:37 PM:

hey guys, like Paul Adsett says, "the best of both worlds"...my daughter laughs as she tells her friends about how my elmo ST1200D sits above the Sony VCR,DVD player, and the BenQ digital projector, on my entertainment stand. [Smile]

Posted by Michael Hyde (Member # 748) on February 04, 2007, 02:38 PM:

Hi Graham, Yes i know what you mean,and if Battle of Britain sounded good if you haven`t yet watch the battle sequence in Pearl Harbour,it will blow your mind even with sub woofer turned down....Mike

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on February 04, 2007, 08:26 PM:

Thanks Michael
I will hire it out next week I dont no if you are interested in old movies but there is one that stands out and thats Buster Keaton 1926 "The General". The DVD is amazing not only have they fully restored the picture but have recorded a new Digital 5:1 score by the Tokyo City Philharmonic in 2004. The sound quality is amazing it certainly has breathed new life into this old movie.
Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 04, 2007, 08:45 PM:

Last night I was at a friends house. He has just spent $4,300.00 on a Sharp Aquus 45 ins LCD HDTV. I was totally unimpressed. First 45 ins is not big enough to give the submersive effect that we all like to get from our S8 and digital front video projectors. So it was still like watching TV. I compared the experience with what I get with my GS1200 or my Panasonic VP projecting onto a 106 ins matt white screen, and there is no comparison. The Sharp LCD picture was ok, but could not hold a candle to a regular CRT television, and if you sat more than 45 degrees off center the picture really starts to wash out. So I thought the $4,300 he had spent was a waste of money.
And my superb Panasonic VP cost half as much as the Sharp TV!

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on February 05, 2007, 11:18 AM:

Well Gentlemen.If you want my view,i still stick to my preavious comments.I still think you have to pay be money for a good V.P.
I have had two cheaper vp's,and a super8 projector wins;hands down.
It's a great medium,but my view is SUPER8 is still King.Andy.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on February 05, 2007, 01:02 PM:

Paul
About a month ago I was invited to a friends home cinema to look at his latest projector, I would say he has one of the largest private film collections in this country, plus many rare projectors, any way for years I used to joke haven't you bought a video projector yet, the reply was always the same "its not the reel thing" [Mad]

Well the projector he was keen to show me was the Panasonic AE900, he was over the moon with the picture quality plus they threw in a spare lamp. after watching this electronic marvel I couldn't resist but to comment "but its not the reel thing" [Big Grin]

all I got in return was a smile [Smile]

Graham

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on February 06, 2007, 03:50 AM:

I'm rather with Andrew on this one. I have three video projectors but only use the most recent one now and although this is generally considered superior to the Panasonic 900 it is just a cheapo compromise and I will never again spend big money on a video projector. Some discs look very good on it and I often forget I'm watching a video. In fact, whatever I put on I enjoy anyway so that's rather academic. The point I am making is the HTI Super 8 projector is capable of superior imagery and it looks entirely natural compared to the often electronic look on budget video projectors.

I've been having Dolby Digital Super 8 film shows since the disc of 'The Fugitive' was released on region 2 early on in the life of DVD. We ran the opening sequence at the BFCC just after it was available. So video projection with digital soundtracks didn't offer anything new for some of us. Snort!

Sorry, just realized I've moved off topic here a bit... I've seen some excellent HD presentations. But I've also seen some that are so poor that the present standards are superior.

Posted by Stewart McSporran (Member # 128) on February 06, 2007, 02:28 PM:

I have never understood the attraction of these large, expensive, TVs. They're too small to really give you that cinema experience and, because they tend to be your only TV, they gradually appear smaller and smaller as you get used to watching everything on them.

The magic of projection is that it's special, it's not an everyday (for most of us) experience.

I use a Sanyo PLZ-1 (three years old now) LCD machine projecting onto a 5 foot screen. We watch it from approximately 13 feet away, so we're just at the "magic" 2.5x screen width range where the pixelation is practically invisible. I'm not rushing out to support HD; I plan on upgrading sometime this year only because the technology has moved on and the black levels of modern LCDs has improved.

If I'm totally honest then the best of my 8mm prints are sharper, (16mm speaks for itself) however most 8mm prints aren't near that quality.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on February 06, 2007, 05:47 PM:

Last weekend, I attended the demo of the best HD projector ever: the 35mm Cinemeccanica Victoria 5 - It's simply jawdropping and beats everything. Must... buy... one... [Big Grin]

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on February 07, 2007, 06:46 AM:

I'll have one too Jean-Marc. Put me on the list!

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on February 07, 2007, 07:51 AM:

I've looked around and it's hard to locate (and quite dear, in the 3500-4500 euros range) but considering that 35 prints are cheaper than the 16mm ones, this could be the begining of a beautiful friendship [Big Grin]

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