Best test DVD movie.

[tweedledee]

Hi Guys, If you were going to road test a 42" LCD TV along with a sound system, what DVD movie would you take?
I'm talking just a normal DVD, not Blu-Ray. Can anyone give me 3 movies that will test the quality of picture and sound?
I was thinking LOTR the first one. Now you know what a crap choice I make, please help out.

[guns1inger]

I would play the battle from the third LOTRs to see how it handles action and movement, or perhaps the Dunkirk sequence at the beginning of Private Ryan.

[tweedledee]

or perhaps the Dunkirk sequence at the beginning of Private Ryan.

I've seen it and it's sickening, a bit like Collingwood winning a Grand Final.

[guns1inger]

Thankfully that doesn't happen often

However it is great test sequence - lots of action, lots of fine partical debris, and the high contrast bypass processing of the image gives the TV a workout. Also, you have the untreated book end sequence for comparison.

[yoda313]

My three choices:

Lord of the Rings - Return of the King (use any of the battle sequences in the middle of the movie)

Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith - Whether or not you like Star Wars you can't find a better action movie that has so much dark black sequences and intense reds with the lava action on Mustafar - plus you can't beat the THX 5.1 track with the lightsaber duels.

Twister - you may laugh at this suggestion but the DTS track is phenomenal and will literally blow away cheap amps and rock out and good ones.

There you go...

[vhelp]

TGIF everyone

There's also the Alien vs. Peditor dvd. That one has LOTS of dark scenes
in it.

I also noticed how very well they encoded the video. I was very surprised at the quality
of those dark scenes. Plus, it was a great movie, IMHO. And the soundtrack is good in it, as well.
They mixed both original (theam'like quality) soundtracks from Peditaor and Alien, in one. It was
all well done. I wish they would plan for a sequal. It's screaming for one!

-vhelp 4474

:P *~*!*~*!~* HaPpY HoLiDaYs *~*!*~*!~*

[tweedledee]

thanks for your suggestions,I'll be trying some out tomorrow.

[yoda313]

good luck.

Remember inputs!!!!!!! If this is for buying a long term high def tv get as many inputs as you can afford!! 3 hdmi inputs should be a minimum.

2 would barely work for a high def dvr and a upconverting dvd player or ps3/xbox 360 elite etc.... (you get the picure )

[VideoTechMan]

good luck.

Remember inputs!!!!!!! If this is for buying a long term high def tv get as many inputs as you can afford!! 3 hdmi inputs should be a minimum.

2 would barely work for a high def dvr and a upconverting dvd player or ps3/xbox 360 elite etc.... (you get the picure )

Or you can get a high-end AVR that has 3 and 4 HDMI inputs so that way will only have one output going to the TV.

[tweedledee]

Thanks all. I bought the LCD and took advice on HDMI inputs(2) and found that watching dvd movies was disappointing as the live TV was MUCH better.
So I have bought an upscaling dvd player from eBay and should get it after Christmas. I nearly fell over when I saw "high end AVR's " were more expensive than the TV.

[VideoTechMan]

Thanks all. I bought the LCD and took advice on HDMI inputs(2) and found that watching dvd movies was disappointing as the live TV was MUCH better.
So I have bought an upscaling dvd player from eBay and should get it after Christmas. I nearly fell over when I saw "high end AVR's " were more expensive than the TV.

Yeah the really expensive ones come from Denon and Onkyo, and weigh nearly a ton. But I have seen some really good Onkyo's under the $1K mark though that works pretty well.

An upscaling player will be a great idea...but the main thing to make sure is that both the TV and player are configured correctly so as to take advantage of the resolution. And of course to take advantage of the upscaling it would have to be outputted via HDMI anyway, as component wont do it because of protections on the commercial discs.

And, I think LOTR will be an excellent contender as even in 480p output looked mighty good on a HD set vis component.

[yoda313]

And, I think LOTR will be an excellent contender as even in 480p output looked mighty good on a HD set vis component

Nothing compares to the high def version!!!! I finally was able to record it in high def on tnt hd with my comcast hddvr. WOW!!!!!

I can't wait for it to be on hd-dvd. This is truly amazing. The depth is overwhelming and any cg elements are fantastic.

Get the digital cable or satellite package so you can get high def channels. Well worth the extra money once you have a high def tv. You'll never want to settle for sdtv again!

[VideoTechMan]

And, I think LOTR will be an excellent contender as even in 480p output looked mighty good on a HD set vis component

Nothing compares to the high def version!!!! I finally was able to record it in high def on tnt hd with my comcast hddvr. WOW!!!!!

I can't wait for it to be on hd-dvd. This is truly amazing. The depth is overwhelming and any cg elements are fantastic.

Get the digital cable or satellite package so you can get high def channels. Well worth the extra money once you have a high def tv. You'll never want to settle for sdtv again!

Not a fan of Comcast, but I do have Dish...will look into the HD package soon. I've no doubt that LOTR will look its best on HD-DVD. And when it does I will be first in line to grab it. In the meantime I am going to enjoy my existing LOTR set upscaled on my new set, once I get it set up on Christmas Day. Gonna be a blast!

[yoda313]

Oh don't get me wrong the dvds look great upconverted. It's just that the high def feed is even better.

Definitely worth looking into the hd packages - any level to get you in the door will be great. And if your a sports fan espn and fsn look outstanding

[Super Warrior]

TGIF everyone

There's also the Alien vs. Peditor dvd. That one has LOTS of dark scenes
in it.

I also noticed how very well they encoded the video. I was very surprised at the quality
of those dark scenes. Plus, it was a great movie, IMHO. And the soundtrack is good in it, as well.
They mixed both original (theam'like quality) soundtracks from Peditaor and Alien, in one. It was
all well done. I wish they would plan for a sequal. It's screaming for one!

I would think a movie with brightly lit, intense action scenes would be the ideal test DVD.

So one could be able to clearly see: picture brightness, vibrantness of colors, and or pixelation during the action, to judge encoding quality.

[tweedledee]

The upscaling dvd player that I ordered from China (eBay) 2 days ago has arrived, which I consider a major miracle in the Christmas period, so I'll test it out tonight and let you know how it goes.

Well, I tried it out with LOTR and Starwars and the difference is incredible. The picture is very sharp, and the sound is 10X better. Anyone who is thinking about getting a up-scaling dvd player should take the plunge, it's worth it.