HD-A35 DVD and HD DVD Viewing Tests

Transformers HD DVD

One word describes this film in full 1080p/24. Beautiful! From the detail on the cars to the texture of the actors' skin, it's just simply beautiful! I can't say just how pleased I am with how everything looks on this movie. I can say that the sound is not quite as perfect, however. I used the Denon 3808ci to decode the Dolby Digital Plus sound track, and it was lacking a little in the bass department. As mentioned earlier, setting the dynamic compression to Off helps out, as well as a configuring the crossover levels correctly. All in all, I'd say the A35 is doing its job however, and only the original disc was at fault for improper sound mixing.

TMNT HD DVD

Computer animated movies can really show off the power of HD video, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are no exception. The graphics in this movie have a semi-realistic feel to them, and it really draws the viewer in when displayed in full 1080p/24. Along with the nearly three dimensional video, the audio was equally exquisite. The Dolby TrueHD audio track provided very detailed sound effects and excellent localization. Even with my eyes closed, I could clearly hear where the turtles were supposed to be in their virtual landscape. The A35 was doing a great job with this film!

Disturbia HD DVD

This film is a mix of comedy, teen romance, drama, and thriller, all in one. Not knowing what to expect, I sat down with the wife and we were instantly transported into the film. The video detail was again virtually perfect, and the Toshiba did a great job with the 24hz frame rate. Even though the disc only had a Dolby Digital Plus audio track, it seemed very good and the voices were clear with excellent sound detail. At one point, a doorbell rang in the movie and it almost seemed like it was my doorbell upstairs, so it was very convincing. After the movie, I had to check out some of the special features, but became a little upset when "The making of Disturbia" wasn't in 24p. Once again the A35 failed to change automatically out of 24p mode, and began to drop frames. It was very frustrating to know that if I really wanted to watch the extra content properly, that I had to eject the disc, go and select 1080p, put the disc back in, wait for it to load, then find the extras again. So, I didn't. I just sat and watched it with the dropping frames. Next time, I may not even bother with the extra content. Can this be fixed in firmware? I hope so!

Casablanca HD DVD

What's this? A black and white, 4:3 movie with a mono Dolby Digital Plus sound track? Yep, that's right! And I can honestly say that the video was very sharp, very clean, and the sound as good as possible for a film made the same year my parents were born. The video was so good, in fact, that even the smoke in various scenes seemed nearly 3D. The center channel was the only speaker active, so the audio stream that was being sent to the receiver was decoded properly. Also, there was no frame skipping of any kind, even though I was in 24p mode. I wish there was something on the display that would show me what video mode the source is encoded in. Oh well.

Nacho Libre DVD

As a low key, gag based movie with Jack Black, it's pretty safe for the younger kids and it's fun to watch as a family. That is, unless your kids start jumping around and tacking each other when they pretend to become their favorite Lucador. In any case, this DVD was upconverted by the player, and I almost thought I was watching an HD version. Very few standard DVDs seem this clear, and I was very impressed by the player's performance here. Again, no skipping even though I was in 24p, and the sound was excellent as well. There was one drawback, however. While using the menus, on certain sub-menus, the selected item icon wouldn't move. Well, I should say that even though you couldn't see it move, the selection was still moving and could be selected. It was kind of a guessing game to select some of the extra features. I discovered that if I put the player back in normal 1080p, that the menus all worked again. Also, the extra content had frame skipping, as it wasn't in a native 24p. This was also remedied by changing the output mode in the setup. What a pain!

Robots DVD

This was the second title I found that had a broken menu system when used in 24p mode. However, once the guessing was over, and I selected the DTS audio track and started the movie, I was as happy as the tin man after he found his heart! The video was clean and the sound very good. Again, no frame skipping on the main movie and the details and textures were very clear. I am perfectly happy with the upconversion process on the A35 as long as I am watching native 24p content.

House of the Dead DVD

If you aren't familiar with the infamous Uwe Boll and his first big movie, then you should run out and find a copy to watch. You'll either love it or hate it! Either way, you'll have some form or entertainment. I chose this particular movie to watch as it is one of the few titles I own that has a DTS ES Discrete 6.1 audio track. Once again, the A35 didn't fail me and output this underutilized sound format perfectly. Of course, the video looked good for an upconvert, and I could even tell when they zoomed in on the video as some scenes looked digitally enlarged by the movie editor. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but when they started in on the scenes that spin around the actors and the footage of the original House of the Dead video game, I forgot and just enjoyed the action. Yes, I am a video gamer, so stop making fun of me. Make fun of Uwe, if you must!