South Park...in HD?

[Burninator]

Season 12 of South Park comes out today and like most new video releases it's coming out in Blu-ray as well as DVD. Now I, like a lot of people who have HD tv and Blu-ray, have turned into a HD snob. I always try to watch the program I want to in HD, I buy all my movies now in Blu-ray. But it's South Park...it's the worst animated cartoon out there. It's like an extra 20 bucks for the Blu-ray version. Is anyone else out there getting it? Is it worth it for those who have?

[OBCT]

I don't intend to stifle discussion with these suggestions, I just think they'll help answer your questions best.

Since I'm not sure how many CPers have purchased South Park Season 12 on Blu-ray, I'll direct you to an expert who has...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1126142

Also, a couple of pages of good discussion on it here...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1096559&page=2

[3 Justin 3]

Apparently it looks really good in HD. That is what I have heard from people buying the episodes on Xbox Live.

[PsYcNeT]

If you're a videophile, do it.

If not, don't bother.

SEASON 13 starts tonight!

[Burninator]

I guess I am a videophile then.

Went out and bought the Blu-ray version. Apart from a few technical issues every once and while it looks really good. It's still South Park so you are not really missing anything than if you bought the DVD version. It's just crisper, has better colours, and is cleaner all around.

[czure32]

reviews for the Blu-ray release are very positive so far, not only that, but they are re rendering the first 11 seasons as well for high def release

Originally Posted by southparkstudios

On Wednesday March 11, 2009 at 10 pm EST South Park goes HD. We are really excited because, not only will the season premiere be in HD, but we have been working hard for over a year re-rendering previous seasons in native HD. We are not up-converting the episodes, but actually going into each episode and re-rendering every shot and frame at true HD. Check back soon for more info on the Comedy Central and South Park HD news, and the season 13 premiere.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/news/3581

guess Ill continue to hold off on buying seasons 7 and up

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Season 12 of South Park comes out today and like most new video releases it's coming out in Blu-ray as well as DVD. Now I, like a lot of people who have HD tv and Blu-ray, have turned into a HD snob. I always try to watch the program I want to in HD, I buy all my movies now in Blu-ray. But it's South Park...it's the worst animated cartoon out there. It's like an extra 20 bucks for the Blu-ray version. Is anyone else out there getting it? Is it worth it for those who have?

Sounds like you and I are are very similar. Personally I couldn't watch the dvd version knowing that there was a superior version out there. Drop the $20!

[Crispy's Critter]

Sort of on the subject, I personally have found no difference between watching upconverted dvd's on my ps3 and the blue ray discs. Could it possibly be because my tv only supports 1080i? I've also heard a true blue ray player is actually far superior to the ps3's playback capabilities. (of course I've heard that from people attempting to sell me a blue ray player, so hard to figure out if it's true or not) The only thing I insist on having at this point is widescreen format to fill my whole screen instead of being in 4:3. Should I be looking at upgrading to a tv that supports 1080p? Is there that much of a difference between interlaced and progressive?

[OBCT]

Originally Posted by Crispy's Critter

Sort of on the subject, I personally have found no difference between watching upconverted dvd's on my ps3 and the blue ray discs. Could it possibly be because my tv only supports 1080i? I've also heard a true blue ray player is actually far superior to the ps3's playback capabilities. (of course I've heard that from people attempting to sell me a blue ray player, so hard to figure out if it's true or not) The only thing I insist on having at this point is widescreen format to fill my whole screen instead of being in 4:3. Should I be looking at upgrading to a tv that supports 1080p? Is there that much of a difference between interlaced and progressive?

This thread should help. Especially post #5.

[Yeah_Baby]

I've also heard that while the sound output on PS3 can at time be meh, they're video output is actually really good.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Crispy's Critter

Sort of on the subject, I personally have found no difference between watching upconverted dvd's on my ps3 and the blue ray discs. Could it possibly be because my tv only supports 1080i? I've also heard a true blue ray player is actually far superior to the ps3's playback capabilities. (of course I've heard that from people attempting to sell me a blue ray player, so hard to figure out if it's true or not) The only thing I insist on having at this point is widescreen format to fill my whole screen instead of being in 4:3. Should I be looking at upgrading to a tv that supports 1080p? Is there that much of a difference between interlaced and progressive?

Some bluray discs are far more impressive than others. You're correct though, some blurays are just churned out and won't look a whole lot better than upconverted dvd's. A movie like Wall-e looks pant crappingly great, while something from a few years ago may not have the same wow factor. I doubt what your seeing has anything to do with 1080i.

As far as bluray players go, the ps3 is an excellent one. Up until a little while ago you could argue it was among the best. I don't think you'll get a better picture out of a dedicated player, but I have nothing to back that up. From what I've heard the big differences with new players is the load times (which I think the ps3 does a fine job of).

Keep in mind many movies will always be letterboxed regardless of bluray or tv. Many movies are shot in such a way that will still display bars at the top and bottom of the screen. The Dark Knight is a good example of this, where the movie was shot in two different ways. Most of the movie is standard but certain special scenes were shot with imax cameras to maximize the effect when viewed on an imax screen. When watching the bluray most of the movie will be letterboxed while sweeping city scapes and one flyover scene in Asia will take up the whole screen.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Russic

The Dark Knight...When watching the bluray most of the movie will be letterboxed while sweeping city scapes and one flyover scene in Asia will take up the whole screen.

and they look

looks pant crappingly great

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

If you're a videophile, do it.

If not, don't bother.

SEASON 13 starts tonight!

Is it uncensored for the Americans too like it is for Canadians? I know we get the new ones on Friday, and the US gets 'em on Wednesday. Can't wait nonetheless, will be torrenting it right away. It has the Jonas Brothers, and I can't wait how bad they make fun of them.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Russic

Sounds like you and I are are very similar. Personally I couldn't watch the dvd version knowing that there was a superior version out there. Drop the $20!

We are definitely the same. The only thing I haven't done yet is gone out and bought the Blu-ray discs of the DVDs that I already own. Considering the price of Blu-rays (although they are coming down) I can't justify it, especially older movies. If I could get a decent dollar or trade in value for my DVDs I would probably do it. But for now any new movie I want I am just waiting for the Blu-ray realease.

[Crispy's Critter]

thanks for the replies. I guess the next question would be if I'm losing definition because my tv is DLP. My buddy just bought a Sony LCD and a bluray player, and even his old dvd's seem to look a lot better than they would on my tv. Of course it's hard to tell without having them side by side, but his upconverting seems better. Could also be that his tv is viewed at about half the distance mine is, so maybe my crappy eyesight just might be picking up more detail on his.

BTW, sorry to derail the thread, but to get back on track; I have season 12 on DVD, and probably wouldn't notice any difference if it was on bluray, so won't be getting the bluray version

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Crispy's Critter

Sort of on the subject, I personally have found no difference between watching upconverted dvd's on my ps3 and the blue ray discs. Could it possibly be because my tv only supports 1080i? I've also heard a true blue ray player is actually far superior to the ps3's playback capabilities. (of course I've heard that from people attempting to sell me a blue ray player, so hard to figure out if it's true or not) The only thing I insist on having at this point is widescreen format to fill my whole screen instead of being in 4:3. Should I be looking at upgrading to a tv that supports 1080p? Is there that much of a difference between interlaced and progressive?

I can only speak from my experience, and I own an older Sony 42" Plasma that is only 1080i and I am using a Samsung blu-ray player. And I would say it looks pretty pants crappingly great. Obviously it depends on the source material. I have some Blu-rays from older movies (2001 A Space Odyssey, Terminator, The Shining etc.) and they look good, but they don't look like the Dark Knight, but that's to be expected. They are the best quality of those movies that I have ever seen bar none and they look much better than an upconverted DVD IMO.

[Crispy's Critter]

Originally Posted by Burninator

We are definitely the same. The only thing I haven't done yet is gone out and bought the Blu-ray discs of the DVDs that I already own. Considering the price of Blu-rays (although they are coming down) I can't justify it, especially older movies. If I could get a decent dollar or trade in value for my DVDs I would probably do it. But for now any new movie I want I am just waiting for the Blu-ray realease.

If you have a lot of older movies (ie over a few years old) it probably isn't worth it to switch over. I have Life of Brian on both dvd and Bluray, and the bluray version looks even grainier than the dvd, as it seems to have picked up all the imperfections and magnified them. It could be that some movies are just reformatted for br without being cleaned up to just make a quick buck too, maybe that is one of them. I just don't trust any company's ability to actually fix up a movie not shot in HD in the first place to be the same quality as one shot in native HD.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Russic

A movie like Wall-e looks pant crappingly great,

I think one day I'll end up picking up that movie. It was really quite a good movie. I was actually very impressed. But it's one of the most expensive Blu-rays out there. I think the cheapest I've seen is $32.99. Oh how I miss the days when the dollar was higher and orders from amazon.com were feasible.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I think one day I'll end up picking up that movie. It was really quite a good movie. I was actually very impressed. But it's one of the most expensive Blu-rays out there. I think the cheapest I've seen is $32.99. Oh how I miss the days when the dollar was higher and orders from amazon.com were feasible.

That's actually where I got my copy. Even with our weakened dollar it only comes to $24 (compared to $33 at futureshop). You just have to buy several at one time so the shipping charge doesn't make as much an impact.

[Hack&Lube]

If South Park was still actually done with paper cutouts instead of on computer and the definition was so great that I could see paper texture and glue...maybe it would be worth it.

The problem with high-def is that there is almost nothing out there that I really care to watch in so much detail. Maybe a very artistic and depth detailed movie like Blade Runner but I really can't think of anything I need to watch in HD.