Been enjoying HD again, well - maybe not as much as the HD Evangelists would have you think but what I've been watching in HD this weekend has been well worth it.
I've been quiet lately, which usually means I've been gaming again :-) Yep. Definitely gaming again, watching a bit too much telly too. I dunno about other people but I'm not sure how interesting it is to read when people are talking about gaming, which is why I don't post that much nowadays about it.
That said though, the latest one is worth writing things about. It's called Mass Effect 2, second in what's likely to be a trilogy (with more after that probably) where you are Commander Shephard, tasked with saving the galaxy yet again. (There are games out there that aren't centered around that cliche, honest!) It's a very strong step forward on from the first game. Different can be Very Very Good. One of the All Time Greats in strategy is XCOM1 - Ufo : Enemy Unknown. On the heels of UFO came Terror From The Deep, which was XCOM1 under the sea, same game different graphics. Mass Effect 2 is definitely not Mass Effect 1 with different graphics. They've done a great job of evolving the game. It's a much better game but the good but flawed Dragon Age.
Heh heh heh - that's enough about the game, there will be plenty of reviews out there which will go orgasmic over this one.
YARR ! Six Nations championship started again this weekend. I don't watch club rugby on the telly like I do county cricket but I'm always glued to the international rugby. It's very rare that you find sport where the result is genuinely in doubt all the way to the end.
It definitely increases the excitement of watching when you don't have a clue who's going to win.
The Six Nations brings with it 4 teams who always have the potential to win it all, with a couple more who give it their best. And because it's Six Nations, they all up their game considerably. We had one fairly comfortable win for Ireland yesterday, although Italy pushed them hard. England v Wales was one of the great games, not so much for the play but definitely for the "who's going to win". One of the best things about rugby is that there's plenty of scoring opportunities, it only takes a split second for that clever break to happen to turn a game around.
And this weekend it's in HD, courtesy of BBC's coverage. I'm currently watching a bit of trench warfare with Scotland digging in against the French. Only 5 minutes in it as I type.
Ahh - HD. It is better picture quality. They're paying proper attention to giving the signal the bandwidth it needs, so the little details aren't being lost in the mush of data compression. I can see the pattern of the grass much better and I think I can see the matrix of the advertising boards. However, I'm not convinced it gives you that much more compared to normal telly definition. Certainly not enough to make me think about doing all the necessary to get Sky stuff in HD.
Besides, who cares about seeing the grass better or the ads clearer, I'm wanting to watch the game !
So - is it about possibly having more dots to the inch or is it about giving standard definition telly the bandwidth it needs ? It's like those serials where the backgrounds are all pixellated because they're not sending all of the information. I'll quite happily recognise that HD looks better but it's not "it's like you're there !" That much better.
Uhoh - it's now 15-6 to France and it's looking like the tipping point is coming ... Time to get back to the game and hope a headache disappears before a suitability interview tomorrow. Think I may be taking advantage of the half time break to get fresh milk for the Coffee IV :-)
LoL! Only being there is actually like being there! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI am a total HD convert I'm afraid. I'v had a PS3 and HD TV for awhile now and I notice the difference very much when things aren't in HD. It looks a bit fuzzy and less well defined all round. Some films I have watched in HD are like watching them again for the first time but as with all things, it's only worth it if it's something that matters to you :)
Yeah - HD genuinely looks better but I've always wondered if it's worth it enough to give in to all the hype about it ...
ReplyDeleteFallen in on a bit of a "if not broke, don't fix". That said, my dvd's look great on the new kit :-) The LCD telly makes them a lot sharper in a way CRTs can't manage. Had the new stuff for just over a month, wouldn't want to go back :-)
Looks great, I just put off by all the hype ...
Hype aside (and I never listen to hype but don't let myself be put off by it either), it does make a helluva difference. I would say for once, the hype is earned (though be careful which discs you buy if you do ever go Blu-ray as some of the prints just aren't up to it).
ReplyDeleteOne thing about better kit at home, it does tend to detract from the cinema experience.
ReplyDeleteThe screens at Vue seem a bit clapped out, especially comparing to what you see from LCD tv and a newer dvd/blu-ray player. The player makes a big difference, it improves dvds to nearly blu-ray quality ...
I won't be replacing many of my dvd's with blu-ray though, it improves dvd enough that it's not really worth it. Think it'll make my movie buying a bit cheaper though :-) Only buying blurays now so I'm getting fewer than I used to cos they cost more ...
Blu-ray quality - I was wrong with one thought, they play back at 24fps instead of putting in extra frames. Difference is probably that it has the time to show every bit of those 24fps instead of blurring between them ...
Wouldn't bother with older films in blu-ray though. If it's too old to have been shot in hi-def, why spend the extra to get detail that isn't going to be there.