HD-DVD has been mopping the floor with Blu-Ray when it comes to image quality and audio support. At launch last year, the HD-DVD title lineup was strong as key titles such as The Chronicles of Riddick and Serenity lead the way in the image quality department (thanks to the codec used to encode the content, VC-1). The Blu-Ray camp got off to an awful start with the use of MPEG2 (poor image quality), lack of support for TrueHD Audio and 25GB Blu-Ray disks instead of 50GB disks (launched later in the year). Audio support is another strong suit for HD-DVD as TrueHD support has proven very successful in terms of enthusiast acceptance by way of Constantine, Batman Begins and V for Vendetta (the best TrueHD example to date) to name a few.

Later in the year Sony redefined the MPEG2 bitrate used to encode Blu-Ray movies by asking studios to start encoding at well over 20 Mbps. Kingdom of Heaven was one of the first titles released using the new higher bitrates Sony suggested. Kingdom of Heaven is encoded at an average of 24 Mbps and the end result is an improvement over previous Blu-Ray releases. In addition to asking studios to increase the bitrate used for MPEG2 encoding they also asked some studios to try using MPEG4 AVC (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD support the same 3 codecs: MPEG2, MPEG4 AVC and VC-1) as a means to combat the superior VC-1 codec. XMEN: The Last Stand (encoded at 18 Mbps average) is one of the first titles to use the MPEG4 AVC codec, therefore our first Head to Head review will feature “The Chronicles of Riddick (VC-1 encoded)” vs. “XMEN: The Last Stand (MPEG4 AVC encoded)”.

The test environment will consist of a Windows XP Media Center 2005 SP2 System (my system) using PowerDVD 7.1 HD with the following hardware (hardware review using home players will come at a later date):

MSI K8N Neo 4 SLI
AMD 4600+
2GB PC3200 (400 MHZ) in Dual Channel mode
ATI X1900XT using Catalyst 7.2 drivers (the latest at time of testing)
Creative X-FI Elite Pro
Olevia 27” HDTV LCD (DVI to ATI X1900XT) – Resolution is currently set to 1280 x 720 (720p)
XBOX 360 HD-DVD Drive
Panasonic SW-5582 Blu-Ray ROM/Burner
Movies are stored on a 500GB Hitachi Enterprise SATA Drive

All unnecessary applications have been terminated so no adverse affect on performance will occur during the test process.

I had planned on conducting the tests with playback from the respective drives for each format but for some strange reason Blu-Ray playback directly from the drive was very poor (sluggish performance). Playback of the movie from the hard drive worked without issue. After some troubleshooting I have determined that the problem is between the drive and the NFORCE 4 based IDE support included in the chipset. I have already forward this issue to the appropriate folks. To keep the comparison as fair as possible, both movies will be played back from hard drive.


Visual Showdown


XMEN: The Last Stand is a very mixed bag when it comes to image quality. The opening scene with the XMEN practicing in what appears to be some kind of “Holodeck” (called the Danger Room) is very noisy (and I mean noisy). Artifacts and grain/snow is everywhere and considering that the battle is taking place at night time makes the noise even more apparent. Scott’s visit to Alkali Lake where Jean died is also noisy and suffers from a total lack of color. The trees are the dullest shade of green that I have witnessed in any HD movie (HD-DVD or Blu-Ray). Even the water lacks the usual “wow” element as the artifacts and posterization kills the usual eye-candy but when Jean returns from the dead to surprise Scott her “hair” is a vibrant shade of “red” that looks fabulous (one of the best scenes in the movie). Another great visual scene in the movie is when Kitty Pryde and Bobby/Iceman are Ice Skating at the Xavier Institute in the evening. The scene is almost free of noise and the flowers on the bushes/shrubs have excellent hues which is very rare in this movie. One of my first “wow” moments!

The last of the good scenes consists of Magneto relocating the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz where the final showdown occurs. The level of detail present during this scene blurs the line between special effects and realism. The scene was pretty much free of any distractions such as noise and artifacts which allowed the detail in the Golden Gate Bridge and the surrounding environment to really stand out. Unfortunately more bad scenes exist then good scenes in the movie. The final showdown is fought at night and with the return of the noise, much was left to be desired.


The Chronicles of Riddick is nearly as good on the PC as it is on the Toshiba HD-DVD Player or 360 HD-DVD Drive connected to the 360. The opening scene with the Lord Marshall activating the Necromonger weapon is as sharp as ever. The level of detail in his armor is staggering to say the least. Riddick running from Tombs on the Iceplanet (UV6) is also stunning as the planet illuminates a purple tint from the Ultra Violet light reflecting off of the planets surface and the usual facial details (imperfections, pores, etc) of Tombs and his crew is right on the money. Even a friend that stopped by while I was viewing (and knows nothing about this stuff) noticed the extreme detail inside of Tomb’s ship. As with before, sweat and water both look outstanding resulting in the “larger than life” feeling while watching. When Riddick and company are running for the Volcano Fields on Crematoria the falling ash has the look of fallen show as you can see the ash become entangled in their hair and the hardened lava is glossy with a deep color of black that adds a ton of creditability to the special effects. The final battle on Crematoria in the face of the rising run is spectacular as the sweat on Riddick looks authentic and incredibility shiny along with the extreme details of the burned out valley which is noticeable in every single scene leaving you with the illusion that Crematoria actually does exist somewhere. The only bad thing I can say about this movie running on the PC is that a “tad bit” of noise is present from time to time. The noise is not a huge factor nor is it distracting but the noise is not present when viewing via the Toshiba HD-DVD Player or 360 Drive connected to the 360. The difference is merely hardware vs. software. The problem with XMEN is more severe as the noise is too great to be accepted as normal behavior for a software Blu-Ray player.


Audio Showdown


XMEN: The Last Stand supports DTS HD and Dolby Digital 5.1. Riddick supports Dolby Digital Plus. The DTS HD (lossless audio) soundtrack for XMEN is pretty good. The bass levels are a little lower then I prefer which lead to heavy bass at times but the center channel is solid (clean and sharp) along with most of the mid and full range sounds generated during the action sequences. Riddick’s Dolby Digital Plus support is also very good. The bass levels are well balanced, the center channel volume is pleasant and the full range sound is beyond average for Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks.


Final Thoughts


To wrap up this review, XMEN: The Last Stand is decent but comes NOWHERE close to Riddick on any real level. The lack of consistent image quality throughout the movie is disturbing while the audio is acceptable and comparable to that of Riddick. The level of noise in XMEN is inexcusable and leaves much to be desired. It is a real shame FOX has decided to side with Blu-Ray instead of supporting HD-DVD or supporting both formats. XMEN could have benefited from the use of the VC-1 codec in a huge way.

Next up is Beerfest HD-DVD vs Beerfest Blu-Ray.... Stay Tuned..

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