Lyris Lite :: Silent Hill - German HD DVD (and BD) is excellent!

Why am I so excited for this release? Well, for a start, I loved the film and thought it was one of the best game-to-movie adaptations I'd ever seen. Second, when I watched the American Blu-ray Disc version from Sony, I was delighted at how detailed the video transfer was - despite the MPEG-2 compression flaws. In other words, the BD version was so detailed (for the most part) that I could forgive the blocking that appeared due to the outdated video compression on show.

So, when it emerged that Concorde in Germany were to make an HD DVD and BD release using the nice shiny VC-1 codec - which generally avoids compression flaws for the most part, if it's used properly - I was delighted. I wasn't let down, because the German HD DVD of SILENT HILL looks wonderful. I haven't watched it through yet, but this is going to be one of those rare-for-me 10/10 video transfers. The film grain, and consequently, all of the detail, by the looks of it, has been left totally unmangled, and the compression is wonderfully handled. Have a look at this comparison of a particularly bad frame from the mostly-good-but-flawed MPEG2 version, and compare it to the out-of-this-world-good VC-1 German version.

This is the MPEG-2 version at its worst - the first frame of a new scene. The ugly block pattern clears up considerably in the next few frames.

Don't get me wrong - the MPEG2 BD version is still a good looking disc thanks to its level of detail. But this has made for a very interesting comparison between the two codecs which does make you wonder how Sony had the nerve to claim that MPEG2 was superior in the first place - superior for saving money, perhaps...

whats the secret in ordering from amazon germany?

plus is there any customs concerns?

keep the magic up

You can use your Amazon.co.uk account (or .com, or .fr, as they're all tied together) for Amazon.de, and the layout for ordering is pretty much identical to the other sites, so you can use an English language one as a guide. There should be no customs charge if you live in the UK, since we're part of the EU.

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