Author Archives: Stephen Dawson

The oldest comparison yet

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I have just added a Blu-ray vs DVD comparsion of Casablanca, the oldest movie I’ve yet done (1942), here.

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Another 1080i50 movie

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Icon Film Distribution has kindly sent me another of its Blu-ray discs, the movie In Bruges. I’m pretty keen on watching this one since it scores a solid 8.1 on IMDB with 55,000+ votes. The disc is, like Miss Potter, … Continue reading →

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Yay for Eastman Color!

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My brother has drawn to my attention a truly fascinating article published (perhaps, republished) in the Journal of the National Film and Sound Archive, an Australian government body. Entitled ‘Crying in Color: How Hollywood Coped When Technicolor Died‘ (PDF). In … Continue reading →

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Shawshank moves up

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

As I mentioned the other day, Warner Bros is releasing The Shawshank Redemption on Blu-ray next month. A couple of days ago they sent me a sample. As it happens, it’s the US version in the US packaging, which we … Continue reading →

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More Bond Coming

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Yesterday Twentieth Century Fox sent me five more James Bond catalogue movie Blu-ray releases, adding to the half dozen released last year. These are due out on 18 March this year. They are: Goldfinger (1964) (perhaps the best of them … Continue reading →

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Finding Firmware Information

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In my previous post I explained why it is important for me to report what firmware version is installed in some of the devices which I am reviewing. It occurs to me that consumer electronics manufacturers will need to come … Continue reading →

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Firmware

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My five-way Blu-ray player comparison review is out in the new issue (Feb/March 2009) of Sound and Image magazine. The review covers lower cost players: the LG BD300, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, the Samsung BD-P1500, the Sharp BD-HP21X and the Sony … Continue reading →

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Star Trek goes Blu

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

Paramount Pictures has just released its Australian Blu-ray release schedule for April and May this year. And this is the first time it is a specific schedule, not just the Blu-ray titles mixed in with the DVD schedule. A couple … Continue reading →

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More Blu-ray vs DVD comparisons

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

The so-called Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Matrix have joined my Blu-ray vs DVD comparisons. The former (which I compared to the PAL Superbit DVD version) is variable in the improvement; the latter is magnificent. The Matrix was a very … Continue reading →

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The Zombie Strippers test

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

In my recent comparison of inexpensive Blu-ray players for Sound and Image magazine, I introduced a new picture quality test. Here’s how I explained it: In assessing picture quality, I made resort to a test that shall henceforth be known … Continue reading →

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