WMV HD IMAX Speed

Subjective Review of Program Content:

This is a two-disc set. Disc 1 features 16 x 9 and 4 x 3 versions of Speed. Disc 2 features WMV HD in 720p and 1080p high-definition formats -- WMV HD material is only playable on computers running the Windows XP operating system

We've always liked IMAX films but the ones made by MacGillivray Freeman Film seem to be consistently among the best produced. If you need proof of this studio's track record, check out their web site. Speed is no exception. It begins with a Kubrick-like 'dawn of man' or "Prehistoric Speed" sequence demonstrating the slow 'speed of man'. It then moves up in orders of magnitudes of velocity ("Speed"), showing incredible wide-angle views of racing bicycles, vintage and racing automobiles, supersonic aircrafts, and finally ending with another Kubrick/2001-like speed-of-light 'ultimate trip' sequence. The entire film is narrated with a light-hearted tone, which is basically the general tone of the film.

Extras/Bonus Features:

Disc 1, the regular (non-HD) DVD, has a neat, but poor-video-quality 7-minute documentary of MacGillivray Freeman Films titled "MFF History". The documentary shows scenes from myriad MFF's films as well as the technology behind the scenes. This segment is not featured on the WMV HD. Also on this disc, there are trailers for other MFF DVDs. Finally, there is also a Movie Trivia Quiz.

The Special Features section of Disc 2, the WMV HD, also features trailers of other WMV HD IMAX titles which were available at the time this disc was produced. However, the trailer selection is not limited to MFF-only titles, as is Disc 1. There are also web links to Microsoft and MFF sites.

Video Presentation and Quality:

Disc 1: Contains both 16 x 9 (anamorphic) and 4 x 3 presentation. The 4 x 3 frame is cropped on both sides of the frame. It's difficult to tell, however, which version actually wound up in IMAX theaters -- if any of these choices were used at all. IMAX ratio is traditionally 4 x 3.

Disc 2: Wow! Both the 720p and the 1080p presentations blow anything on Disc 1 out of the water. The differences are dramatic. Be warned: in order to play 1080p, you really do need a fast computer with lots of RAM, a good video card and a 24/96 sound card. See Microsoft's WMV HD site for details. Don't worry too much if your current computer can't run the 1080p because even the 720p version will be revelation. By the way, Speed, in WMV HD is not presented anamorphically, but I think this option would allow even greater resolution on 4:3 monitors performing a voltage-based squeeze.

Audio Quality:

Disc 1 features Dolby Digital and DTS, both of which sound very good: focused and relatively uncompressed.

Disc 2 features WMV HD sound, the exactly details of which are a bit of a mystery...uh, Microsoft...sigh. Listening to the 720p version's sound did not proved to be significantly superior to the DD/DTS presentations. The 1080p sound was noticeably better than DD/DTS and 720p. This fact is concurred by the Requirements for the 1080p presentation: the use of a 24bit/96kHz sound card. It's weird, given that the 1080p format requires significantly more processing (i.e. processor use), that the audio has been simultaneously pumped up to a pretty-high-rez format. This is a lot of number crunching!

Conclusions:

Whatever you think about Microsoft, they seem to have a winner here. Yeah, yeah...they almost certainly acquired the technology from a third party... through wheeling and dealing -- just like Internet Explorer and many other "MS programs". Still, MS has the money to promote this technology ... and it's a much better idea than D-VHS -- in terms of convenience, anyway. WMV DVD seems to be a solid derivative of HD DVD format, the Toshiba / AOL-Time-Warner technology formally adopted by the DVD Forum.

In terms of WMV HD playback in general, the ad hoc Windows Media Player activated when playing back WMV HD programs -- lacks many features found on software DVD players. For example, memory stop, programmability, audio and video tweaking, etc. In other words, you can't do a lot with the WMV HD player. We have yet to look into other players that are purported to also play back WMV HD discs. InterVideo's WinDVD 6 is supposed to be compatible. Nevertheless, when we tried to bring up an WMV HD disc in this player, it simply brought the ad hoc Windows Media Player back up.

Despite whatever HD optical-disc ends up winning (i.e. Blu-Ray or HD-DVD), Speed in WMV HD is here today and definitely qualifies as high definition. We at better-price.com wanted our first video review to be something special ... and this title certainly qualifies: in terms of quality filmmaking, audio/video playback quality, and as an intro to the exciting, new world of HD. It's a winner.