Hey, i was hoping that someone out there could let me know if they have seen a place in shanghai that is selling REAL Blu-ray discs. I recently spent alot of money upgrading my home theater system (PS3, Xbox, 42" flat screen) and was hoping to pick up a couple of blu-ray movies to "test the limits" of my system,

I've heard alot about AVCHD copies of blue ray that are actually only 720p and not true high definition, even these would be a step up over the 480i standard dvd's.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I've seen some being sold at the electronics mall (Hong Kong Bldg, I think) on Huai Hai East Rd...it was on the in-between floor (between 1st and 2nd floor). Was in an official looking Blu-Ray case, but it was selling really cheap...like RMB60...at least cheap for Blu-Ray. Selection was limited, though.

You may also want to check out the Sony Gallery on Huai Hai Middle Rd. I thought I saw a few being sold there...again the selection was limited but they displayed Blu-Ray discs with their BR players.

I just buy mine through Amazon.com.

At CNY60, I think they cannot be the real thing.. Newer techs typically cost even more here in China than US. If looks the real thing, then I can only conclude that it's a very good pirate..

Oh, I agree...that's why I didn't buy it.

You can always dowload some HD content from Sony or Microsoft online store (some of them are free). Or better you can stream HD movies from your PC (see your local pirate web site for more info).

download HD movies on xbox live. its not the cheapest method but definitely most convenient imo.

Download 1080p movies from newsgroups/torrents.

Passed by the SONY store on Huaihai Lu this weekend, and they are now offering Blu-Ray movies (the real deal). The selection is pretty thin to say the least, but they told me that it will get better a long the way (hopefully )

Price was RMB180.

Cheers

I've seen some BluRay in game stores and in some of the better DVD stores. Prices are RMB 130 to 200. If it's under RMB75, it's a 720p one. I suspect the best bet it to go to Hong Kong.

The ones in the Sony store, what is their region coding?

I'm not sure about the region coding, but probably region A since that's what they mostly sell in Hong Kong (if the movie is region coded). China is region C, but there aren't any movies produced only to work in region C yet.

A lot of Blu-Ray movies works perfectly though in all regions; A, B, C

The prices for BR movies in Hong Kong is way way to high still (don't know why really), but they go for between HK$250 to 300. Better to just order from Amazon.

Here's a link where one can check the region coding for almost every movie released on Blu-Ray so far; Blu-Ray Movie Region Coding Database List

Cheers

Believe it or not, my local Tesco near Zhenping Road has a small Blu-ray DVD setup with some Blu-ray DVDs for sale. The selection is also thin, but there are some. I don't remember the price...

the dvd store i have been going to for ages in gubei has a few bluray movies at rmb 100, the shop is on huang jin cheng dao...........

Real Blue Ray is not that impressive.

I was actually quick UNimpressed when I saw my first BluRay movie in HD. The resolution was there but there were horrible badly encoded fast moving scenes and lots of MPEG artifacts.
Predator vs Aliens.

Encoding is a bit of an art form still imho.

I'd still stick to the D9's with h264 encoded 1080p or 720p stuff. Those are RMB10, and the quality is the same or better. (They lower bitrates to fit on the dvd's, but unless you have your nose stuck to the screen you can't really tell). The better ones fit a 1080p onto 2 disks.

computersolutions wrote:Real Blue Ray is not that impressive.

I couldn't disagree more!

At least try to find a better movie then Predator vs Aliens . To start with you could go for either Batman - The Dark Knight or James Bond - Casino Royale. 2 movies with really great quality. But then agian, P vs. A is known to have a very good picture as well, so my first thought is that it was either the source or the screen who couldn't produce a good picture in the end. I mean, when it comes down to it, this is the most important thing when it comes to picture quality. It doesn't matter how good the quality of the disc is, if the hardware isn't good enough to be able to show that quality. Many screens (older ones and cheap new ones) have exactly the problems you are mentioning when it comes to fast moving scenes and lots of MPEG artifacts. Try watching a came of Hockey or any other fast moving sport in HD on a screen that has problems with fast moving scenes...

Try finding a better Plasma/LCD to watch the movie on, like for example the SONY Bravia V4800, which has a decent price. Or why not the new Pioneer Kuro display if one wants to pay a little bit extra to get that amazing Pioneer picture!

Then come back to me and tell me that the quality is better on the H264 encoded stuff.

I don't know if it's because I know what to look for (I use to work in the DVD production industry for over 3 years), but even on my landlords "so so" Philips 42" LCD, I can see a clear difference on the movies you buy here (or download) and the ones that are legit. And that's when I'm sitting about 3 meters from the screen. (to far away to really get the real effect of HD)

To really see the difference and get that WOW feeling, one should try to not sit further away then 2.5 to 3 meters from a screen that is 50".

But hey, if you don't see any difference or even think that the H264 encoded material is better, that is just great I guess. Saves you a lot of money in the end!

Cheers

Some 100RMB BluRay in my local daoban games store. They had a bunch of stuff - about 20 disks. Jiang Ning lu, down from the temple about a block.

Looks like they're all Japanese imports.

When you buy BlueRay movies you should check their reviews online too. Not all BR movies have been upgraded in quality to maximize the use of BlueRay.

jzzzzzzz wrote:Download 1080p movies from newsgroups/torrents.

ditto

DesertSpider wrote:

jzzzzzzz wrote:Download 1080p movies from newsgroups/torrents.

ditto

Seems a lot of the HD videos I can download are in mkv format. Can I play those on a PS3, xbox360, or a bluray player or would I need to convert the mkv or just avoid mkv files completely?

downloading 1080p videos via bit torrent/newsgroups is great but then how do you play those? you either load them onto a ps3/xbox360 (which is a pain basically, correct me if I'm wrong - playing HD on a 360 is a pain due to limitations intentionally built into the console) or play them on a desktop computer (or very powerful laptop) which is outputting video to the TV. neither is a very elegant solution. I only download some 1080p WMV movies which are less than 4gb so I can stream them to my 360, sadly it doesn't play MKV files.

Or you buy a popcornhour device which does play mkv files and stream them over a hardwired network

But what i don't get is how you can download several 1080p movies which are like 10 - 12 Gb - i have 4M ADSL but it literally takes me at least a week if not 2 to download one of those movies - i just can't be asked

I bought a WD HD Media Player:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=572



And it is pretty good, although it crashed when I dumped Transformers 1080p through it, it has played almost everything else with spectacular quality and no hiccups.

Edit: About 70-30% play rate for 1080p content, probably closer to 95-5% for 720p content.

I do bought some of these low cost BR's for 50RMB and the quallity is same as the real staff, as my player tells me the source format is 1080p.
I'm using an Samsung LA55A950D1M TV and the player is Pioneer BDP-LX70A.

It is possible to play MKV files on your PS3. Google MKV2VOB and you'll get a bunch of how-to's.

Noticed today that our favourite games shop has started to sell them at 40RMB.

Now I don't have a PS3 but have the TV, so is there a good local branded player that can cope with Blu ray?

there are some choices actually, reasonably priced and legitimately released by sony. amazon.cn is the best place to buy Blu ray. its just that you need a little chinese language with the online shopping. Sony china said that they do not lock the code in china for now so that means you can play BD you bought from china with any BD player. price range from 125-175.
here is the link
http://www.amazon.cn/mn/browseApp?ref=C ... eid=286105

I have tried asking this in Q&A section but not much response. It has been 6 months since the last post in this thread. Is there improvement to the bluray scene in Shanghai now? Apart from some SONY offerings at Best Buy store, i did not see any other selection anywhere else. Can anyone advise me where to get the bluray movies and concerts? Original or copied is fine i am keen in both.

Thanks in advance!

taobao.com 26 RMB

Or the 7 or 8 posts of detailed response to his question in the other thread.

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/MDForum-vi ... 8654.phtml

compsolutions wrote:Or the 7 or 8 posts of detailed response to his question in the other thread.

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/MDForum-vi ... 8654.phtml

This link doesn't work for some reason. In any case, I think the best buy selection is pretty good for bluray. There is also a shop on top of metro city in xujiahui with many Blurays. Don't bother going to Media Markt on huaihai lu. I know Media Markt from when I still lived in Holland, and there the DVD and CD selection was insane, but here in Shanghai their selection s.... ok, lets not swear, suffice to say it's not worth the few RMB for the metro to get there.
Personally I cannot be bothered with bluray here in China. just too expensive with not enough gain. However, I do have an interest in normal DVDs- legal ones. However, THAT selection seems to be excessively poor here in Shanghai. So far I found just one shop on Fuzhou Lu (I think at the crossing with Hubei Lu), east of people square, with a large selection on DVDs, some Bluray but mostly regular DVDs, all legal stuff. It's a rather large bookstore actually, with on the 5th floor (I think) a department with DVDs and CDs. Prices are same as best buy et al. This is the best one so far though.

My problem is that Chinese films are never with english subtitles here in Shanghai, and there are many chinese productions that I am interested in. Has someone found a source here in Shanghai that sells CHinese films with english subs, or will I have to pay a visit to HongKong to get some good titles?

Try taobao, find a good seller through user reviews and stick with him.