LATEST ADDITIONS

In one significant way, the Blu-ray Disc format got off to an even more inauspicious start than the rival HD DVD format. <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/706dsamsungbd/">Samsung's BD-P1000</A> player was the first, and for months, the only BD player on the market. It had shipped with a Noise Reduction circuit cranked up to 11, softening the picture substantially and actually increasing the noise in the image by several orders of magnitude. On top of that, many BD titles released over the last several months have been surprisingly variable in image quality, even compared with broadcast HD. In short, a lot of the BD titles released so far just don't look very good.

Batman Begins (Warner; Movie ••••, HD DVD Picture •••^½, Sound ••••, Original Extras •••, New Extras •^½). Batman Begins is the first disc I've heard with a Dolby TrueHD lossless soundtrack, and it does approach what you hear in a theater.