Why proper Blu-rays are amazing

JeganRX

JeganRX

Well-known member
http://comparescreenshots.slicx.com/comparison/68257/picture:0

To take an excerpt from The Digital Bits on this:

All right... now for that awesome Gladiator news. If you've been reading any of the A/V enthusiast forums in the last 24 hours or so, you may now be aware that Universal has just released the new remastered Gladiator Blu-ray in Holland. Fans will know that the previous U.S. Blu-ray release - a DreamWorks title distributed by Paramount, with elements provided by Universal - featured a (shall we say) somewhat disappointing and recycled high-def transfer. Let me rephrase that: It was an extremely disappointing transfer. Well... the good news is that a brand new 4K transfer of the film was done several months ago with fresh elements, and the title has been re-authored to include it. It's this new transfer that's now available on Blu-ray in Europe, and early word is it's spectacular. Here's a link to a good online screenshot comparison of the new and old Blu-rays. (The first image that appears is the old Blu-ray - roll your cursor over it to see the same shot on the new Blu-ray). As expected, the difference is pretty shocking. You see? There IS a real quality difference when a studio spends a little extra money on the A/V presentation of a Blu-ray to get it right.
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I applaud Paramount/Dreamworks/Universal/everyone involved in this move. Having went Blu-Ray at the beginning of the year, I've really come to appreciate the format (especially for older films). I believe this will be the last of the consumer optical disc media, but it's definitely going out with a bang.

Now, for archiving, I'm anxious to see how mainstream the quad-layer 100GB discs go.
 
It seems impossible that one grade and master could be so different to another. To me, it looks like someone just dropped MB Buffalo at about 50% onto the whole thing.

Obviously, someone lavished some attention on this - I guess someone was really watching the digital master or actually looked at the release prints?
 
Erik Olson said:
It seems impossible that one grade and master could be so different to another. To me, it looks like someone just dropped MB Buffalo at about 50% onto the whole thing.

Obviously, someone lavished some attention on this - I guess someone was really watching the digital master or actually looked at the release prints?
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The US Blu-ray was based on the original Gladiator transfer that was made *years* ago when the film was released on DVD. The extended scenes that later came on DVD a few years ago had a slightly newer, but still better transfer; the extended scenes do indeed look better in the US BD than the general footage, but this new Euro BD blows it all away with a 4k transfer.
 
You know, I have a DVD copy of Once Upon a Time in the West whose clarity, color reproduction and overall beauty-of-image are so great that I *still* look the box over when I watch it, just to be sure that it isn't a blu-ray that I somehow mistook for a DVD.

Of course specs-on-paper count for what they count for, but the individual transfer determines a great deal more.
 
Sad Max said:
You know, I have a DVD copy of Once Upon a Time in the West whose clarity, color reproduction and overall beauty-of-image are so great that I *still* look the box over when I watch it, just to be sure that it isn't a blu-ray that I somehow mistook for a DVD.

Of course specs-on-paper count for what they count for, but the individual transfer determines a great deal more.
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Some DVD transfers are simply stellar, from really pristine HD masters. Star Wars has had excellent DVD treatment - as would be expected - and it makes me salivate over what the eventual BDs hold. HDTV broadcasts just don't do it justice.
 
Wait a minute - is there a DVD (or blu-ray) release of Star Wars in its original, un-butchered form available, that actually looks good? The only 'original cut' DVD I was aware of is a laserdisc-setup transfer that is really not too good...
 
Sad Max said:
Wait a minute - is there a DVD (or blu-ray) release of Star Wars in its original, un-butchered form available, that actually looks good? The only 'original cut' DVD I was aware of is a laserdisc-setup transfer that is really not too good...
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No... Lucas claims that he ordered all prints of the original to be destroyed, but I simply don't believe this, as it would be terrible practice to remove the negatives as well. Because of this, or at the very least because of Lucas' stubbornness, we have not seen a new transfer of the untouched Trilogy. The DVD "bonus" that came with the individual releases back in 2006 are based off a 1993 non-anamorphic transfer for LaserDisc. It has reportedly been cleaned up a little bit, but it's still what it is.
 
Sad Max said:
And a bluish cast tends to create a perception of reduced sharpness.
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But to my eyes, the shot with the bluish cast looks even a little bit sharper in some ways (though not overall, more in not losing detail to uniformity of color), and no one has the gin blossoms in it.

Also, it looks like the new transfer has a bit of a push-in, if the screen shot is accurate.
 
subtleinspiration said:
The DVD releases of Star Wars (not the "originals") suffer from a bluish tint that shouldn't be there.
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I chalk this (and other recent remastered transfers) up to contemporary standards. It seems to be the modern color trend, even with older films, to go cooler overall, though there's also a number of shots in the new SW transfers that are much warmer.
 
RX782 said:
No... Lucas claims that he ordered all prints of the original to be destroyed, but I simply don't believe this, as it would be terrible practice to remove the negatives as well. Because of this, or at the very least because of Lucas' stubbornness, we have not seen a new transfer of the untouched Trilogy. The DVD "bonus" that came with the individual releases back in 2006 are based off a 1993 non-anamorphic transfer for LaserDisc. It has reportedly been cleaned up a little bit, but it's still what it is.
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Well, unless George has a codicil in his will enjoining his successors and assigns from ever allowing anyone to again see the original version of the film - which, come to think of it is precisely what I would expect of him - maybe we can hope to see the work in its original form again after he has left for that great edit bay in the sky...
 
Avatar is the gold standard of blu-rays right now. Flawless. What annoys me is when they do digital noise reduction to eliminate grain in older films. Things end up looking waxy and fake. I prefer to see my old films grain and all. The best older film transfers I've seen lately are Goldfinger and From Russia With Love. There is a light, natural grain but way more detail in the image than I thought possible.
 
RX782 said:
I chalk this (and other recent remastered transfers) up to contemporary standards. It seems to be the modern color trend, even with older films, to go cooler overall.
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And this should not be done unless the filmmaker(s) give(s) assent. There's nothing about transferring to a delivery medium which necessitates it. It should not be taken as an opportunity to alter the film.

The 'bits would surely agree with this, given their long-standing championing of "director's intent."
 
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