Movie Blurays: Pros and Cons

Yes, I understand your disappointment. I would never claim the TOS movie BD transfers are on a par with say, Avatar, or Iron Man 2 - which I recently imported from the States. These types of disc are "system demo" material - indeed, the one and only reason I bought Avatar is for that very purpose!

Screencaps are useful, but I've often found a "real world" comparison is much more so. On my system, the DVD's are pretty much slaughtered, as I say - despite the shortcomings of the BD's.

This is Star Trek we're talking about, I doubt these versions will the final/only BD releases from Paramount!!!

 

Those James Bond restorations aren't very good. They're washed out. It takes time and money and technology and computing power to do a good one. The Wizard of Oz one is quite good.

 

The Bond restorations are variable, I don't have all of them, but for example; Dr. No is stunning with an incredible level of detail and a very filmic qaulity - amazing a movie that old could look so good.

By contrast, The World Is Not Enough is not so good. The image is far softer than I'd have expected for a recent film. You mentioned edge enhancement upthread, and I feel you can see a over zealous application of it on this disc - along with DNR.

Go figure, Dr. No, 48 years old is a spanking transfer, and Thw World Is Not Enough, 11 years old is very average!

 

I bought the boxed-original series set and I watched all the films over the course of 6 nights and I can't exactly remember since its been so long since I watched them but if memory serves it seemed like TUC was the one that I was least satisfied with but overall the set looked great-a definite improvement over the DVD versions. I hate buying individual films when its generally cheaper to get the entire series of films. I am going to get TNG set later as well.

 

I actually thought The Undiscovered Country was the most improved one in the box set. Enjoyed getting it in its' original aspect ratio instead of it being cropped to 16:9 like the DVD Special Edition. The Voyage Home was the one that I found to have the least improved picture quality over its' DVD counterpart. YMMV.

 

You won't be disappointed with the TNG set. The films look better than ever!

 

i think they should do some edge sharpening with ST2

 

If they did that, you better get used to waxy looking actors.

 

It says on one review, that they edge sharpened, on ST4, then applied noise reduction, to result in the waxy effect. ST4 is so weird. Almost film, then blurring like video. Sharp at the edges, but no wrinkles or spots.

I'll buy 'em. and they will probably rerelease em sometime. It takes time and effort and human attention and they should source from film. Wizard of Oz took months.

 

Edge Enhancement does not cause waxiness, over zealous application of Digital Noise Reduction does. When both are done badly, poor transfers can result. When done skillfully, the results are remarkable - see James Cameron's Aliens on BD for proof.

I say again, the TOS movie Blu-ray's are easily, hands down, the best way to see/hear those films on home video today.

 

I agree with LOKAI, I love the the TOS movie Blu set and it is above DVD PQ .....way above.

 

No, they're not. They could have sourced from film and spent a few months over it. I'll still buy them.

 

I think Lokai is referring to what is currently available on home video (which he is right). Obviously there will always be better versions down the road until we get 8K resolution at home. Which is probably a while off.

 

Correct. Edge Enhancement creates an artificial sharp edge around objects (the illusion of sharpness), and at its worst, it creates haloes.

Doug

 

Yes, yes they are.

 

They're just very good examples of what is the maximum that can be done with standard video, at the moment. When the actors move, they blur like video and give themselves away.

Source from film, I say.

 

Look, I'm not sure whether you've actually read my previous posts - so I'll say it again. I am not claiming the TOS movie BD's are on a par with best transfers out there - like Avatar, which I mentioned before. Again, I am simply stating they are far and away the best option to see/hear these films on home video as of right now 14:02, Tuesday 02nd November 2010. I mean much better, yes, MUCH better than all previous releases on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD.

I don't know what equipment you're using - or if you've set it up properly, but I suggest you calibrate the screen you have and pop in your DVD and BD. Do a side by side comparison using HDMI and the same screen set-up.

I don't know where the transfers were sourced from, so I'm not going to dispute what you're saying - but in the real world, actually watching on my home cinema system, the BD's look way, way, better than their cruddy DVD counterparts, I'm sorry if this isn't palatable to you. I'm not trying to get personal, but the BD's kick the DVD's ass whatever their route to production - that's simply how it is.

 

It's no use arguing with Cheapjack. He's been posting the same nonsense since the BDs came out. I just ignore him now.

Doug

 

Going on what I've seen on the TrekCore site, which I'm looking at on a Imac 21 inch, they look great. But they should always source from film, where possible. it's dead obvious they're video sourced. They blur. The eyes are pixellated.

 

I think he means that they're the best way that exists.

Noone is suggesting that they're the end-all be-all of HD transfers both now and in the future.