Number 1 thing :) about The Thing – the aspect ratio is marked on the packaging and the disk as 1.85:1. This was a serious worry to me. Happily the film is in the correct AR – CinemaScope (2.35:1) – don’t let the labeling on the disk fool you. It has not been cropped. Nice detail and colors, not muted or soft, not over-processed. Very little noise in the image. Soundtrack is very good. I have watched the Collectors Edition many times, and the HD-DVD version is well worth the cost. Looks like it might have the same commentary track with Russell and Carpenter, and the same “Making of” – nothing new there are far as I can tell, but I have not watched the extras yet.

I just ordered this along with Corpse Bride using Google checkout at Bestprices.com

Agreed, excellent disc for a terrific movie!

the thing is fantastic!! just quickly scanned through chapters and this is one good looking disc.

Oh thank God!

It's correct OAR and decent enough looking, but I wouldn't put it into tier 1 that's for sure. The extras are the same from what I recall from the DVD and comparing the jackets.

I watched this HD DVD last night (got it from Netflix):

the difference over the SD disc is impressive: so much more detail and better PQ

How does the picture and sound quality compare to the collector's edition standard DVD? I know it has the same extras...

The very first DVD I bought back in '99 was The Thing (the nonanamorphic version).

I just scanned through it last night. The good news is that yes, it's much better than either SD version. Much more detail and depth. The bad news is that it's not a Tier 1 release. The Thing is one of my favorite films of all time and I've seen it at least a dozen times, probably more. I can't help but be a little dissapointed that it's not a reference disc, or even really close to one, but on the other hand I love having it in HD and the quality is good.

Damn, my local stores didn't have this movie. :(

I'll have to go HD DVD hunting yet again this week. :p

I watched this HD DVD last night (got it from Netflix):

the difference over the SD disc is impressive: so much more detail and better PQ

I agree! I watched "The Thing" last night, and thought the PQ was very sharp and detailed. I always thought the standard version had too much of a muddy orangy look to it. In fact, I never noticed the character "Doc" wearing a nose ring before, now that's what high definition is all about! :)

So, is this the first HD-DVD with the wrong aspect ratio on the packaging? I'm not aware of any others.

Looks like it might have the same commentary track with Russell and Carpenter, and the same “Making of” – nothing new there are far as I can tell, but I have not watched the extras yet.

"The Thing" commentary is my favorite part of this disc, because it's a fun commentary for a very scarey movie. Russell's constant giggling cracks me up every time. :)

..The packaging is unfortunately of a new weak material with a troublesome snapper construction... :mad:

This movie has exceptional PQ for a 20+ year old film. Excellent transfer.

Terrific detail for a movie with many dimly lit scenes.

I rate it a Tier 2 movie.

..The packaging is unfortunately of a new weak material with a troublesome snapper construction... :mad:

Yeah, down with the crappy new cases with the "snapper" latch!!! Go back to the simpler WHV-style case!

Number 1 thing :) about The Thing – the aspect ratio is marked on the packaging and the disk as 1.85:1. This was a serious worry to me. Happily the film is in the correct AR – CinemaScope (2.35:1) – don’t let the labeling on the disk fool you. It has not been cropped.
Why is this a good thing? Why can't a widescreen movie fill my widescreen TV?

I'm just kidding.

We watched this last night and I wasn't that impressed. It did look better than the SD version, but definitely falls in the Tier 3 category for me. Sound was not that good either. Sound effects were rather weak, compared to other discs of the same genre.

I watched my copy last night too (well, parts of it) and I am very happy with the transfer and sound. I saw colors, details and depth Ive never seen before in this movie, and I have seen it at least a dozen times (I have both SDDVD issues).

I just received my copy from amazon and I am very impressed! Excellent looking disc - better quality than I ever thought I'd see on an older, dimly-lit film without a huge budget. This is one of my favorites, and it definitely is impressive. I guess if you expect it to look like Batman Begins you'll be disappointed! :rolleyes:

"The Thing" commentary is my favorite part of this disc, because it's a fun commentary for a very scarey movie. Russell's constant giggling cracks me up every time. :)

Carpenter/Russell comentaries are great. The one on Escape From New York is very entertaining, also.

Another weird thing, excuse the pun, about this package is it lists a standard 480i/p version as part of the contents. Yet, the sticker on the front says for HD players only.

Another weird thing, excuse the pun, about this package is it lists a standard 480i/p version as part of the contents. Yet, the sticker on the front says for HD players only.

I think what they mean is that even though it's 480i/p, it won't play in a DVD player. My guess anyway. This was supposed to be a combo based on original cover art, etc. that I saw. SOOOOO glad that it's not. That might also have something to do with it.

I agree! I watched "The Thing" last night, and thought the PQ was very sharp and detailed. I always thought the standard version had too much of a muddy orangy look to it. In fact, I never noticed the character "Doc" wearing a nose ring before, now that's what high definition is all about! :)

I noticed that nose ring for the first time too!!! I love this movie more every time that I watch it and am glad that it's out on HD-DVD (I gave my SD-DVD SE copy away to family). Still, I'd only give it a tier 2 vote. Lot of scenes that are either mostly white or too dark to have much 3D effect.

"The Thing" commentary is my favorite part of this disc, because it's a fun commentary for a very scarey movie. Russell's constant giggling cracks me up every time. :)

Funny that you mention that, I was thinking the same thing. HD DVD truly does deliver the goods! :cool:

Same here. Just finished it and it was the first time I've ever noticed Doc's nose ring. Decent transfer and ok sound too...

Same here. Just finished it and it was the first time I've ever noticed Doc's nose ring. Decent transfer and ok sound too...

Geez, same with the wife and myself, we had never seen the nose ring before!! Great transfer, the softness on some shots is just the way it was shot, the transfer is GREAT.

This film was shot anamorphic in Panavision and has a very shallow depth of field. Many scenes may appear to lack detail because much of the foreground/background is out of focus. You can see this in the many scenes where there are characters in a circle or arc and the camera pans from one to the next – very tough shots to do with anamorphic photography. The things :) that I notice as being much better in the HD version vs the SD Collectors Edition are: SD has significant edge enhancement, you can really notice this in shots of the camp that show the polls, and just in general there are EE halos everywhere. SD scenes of snow are just a blur of mpeg noise, in the HD version, you see snow. Something is wrong with the color balance and the black and white levels on the SD version – the whites are blown out and blacks are crushed. In the HD version the flares have just the right amount of peak white and the blacks have good detail where it is useful (some of the dark scenes are “crushed”, but I think this is intentional – you are supposed to feel claustrophobic paranoia – “where is the monster?”). As to the audio track, it is 20+ years old, and I think it sounds great – no hiss, no pops, clear and present. The soundtrack is tilted towards the front, but that is typical for that era. Ennio Morricone musical soundtracks are always a joy. I am very happy with the HD version.

As to the audio track, it is 20+ years old, and I think it sounds great – no hiss, no pops, clear and present. The soundtrack is tilted towards the front, but that is typical for that era.

Not so, at least as far as the laserdisc 5.1 track demonstrates. Most viewers of the HD version have mentioned the weak or inactive surrounds on this title and that the audio is front heavy. I'll be getting this title anyway, but the audio downgrade will be a disappointment.

Watched this last night for Halloween. Freaking spectacular! This is yet another one of my favorite movies to come to HD-DVD and at a level of quality beyond my expectations. I don't understand how anyone can be down on HD-DVD when it delivers movies that look like this. HD-DVD wins again!

So, is this the first HD-DVD with the wrong aspect ratio on the packaging? I'm not aware of any others.

One disc had "Standard Definition" for the feature. I think it was T3. Does that count?

Cjplay.

My wife and I watched on Halloween night too! I had never seen it before! :eek: I thought it was a great horror flick and it looked very good. The sound was great too, considering the age of the film.

Watched this last night for Halloween. Freaking spectacular! This is yet another one of my favorite movies to come to HD-DVD and at a level of quality beyond my expectations. I don't understand how anyone can be down on HD-DVD when it delivers movies that look like this. HD-DVD wins again!

Watched it last night too. Such a great film and one of Carpenters best. I did notice a few new things also... like that the were using Chevron gasoline. Another interesting thing is if you watch the movie... when Mac and the others on ontop of the spaceship at the hatch... then go watch the trailer.... the same scene there is snow all over the spaceship and only the hatch is really visible. Cool stuff and a great great HD-DVD considering it is almost 25 years old. If all older films on HD-DVD look this good... my collection with grow by leaps and bounds.

Carpenter ranks as my favorite Horror/SciFi director. His 80's movies are all standouts in my opinion. Halloweens 1-III (yes, I love part III), The Thing, Escape..., Prince of Darkness and of course..The Fog. All of these are blind-buys by me if they are released in a HD format.

Having said that, I too discovered the Nose-Ring. Never saw *that* before. The overal image punch was great.

I would love to hear why you guys don't consider this a Tier-1 level movie, considering it was fairly low-budget from the early 1980's. I've never seen the film this way before, and I saw it in the theatres when it was released. Just curious where it disappointed?

It wasn't soft, or grainy, the FX hold up really well (seeing detail in them that I never saw before).

Note: Did anyone notice a vertical line going up the T or H of "The Thing" logo as it burned away? As though a tiny piece of wire was behind the logo vertically...I watched the extra that showed how that title was created. Ahhh...in the days before CGI...plastic bags and smoke. ;)

I can understand why some people don't think it is as good as some of the more modern movies on HD-DVD (Batman Begins, Riddick, etc). Film stock wasn't as good back in the day as it is today and they didn't preserve it like they do now. That all plays a part. The Thing is definetly Tier2 for me.

Growing up, John Carpenter was my favorite director and had a big influence on me. Met him on several occassions and he always has great stories to tell. Can't wait to get some of his other movies on HD-DVD... Escape From New York, Halloween, The Fog, They Live, Prince Of Darkness, Christine are among some of my favorites.

Keep the HD-DVD classics coming. It can only get better.

Even under the scrutiny of HD presentation, the masterful matte paintings of the crashed alien ship by Albert Whitlock still holds up. Old School...can't beat it!

Having said that, I too discovered the Nose-Ring. Never saw *that* before. The overal image punch was great.

Ha, me too. I must have seen this movie 10 to 15 times and never noticed that until I watched it in HD last night. It struck me kind of funny, who was wearing nose rings in 1982? I guess I missed the whole piercing revolution at Antarctic research stations in the early 80s.

I'm eager to see what other movies I've watched a hundred times that hold little undiscovered gems like this.

One disc had "Standard Definition" for the feature. I think it was T3. Does that count?

Cjplay.

No, if the aspect ratio is correct. :)

Calling the feature "standard definition" would likely be recognized as a mistake by a potential buyer. If the aspect ratio is wrong, someone might hesitate to buy it because it's not the OAR. In the case of something labeled as 1.85:1 when it's really 2.35:1, a buyer might be afraid that the film has been cropped to fill the 16:9 screen.

I guess it depends.....the presentation is in 16:9 format, 1.85:1 (1.78:1?)......but the movie itself is 2.35:1 with black bars encoded in the signal, no? Or are movies on HD disc like anamorphic discs where all the vertical resolution is used, but black bars are added to preserve the AR???

Or are the black bars like a Non-anamorphic DVD....actually encoded on the disc???

We just watched this, which for me is the nth dozen viewing. Way, way better than I imagined it could look (I grew up on busted VHS copies and the DVD's aren't much better). The difference isn't funny - it's night and day.

No problems at all, no edge enhancement, no compression problems. A solid, warm picture. Sound was great too.

Now, on to 12 Monkeys .... :)

Watched THE THING last night. Very nice picture (compared to previousl DVD/Laserdisc editions) Several scenes really jumped out at me in HD w/ incredible clarity. Like being able to read the small print on the oil drum in the beginning.
The "Bass" in Carpenter's score came through nicely too (via DD+) vs. previous DVd's. But still may not be quite as strong as the LD's.
But over all very pleased. (This title is one of the reasons I own a HD-DVD player. Forbidden Planet is the other)

Seconded on the Forbidden Planet. I literally can't wait for this copy to arrive....then DUNE, and I hope they FINALLY release a decent version of the film..the last "Special Edition" that came out in the tin is a horrible anamorphic picture...everythings so dull and lifeless.

The "Bass" in Carpenter's score came through nicely too (via DD+) vs. previous DVd's. But still may not be quite as strong as the LD's.
But over all very pleased. (This title is one of the reasons I own a HD-DVD player. Forbidden Planet is the other)

John, how does the surround activity hold up compared to the LD's 5.1 audio?

We are watching thisone tonite. Can't wait to see it again. It has been awhile... :)

John, how does the surround activity hold up compared to the LD's 5.1 audio?

The LD (was not in 5.1 - just Dolby Surround) has maybe just a bit more pronounced surround activity, as well as a bit more dynamic range and aggressiveness. Close call though. But the HD-DVD (DD+) is no slouch. The surround sound is there during all of the helicopter flyovers, circling, and flybys, as well as the shoot-out in the beginning when the Norwegian (no - not the Swede) lands in the helicopter and is trying to shoot the dog. Surround is there during the action scenes too. As is the nice impact (as had the LD) when McCready is attempting over and over to light the flame thrower. Woooosh, woooosh, woooosh. Great stuff.

I'd pick the HD-DVD any day over the LD (and the DVD) as the picture quality is way beyond comparison (at least on my 106" screen). And the sound is close enough.

The LD (was not in 5.1 - just Dolby Surround)

I assume you're talking about the original LD release? The later Signature Collection disc did have a DD 5.1 track.

HD-DVD... Let the powers to be give us Escape From New York & The Fog soon.

HD is highly unforgiving with regards to focus "buzzes". In SD we often just didn't notice them. But now it is as glaring at home as it is on the big screen. Anamorphic pictures are brutally unforgiving with regards to focus pulling. In the U.S. there is a cadre of career first assistant cameramen who are still the anamorphic kings. Just take a look at the credits of any of them on imdb. Guys like Michael Weldon, Richard Mosier, Alan Gitlin, Baird Steptoe, Tony Rivetti...and Clyde Bryan who was the first AC on The Thing. They are able to do it partly due to an immense level of experience, part by technology (Panatape and very good on-camera video tap monitors), and part Zen I think :D In a close-up, if the actor just takes a breath or sighs, the focus has to go with him or we're doomed. Ideally, he and the operator work as a team on critical focus. A few years ago when Clyde and I were doing Frailty, I started whispering to him "Closer, closer, deeper, deeper" as I watched the focus during a closeup with critical focus. He would just gink the focus a bit until I stopped whispering. I still use that technique with these guys. In this day and age, even on the pictures with the big budgets that anamorphic pictures usually have, there is often the demand to get everything right on the first take or two, and sometimes there is the demand to even go without marks or rehearsal. These guys just handle the stress, the personalities, etc, and make it work.

These unsung heros are superb craftsmen and gentlemen all. Working with them is truly a joy and an amazing thing to behold. My hat is off to them for their incredible hard work and their contribution to cinematography.

I'll have to ask Clyde for a story from the making of The Thing. If he's got something interesting, I'll get back with it.

Thats great info Cam Man! And it explains/confirms something I had suspected but was hesitant to bring up. With the first several HD DVDs I'd watched, on close-ups there was an invariable tendency for the picture to slur its focus, ever so slightly, if the person moved just a hair and then regain it. I was wondering if what I was seeing was a subtle deficency of the VC1 compression, or if it could , as you point out here, just be the nature of the source/beast.
good to know for sure now!

One of the first anamorphic pictures I saw in HD (D-VHS) was Moulin Rouge. It's gorgeous cinematography, but watch the shots of Ewan M. in the lead up to the musical number, "Your Song." His ear will be in focus rather than his eyes, for instance. Sometimes, it will only be for a moment before it is caught and corrected, but a viewer like yourself may be distracted and say "What happened there? Something about the picture distracted me, but I don't see it now." If I'm watching it, I'm going "Oops. Come on guys, you can do it. Closer, deeper. Actor, hit your mark and try not to sway over it like a drunken sailor. :D " In the SD version, it is not so noticable.

HD-DVD... Let the powers to be give us Escape From New York & The Fog soon.

Studio Canal is releasing The Fog in Europe, but the rights to Escape from New York are owned by MGM (at least in the US).

I watched this last night.

And considering the age of the film, I thought it look really darn good.


"I know you guys have been under a lot of pressure, but if you wouldn't mind and have the time... I DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY TIED TO THIS *(^#ING COUCH!!!"

(not the exact quote sorry, but I thought it set the tone of the scene and movie perfectly)

Focus was far more challenging than I realized.

Response from The Thing First Assistant Cameraman Clyde Bryan via email today:

"I have a lot of great memories from "The Thing." The extreme conditions on the glacier and the super cold, humidified stages at Universal during the very hot months in LA. We shot in anamorphic and always at a stop of 2.8 or less. There are several scenes in the picture that were shot with the 50mm 1.0 lens. I'm quite proud of the work done on that picture."

Clyde is refering to the exposure (T2.8 and T1.0). Depth of field is bad enough at a 2.8, not to mention three stops faster at 1.0. The problem with a 50mm lens is that is a focal length that is fairly wide making objects smaller therefore much tougher for the operator to see focus and be any help.

Great job, Clyde! And an equally fine job by camera operator Ray Stella!

This is a great HD-DVD. Of the 100+ HD-DVDs you could own, this is really high on my list. An excellent transfer and an excellent movie. I am very, very impressed!

HD-DVD... Let the powers to be give us Escape From New York & The Fog soon.

Snake will love that!

Focus was far more challenging than I realized.

Response from The Thing First Assistant Cameraman Clyde Bryan via email today:

"I have a lot of great memories from "The Thing." The extreme conditions on the glacier and the super cold, humidified stages at Universal during the very hot months in LA. We shot in anamorphic and always at a stop of 2.8 or less. There are several scenes in the picture that were shot with the 50mm 1.0 lens. I'm quite proud of the work done on that picture."

Clyde is refering to the exposure (T2.8 and T1.0). Depth of field is bad enough at a 2.8, not to mention three stops faster at 1.0. The problem with a 50mm lens is that is a focal length that is fairly wide making objects smaller therefore much tougher for the operator to see focus and be any help.

Great job, Clyde! And an equally fine job by camera operator Ray Stella!

Thanks Cam and Clyde, you guys are unsung heros. We the movie appreciating audience salute you!

Hey, I watched this as a Netflix rental on HD DVD and loved the movie. I had never seen it before, but I did read the original short story it was based on "Who Goes There" as a youth. I was a bit of a Sci-fi fanantic and I remember the antartic setting and the alien master of mimicry outed by the hot needle blood test! It was a great flick. PQ was decent but not reference quality for HD DVD, but over all pretty decent.

i have to chime in here and say i was REALLY impressed with the PQ of this disc. i think it ranks up there with the best hd-dvd's so far and i have been disappointed with some of the raved-about titles (batman begins in particular).

this is so much better than the original dvd's it's not even funny!

I know I'm bumping an older thread here, but this one really surprised me.

First, of course, I've always loved The Thing: To me it's one of those rare, near-perfect movies that does everything a movie should do for a viewer and then some.

So when I finally got around to picking up a 360 HD drive, after many months of sitting this stupid HD format war out, The Thing was one of the first movies I picked up in HD. The studios must love people like me - this has to be the 3rd time, at least, I've bought a copy (VHS, DVD, and now HD) and I saw the damn thing in the theater too. And I was glad to do it, because this HD copy is amazing. The film is darn near 25 years old and the transfer really held up well.

Count me in as a charter member of "Doc had a NOSE RING?" club - I never remembered that detail from the theatrical viewing (heck, with the crappy theaters around VA in 1982 it's very possible I had a much worse viewing experience than I get now) and the VHS/DVD versions just never showed it. It's weird how a small thing like that, out of all the huffing and hooplah currently surrounding the HD format wars, can really stick out and make you appreciate it.

I finally got around to watching this HD DVD last night. I previously had the earlier DVD version, the one before the special edition. That DVD was edge enhancement city.

Anyways, this looked incredible on HD DVD. I was very impressed. The movie is also fantastic, one of my favourites.

I do have one question about the plot:

Was Childs contaminated at the end?

I do have one question about the plot:

Was Childs contaminated at the end?


It's left deliberately ambiguous.

It's left deliberately ambiguous.

Yes, according to the DVD commentary

-the actors themselves didn't know for sure and would have long discussions about whether their character was or was not the Thing.

Leaving the door open for the abyssmal "update" to THE THING due out next year. With all due respect to modern horror movies, if it turns into a remake of a remake starring "pretty girl scientists" and the oldest guy in the movie is in his late 20's, I'm going to heave :P

Did anybody else notice a lot of video noise in the opening sequence - the part after the credits where we first see the spaceship coming onto the screen.

The noise I speak of looks like macroblocking, but only on the darkest of sequences. Sort of pure black and the next bit above black shows up as a different color. The macroblocking is little squares of video noise (the squares in this sequence weren't so small though).

I've seen this on a lot of HD DVDs, but this was one of the worst. It always happens in black scenes.

I paused the image with the noise and fiddled with my TV picture settings and couldn't get much of any change. I stopped the movie and went to HD DVD setup and turned on the enhanced blacks and replayed and it didn't help.

Is this a VC1 encoding issue? Something up with connection (HDMI to Denon 3806 receiver and then HDMI to Sony SXRD XBR1 TV)? Does my TV need calibrated to have better gray-scale tracking? Something else?

Does everybody else see this noise in the beginning of The Thing?

Did anybody else notice a lot of video noise in the opening sequence - the part after the credits where we first see the spaceship coming onto the screen.

The noise I speak of looks like macroblocking, but only on the darkest of sequences. Sort of pure black and the next bit above black shows up as a different color. The macroblocking is little squares of video noise (the squares in this sequence weren't so small though).

I've seen this on a lot of HD DVDs, but this was one of the worst. It always happens in black scenes.

I paused the image with the noise and fiddled with my TV picture settings and couldn't get much of any change. I stopped the movie and went to HD DVD setup and turned on the enhanced blacks and replayed and it didn't help.

Is this a VC1 encoding issue? Something up with connection (HDMI to Denon 3806 receiver and then HDMI to Sony SXRD XBR1 TV)? Does my TV need calibrated to have better gray-scale tracking? Something else?

Does everybody else see this noise in the beginning of The Thing?

Is your display calibrated? I've not noticed this.

I think what they mean is that even though it's 480i/p, it won't play in a DVD player. My guess anyway. This was supposed to be a combo based on original cover art, etc. that I saw. SOOOOO glad that it's not. That might also have something to do with it.

The 480i/p on the packaging of this disc and in fact all HD-DVD refer to the fact that some if not all the extras are SD resolution usually taken from the SD DVD release of the same movie only occasionally with a higher bit rate if the contents Digi Beta / Beat Cam is available for re-compression.

This was the first HD-DVD I purchased and I think the PQ is pretty solid but the main menu, just the Universal Logo not good.

Tmic

Macroblocking in a lot of HD-DVDs?

I can only think of 1 title off the bat that had any. The Thing did not display any significant artifacting.

You should check your display/equipment.

John

Macroblocking in a lot of HD-DVDs?

I can only think of 1 title off the bat that had any. The Thing did not display any significant artifacting.

You should check your display/equipment.

John

My TV is not calibrated, but most things look extremely good on it and always get compliments on the picture quality from friends. It is just that this black and ever-so-slightly-lighter-than-black noise that looks like macroblocking. Happens a lot to me. Could this be XA1? I plan on XA2 upgrade soon. It is a hassle, but I may try to connect via component to see if there is a difference.

I know I should have photographed the TV with The Thing, as it was so pronounced, but I'm sure I'll find it on other disks. I sent The Thing back to netflix already.

I have a few friends with HD DVDs and one with a Qualia 006 that is ISF calibrated, so I'll see if these known bad spots look like that on his.

You can bring out macroblocking on DVD's if your brightness and contrast are jacked up too high.

I'm guessing you are simply running your TV with the brightness and contrast ramped up too high.

It could also be a dithering artifact, but I'm not sure if those plauge SXRD the way they do DLP's.

You can bring out macroblocking on DVD's if your brightness and contrast are jacked up too high.

I'm guessing you are simply running your TV with the brightness and contrast ramped up too high.

It could also be a dithering artifact, but I'm not sure if those plauge SXRD the way they do DLP's.

That was the first thing I checked. I have brighness and contrast at the factory settings for Pro mode (contrast is high @ 58 on scale of 0-63, and brighness is 31 or 32). In fact, most of my settings are factory default. Yes, changing contrast and brightness changed how it looked, but I could still easily see the "noise". I'm beginning to really think I need to have the TV calibrated.

Yeesh!....if you have ANY Pixar movie in the house or any movie that has the THX optimizer on it (DVD's), you need to sit down and use it.

On my set, which has been ISF Calibrated, my Contrast is like 40% out of 100......and my brightness is about 30%. But mine is crt, and I know microdisplays behave differently.

I have uses DVE on it to calibrate it myself, just not have pro ISF calibration to tweak it. Like I said before, I paused the movie with the artifacts visible and fiddled with the contrast, brightness, iris, advanced iris, black level and gamma level. Those things like detail and texture enhancers are off. And although I could see differences in the video obviously adjusting these things, the artificacts were still easily visible. On some SXRDs, the scales are 1-100, but mine are 0-63, so most all of my settings are at the "detent" mark in the middle, 31. The default Sony Pro mode contrast "Picture" is 58, so maybe 90% of full scale where I have it.

I really wished I had photographed the stuff so you all could see what I see. The last DVD I watched was King Kong which was excellent and had none of this. I recall the opening of Unforgiven had some. I actually think Riddick had a few scenes as it faded to black, so I'll see if I can play that (own it) and photograph the phenomenon. I'm hoping to upgrade to XA2 so perhaps this will go away if it is perhaps player related?

I just watched the opening sequence you talked about three times and I didn't see any blocking artifacts at all. I did notice a few stars twinkling, but no artifacts.

I'm not doubting you see something on your set. On my A2 on a ISF calibrated Samsung 5687, there is none.

It certainly seems that HD playback varies quite a lot by equipent. Which I guess, is to be expected since we all have such a wide variety of display equipment. These are very complicated machines we use now and they are bound to have differences because of that.

I wonder if it could be a bad disk?

Well, I think I've solved my video noise problem.

I was watching Manchurian Candidate HD DVD tonight and noticed once again some noise in dark scenes. Both the opening credits and end credits had some, as well as a few scenes dispersed throughout the movie.

I paused on some more of the more egregious noisy spots and really started tweaking my TV's settings. I tried the usual settings with little success (black corrector and gamma had some effect, but still visible).

I had never tweaked the White Balance on my set as I figured I might screw up the colors. Well, in fact my colors were screwed up a bit to begin with and the white balance controls are needed to improve them. Specifically dropping Green Bias two notches below zero was the trick. I also dropped Blue Bias a notch. All along, my black was ever-so-slightly green, and now it isn't. Watching a pitch black screen, I was getting a tinge of green and adjusting the bias was actually pretty noticable. In White Balance menu, the "gain" values are for bright scenes and the "bias" values are for dark scenes.

Went back to all of the trouble spots, like the credits and the noise was gone.

So, I'm sure if I had my TV calibrated professionally, I wouldn't ever have noticed this.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Hello,

I just purchased a 360 add-on and one of the first purchases i made was The Thing. I also bought Dune, Forbidden Planet, King Kong and V for V. I've noticed something odd while watching The Thing that i did not see in the other films. Towards the end of the movie there are some very dark scenes and i observed what looks like shinny or pasty blacks(not sure how to describe it). The color looks a little off during these scenes as well. Otherwise the film looks great.

Is this what is referred to as black crush? It was rather distracting but its only noticeable towards the end of the film. Iam trying figure out if its a hardware or software problem? I've also noticed this on some sd-dvd's as well as cable Hd. Below is the hardware iam using. Unsure which forum to put this in?

Mits-65-515 at 1080i(calibrated)
Component input(cables came with add-on)
Add-on set to 1080i