After reading the rave reviews of Lost season 3 on Bluray, I found myself somewhat dissapointed in the picture quality.
I've watched countless Bluray (Samsung BDP-1000) and HDDVD titles (HD-A2), so I think I'm a pretty good judge of what would be considered "pristine" HD.
I mean......After reading the reviews I expected the picture quality to blow me away.....Hardly.
Don't get me wrong.......The brightly lit outdoor scenes are breathtaking, but a lot of the darker scenes, of which there are plenty, are no better than the SD version, at least in my opinion....... The biggest problem being graininess.
Now, I've never watched anything on a HD disc that was originaly broadcast on TV, so I have nothing to reference there, and maybe the people who are raving about it are referencing it relative to other TV sources that have been transfered to a HD disc, but I can't find a review anywhere that says the Bluray version is anything but knock your socks off fabulous!!
Am I the only one dissapointed in this Bluray release???

Mark

If you did not think lost looked great,either you need a new tv or you need to go to the eye doctor.

I think you need to put an SD version of a dark film/episode in and look again. Yes the dark scenes have some grain but they look 100x better than the SD versions.

If you have Netflix, just rent one of the discs to do a comparison. There isn't one.

If you did not think lost looked great,either you need a new tv or you need to go to the eye doctor.
And your expertise is what exactly?

I think you need to put an SD version of a dark film/episode in and look again. Yes the dark scenes have some grain but they look 100x better than the SD versions.

If you have Netflix, just rent one of the discs to do a comparison. There isn't one.
I think most have seen the show in HD on ABC OTA HD. No need to compare to SD, I think he will admit that it trounces SD.

Am I the only one dissapointed in this Bluray release???

Yes, you are. I thought it looked great.

I think most have seen the show in HD on ABC OTA HD. No need to compare to SD, I think he will admit that it trounces SD.

No, he actually posted many scenes are no better than SD version.

The brightly lit outdoor scenes are breathtaking, but a lot of the darker scenes, of which there are plenty, are no better than the SD version,

I think most have seen the show in HD on ABC OTA HD. No need to compare to SD, I think he will admit that it trounces SD.


Did you read what he wrote? :confused:

but a lot of the darker scenes, of which there are plenty, are no better than the SD version, at least in my opinion

If you did not think lost looked great,either you need a new tv or you need to go to the eye doctor.

OK.......I just called the eye doctor and made an appointment........I also made appointments for the other 3 people who watched disc 3 episode 3 and 4 last night with me.
I also listed all my equipment on Ebay as it must be defective!!
For those who replied constuctively I'm watching it on a 70 inch Sony, so of course any grain will show up more than on a smaller screen.
I'll admit it does looks better on my 46 inch Samsung, and I'll reiterate, I'm talking mostly about dark indoor scenes (grain). The outdoor stuff looks great.
In comparison.......Watched Pirates (Worlds End) the night before and it truly looked fabulous!!
Also, for you Lost Loyalists......I'm not insulting the show, I'm addicted to it. I'm just saying the Bluray release in my opinion is hardly reference material.

Lost looks great on my 10' FP setup. I would recommend it to anyone. Personally, I will be elated if we get more Lost and other similar material at this level of quality. Not perfect, but darn good.

OK.......I just called the eye doctor and made an appointment........I also made appointments for the other 3 people who watched disc 3 episode 3 and 4 last night with me.
I also listed all my equipment on Ebay as it must be defective!!
For those who replied constuctively I'm watching it on a 70 inch Sony, so of course any grain will show up more than on a smaller screen.
I'll admit it does looks better on my 46 inch Samsung, and I'll reiterate, I'm talking mostly about dark indoor scenes (grain). The outdoor stuff looks great.

Turn off the Edge Enhancement in your set and turn down the Sharpness.

I believe Lost is probably the current leader in PQ on blu-ray (aside from CGI). Yes, in some dark scenes there is noise/grain, but that is the way it is supposed to be. Even Pirates AWE (while less often) has some noise in dark scenes.

Compare some of the face shots -- Echo, Locke, Jack, Kate, Hugo, Sawyer, etc... to what you see in other movies... there are no other movies that show that much detail... Look at the grass, trees, shrubs, the beach, etc... What movie has a sharper picture?

BTW, if you are referring to the place where they are keeping Jack imprisoned, think about what the Director is trying to show us... he wants it to be gritty looking.

How are you seeing grain on an image that wasn't shot using film? Season 3 was shot using HD cameras.

Edit: is it video/chroma noise you're referring to?

I think it is more like mosquito noise than grain.

And that is what the broadcast looks like as well (haven't seen the BD version).

Usually it is the outside scene at the end of the show when they are on the beach with the sunsetting in the backgroud that really stands out as great HD material.

Of course I watch lost for the show, and what I like most about it in HD (other than the fact that it is HD) is that I get a better picture so I can see the little things they put in.

How are you seeing grain on an image that wasn't shot using film? Season 3 was shot using HD cameras.

Edit: is it video/chroma noise you're referring to?

Errr, unless imdb is wrong, Lost continues to be shot on Super 35, no?

Errr, unless imdb is wrong, Lost continues to be shot on Super 35, no?

I see film grain throughout Lost Season 3. I am pretty sure it's shot on film.

I think it is more like mosquito noise than grain.

And that is what the broadcast looks like as well (haven't seen the BD version).

Usually it is the outside scene at the end of the show when they are on the beach with the sunsetting in the backgroud that really stands out as great HD material.

Of course I watch lost for the show, and what I like most about it in HD (other than the fact that it is HD) is that I get a better picture so I can see the little things they put in.Contrary to popular belief that "mosquito noise" is a bunch of "dots" in the image - like a bunch of flying mosquitos - it is really this: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=mosquito+noise&i=55914,00.asp which you don't see on Lost.

larry

Lost looks great on my 10' FP setup. I would recommend it to anyone. Personally, I will be elated if we get more Lost and other similar material at this level of quality. Not perfect, but darn good.
I agree.......And that's all I was trying to say.....It's good, but not perfect. But to read what people are saying, you'd think it was the greatest picture available on Bluray...... It ain't! Sorry, and I can't figure out why anyone would think it was.

I dont see grain as being low quality. I see it as, thats what film does when its dark.

Well I don't recall anyone calling it perfect.

I own over 100 BR movies and Lost Season 3 does indeed have moments on it that rival any other I've seen, in terms of detail and color. The facial closeups jaw droppingly clear & detailed. It doesn't punch the wow factor 100% of the time, but enough of it. I'm not going to get all snarky and question your eyesight or setup... but are you actually doing A/B comparisons with the SD versions? Because if you are - and still say there's no difference in the dark scenes, then I might get a bit snarky with ya. There's a pretty big improvement in every scene, certainly in the dark ones as well.

The SD DVD versions look fantastic as well and are some of the best looking upconverts I've seen. That's why I can't wait for seasons 1-2 on BR.

It looks great on my mitsubishi 65" diamond dlp. Definetely reference material. the High Def awards gave it best tv series. highdefdigest gave it a perfect 5 star for PQ. most other reviews were the same. dildatonr is right on about the close-up's, they are jaw droppinly sharp. I hope the first 2 seasons are out this year.

I'm watching it on a 2 year old TV that was ISF calibrated 8months ago. My vision is 20/20 (not that you implied it wasn't).
I have both seasons, I've done AB comparisons.
In my opinion there is not much difference between the SD version(which looks great anyway) and the Bluray version when it comes to dark/dimly lit scenes. It may in fact be that it's intended to look that way, but be that as it may be, there simply is not much difference.
The outdoor scenes are a completly different matter.....They look great.

Well I don't recall anyone calling it perfect.

I own over 100 BR movies and Lost Season 3 does indeed have moments on it that rival any other I've seen, in terms of detail and color. The facial closeups jaw droppingly clear & detailed. It doesn't punch the wow factor 100% of the time, but enough of it.


I agree 100 percent. The same can be said for Pirates AWE, DMC, Apocalypto and a few others-- they are top tier but they aren't perfect, nor do they look jaw-dropping in every scene. Even so - Lost is definitely up there with those. I'm watching on JVC RS1 with 106" screen.

And as I've mentioned in the tier thread. Prison Break looks awesome too, but shouldn't be rated higher than Lost as far as the wow factor. Though I'm glad they released season 1 first for that show. Not sure I would have bought S2.


The SD DVD versions look fantastic as well and are some of the best looking upconverts I've seen. That's why I can't wait for seasons 1-2 on BR.

I absolutely cannot wait for Season 1 & 2 either. The show is great, the visuals are stunning, and as upset as some people were with season 3, it was still better than 90 percent of the tv shows out there.

This is one of the few titles that really blew me away. The opening intro by the creators had my jaw on the floor when they showed some select clips. Personally I think that should be a blu-ray ad right there.

Errr, unless imdb is wrong, Lost continues to be shot on Super 35, no?

You can clearly see film mags on all the cameras in the behind-the-scenes footage available on Disc 6.

In my opinion there is not much difference between the SD version(which looks great anyway) and the Bluray version when it comes to dark/dimly lit scenes.

Tonight, after the sun has fully set, go into a room and turn off the lights. Close the curtains as well so that there's only dim illumination in the room. Then tell us how sharp everything looks to your eyes.

Have you ever taken a photograph, either film or digital, in a dimly lit environment without turning on the flash? How sharp was the image?

Perception of detail decreases dramatically in a darkened environment. This is an unavoidable fact of life.

If you think the picture quality on the Lost Blu-rays looks anything less than amazing, then your expectations are so far removed from reality that you will never be happy with anything ever released.

Tonight, after the sun has fully set, go into a room and turn off the lights. Close the curtains as well so that there's only dim illumination in the room. Then tell us how sharp everything looks to your eyes.

Have you ever taken a photograph, either film or digital, in a dimly lit environment without turning on the flash? How sharp was the image?

Perception of detail decreases dramatically in a darkened environment. This is an unavoidable fact of life.

If you think the picture quality on the Lost Blu-rays looks anything less than amazing, then your expectations are so far removed from reality that you will never be happy with anything ever released.
I have a $40,000 + home theater with calibrated bias lighting, so I think I have that aspect covered.
Actually I'm sick of reiterating that I'm refering strictly to the dark scenes, but of course if you'd read my previous posts you know that.
My expectations are hardly removed from reality.....I have numerous Bluray and HDDVDs in my collection that I'm thrilled with in both picture and sound, and several that I would consider reference quality....Lost is not one of them....I'm really sorry....
It seems like some(not all) of you are taking my opinion way too personal.

What about The Descent? Have you watched that BD?

alrry

There aren't that many scenes that are grainy in Lost. It's very minimal. 23 episodes and I was never once dissatisfied with the way an episode looked. I just completed the series on late Tuesday night after a marathon session in 2 days. I was hooked! Best season of any show, even Battlestar Galactica. Not only was I thrilled with the writing,faster paced episodes but the beauty of the PQ was stunning about %90 of the time. Throw in a 16 bit PCM audio track & a ton of extras and you got yourselves a winning set. Way more consistent quality than Heroes or BSG. Smallville would get my vote for second best looking series. Now bring on Supernatural!

To my eye, Lost had some of the most breathtaking HD I've seen on BD. I watched the live HD broadcasts on OTA which were 720p. I was amazed at the quality and clarity of the 1080P BD discs.
They still shoot on film. In fact, there is a pretty cool featurette on the disc that is a kind of "day in the life" showing that there are several episodes going on in different stages throughout the day...One section shows the mags being sent off and picked up at LAX and dropped off at the lab.
The grain in the darker areas are probably due to a faster film stock, push processing at the lab, post color timing, or combination of any/all of these.

My $.02

Anyone notice every so slight macroblocking on Lost on blu ray?

Im just wondering cuz i dont see any reviewers stating this but there usually the first to nit pick things.

Its barely noticeable but i see some frames with macroblocking- there only there for like less than a second- But just wondering if it might be one of my settings on my A3000 tv. I noticed that having Noise reduction has had an effects of artifacting before too.

I have a $40,000 + home theater with calibrated bias lighting, so I think I have that aspect covered.
Actually I'm sick of reiterating that I'm refering strictly to the dark scenes, but of course if you'd read my previous posts you know that.
My expectations are hardly removed from reality.....I have numerous Bluray and HDDVDs in my collection that I'm thrilled with in both picture and sound, and several that I would consider reference quality....Lost is not one of them....I'm really sorry....
It seems like some(not all) of you are taking my opinion way too personal.

Well I don't take it personal.:)
I think there are just some passionate fans of this set on here, it's easy to hit a nerve 'round these parts. Sorry your expectations weren't met.

We'll just agree to disagree.

I sure didn't notice any.

Give us some timecodes so we can check where you see them.


But yeah turn off all noise reduction or any "enhancement" settings on your set.

Well i have over 76 BluRay and i have to say that LOST is one of the best out there. Even for Low Light. You still see details on shirt and faces even in extremely low light condition, witch is pretty rare.

Also most shot are perfect for Focus, witch is RARE for a TV SERIE witch are the worst for Focus Errors and HD don't pardon with this...

Prison Break is great too, but they are a lot of focusing error in that show.. A LOT!

It was the best TV release in 2007 on HDM, way better than the macroblock filled/Banding Filled Heroes.. Want to see bad PQ in low light just check the first EP of it on HD DVD... now that's macroblocking for ya!

Anyone notice every so slight macroblocking on Lost on blu ray?

Im just wondering cuz i dont see any reviewers stating this but there usually the first to nit pick things.

Its barely noticeable but i see some frames with macroblocking- there only there for like less than a second- But just wondering if it might be one of my settings on my A3000 tv. I noticed that having Noise reduction has had an effects of artifacting before too.

I saw a split second on EP1 during a sky shot and during low light. But that was for the trained eye only. I wasn't able to reproduce it on my friend Panasonic BD30k and LCD TV tought... using the same scene.. so i'am blaming that on my PS3..

I thought the picture quality was very good, but not top tier. About an 8 or 9 out of ten.

I thought the picture quality was very good, but not top tier. About an 8 or 9 out of ten.


Overall, I would agree. There were certainly some 10 moments, and the facial closeups are fantastic, but overall I would also give it 8-9.

The reason why I think some of those dark scenes are intentionally noisy is because there are those that are extremely clean yet just as dark. When Kate and Juliette are cuffed together in the woods it's really dark and it's not noisy like the scenes with jack in the "cell".

The reason why I think some of those dark scenes are intentionally noisy is because there are those that are extremely clean yet just as dark. When Kate and Juliette are cuffed together in the woods it's really dark and it's not noisy like the scenes with jack in the "cell".
That's most likely due to the Kate and Juliette scene being shot with much more light than it appears and color graded in post versus the stuff with Jack in his cell.

Just guessing. :)

I just got S3 on Blu-ray, and I'm watching this on my Epson 720 Home Cinema projector. Granted, it's only 720p, but the detail in the closeups are simply stunning. On the 2nd disc, there's a scene where Dr. Ed leans towards Juliet in his office, it's scary how 3D it looks.

I've gone back and compared Crank. And while Crank used to be the sharpest thing before, I think the 3Dness and the perception of depth on LOST is a hair better. WOW!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879990&highlight=Lost

Any one else having issues with the loading of Lost S3? I've had the 'loading' bar remain while an episode plays, a freeze at the main choice screen, and it not loading at all. For these issues, I had to shut off the player, and restart the sloooow process over again. I have a Sony 2nd generation player.

I started this thread awhile ago......since then I've upgraded my HT to a JVC DLA HD-1 1080P FP with a Da-Lite 100" screen, so I'm updating my take on the picture quality.
For the most part, the picture quality in 1080P (as opposed to 1080i on my old TV) is stunning, but there are some parts that do in fact look like "crap".
Case in point........Disc 4 episode 2, during the night beach scene just before Huly, Edmond and Jin see the red flare in the sky.
The blacks go completly crushed and there's digital noise all over the scene. In fact it's the worst I've scene on a BD in the approx 100 hrs of viewing on the JVC...........Same thing on my previous Sony 70" and on my Samsung 46" LCD. There are also some other scenes in that episode that exhibite crush and quite a bit of "noise" or whatever you want to call it.
Anyone who doesn't notice this, really does need to have there eyes examined!!
Lost is definitely a 9........But sorry to all of those who took my comments personaly.......It's just not a 10.

I went from watching season 3 on blu-ray to the hd broadcast of season 4, and the blu-ray looked so good it made the abc hd feed look like standard def in comparison. It is that good..

I went from watching season 3 on blu-ray to the hd broadcast of season 4, and the blu-ray looked so good it made the abc hd feed look like standard def in comparison. It is that good..

I wouldn't go that far. ABC looked fairly good for HD.

But, I would agree, the LOST Blu-ray PQ is outstanding. Easily 9/10.

I'm only dinging it 1 point in the PQ department because of the night scenes. Blacks look grey, and showed excessive noise. Not all dark scenes, but maybe 70% of them.