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The New PQ Tier thread for Blu-Ray - Discussion

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#21,861 ·
Speaking of Need for Speed

Netflix sent this to me on Friday, right before the long weekend, and amongst various trips and family outings, I was able to watch it yesterday. Wow. PQ is excellent. Everything is bright, crystal clear, and well worth watching (the movie itself is about up there in Fast and Furious quality of storytelling, so as long as you're expecting the right level, you'll be pleased to feast on the eye candy).

Definitely in lower Tier 0 -- 0.75 by my reckoning.

The reason lower Tier 0 is actually because of one instance of banding that I encountered. Honestly, if I hadn't been a regular reader of this thread and a member of AVSForum in general, I don't think I would've seen it as it was in the opposite corner of the screen from where the action was taking place, so your eyes were supposed to be focused on the people on the left, while the banding happened in the upper right corner in the night sky. Other than that, everything about this film was absolutely spot-on and crisp and clear and everything that I would expect from a recent release on blu.
 
#21,862 ·
As far as the other movies that I watched this past week:

I don't disagree with any of the placements as they are now, though considering Need for Speed and other Tier 0 quality titles, these other releases look less than stellar.

Superman: The Movie (1978) -- I might be tempted to place this in Tier 3, but I will say that several moments in the film were Tier 0 quality transfers, while the rest stayed in the Tier 3 range, but those several moments give you insight as to where it could be with a better transfer, so I see no need to move it in the Tiers.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut -- Wow. And not in a good way. Mostly soft, blown out contrast, just really an overall mess. Tier 4 is correct placement. While the test footage used showed softer focus and less polish, even the scenes from the theatrical cut were just mostly gross overall.

Superman Returns (2006) -- Considering Superman: The Movie's placement in the Tiers, this is obviously a better contender for PQ. However, not as much as you might think. Excessive BANDING (this looked like I watched it off of Netflix Streaming, and not on blu-ray) and an overall soft focus gives this blu a PQ not much better than the movie that came almost 30 years prior. My suspicion is that the softer focus actually makes the CGI elements blend better and that it was used intentionally. Also, it should be noticed that this movie exhibits perhaps the worst case of orange/teal that I've yet seen. The entire movie has been color timed to a muddy/dirty mess. That isn't to say that many moments of clarity in textures were evident, but too few to move it anywhere farther up and some cases may be made for moving it down (but, I'd argue that there are many moments of clarity that redeem the other shortcomings).
 
#21,863 · (Edited)
Superman Returns really does look like garbage for a blockbuster movie produced in the past decade. There are too many PQ problems to mention in a brief passing. I think the restoration and film scans given the original Superman films are exemplary. A few have criticized the color changes but they strike the right balance between new-age revisionism and what the filmmakers originally intended before 70's technology got in the way. If you run a search in this thread, there is a lot of good information about those film transfers.
 
#21,864 ·
Superman Returns really does look like garbage for a blockbuster movie produced in the past decade. There are too many PQ problems to mention in a brief passing. I think the restoration and film scans given the original Superman films are exemplary. A few have criticized the color changes but they strikes the right balance between new-age revisionism and what the filmmakers originally intended before 70's technology got in the way. If you run a search in this thread, there is a lot of good information about those film transfers.
Thanks Phantom. I ran a search and read a bunch of posts (almost makes me want to go back and read from the beginning...but I'm not sure I have that kind of time on my hands). Very interesting info about the transfers and about the films. I very much enjoy the tiers -- thanks Phantom and everyone else!
 
#21,865 ·
I couldn't handle more than 45 minutes of Need for Speed, it was mind numbingly boring. I only watched it due to the good PQ ratings and even that could not keep me hooked. I'll have to watch this over multiple viewings.
Seems I stopped watching just before this got more interesting ;) I found the second half of this movie a lot more fun.

I have to agree with the Tier 0 ranking recommended by others. I found issues with a few of the night scenes and will have to rewatch and compare with other Tier 0 titles to give a more accurate ranking.
 
#21,866 ·
The Book Thief

This is a very clear presentation with some of the best day time scenes I've seen. Dimensionality is almost 3D at times and fabric detail in particular was extremely good. Less appealing were some of the darker scenes where murky blacks were apparent more than once. For this reason I have to dock points accordingly. Otherwise I remained impressed.

Tier 1.25
 
#21,867 ·
The Book Thief

This is a very clear presentation with some of the best day time scenes I've seen. Dimensionality is almost 3D at times and fabric detail in particular was extremely good. Less appealing were some of the darker scenes where murky blacks were apparent more than once. For this reason I have to dock points accordingly. Otherwise I remained impressed.

Tier 1.25
Good review Russ! You and I are on the same page, for the most part. You referred to "murky blacks" and I cited "softness" in those scenes, but I'm thinking we were still seeing the same anomaly.

Well, I may be back earlier than I anticipated. Right now my wife and I are sipping on lattes at a coffee shop in Grand Marais, MN, right on the shore of beautiful Lake Superior. The harbor here looks like a postcard of a quaint fishing village on the eastern seaboard or perhaps on the coast of the Mediterranean.
 
#21,869 ·
This is only marginally related to the PQ Tiers but the following BDs are in low supply from Twilight Time:

OUR MAN FLINT - Fewer than 250 remaining
AS GOOD AS IT GETS - Fewer than 400 remaining
THE DRIVER - Fewer than 500 remaining
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN - Fewer than 500 remaining; Tier 1.75
BYE BYE BIRDIE - Fewer than 600 remaining
HARD TIMES - Fewer than 600 remaining
BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE - Fewer than 650 remaining

Prior history has shown the prices skyrocket once they sell out.

http://www.screenarchives.com/index.cfm

I highly, highly recommend the glorious Leave Her To Heaven BD, reviewed long ago for this thread.
 
#21,870 ·
#21,871 ·
Ruby Sparks

recommendation: Tier 2.5*

This BD is a couple of years old by now, released by 20th Century Fox. It is a rather middle-of-the-road looking film with relatively simple cinematography. The AVC encoding is completely transparent to the digital intermediate. I was a little surprised to find it was shot using the Arri Alexa digital camera, I could have sworn it was shot on actual film. Its excellent contrast is never challenged too greatly, though some of the finer detail is limited at times.

Ruby Sparks is not a flashy visual experience but comes delivered in pleasant 1080P resolution lacking the kind of depth and micro-detail necessary for the higher tiers.
 
#21,872 ·
Odd Thomas

recommendation: Tier 2.25*

By all rights this superficially impressive picture quality should land in Tier One. Despite some minor banding due to a deficient AVC video encode provided by Image Entertainment on a BD-25, this is a vivid 1080P presentation with excellent clarity and outstanding sharpness. The saturated color palette has lush colors and perfect contrast. Without the following problem, I could have seen ranking this disc near the top of Tier One.

Are you waiting for the punchline on why I assigned Odd Thomas to Tier 2.25? I haven't seen a transfer on BD this completely filtered in several years. The entire movie has been filtered, leaving it devoid of high-frequency content and detail. The waxy skin and plastic faces are the most noticeable results of this filtering. It greatly devalues the inherent detail found in 1080P video.
 
#21,873 ·
Man of Tai Chi

recommendation: Tier 0* (bottom 1/3)

A beautiful scope presentation from director Keanu Reeves.:eek: I never imagined I would need to write those words. Man of Tai Chi is a visually extravagant martial arts film released last December on Blu-ray, by Starz. The picture is crystal clear, rendering everything as sharply as possible. It has superior detail in every frame and possesses superb depth.

The opening scene is a little rocky with its black levels, crushing the slightest amount of shadow delineation. Starz is distributing this film for the Weinstein Company, throwing it out on a BD-25. That does lead to sightings of macroblocking in two shots. I think another studio with better compression standards might have pushed this movie even higher in Tier 0!

This is definitely must-watch demo material for martial arts enthusiasts.
 
#21,874 ·
Having seen a string of recent WB television releases, I'll review them all at once.

Supernatural: Season Nine

recommendation: Tier 2.5*

The Vampire Diaries: Season Five

recommendation: Tier 2.5*

The Originals: Season One

recommendation: Tier 2.25*

Person of Interest: Season Three

recommendation: Tier 3.0*

All these sets share a lot in common, having been distributed by WB in the past two weeks. Three on them air on the CW network. They share very similar technical specifications, as WB has authored them all in AVC at fairly pedestrian bitrates. While four BD-50s sound like a lot, space can quickly get consumed by 22 hour-long episodes. There is too much banding and macroblocking to ignore, especially in the darker scenes. A fifth disc would have made a lot of sense if picture quality was an overriding concern. Television productions often lack the kind of consistency required for higher Tiers, and these programs are no exception.

What stands out most are the black levels in Vampire Diaries and mushy detail in Person of Interest. VD has a muted palette with crushing problems to its black levels, hurting visibility and shadow detail. Person of Interest looks to have been filtered, showing mushy detail and a bit of softness for modern video. It also employs a lot of CGI, more so than even the other shows.

All the programs look rather good in better exterior and daylit scenes, highlighted by vivid definition and a startlingly clean presentation.
 
#21,875 ·
Pawn Shop Chronicles

recommendation: Tier 0* (.6)

Pristine picture quality, terrible movie.:eek: Incredible definition and texture, highlighted by impressive depth. If I had to cite anything that was less than exemplary, the brightness is oddly flat in a couple of scenes. We are talking artifact-free digital clarity, unheard of just a few years ago.

Starz/Anchor Bay provides a sufficient AVC video encode for the ultra-vivid video. It is simply so clean and immaculately shot that the lower compression parameters never have a chance to introduce problems. I did not expect this type of pure video quality when I popped the disc in, nothing indicated videophile status about it.
 
#21,876 · (Edited)
OCULUS

Someone asked about it so here it is...

This was decent horror movie with an interesting concept that could have been done much better IMO.

As far as PQ is concerned, I was rather surprised by how good it looked. For the most part the picture was sharp and clear with very good details. There were a few scenes that came of a bit softer. Contrast was just right and black levels were overall very good although they waivered here and there. Shadow details were just right. The color pallet seemed fairly neutral.

Overall Oculus has very strong PQ with no glaring issues but this movie didn't quite reach reference quality levels.

Ranking- 1.0
 
#21,877 · (Edited)
The Muppets: Most Wanted

Based on the first installment, which my kids own on bluray, I had pretty high expectations for the PQ in this movie. I felt the movie itself fell a bit flat, but as far as PQ goes it definitely lived up to my expectations.

Clarity and detail, although not the best I have seen, are still top notch. I don't recall even one soft shot. Excellent black levels and shadow details combined with perfect contrast lead to great depth. Color is rich with strong primaries. The pallet is neutral with very natural skin tones.

This movie, like the first, has a very pleasant and balanced feel with lifelike realism. It is actually improved in many areas.

Ranking- Tier 0 (somewhere just below the middle)

Viewed on Panasonic 60" ST60 from a distance of 6.5'
 
#21,878 ·
OCULUS

Someone asked about it so here it is...

This was decent horror movie with an interesting concept that could have been done much better IMO.

As far as PQ is concerned, I was rather surprised by how good it looked. For the most part the picture was sharp and clear with very good details. There were a few scenes that came of a bit softer. Contrast was just right and black levels were overall very good although they waivered here and there. Shadow details were just right. The color pallet seemed fairly neutral.

Overall Oculus has very strong PQ with no glaring issues but this movie didn't quite reach reference quality levels.

Ranking- 1.0
Thanks for the review!
 
#21,880 ·
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Tier Recommendation: Tier 0

Well, like the theatrical presentation, The Winter Soldier is presented from its digital source without film grain. Every shot is clear and striking. The only issue that I saw at all was some slight digital noise during a couple of middle-light scenes. It was almost as if they knew how to get the cameras to handle dark scenes and obviously knew how to handle light scenes, but shots that were transitions (like the sunrise early in the film) just exhibited noise that seemed out of place in an otherwise spectacular presentation.

I also rarely listen at reference, but I turned things up for this one and wasn't disappointed at all.

Despite the couple minor instances of noise, the rest of the film is clear and bright and overall excellent, so I would put it in Tier 0.
 
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