The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) comparison *PIX*

had to do a comparison of a faithful transfer to offset the patton comparison eh?

The vertical bars are such a breath of air. By most of the screen captures Xylon has posted you'd think HDM is 2.35:1 only.

Where's the grain in your captures? (It looks like digital noise instead.) It might be this crappy Viewsonic LCD I'm using right now. I cussed at my BH200 initially when I first popped this in because the stupid noise reduction was on by default. This is probably the 2nd grainiest release I own behind Mutiny on the Bounty. Forbidden Planet is pretty grainy, too.

But, but it can't be HD if it has bars on the side!


This is one of my favorite HD DVDs...not only for PQ but more importantly the story and acting and the fabulous over the top colors.

I think Xylon should be "knighted" for his contributions to this forum.

Great stuff, Xylon. What about a couple closeups/interior shots?

And while you have the disc in the tray... may I suggest doing a couple screengrabs off the Katnip Kollege animated short?

Excellent stuff Xylon. PQ looks better than some of the new movies.

I passed on this one, but it looks like they did a amazing job with such a old film! I'm gonna be on the look out for this one now.

There is no doubt that this disc looks incredible. The movie is now 70 years old, but thanks to the restoration job by WB, it looks fantastic. Easily one of my favorite HD DVDs or BR discs. Plus, it's a damn good movie.

It would look significantly better, Xylon. Gone with the Wind was shot on a new and improved version of technicolor on a significantly beter B&W film stock kodak had introduced shortly after Robin Hood's production wrapped (not to mention by a better cinematographer/s). It, being a more notable film (thought they are both classics) probably also got an more detailed restoration. Expect ridiculously good qulaity on the blu ray.

High bit rate VC-1 with mono Dolby TrueHD would be awesome! I would rather that on a BD25 at $19 than a DNR'd $40 catalog title with region coding and BD+.

One thing that no one mentioned is that the upscaled DVD captures look good, too. There's something to be said for a good transfer!

This was one of the best classic HD DVDs that Warner put out. Can you post a screen grab from one of the Looney Tunes?

+1

you have obvious improvements of course but the DVD is still quite good... i wish warner would release more of their older films in high def... same goes for other studios...

I see the grain in the animated cap more easily than the live action ones. Weird.

Thanks, Xylon!

because the animation has large areas of solid color... grain is usually more obvious in such a situation

I'm torn between whether grain should be removed from animation or whether it should be retained. I think maybe they should keep it since it gives them a more historic and film-like look and shows children (and adults in the future that might not know) that they're classic cartoons rather than ones made yesterday on a computer.

the HD of the LT is so clear you can see all the dust and grunge that settled -between- the layers of the cells "swim" over the image...

Bless Warners for these early titles, bring 'em on into the new format please...

Great shots Xylon. This disc was an early purchase of mine for the late lamented format. The whole package is top notch. Amazing how a 70 year old film can look better than stuff of various ages being released lately (Gangs of New Yok, Patton, The Longest Day).

Re the softness of some scenes on Robin, Curtiz used soft focus in Casablanca too in some scenes.

Gary

After seeing those good pics it makes me want to watch it again!

The HD DVD of Casablanca is wonderful in that it is so easy to see the original cinematography as it was intended.

My copy of Robin Hood arrived yesterday. Thank you for the great posts, Xylon.

I actually really like the grain to be present in animation. It just looks more real Ironic isn't it?

In a way the issue of DNR is even more critical to animation. Because of the clarity and relatively low detail compared to live-action, the devastating effects of a poorly done noise-reduction job become even more apparent.

This was covered long ago in the DVD era, (just google "cartoon" and "DVNR" for example) but basically, if you're not careful, the algorithm will not only remove grain, but whole sections of outlines and other painted detail, or thin them out and smear for an unattractive, oily look. If they don't spend a lot of money to do it right, which I seriously doubt they'd be willing to do for the hundreds of Looney Tunes and Disney shorts, it's better not to touch them at all. Personally I also agree with the above poster, I think the grain gives the animation even more life.