Lord of the Rings (TE) - Page 71

Ohh what they have done! I think I will leave the HDTV cap of first film in my library.
At least they could match the quality of HDTV cap and the added bonus would be lossless audio.

Thank you new line for screwing one of the most anticipated titles.

I think the Blu Ray looks better, but I'm not impressed by either.

lets see hddigest, I bet it will get 4-5 for PQ

Yup, that confirms that my memory was right, at least. Not sure why they processed some scenes worse than others though on the bd. The bilbo one is one of the bad ones, and other one is the loving-princess-whatever-her-name. Most other scenes aren't that bad, but this is definitely not worth buying.
Perfectly fine looking new movie getting this treatment deserves low sales.

What? You say that from bilbo comparison shot you would choose blu over cap?

There was DNR applied to the DI already. I remember shots that had it on 35mm prints.

C'mon guys. These grabs are all over the place.
There's nothing definitive to be seen yet.

the blu ray shot looks a LITTLE softer, but nothing to bitch about.

Yeah, it looks better to me. Much sharper.

It isn't something to 'bitch' about. These films deserve better, period.

If you do a direct comparison, you'd see that quite a bit of detail goes lost between the two. Most notably pores and hairs.

Just brilliant work:

http://comparescreenshots.slicx.com/comparison/43512

Anybody who has the set early, would you mind posting pics of the packaging? Just wondering if I should spend $5 on the plastic steelbook from Best Buy...

Looking forward to hearing your feedback about the DTS-HD MA audio tracks. TT is my favorite so especially that one.


Robert, I beg to differ. Some of us are huge audio fans like myself and the PQ does not need to be outstanding for me to pick these up. Plus, the EE's do not come out until 2012 so this will keep me busy until then. Hopefully, more people will be posting pics this week that will look better than what we have seen so far. Most of us writing in this thread are huge LOTR fans and it would be disappointing to have a Gladiator repeat on our hands.

I do not see the $5 steelbook preorder on Best Buy anymore. It is coming up at $15 and the price is just being added to your order.

I guess I am seeing this comparison different from most. The BR shot looks better to me........the hair is sharper/more detailed in particular and there also seems to be a bit better detail in the face.

Check again:

http://comparescreenshots.slicx.com/comparison/43512

The texture on his clothing, pores, 5 o'clock shade....

I did..............the BR shot to my eyes has better detail in the hair for sure.

The face after looking at that comparison is a mixed bag........parts of it look more detailed to me in the BR and parts look more detailed in the HDTV version. Overall a toss-up IMO as far as the face, but the hair definitely gets the nod toward the BR IMHO.

Overall the BR version looks better to my eyes.

The BR is the first picture before you move the cursor over the photo, right?

It just looks like the effect of either minor sharpening or contrast boosting.

You guys would know better than me, but to my eyes (assuming the BR is the first shot before moving the cursor over the photo) the BR looks overall better for the reasons I mentioned.

These look how I would expect FOTR to look.

It's not like they did the processing without a reason. It takes time and processing power.
We just have to face the fact that a big part of the target consumers will see it as better unfortunately.

Exactly, the Bluray capture shows increased contrast and sharpening which does add some pop, but if you examine the face closely you will see DNR smudging has eliminated some very fine detail and skin texture compared to the HDTV capture (this can also be seen clearly in the background where the HDTV image retains natural film grain).

Looks like blocking artifacts, to me.

It's possible that only a few select scenes are DNR'd. I just picked the screenshot from DaveUpton's batch that didn't look quite right. The rest look about the same as HDTV. I'll do a more extensive comparison when I can get the discs.

what is the HDTV source? a premium movie channel? If so, Blu Ray looks pathetic here

The HDTV shot looks softer to me.

I'm viewing all of these shots on a calibrated 46" 1080p LCD. On my desk.

Oh god, that HDTV cap has such a wonderful, natural film look.



Damn you, Warner.

If you like pretending that compression artifacts are film grain, then I guess.

I was speaking more to the fact that Bilbo doesn't look like a plastic doll.

I don't think he does in that shot from the Blu-ray. This certainly is not Star Trek VI.