The Lord Of The Rings Extended - Page 53

Studios can give reviewers special perks like exclusives by giving them blu-rays earlier than everyone else to review or even give them access to upcoming productions they're funding, access to the sets etc.

I'm not saying that Bill Hunt falls into this category but to say that professional reviewers don't have any possible motive to be more positive about releases than perhaps they should be is not entirely accurate.

The original batch of screenshots were from a retail source. A foreign retail source but a retail source nonetheless.

There is now a rip from the retail Region A disc. I compared them and everything about it is 100% identical at every point in the movie.

Therefore the original screenshots are a 100% accurate reflection of the change in colour timing from the TE to the EE.

This cannot be argued any more. Just accept it guys.

All this reviewer questioning is bordering on being rude. Of course you are implying that Mr. Hunt might fall into that category. Sheesh. You seem to take his differing opinion personal.

Jeff

It is stipulated that there has been a color/colour timing change from TE. The question remains is what is on the EE BD what PJ/AL approved or .. and here's what I think some are pushing ... is it liked by the colorati?

It's not a matter of being polite, rude, or whatever. It's about healthy skepticism. You should never rely on someone's opinion when there is a real or perceived conflict of interest. Bill Hunt is neither independent in fact nor appearance, due to his relationship with the studios in question. That goes for any other reviewer who has any connection or side benefit received from the people who produce the products they are reviewing, inclusive of free product.

"I didn't want to see this!" (CE3K)

Nothing would personally make me happier than to see a reference-quality LOTR EE Blu-ray.

If we can establish soon enough that there is a problem, perhaps we can get action taken sooner, before the usual wagons circle.

We're still in that stage of verifying there's a problem.

(It's not looking good. Another source on HTF just confirmed that the "foreign" discs (source for the caps) are identical to the Region A discs.

If you read the other forums, you'll see that now Bill Hunt is spending a lot of time justifying his review process (he had the LOTR EE Blu-rays for something like six hours before posting his "Cliff Notes"--his term--review). I wish the guy would just learn how to do accurate screenshots; it would save him--and his readers--a lot of trouble.)

Bottom line, we're awaiting more info, and evaluating it as it comes in. So cut us a break. We all want the same thing, which is the best possible LOTR EE Blu-ray. And if we can't get it, we'd like to see it fixed, sooner rather than later (or never).

Typical forum. Everybody is right, but everyone else is biased with ulterior motives .. unless they agree.

Jeff

So.. basically, what you're saying is that we should trust anonymous forum members more than most professional reviewers. Oh come on...

And why not? RAH is about the only person posting reviews whose professional credentials qualify him to authoritatively speak on such matters.... most "professional" reviewers are no different than anonymous forum members, except they get free screeners.

I don't know Bill, nor have I ever read any of his reviews. But I suspect that he is doing what he can to substantiate his opinion. And that doesn't seem any different than some on this thread who have staked out the "it's too green" territory. And now anyone that says otherwise is a shill - or incompetent.

Jeff

You mean "imagined" don't you?

Jeff

There is no such thing as a "professional" bluray reviewer. You should research the issues as best you can using the available evidence, and formulate your own conclusion. Certainly a screenshot, prepared correctly, is a more objective piece of evidence than a "reviewers" narrative description.

You would never make it as an auditor.

Well, there's the rub ... screenshots from who knows where compared to a reviewer who has watched the released Blu-rays.

Jeff

An editor?

RAH certainly is knowledgeable regarding film but I sometimes wonder about his expertise regarding anything digital.

Auditor.

My point was that Bill was spending an awful lot of time defending his process when he could have been reviewing the discs in some detail. When you talk process it means you don't want to talk product.

But let's let Bill Hunt speak for himself, from HDD:

Someone give me a list of reviewers that don't get comp'd(free) releases from the studios. There very well may be but they are few and far between.
Ralph gets free releases, is he suspect too now or are you afraid that if you accuse him that you'll get banned from AVS?

+1

+2

Man, in the thread over at BluRay.com they're really at each other's throats!

Yes, good point. And complicating it even more is that the charts you posted are Rec. 709 standard and film is not shot at Rec. 709 but rather uses a wider color gamut.

who is RAH (reviewer)

Well, ye-ssss... film certainly has a wider gamut than Rec. 709, but Blu-ray sources are supposed to be mastered for Rec. 709 adherence, AFAIK. So whatever wider gamut there originally exists on film is "shrunk" down to Rec. 709 for Blu-ray. It's why displays are calibrated to Rec. 709.

Penton-Man, bless his black heart, brushed this subject at br.com:

Robert A. Harris.

thanks

Well given what the pro reviewers and the people who watched the new screenings are saying I am still not convinced the green screens caps we are seeing are how the discs actually look. Are the caps from the Thailand discs done by a person known to make accurate caps? Or is it just more random stuff from the interwebs? Are there caps available from a known and trusted person yet?

The left and the middle are both from the same photo that Bill took when comparing the two side by side on his computer.

If bill hunt is playing the BD in his computer and not just say a standalone player then if someone could tell him how to do a proper screen grab the question of how teal, dark the retail disc is would be settled