The New PQ Tier thread for Blu-Ray - Discussion - Page 13

I rented this a few months ago and thought it had great picture quality, especially considering it's a movie from 1956.........the movie itself on the other hand was a real bore in my opinion. The Cowboys is another John Wayne film on Blu Ray with great picture quality (and a much better movie in my opinion).

Yes it is...it also isn't really that impressive over the DVD. Love the movie love the look but it doesn't look night and day from the DVD, rotoscoping (or whatever it is called) just means a lot less details. Casino Royale, Apocalypto, POTC...these all destroy their counterparts and look amazing.

Also as I have a DVI connection I can't judge, but Kris noted the unintentional banding, I know some laugh at this as there is so much intentional "banding" but still, something that isn't "perfect".

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...anner%20Darkly

Kris is a stickler for these things...I noticed both when he pointed them out.

A Scanner Darkly

Just finished watching this 5 minutes ago.

First, this is a very impressive looking movie! The style is simply amazing!

That said: this needs to be removed from Tier 0 immediately. There is far too much banding and jaggies/line twitter to be considered a reference title. Eye candy, absolutely, but it most certainly has some issues with the video.

That is the reason for my complaints about Warner: they are doing the poorest job in terms of PQ of any of the major studios.

Thanks, Rob, for putting it so well.

Exactly right.

As further followup, Warner seems to have made a very conscious, deliberate, and high-level decision that achieving the highest possible PQ on high def discs is not a priority for them. As Rob indicated, the motivation behind this apparent decision by Warner is somewhat of a mystery. Is it their intention at some point in the future to come out with "superbit" versions of all their high def releases so that they can get everyone to buy the same titles again? Is it because they think it is a higher priority to eliminate grain because they think that consumers don't like grain and any resulting softness is a side effect they prefer to grain? Is it some desire to get the lowest possible bitrates that produce "acceptable" results in order to facilitate downloading?

Whatever the explanation, I think their PQ practices are despicable and need to be called out.

I think the banding is actually part of the style of the "rendering". I could be wrong though, since I haven't seen this movie in its entirety.

I think you are partially correct. But there are also clearly examples of where the banding is not intentional. And the line twitter is some of the worst I have seen to date on any HD title.

I checked the bitrate meter on my Pioneer Elite HD1 several times, and it is very clear that the video bitrate is very low. Frankly, I am surprised that it looks as good as it does given the low bitrate used.

I'll tell you after you remove A Scanner Darkly from Tier 0!




Just click the "display" button (near the top right) twice.

Has anyone mentioned Curse of the Golden Flower? The transfer is a bit grainy at parts, but for the most part the PQ is fantastic. It is the reference disc I use to wow people because the bright colors pop and the cinematography/visuals are top-notch. I'd recommend low Tier 1, though I can see it dropping to Tier 2 because the transfer has occasional blemishes. For the most part, though, it's great to look at.

Weird i didnt see much of this at all on the HD DVD version, but i thikn the transfers are the same.

How is the movie itself ?

Cinematography 10
Acting 9
Story 6
Overall 8

It's worth seeing at least once. I bought it without hesitation because of the visuals, and I'm a fan of Gong Li's cleavage in HD. There's also an epic battle towards the end, reminiscent of the battle of Helm's Deep in LOTR: The Two Towers. The movie is rated R for violence, and 90% of that is from that battle alone. There's also a couple cool ninja sequences. What's not to like?

Edit: Here are some threads where people were discussing the movie:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8&page=1&pp=30

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9&page=1&pp=30

So, no response to the multiple requests that Blood Diamond be lowered?

Certainly a valid reason!
One should never underestimate the power of the cleavage.

Correct !



Also Lower Blood Diamond please ! Its much too high
So is Season 1 of Weeds. I love the show but its gotta drop a bit. I can't see how this is better than the prestige

Thank you!

Fellow cleavage connoisseurs, there is a great pic of Gong Li in the second link I posted where they talk about Curse of the Golden Flower's release.

Thoughts on the Untouchables? It's one of my faves, and I'm watching today's BR release right now. PQ is definitely solid, w/ good detail and not a lot of artifact. But it's certainly not Tier 0 or Tier 1. The vivid colors of the film really lend themselves well to BR though.

I've no doubt this one will be in my ps3 a lot more than some of my other recent BR purchases.

.........YUMMY !! Now I'll definitely have to see this movie

On a brief viewing Cruel Intentions is nice and sharp with lots of pop. I will post where I think it should be placed on here after I watch the whole thing though.

Is a Scanner Darkly going to be lowered from Tier 0?

It should be...esp since tier 0 specifically says zero artifacts, and there are clear ones on Scanner Darkly. Far more so than Apacalypto (some film grain in some shots doesn't count as an artifact in my book)

I read a review that edge enhancement was noticeable. Did you see any?

Thanks,

ZM

Yeah, it's particularly noticeable on certain shots. But, on balance, it's not egregious.

is it just me or is Paramount really bad about adding EE to their catalog titles? TRADING PLACES looks nice but there's an edginess to the picture that looks like video processing to me.

just watched it and i agree with your judgement, a solid tier 2 release.

I just watched Cruel Intentions. Good solid PQ, sharp with good detail.

The only things that let it down was some bad lighting which seemed to wash out skintones in certain scenes, which is not a fault of the transfer itself.

I'd say it would definetly be a Tier 2 title. I would place it above The Departed.

Just purchased "Rambo: First Blood" on blu ray. It looks surprisingly good to me. I'm very familiar with the dvd version and just watched it a few weeks ago on the same setup... Huge improvement. I'd likely put it in the tier 2 to tier 3 range (considering the tier placement of other movies).