UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[mfunk9786]

Namely, whether it needed to be compressed to fit on a BD-66, considering it's a two hour film that is very visually dynamic. Did not realize the bonus features are all on the BD, though, that certainly explains most of that.

[black&huge]

Regarding The Man Who Fell To Earth I see the Studiocanal is red tier but any comparisons to the Lionsgate? Both equal in pq and encoding or does one outweigh the other in all areas?

[nicolas]

Namely, whether it needed to be compressed to fit on a BD-66, considering it's a two hour film that is very visually dynamic. Did not realize the bonus features are all on the BD, though, that certainly explains most of that.

Someone at BR posted a BDInfo scan which shows that David Mackenzie fully “maxed out” the BD-66 with 65 GB for the film incl. audio, which leads to an average bitrate of ~73 MB/s. I’ve read there a while ago that in cases like this (film not too long, no bonus features etc.) he’s testing out whether a specific master needs a BD-100 or can comfortably sit on a BD-66 without compromising detail.

[Finch]

Geoff D impressions of Fistful

[professorwho]

Regarding The Man Who Fell To Earth I see the Studiocanal is red tier but any comparisons to the Lionsgate? Both equal in pq and encoding or does one outweigh the other in all areas?

I have the LG SteelBook. Both use the same outstanding encode by VDMS, just re-authored to replace the SC branding with LG.

[Fus1on]

Mickey 17 (WB)

[nicolas]

Swordfish (Arrow) - caps
Tombstone (Disney) - caps
Basic Instinct (Lionsgate) - better encode and vastly superior 2.0 LD mix compared to the Studiocanal disc

The Crazies (Lionsgate) - caps
Jason X (Arrow) - caps
Jason Goes To Hell (Arrow) - caps
Sneakers (Kino) - caps

[Fus1on]

Jason X (Arrow) - caps

I just looked at these caps and I'm a little confused as to the placement here. It might just be me, but to my eyes, the UHD actually looks worse than the BD. Maybe there is some improvement with DV/HDR that isn't visible on SDR caps, but there is significantly less detail in those 4K caps. I would be interested in knowing more about the sources used for both transfers or if there was any digital meddling going on from Arrow (or even Shout), because I'm confused as to why it should be considered a solid disc.

On the other hand, those Jason Goes to Hell caps actually look really nice, so I'm extra confused.

[nicolas]

Jason X (Arrow) - caps

I just looked at these caps and I'm a little confused as to the placement here. It might just be me, but to my eyes, the UHD actually looks worse than the BD. Maybe there is some improvement with DV/HDR that isn't visible on SDR caps, but there is significantly less detail in those 4K caps. I would be interested in knowing more about the sources used for both transfers or if there was any digital meddling going on from Arrow (or even Shout), because I'm confused as to why it should be considered a solid disc.

On the other hand, those Jason Goes to Hell caps actually look really nice, so I'm extra confused.

The film was finished in 2K on a DI and as it seems with plenty of noise reduction baked in, which you can also see in the Warmer BD caps. To me the Shout caps look like they scanned the IP made off the filmout negative, which they often did at the time and (I believe) confirmed as well at some point.

Arrow/Warner went back and did a new 4K scan off the filmout negative (as claimed in the booklet and posted in the BR.com review), thereby reducing the generational loss and making the film ironically look more digital again. HDR should make the grading much more refined though á la Kill Bill but the caps are at their limits here.

I don’t have the 4K and am not planning on getting it, so maybe someone with the disc would like to comment further.

[tenia]

What is strange in these comparisons/caps is that it doesn't just look like it's only a matter of different workflows, but also that the UHD got hit with DNR on top of that (as I suppose a filmout wouldn't yield such a smooth picture by itself).

[nicolas]

What is strange in these comparisons/caps is that it doesn't just look like it's only a matter of different workflows, but also that the UHD got hit with DNR on top of that (as I suppose a filmout wouldn't yield such a smooth picture by itself).

I filtered the other forum for DNR and this is what they had to say: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=550

Also this page: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st23117963

Lionsgate did use DNR for 3:10 to Yuma’s filmout scan, so it’s not unheard of but it’d be a first for Arrow & Duplitech.

[tenia]

I agree with JCFan about the limits of A/B comparisons when it's likely the A source is at least slightly sharpened, but using one of the caps he uses, this simply looks smooth as hell.
And using caps where the BD isn't a macroblock garbage, this just now seems blurry compared to the BD, and this looks like offering less delineation and texture.
That's why I'd tend to think that yeah, the old BD probably is sharpened so the comparison needs to be taken carefully, but on its own, the new UHD just seem abnormally smooth.

[nicolas]

What Lies Beneath (Shout) - caps by jpilla415 @BR

[Fus1on]

Black Bag (Universal)

[Finch]

The Iron Rose and Girls Without Shame (Indicator)

[nicolas]

Dark City (Arrow) - caps

[nicolas]

Geoff D about the compression of Criterion's Anora BD and 4K.

[nicolas]

Throne of Blood (BFI) - review

[Finch]

1080p caps Kino vs new Arrow BD For A Few Dollars More

[MichaelB]

The Iron Rose and Girls Without Shame (Indicator)

With the obvious caveat that I was involved and am therefore implicitly biased, I'd say that the UHD Girls Without Shame is one of the most spectacular upgrades in the entire history of home video media. To say that even the previous Blu-rays were woefully sub-par would be putting it mildly, so my hopes of being able to facilitate much of an improvement weren't high - only for my eyes to pop out on stalks when I first saw the new restoration two or three months ago.

[senseabove]

After all, they released a 4K of Brocka's Bona, which is far more obscure than the most well-known Yang films.

(From another thread) Had missed this one. Anyone know if there are options other/better than AmazonFR/FNAC for the Bona UHD in the US?

[Finch]

Updated OP with the Eastwood 4Ks from Warner. Added a note to Dirty Harry. All three have pluses and minuses for the video but do have the original audio.

Geoff reviews Dirty Harry.

[Finch]

Edited to reflect that the 4Ks are "merely" solid upgrades compared to Arrow's BD

Withnail and I (Criterion)

The Arrow 4K resolves the grain better in the highlights so if you only care for the film, the Arrow is marginally ahead. Robinson's commentary track on the Criterion is reportedly better than the Arrow, though.

[Finch]

Now been confirmed that the audio on BFI's Throne of Blood 4K is worse than on their Blu-Ray. Hopefully Criterion can secure something better or fix the filtering for their edition when it comes through eventually.

[Finch]

In The Heat of the Night (Criterion) Chris's review

I haven't seen any comparisons to the Kino 4K yet (Kino's is SDR only as well) and I believe there are international versions (German?) forthcoming with HDR/DV added.