Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children...looks grainy? (1 Viewer)

[Joseph Millison]

I picked up this DVD after reading reviews much like this one:

"Originally released in 2005, the transfer for this series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is enhanced for anamorphic playback. The packaging indicates that this was mastered in high definition so I wouldn't be surprised to see a Blu-Ray HD release of this sometime in the next year. Watching this upconverted to 1080i on the new Toshiba HD DVD player makes me wonder just how much more Sony could possibly eke out of it because this is just a purely gorgeous transfer. The film simply looked clean throughout with great looking solid colors, incredible amounts of detail in all areas and no break-up or blocking visible anywhere."

But after watching it on my system it came out pretty grainy and washed out. It's not HORRIBLE, but it is noticeable. I thought perhaps it was a setting issue, but was fairly certain it was more the media itself in question.
I immediately swapped the disc out and popped in Finding Nemo, as I figured if FFVII had issues surely this one would as well. But Finding Nemo looked perfect...sharp, nice colors, etc. I put FFVII back into the player to see if it was perhaps a fluke, but the same problems arose. I think it's like track 4-5 or so, when there's an aerial shot of Cloud on his bike driving through a forest...that's the scene that stands out the most, though all others have their own identical issues.
Is there a known issue with this disc? Or am I being too picky? I expected this to be "the transfer of all transfers" but was sorely disappointed in the picture quality. It's almost distracting. I guess I don't need help troubleshooting it as much as I need a verification that perhaps there was a bad batch or something...I mean has anyone else came across the same dilema?

Thanks in advance for any insight

Joey6P

PS...hey everyone, long time no see!

 

[jim.vaccaro]

Having watched this last night on a 108" screen from a SP4805, I didn't notice any grain. Since it is CG, how could there be any unless it was added?What I did notice was an overall soft look to the film, but I'm inclined to think this is a deliberate artistic decision to give the movie a dreamlike quality. That seems logical at least, given the theme and source of the film. Other than a few areas where I noticed some aliasing, I thought the transfer was good...not great, but good. I have no buyer's regret.

 

[Justin1]

I also noticed a good amount of grain while watching this. I've got the Toshiba 4980 as my player. The picture looks the worst at the beginning when Cloud is on the bike. The characters are fine, but the backgrounds look faded.

 

[BenjaminG]

I Have yet to see Advent Children, but if its anything like The Spirits Within, the grain and slightly off/faded colours were a definite artistic decision. The Direct to digital transfer that Advent Children features certainly does not introduce any grain that wasnt intended, that much is sure.

 

[Joseph Millison]

After watching it once more I guess "grainy" wasn't the word to use. It looks more piexlated than anything else. For example, the scene mentioned before, where it's an aerial shot of Cloud riding through the forest...the image looks as though it were taken from a smaller resolution and perhaps resized to fit the screen. The leaves look blocky, and if you look at Cloud and his bike it looks like it were taken from the Playstation version of the game (that was my first though when I saw it) and "fit" into the movie. It seems like there's a loss of detail, and the different shades of green aren't as gradient as they should be perhaps?

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

Feel lucky you were able to get a copy. Everywhere here in Tucson is sold out. :frowning:

 

[Joe Barclay]

I feel your pain Donnie. I had to go to seven different stores before I found a copy on Tuesday.

 

[stephen la]

Ive been waiting for this for a while.
the artwork looks very nice, my only gripe is with the hair on the charaters.
there is a lot of jaggedness to the indivual strands, especially on Cloud.
I dont recall spirits within having this problem with hair.

anyone else notice this?

 

[Shane_M]

I thought they resolved a lot of the flaws they had with Spirits Within, ie the mouth and body movements. I wasn't really paying attention to the hair because it looked fine to me.

I never noticed any graininess either, but I was also watching it on a 15.4" LCD HighDef monitor. I'll watch it again on my TV to see if I notice anything.

 

[DonRoeber]

I was finally able to find a copy yesterday, and watched the film last night. I didn't notice any grain, but I did notice some artifacting when Vincent first shows up and all you see of him is his cloak. Otherwise, it looked fantastic. I'm watching on a Sony 50" LCD RPTV, with a Sony 85H DVD player upconverting to 1080i.

It looked much better than previous copies I was able to obtain. I also enjoyed the english dub, which kinda surprised me. It's also nice having accurate subtitles, if you're watching in japanese.

 

[JohnDG]

One note: looks like the gamma? (black level) is off. I have to turn mine down a bit, and it helped with the look of the overall film.

I'd have to agree with the comments above, including a surprising level of pixelation around the hair: something not in the first Final Fantasy film.

jdg

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

Early PS2 quality at best.