I have read statements from Universal that say it is normal practice to use digital noise reduction and edge enhancement on their catalog titles, when they re-released Gladiator they said they are not adding these "enhancements".
Well here's the thing, i keep ending up so disappointed when i buy a Universal back catalogue release, i'm trying hard to think of one that i bought which had zero issues, oh for sure Ridley Scott's extended cut of Legend was good, far better than the sharpened theatrical cut but it had issues of its own due to using an answer print.
The Back To The Future films all had smoothavision applied to selected scenes, i had hoped for better from Jurassic Park, but nope the Universal people strike again and i end up spending money on something that disappoints me.
I wrote this in another forum but i will repeat the post here.
I got my Jurassic Park trilogy delivered today, i wanted to make some screencaps for my own site and also intend writing a review after i have watched it on the big screen projector setup, well its obvious within the first minute that halo's are present around people and objects, grain is slightly exaggerated as a result of the sharpening.
Universal strikes again, they just cannot be relied upon to do a catalog title right.
I am so surprised that Spielberg did not get involved, maybe he was too busy with Tin Tin, maybe if he does view it we can get a recall and better product in the same way Ridley Scott got them to upgrade Gladiator.
Okay it isn't as bad as Gladiator was, but c'mon, its 2011, edge sharpening is NOT needed on blu ray, if you want a sharper image then do it via your television/projector/blu ray player, don't bake the sharpening and associated issues into the damn transfer.
This sickens me, i was really looking forward to this release.
Spielberg has usually taken an interest in ensuring his films look great on blu ray, either he doesn't care for Jurassic Park ( i know he doesn't for The Lost World and neither do i ) or even he cannot get the muppets who run the Universal video department to stop this practice of adding sharpening to catalog releases.
I'm very disappointed, i imagine the sequels will also suffer from Universals "policy" of sharpening up their catalog releases.
Looking closer at some of the worst affected sharpening scenes and it looks to me like some DNR has been applied, the grain looks smudgy, unnatural looking, if DNR was applied then detail would be removed, it makes sense that they would apply sharpening to try and get back that detail, i'm talking about the scene where they first see the dinosaurs and are amazed, terrible halo's and grain looks smudgy, i considered the fact that it might be compositing halo's, nah, its on the dinosaur, the trees, the people, everything, thats not a compositing issue.
Now the scene where the baby raptors are born looks far more natural and detailed, that scene has had complaints about being "too grainy" well i disagree and most of that scene looks far more film like to my eyes and funnily enough most of it is a closeup scene.
I think its possible this might be an old 2K transfer and made for DVD, long and medium camera setups seem to exhibit edge sharpening to varying levels and some grain reduction also to varying levels, closeups seem much better to me, often for DVD they would sharpen the long and medium shots but not so much the closeups, thats what i think i am seeing here but i'll know more when i view it on the big screen and this is just my initilal thoughts.
I just want Universal to stop with this "normal and routine" process of using DNR and EE on their back catalog, don't spend the money on this, save your money and just give us the film, warts and all, but as of today i am done buying any catalog titles from Universal, completely done, no more, if Spielberg films can suffer from Universal's badly thought out policy then any film can suffer it and i won't spend another penny on this, oh for sure the masses will buy and lap it all up, not because they are stupid, but because they do not know what edge sharpening halo's are or don't care because their televisions are set up with sharpensss to the max and they see edge halo's on everything and think its normal, that is not intended as an insult to people, its a fact, people view televisions in torch mode, get impressed, buy the tv and set them up that way, its a shame but its true, i wish it wasn't.
I mostly buy catalog releases these days or wait for price drops on new releases, i tend to avoid Universal and Paramount back catalog releases, especially Universal, i logically thought Spielberg would have approved Jurassic Park, i don't think he has, if he has then i would be surprised, something is not right with this release, i fear for the sequels too.
I have written an email to Universal to ask about Jurassic Park and whether they are using an old 2K master, whether its from 11 years ago, or 2006/7 and i also asked if Spielberg approved it, i asked if their normal process of applying DNR and EE was adhered to with this release, i doubt i will get a reply.
Well here's the thing, i keep ending up so disappointed when i buy a Universal back catalogue release, i'm trying hard to think of one that i bought which had zero issues, oh for sure Ridley Scott's extended cut of Legend was good, far better than the sharpened theatrical cut but it had issues of its own due to using an answer print.
The Back To The Future films all had smoothavision applied to selected scenes, i had hoped for better from Jurassic Park, but nope the Universal people strike again and i end up spending money on something that disappoints me.
I wrote this in another forum but i will repeat the post here.
I got my Jurassic Park trilogy delivered today, i wanted to make some screencaps for my own site and also intend writing a review after i have watched it on the big screen projector setup, well its obvious within the first minute that halo's are present around people and objects, grain is slightly exaggerated as a result of the sharpening.
Universal strikes again, they just cannot be relied upon to do a catalog title right.
I am so surprised that Spielberg did not get involved, maybe he was too busy with Tin Tin, maybe if he does view it we can get a recall and better product in the same way Ridley Scott got them to upgrade Gladiator.
Okay it isn't as bad as Gladiator was, but c'mon, its 2011, edge sharpening is NOT needed on blu ray, if you want a sharper image then do it via your television/projector/blu ray player, don't bake the sharpening and associated issues into the damn transfer.
This sickens me, i was really looking forward to this release.
Spielberg has usually taken an interest in ensuring his films look great on blu ray, either he doesn't care for Jurassic Park ( i know he doesn't for The Lost World and neither do i ) or even he cannot get the muppets who run the Universal video department to stop this practice of adding sharpening to catalog releases.
I'm very disappointed, i imagine the sequels will also suffer from Universals "policy" of sharpening up their catalog releases.
Looking closer at some of the worst affected sharpening scenes and it looks to me like some DNR has been applied, the grain looks smudgy, unnatural looking, if DNR was applied then detail would be removed, it makes sense that they would apply sharpening to try and get back that detail, i'm talking about the scene where they first see the dinosaurs and are amazed, terrible halo's and grain looks smudgy, i considered the fact that it might be compositing halo's, nah, its on the dinosaur, the trees, the people, everything, thats not a compositing issue.
Now the scene where the baby raptors are born looks far more natural and detailed, that scene has had complaints about being "too grainy" well i disagree and most of that scene looks far more film like to my eyes and funnily enough most of it is a closeup scene.
I think its possible this might be an old 2K transfer and made for DVD, long and medium camera setups seem to exhibit edge sharpening to varying levels and some grain reduction also to varying levels, closeups seem much better to me, often for DVD they would sharpen the long and medium shots but not so much the closeups, thats what i think i am seeing here but i'll know more when i view it on the big screen and this is just my initilal thoughts.
I just want Universal to stop with this "normal and routine" process of using DNR and EE on their back catalog, don't spend the money on this, save your money and just give us the film, warts and all, but as of today i am done buying any catalog titles from Universal, completely done, no more, if Spielberg films can suffer from Universal's badly thought out policy then any film can suffer it and i won't spend another penny on this, oh for sure the masses will buy and lap it all up, not because they are stupid, but because they do not know what edge sharpening halo's are or don't care because their televisions are set up with sharpensss to the max and they see edge halo's on everything and think its normal, that is not intended as an insult to people, its a fact, people view televisions in torch mode, get impressed, buy the tv and set them up that way, its a shame but its true, i wish it wasn't.
I mostly buy catalog releases these days or wait for price drops on new releases, i tend to avoid Universal and Paramount back catalog releases, especially Universal, i logically thought Spielberg would have approved Jurassic Park, i don't think he has, if he has then i would be surprised, something is not right with this release, i fear for the sequels too.
I have written an email to Universal to ask about Jurassic Park and whether they are using an old 2K master, whether its from 11 years ago, or 2006/7 and i also asked if Spielberg approved it, i asked if their normal process of applying DNR and EE was adhered to with this release, i doubt i will get a reply.