A Few Words About While we wait for A few words about...™ The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[classicmovieguy]

I'm expecting some 'flack' over these caps - again - they may not be accurate but the programme certainly knows when white is supposed to be white, etc.

 

[Matt Hough]

On my calibrated plasma set, the blue tint seen in these caps is never so prominent, and the faces of the dancers in "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" were not this bluebird blue that we've seen here. They were tinged white.

However, as I stated in my review, I felt the color didn't have the richness and sparkle that I've always associated with The King and I. Those dazzling Irene Sharaff costumes just didn't come off as luxuriously as they have always done on previous viewing in a theater or on home video. I don't know why. I do suspect, however, that because the video transfer has such extremes of striking quality and disappointing banality, this film's elements must have been in really problematic shape.

 

[WilliamMcK]

While recognizing that different types of sets are going to deliver different images... DLP/Plasma/LCD... as well as different brands, screen sizes, and sophistication of the calibration... Surely the fact that this particular disc has riled up so many of us must be a red flag that something is amiss. For those of us who find this KING AND I disastrous, if the problem is with our type of set, size of screen, or lack of calibration, why isn't there a similar outcry over OKLAHOMA!? Surely Fox should be able to provide a movie that looks as good as it can on the most expensive and sophisticated equipment as well as on lower-end sets.

For the record, I once again tried to "correct" the problem as I see it with the controls at my disposal (bumping up "backlight" and color saturation... but this time fooling around with Red-gain, Green-gain and Blue-gain levels in my "advanced" controls) -- I had a little more success... but I don't feel I should have to do this for an individual movie once I've calibrated my set to my liking.

 

[bryan4999]

On my calibrated plasma set, the blue tint seen in these caps is never so prominent, and the faces of the dancers in "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" were not this bluebird blue that we've seen here. They were tinged white.

However, as I stated in my review, I felt the color didn't have the richness and sparkle that I've always associated with The King and I. Those dazzling Irene Sharaff costumes just didn't come off as luxuriously as they have always done on previous viewing in a theater or on home video. I don't know why. I do suspect, however, that because the video transfer has such extremes of striking quality and disappointing banality, this film's elements must have been in really problematic shape.

It is hard to believe that the elements are in that poor of condition when Vudu and iTunes have a high def version from 2005 that is gorgeous.

 

[rsmithjr]

They made new 35mm prints several years ago for thea

It is hard to believe that the elements are in that poor of condition when Vudu and iTunes have a high def version from 2005 that is gorgeous.

They also made new 35mm prints a few years ago. I saw one April 2013 at the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto. Looked quite nice and similar to the Vudu digital copy. The Blu-ray is completely out of my experience with his movie.

I joined Vudu last week and watched The King and I on my projection system BTW.

 

[Mark Booth]

Again, I'm a photographer and my computer display is calibrated with a colorimeter. I have a Blu-ray drive and can watch the movies on my computer display and/or rip them to my SSD. The degree to which 'The King and I' doesn't look too blue on some TVs or displays is simply luck of the draw. I am confident my computer display (and my living room rear-projection HDTV, which is also calibrated) are displaying the contents of the Blu-ray accurately. 'The King and I' is definitely suffering from a nasty case of the blues.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

And using two of Mark Booth's caps...

Spoiler

BEFORE:

i-jRv73VM.jpg
AFTER:

i-jRv73VM -1.jpg
BEFORE:

i-nJq9LhK.jpg
AFTER:

i-nJq9LhK-1.jpg

Autofix features in computer software programs can be useful, but they don't replace an experienced eye.

Here are those same two screenshots of mine, before and after I manually adjusted them for proper white balance, highlights, shadows, and vibrancy.

Original Blu-ray screenshot:

My manually adjusted example of what I think it SHOULD look like:

Original Blu-ray screenshot:

My manually adjusted example of what I think it SHOULD look like:

Manually fixing this type of stuff is easy (after training and experience) using my professional photo editing software. I'm not familiar with the tools a motion picture colorist has at his disposal so it might be much more difficult there.

Mark

 

[Tama]

On my calibrated plasma set, the blue tint seen in these caps is never so prominent, and the faces of the dancers in "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" were not this bluebird blue that we've seen here. They were tinged white.

However, as I stated in my review, I felt the color didn't have the richness and sparkle that I've always associated with The King and I. Those dazzling Irene Sharaff costumes just didn't come off as luxuriously as they have always done on previous viewing in a theater or on home video. I don't know why. I do suspect, however, that because the video transfer has such extremes of striking quality and disappointing banality, this film's elements must have been in really problematic shape.

I to am running a calibrated plasma (samsung 60"). Some scenes are more noticeable then others but A.) It wasn't a blanket across the entire presentation and B.) wasn't as prominent as screen captures being posted here or on Blu-ray.com. It does remind of the LOTR: FotR green tinge issue. Screen shots posted had a much stronger pushed prior to it's release and the absolute worst (or most noticeable) shot were being used to make an incorrect statement that the entire length of the presentation suffered such.

 

[Robert Harris]

Off the top of my head, only from viewing the frame grabs, and presuming that the scans are those captured c. 2005, which are good, and that all normal QC at Fox is in play, my thinking would wander more towards the wrong master ending up in replication, with a final Blu-ray being viewed in QC by the wrong eyes. Either that, or an HD master produced at the time of capture, approved by someone before Mr. Belston was in his current position. Don't know if that's helpful. And superb question from Mr. K.RAH

 

[Mark Booth]

Re: My adjusted images in my previous message (#767)...
Some might say that my adjustments of these screenshots make the images too yellow. But keep this in mind… the movie is set in the early 1860s and Siam would not have had electrical power. That lamp hanging in the background is supposed to be lit by candle or oil. Surely the lighting technicians, set decorators, and cinematographer knew that. The lamp should be giving off a yellow glow. That glow should be reflected in the objects in the room.

And, guess what? Simply applying proper white balance to the image did exactly that. I did not add any yellow or gold. Yes, I increased the vibrancy a bit, but not much. The biggest shift in that first screenshot was due to setting proper white balance and, bingo, the "hidden" yellow cast from the lamp was there all the time.

Mark

 

[JoshZ]

I'm just wondering if "Blueface" make-up was ever used anywhere else in the entire history of show business.

 

[FoxyMulder]

By the way Josh, you might be interested in buying the new 3D edition of Dune from Germany, i say this knowing you are one of the worlds biggest Dune fans, it's probably as poor as most of these 3D conversions, apparently Hitchcock's North By Northwest is also now available to buy in 3D, i'll pass, i prefer native shot 3D productions.

 

[haineshisway]

And using two of Mark Booth's caps...

BEFORE:

i-jRv73VM.jpg
AFTER:

i-jRv73VM -1.jpg
BEFORE:

i-nJq9LhK.jpg
AFTER:

i-nJq9LhK-1.jpg

So you actually think your "after" photos are correct? That her dress should be turquoise and her skin orange? I leave that kind of color to you.

 

[JoshZ]

By the way Josh, you might be interested in buying the new 3D edition of Dune from Germany, i say this knowing you are one of the worlds biggest Dune fans, it's probably as poor as most of these 3D conversions, apparently Hitchcock's North By Northwest is also now available to buy in 3D, i'll pass, i prefer native shot 3D productions.

I have the disc. Like most of these quickie German conversions, it looks about the same quality as turning on the real-time 3D conversion in an HDTV. It's also based on a really crummy video transfer with severely boosted contrast.

 

[classicmovieguy]

So you actually think your "after" photos are correct? That her dress should be turquoise and her skin orange? I leave that kind of color to you.

No I don't, but the programme automatically knew to fix the white faced-dancers and Anna's white lace dress.

 

[Mark Booth]

No I don't, but the programme automatically knew to fix the white faced-dancers and Anna's white lace dress.

In other words, your program tried to establish a proper white balance for the entire image. That's good. But the rest of the automatic tinkering the program did didn't produce very desirable results.

Mark

 

[bluelaughaminute]

Re: My adjusted images in my previous message (#767)...
Some might say that my adjustments of these screenshots make the images too yellow. But keep this in mind… the movie is set in the early 1860s and Siam would not have had electrical power. That lamp hanging in the background is supposed to be lit by candle or oil. Surely the lighting technicians, set decorators, and cinematographer knew that.

Possibly - but The King and I is a glossy Hollywood musical - not a documentary so there wouldn't have been people running around singing songs with musical backing from invisible orchestras either.

I'm not one to usually pay much attention to screen grabs of any kind but the ones from this Bluray are enough to put anyone off

 

[CMNash]

I just nearly blue myself after seeing that image of Tobias.

 

[davidmatychuk]

I'm not one to usually pay much attention to screen grabs of any kind but the ones from this Bluray are enough to put anyone off

I agree. I now have no interest in buying this box set, and not just because I already have the Blu-Rays of "South Pacific" and "The Sound Of Music", as well as the previous DVD box. This box set should have been great, and transfer issues aside, it just isn't.

 

[classicmovieguy]

In other words, your program tried to establish a proper white balance for the entire image. That's good. But the rest of the automatic tinkering the program did didn't produce very desirable results.

Mark

I've never seen such a drastic 'after' comparison from IrfanView before - it was almost like a curtain was lifted.