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AlexNH

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If you buy the new BD, will the digital version automatically upgrade to the UHD version?
 

OliverK

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I don't think there's any reason to buy the new blu-ray. Buy the old blu-ray, or buy the new version on one of the digital platforms.
That also has the added probability of a new improved master becoming available if there ever is one.

Currently waiting for a sale for The King and I after I read somewhere else that itunes now has the regraded version available that Disney may never give us on disc.
 

AlexNH

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Alex Koutroubas
I bought the 4k digital version and I still have mixed feelings. It's nice to see Cary Grant actually look like a caucasian but the transfer still has lots problems with detail. I do like the colors though. The bottomline: Hitch deserves a lot better. Maybe fifth times the charm?
 

Robert Crawford

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I bought the 4k digital version and I still have mixed feelings. It's nice to see Cary Grant actually look like a caucasian but the transfer still has lots problems with detail. I do like the colors though. The bottomline: Hitch deserves a lot better. Maybe fifth times the charm?
I seriously doubt there will be a fifth time.
 

OliverK

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I bought the 4k digital version and I still have mixed feelings. It's nice to see Cary Grant actually look like a caucasian but the transfer still has lots problems with detail. I do like the colors though. The bottomline: Hitch deserves a lot better. Maybe fifth times the charm?
Actually Gary Grant liked to have a deep tan so what we see is just an amplification of what was already there and adjusting gamma takes care of that quite nicely.
 

RickardL

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This has probably been mentioned here before but Wow!
I just happened to come across these 10 comparison pics between the 2012 and 2020 Blu-ray...
(I might have seen them before since they were done 9 months ago but my memory slips me...)
 

OliverK

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This has probably been mentioned here before but Wow!
I just happened to come across these 10 comparison pics between the 2012 and 2020 Blu-ray...
(I might have seen them before since they were done 9 months ago but my memory slips me...)
It is good to again see proof that the 2020 version has taken care of most of the excessive detail and textures that plagued the 2012 release.
 

Nelson Au

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It’s nearly a year since I watched this disc. I can see that it’s frustrating for many here as it is for me. From all the comments, and what I’ve read is factual information about the right color for the night scenes, the 2012 blu ray has it right, or as right as it can be compared to the ib print. So it seems the 2012 disc best replicates the actual released print from 1955? But then I thought I read that Hitchcock wanted the night scenes to have a certain black bluish color. But they ended up green on the release prints in 1955. So maybe that’s why the night scenes are bluish on the 2020 disc.

This thread and that post with the image comparisons inspired me to have a look at the 2012 and 2020 releases again, I compared the flower market sequence. And before I forget, my impressions of the 2020 disc when I first saw it is that I thought some sequences looked great and others maybe not. The titles looked better rendered, the color and clarity of the type on the screen as well as the image of the travel agency window. And the exterior shot of the salmon colored hotel impressed me with the color. As I said before, it looked like a layer of varnish was removed to expose the real color.

I don’t think a blu ray release can fairly be judged by screen caps. So I compared the flower market sequence, I did notice the image is darker and denser on the 2012 release. And the image is sharper! I looked at Hughson’s suit and the fabric texture was very well defined while the 2020 release appeared to have a Gaussian blur applied over his suit. It’s hard to tell which colors are supposed to be right for the flowers, there was a lot of reds there and they looked good on the 2020 release, but the 2012 flower colors is denser, a bit more saturated, possibly due to the image not being brightened as it appears to be in the 2020 version. As far as skin tones look, I know Cary Grant liked to get his suntan, so I didn’t think he looked overly dark in the 2012 version. I might have to watch the whole move now that I started!

I’ve tried to not think about this release too much because it does frustrate me. It seems like Paramount tried, but it seems we will never know what happened. They insist they did the work correctly on this release. As was said, maybe a 4K release will fix everything.

I am waiting to better educate myself on which 4K display to upgrade to, so for now, I can’t see the iTunes version to compare. So from this quick exercise, it feels like the 2012 release has the more pleasing image. It’s sharp, not overly brightened, not cropped in and the green cast is there like the ib prints that’s been posted here. But if one didn’t have the 2012 disc, the 2020 release is watchable for sure for the uninitiated.
 

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