UHD Review Blu-ray Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ War of the Worlds -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray & When Worlds Collide -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for the likes guys and thanks Jeff F. for chiming in with your impressions of the 4K blu ray. Glad to read you see a Mars that is red too. I agree, there are some large land masses that are grey as well. Mars does not look blue like the screen shots that Bill Hunt posted.

After sleeping on it, I began to wonder if what has been reported by Bill Hunt and RAH here is based on early screener discs? And perhaps those discs were made from a source that’s wrong with that blue Mars? Or perhaps the consumer release of Paramount’s 4K blu ray actually had corrections made before it was pressed.

If I can, I’ll try to do a screen capture from the 4K disc.

 

[Malcolm R]

Possible, but it seems odd they'd send out discs for review that were inferior to the final product.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Possible, but it seems odd they'd send out discs for review that were inferior to the final product.

I sincerely doubt there’s been a second pressing. To begin with, Paramount has had this master available for sale since 2018 and genuinely believe their color timing choices to be correct. They’re not going to fix a disc that they don’t believe is broken. They’ve also made a very recent statement, within the past week or two, that the disc is correct; it’s extremely unlikely that they’d be creating a replacement disc at the same time they’re telling everyone the disc they have is fine. And then on top of that, to remaster, reauthor and repress the disc would take months, not days.

The much more likely explanation is that differences in how various brands and models of television sets interpret and implement HDR metadata (to say nothing of settings applied by individual owners) is resulting in slightly different appearances from TV to TV.

 

[dpippel]

The much more likely explanation is that differences in how various brands and models of television sets interpret and implement HDR metadata (to say nothing of settings applied by individual owners) is resulting in slightly different appearances from TV to TV.

Not only that, but whether or not the display is calibrated and if it is, how WELL it's been calibrated also plays a huge role, I'm sure.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Thanks for the likes guys and thanks Jeff F. for chiming in with your impressions of the 4K blu ray. Glad to read you see a Mars that is red too. I agree, there are some large land masses that are grey as well. Mars does not look blue like the screen shots that Bill Hunt posted.

After sleeping on it, I began to wonder if what has been reported by Bill Hunt and RAH here is based on early screener discs? And perhaps those discs were made from a source that’s wrong with that blue Mars? Or perhaps the consumer release of Paramount’s 4K blu ray actually had corrections made before it was pressed.

If I can, I’ll try to do a screen capture from the 4K disc.

Paramount doesn't send us "early screeners".

They send final retail product, so what we watch is the same as what you watch - unless there's a major goof that they catch between the discs they send to us and the actual release date.

But we got final retail product.

 

[Nelson Au]

Ok then! What the reviewers are seeing is made from the same source we the consumers are seeing.

in terms of screen and projectors being calibrated, I’m watching on a Sony OLED that’s calibrated. Its a good set. If the calibration is off for others, that’s a huge color change from what I am seeing to what Bill Hunt or other reviewers are seeing. And I am making a guess that RAH’s gear is very high end and not projecting an image that is in error.

I know I’m not color blind and in my work, I am especially sensitive to color and have trained my eyes to see colors.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Ok then! What the reviewers are seeing is made from the same source we the consumers are seeing.

in terms of screen and projectors being calibrated, I’m watching on a Sony OLED that’s calibrated. Its a good set. If the calibration is off for others, that’s a huge color change from what I am seeing to what Bill Hunt or other reviewers are seeing. And I am making a guess that RAH’s gear is very high end and not projecting an image that is in error.

I know I’m not color blind and in my work, I am especially sensitive to color and have trained my eyes to see colors.

Nelson,

Don’t sweat it! You’re not the only one seeing Mars with that rust color.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Robert, thanks for that! I needed it.

I’m beginning to wonder if people are actually seeing this disc themselves or if the reviews showing a blue Mars has put people off buying the disc or seeing it with their own eyes. ( spoken like James Earl Jones. )

edit: This gives me hope that a new 4k disc of To Catch A Thief will be released soon that will look right.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Hi Robert, thanks for that! I needed it.

I’m beginning to wonder if people are actually seeing this disc themselves or if the reviews showing a blue Mars has put people off buying the disc or seeing it with their own eyes. ( spoken like James Earl Jones. )

edit: This gives me hope that a new 4k disc of To Catch A Thief will be released soon that will look right.

Mars looked blue when I watched the 4K weeks ago. As I think I mentioned earlier, I actually thought it was supposed to be Earth since the narration discusses Earth in that shot!

 

[Robert Harris]

The reality is that this is a minor point - error or not - and part of an overall high quality presentation - especially when viewed at a nominal distance.

And yes, calibration is essential.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hi Robert, thanks for that! I needed it.

I’m beginning to wonder if people are actually seeing this disc themselves or if the reviews showing a blue Mars has put people off buying the disc or seeing it with their own eyes. ( spoken like James Earl Jones. )

edit: This gives me hope that a new 4k disc of To Catch A Thief will be released soon that will look right.

I sampled my 4K/UHD and I'm seeing the same thing as you are on my LG OLED. Anyhow, I'm a late participant in our "23rd Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge". Once I do some catch up because of my lateness to the Challenge, I will watch the following discs in their entirety. Well, at least, the 4K/UHD in it's entirety. Because I previously watched the Criterion and Imprint Blu-rays shortly after their release dates back in 2020. I will at least do some comparisons between the three discs, once I'm done watching the 4K/UHD. I'm thinking this will happen towards the end of this month.

 

[Nelson Au]

I’ll be interested in hearing your thoughts of the 4K War of the Worlds after you see it!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’ll be interested in hearing your thoughts of the 4K War of the Worlds after you see it!

I've already watched the 4K digital a couple of times since 2018. Therefore, I'm expecting an even better video presentation with the increased bandwidth/higher bitrate with the 4K disc.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Robert, oh yes, I didn’t have a 4K display at the time the digital came out. So I never tried to watch that and I forgot about it. When this disc made news, I was focused on getting that to see the 4K.

 

[timk1041]

I'm guessing you don't know about the Imprint BR release of When World's Collide?
View attachment 154660

Good luck finding this now.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I sincerely doubt there’s been a second pressing. To begin with, Paramount has had this master available for sale since 2018 and genuinely believe their color timing choices to be correct. They’re not going to fix a disc that they don’t believe is broken. They’ve also made a very recent statement, within the past week or two, that the disc is correct; it’s extremely unlikely that they’d be creating a replacement disc at the same time they’re telling everyone the disc they have is fine. And then on top of that, to remaster, reauthor and repress the disc would take months, not days.

The much more likely explanation is that differences in how various brands and models of television sets interpret and implement HDR metadata (to say nothing of settings applied by individual owners) is resulting in slightly different appearances from TV to TV.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, I watched the When Worlds Collide blu ray in this set last night. I imagine it will frustrate some people, perhaps those who own the Imprint version.

Overall, the Paramount blu ray of When Worlds Collide looks good. There is a new color grading, or perhaps it’s better described that the color might be as it should be. What makes me say that is during the pre-launch sequence there is a shot of Bellus in the sky with the tail of the ark ship in the foreground. That shot is really bathed in reds, so the ship has a lot of red from the color of Bellus. Then there is the shot of Hendron and Stanton on the flight deck where he decides to not go on the ship and keep Stanton off the ship. They are bathed in red too. As are the workers who are trying to break down the gate to try to seize the ship. I’ve never seen this sequence so bathed in red before. That makes me think the previous transfer on laser disc and DVD and the Imprint blu ray were made from faded elements. I thought that amount of red makes a lot of sense as Bellus influences the Earth.

I have seen the screen shots where they show the colors look ”brownish” on the new Paramount blu ray. Upon watching the movie, it doesn’t look bad. I did have the Imprint version playing and I flipped back and forth a few times. But I mostly watched the new disc.

Heres the part that I found odd. The Imprint blu ray, when viewed after watching the Paramount disc, looks sharper. There’s more noise in the image, or film grain In the Imprint disc. So it’s probably not gone through any processing. But the odd thing is the Imprint version has this odd haloing effect, as if one of the color layers has shifted. I described this when I first watched the Imprint disc, it’s also as if there is a spherical aberration on the edge of the image. Particularly the United Nations scenes. The edge of the image looks a bit blurry. Also I’m the scene in the nightclub when Joyce and Tony are dancing and Randall is watching them, he decides to light a cigarette. He uses some paper money to light it and uses the flame on the neighboring table‘s hot plate. The disgusted woman at that table has a ruby colored necklace. The color and highlights that glare off those gems is a blurry mess on the Imprint disc. But it is tight controlled on the Paramount disc.

The Paramount disc seems to have greatly eliminated that anomaly. The Paramount disc also has far less grain. That might be what is accounting for the image looking less sharp. Was the Imprint disc overly sharpened? It kind of looks overly sharp. Does the Paramount disc reflect the actual image sharpness?

This is a tough one. Kind of like To Catch a Thief. This disc looks great. But if you have the Imprint disc, then you’re either kind of spoiled or misdirected. Maybe the Imprint disc is not properly presenting the film. One now has an option to watch either if one owns both. I may defer to the Paramount disc because I like the color during the climatic escape sequence.

I decided to end the evening by cleaning my palate with an episode of Star Trek TOS on blu ray. Shore Leave. It was nice to see a really nice looking blu ray from Paramount and that Star Trek looks so good.

I’m curious what others think of this disc?

 

[Chewbabka]

Heres the part that I found odd. The Imprint blu ray, when viewed after watching the Paramount disc, looks sharper. There’s more noise in the image, or film grain In the Imprint disc. So it’s probably not gone through any processing. But the odd thing is the Imprint version has this odd haloing effect, as if one of the color layers has shifted.

I think everything you describe here—heightened “grain”, heightened sharpness, and haloing—could be an indication of artificial sharpening. DNR isn’t the only type of processing.

And yes, the screenshots of the Imprint I’ve seen also indicate some bad RGB misalignment, which I presume would be exacerbated by artificial sharpening.

 

[Nelson Au]

One more thing I forgot to mention. We spend so much scrutinizing these new transfers and discs, I forgot to mention something about the movie. I’ve seen this film uncounted dozens and dozens of times. But during the final shot as Randall and Joyce look out onto the new world is a panoramic painting of the landscape. For some reason I never noticed the pyramids in the distance and especially I never noticed the large structure on the left side of the image. I guess having a larger screen really makes things like this more noticeable! The structure looks manmade. It seems to suggest that Zyra was at one point inhabited. Or perhaps it is still inhabited? It’s an interesting aspect to the film to make allusions about what is on Zyra.

I also know of Cheslsey Bonestell whose contributed so much space art to many of George Pal films. I can always notice and appreciate the painting he did during the final shot of the Zyra landscape. What I didn’t know if what I’m reading is true, is that painting was rough concept art. Not meant as a final piece. But someone decided it looked great and decided to use it as is.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Joe. Thanks for your post and comments. Artificial sharpening makes a lot of sense!