M
Member 323668
My cineastic heart is feeling very sad. Is anybody here to comfort me, please?
I received both John Wayne films on HD DVD today and could not wait to immediately watch and spot check them.
What I saw was a very nice picture with good resolution. A definite improvement to the SD version I watched last week. So far the good news.
No, what makes me sad about the transfers?
IT IS THE AWFUL AND DISGUSTING GRAIN FILTERING!
Gone are the days of early HD releases like "Apollo 13" or "Backdraft" or even more recent releases like "The Searchers" with lots of wonderful, natural film grain.
I recognize a highest quality 2 or even 4K scan as the basis for these new HD transfers. But where is the natural film grain? In case of "Rio Bravo" there are moments with wonderful natural grain, particularly in bright scenes, but all the blacks, most shades of gray and brown are sometimes filtered to grainlessness. ( = filtered to death)
In my personal opinion, they ruined the enjoyment of one of the best westerns, by ruining their own high quality film scan by means of digital degraining. "The Cowboys" is degrained even more, sometimes they stole us the grain completely here.
I am feeling sad, but I acknowledge there are many consumers who like these "sterilized" grain reduced transfers. I hate them! I am afraid to read reviews soon by so called "experts", applauding how "artifact free" and "noise free" the picture is. They probably do not know to differentiate between (wonderful) grain and (ugly) noise...
Examples: Check "Rio Bravo" at the following scenes: 36min 50s until approx. 40min: The dark scenes are totally degrained. Check time code 45/30: The blacks are again grainless, eliminating all shadow detail and "3D-feeling".
STOP IT, WARNER, PLEASE!
Let me note, I also spot checked the new Paramount HD releases of "Coming to America" and "Trading Places": Again, a filtered mess!
One of the few moments to see some natural film grain of "Trading Places" is the very first second of the movie, beginning with the Paramount logo. You notice that with a lag of less than a second the digital degrainer starts its dire work. This is the second where you see how the film grain is supposed to look, before the degrainer destroys the transfer. It remains a sharp, but lifeless degrained picture...
I received both John Wayne films on HD DVD today and could not wait to immediately watch and spot check them.
What I saw was a very nice picture with good resolution. A definite improvement to the SD version I watched last week. So far the good news.
No, what makes me sad about the transfers?
IT IS THE AWFUL AND DISGUSTING GRAIN FILTERING!
Gone are the days of early HD releases like "Apollo 13" or "Backdraft" or even more recent releases like "The Searchers" with lots of wonderful, natural film grain.
I recognize a highest quality 2 or even 4K scan as the basis for these new HD transfers. But where is the natural film grain? In case of "Rio Bravo" there are moments with wonderful natural grain, particularly in bright scenes, but all the blacks, most shades of gray and brown are sometimes filtered to grainlessness. ( = filtered to death)
In my personal opinion, they ruined the enjoyment of one of the best westerns, by ruining their own high quality film scan by means of digital degraining. "The Cowboys" is degrained even more, sometimes they stole us the grain completely here.
I am feeling sad, but I acknowledge there are many consumers who like these "sterilized" grain reduced transfers. I hate them! I am afraid to read reviews soon by so called "experts", applauding how "artifact free" and "noise free" the picture is. They probably do not know to differentiate between (wonderful) grain and (ugly) noise...
Examples: Check "Rio Bravo" at the following scenes: 36min 50s until approx. 40min: The dark scenes are totally degrained. Check time code 45/30: The blacks are again grainless, eliminating all shadow detail and "3D-feeling".
STOP IT, WARNER, PLEASE!
Let me note, I also spot checked the new Paramount HD releases of "Coming to America" and "Trading Places": Again, a filtered mess!
One of the few moments to see some natural film grain of "Trading Places" is the very first second of the movie, beginning with the Paramount logo. You notice that with a lag of less than a second the digital degrainer starts its dire work. This is the second where you see how the film grain is supposed to look, before the degrainer destroys the transfer. It remains a sharp, but lifeless degrained picture...