USHE Press Release: Back To The Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

One thing is for sure, no matter what the transfer for bttf turns out to be, it has to be better than the recent predator blu, right ??? Thanks for the Eric Stoltz glimpse as well !!!

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au It seems to happen all the time because people love to believe the worst. I could go into a thread for any catalog title and just lie and say "I heard this title is riddled with DNR" and that lie and its accompanying fear would spread across the internet in about 10 minutes.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

On the "bright side", maybe Universal is just trying to provide a little bit of reprieve to my wallet.


_Man_

 

[Anthony_H]

Cry petty tears but I disagree with the words of encouragement on releasing the Stoltz footage early. While some fans have waited years just to catch a glimpse.. the footage is dumped unceremiounsly onto the fringe layers of a voracious vortex of pop culture. CNN.. now I saw it as a daily news link on Yahoo. Maybe childish.. but it somehow cheapens it. Shoot.. it may have been Universal themselves handing it out and ringing the bell.. but still. I didn't click... the films aren't even in my top 10.. but I'm sure there will be several who don't have the willpower I do.

 

[Nelson Au]

Maybe 5 minutes Travis! Good point. There's plenty of examples to support that fear.

 

[MatthewA]

I'm suspending judgement until I hear from someone reliable who has seen the actual transfer in motion, such as Robert Harris.


But past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior, and Gladiator and Spartacus suggest that we should hope for the best and expect the worst.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Anthony_H

Shoot.. it may have been Universal themselves handing it out and ringing the bell..

That's blatantly what it is - Universal getting press for an upcoming release they want to sell to the public and using the media to help get the word out. I don't mind it one bit, really.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by TravisR



It seems to happen all the time because people love to believe the worst.

That's not to say that people want BRs to look bad (which would make no sense ), any more than people want to pretend that there's no such thing as a bad, DNR-riddled BR.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by RobertR

That's not to say that people want BRs to look bad (which would make no sense ), any more than people want to pretend that there's no such thing as a bad, DNR-riddled BR.

If you're implying that I'm refusing to acknowledge that there's titles that have been ruined by DNR, you're wrong. I'm just not ready to gnash my teeth or prematurely complain about another ruined title because of some screengrabs.

 

[cafink]

Can you cite an example of a Blu-ray that was criticized for excessive DNR based on early screen captures, only to turn out okay after all, when the final product was seen in motion?

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by cafink

Can you cite an example of a Blu-ray that was criticized for excessive DNR based on early screen captures, only to turn out okay after all, when the final product was seen in motion?

Nope but I know I've read enough hysterical "OH MY GOD, IS THAT DNR?!!!!!!!" posts based on screengrabs that it must have happened. Honestly, I don't keep tabs on things like that.


Keep in mind, I'm not saying that these titles aren't DNR-ed to death, I'm simply saying that I want to read a trusted review or see the disc before worrying about it.

 

[cafink]

Originally Posted by TravisR



Nope but I know I've read enough hysterical "OH MY GOD, IS THAT DNR?!!!!!!!" posts based on screengrabs that it must have happened.

Not as far as I'm aware. But I can think of several titles whose screen captures exhibited excessive DNR, and which, sure enough, turned out to suffer from excessive DNR, just like those screen captures suggested.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

an you cite an example of a Blu-ray that was criticized for excessive DNR based on early screen captures, only to turn out okay after all, when the final product was seen in motion?

Carl,


There is a very notable recent case that offhand I forget the title.


DVDBEAVER posted screen grabs of a BD release that turned out

not to be representative of the actual transfer. I'm not sure if it was

DNR related or not.


Someone here will come up with the title.


An important lesson was learned that you can't always rely on
screen grabs.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I do not put too much faith in screen captures, either. Ron's example from DVD Beaver is a good reason (I cannot remember the title, either). However, considering Universal's recent track record -- Gladiator and Spartacus -- I also will not blindly order a title from them where some concern over the transfer has been raised. Universal has lost my trust, so it is prudent to await reviews from trusted sources (and possibly rent the title myself) before buying.

 

[Christian Preischl]

I think the title you guys are referring to is the "Contact" Blu-ray which garnered some (luckily unwarranted) panic based on the DVD Beaver screencaps.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

I have no idea why, but I have a bad feeling there wont be any blu ray reviews online, for at least another week.

 

[cafink]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein





Carl,


There is a very notable recent case that offhand I forget the title.


DVDBEAVER posted screen grabs of a BD release that turned out

not to be representative of the actual transfer. I'm not sure if it was

DNR related or not.


Someone here will come up with the title.


An important lesson was learned that you can't always rely on
screen grabs.

I don't know if it's the one you're thinking of, but Contact is the example that came to my mind, too. However, DNR wasn't the problem that Contact was criticized for, so it doesn't fit what I was asking for.

I've already conceded that screenshots aren't necessarily a good way of judging picture quality in general. Screen captures are usually JPGs, which might easily exhibit additional compression beyond what is actually on the disc. DVDs and Blu-rays have specialized color spaces, so it's easy for the colors of a screen capture to be misleading (as was the case with Contact). There are plenty of things that might cause a screen capture to look a bit different that what's actually on the disc. But Back to the Future hasn't been accused of suffering from any of those issues, and I can't think of anything that would unknowingly cause elements of a picture to be erased whole cloth, as is the case with the Delorean's sparks on one specific Back to the Future screen capture. I can think of one major release whose screen captures exhibited a similar erasing of details, and guess what? It turned out to be one of the most infamously bad Blu-rays, to the point that the studio replaced the disc for dissatisfied customers.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by cafink





I don't know if it's the one you're thinking of, but Contact is the example that came to my mind, too. However, DNR wasn't the problem that Contact was criticized for, so it doesn't fit what I was asking for.

I've already conceded that screenshots aren't necessarily a good way of judging picture quality in general. Screen captures are usually JPGs, which might easily exhibit additional compression beyond what is actually on the disc. DVDs and Blu-rays have specialized color spaces, so it's easy for the colors of a screen capture to be misleading (as was the case with Contact). There are plenty of things that might cause a screen capture to look a bit different that what's actually on the disc. But Back to the Future hasn't been accused of suffering from any of those issues, and I can't think of anything that would unknowingly cause elements of a picture to be erased whole cloth, as is the case with the Delorean's sparks on one specific Back to the Future screen capture. I can think of one major release whose screen captures exhibited a similar erasing of details, and guess what? It turned out to be one of the most infamously bad Blu-rays, to the point that the studio replaced the disc for dissatisfied customers.

There are some people who post screenshots using PNGs (ie a lossless format, showing direct captures from the disc). Those are the ones I prefer to pay attention to. Color variations aren't what I look for in a capture, but rather DNR, EE, etc. As you've correctly pointed out, no one seems to be able to come up with an example of a disc showing bad DNR in screenshots that was proven not to have it when actually viewed.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Actually, even the color issue w/ Contact seems real enough though maybe not as exaggerated/distracting or easily noticeable in normal viewing as in stills shown by the DVD Beaver screen caps. It's easier for our eyes (and brain) to be fooled by color biasing -- and so, we're generally more accepting of that in normal viewing.


Anyway, given Universal's very spotty track record thus far, it would not be wise to ignore the red flags being raised now. Heck, at this point, I'd have a hard time trusting Universal w/ a preorder even if there are no red flags right now anyhow.


_Man_

 

[Nelson Au]

Is there is representative from Universal who comments on the forum here? I don't usually go to the Insiders section. Would be interesting if someone from Universal could be invited to contribute and maybe comment on BTTF.