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4K UHD/Blu-ray/DVD Community Thread: Bringing the Theater Home!

Audiophile

Member
Sony have just signed a deal with Disney to take over Physical Media.

Not sure of the details yet but finger's crossed it includes catalogue titles amongst Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Buena Vista & Fox; all of which are in dire need of some love.

My personal favourite movie, Signs (2002) -- is Touchstone's highest domestic performer yet is still relegated to an inoffensive but long in the tooth ~2007 2K IP master.

Sony remain strong on the physical front, perhaps realising that physical can be a sustainable, premium niche which can co-exist with digital/streaming and that this doesn't have to be an either-or situation.

I still retain that physical is a viable, profitable business (for movies), perhaps even moreso than most streaming endeavours (the confusion of big markets with profitable ones). There's been a dream of walled, digital gardens of control for the majors which has led to them leaving money on the table in the physical space while predominantly losing it elsewhere.

The cost of high quality, preferably 4K, masters...should be a matter of course for any studios maintaining their catalogue. So I'd argue that the cost sunk shouldn't be attributed solely to a 4K physical release, ultimately once the master already exists the difference in cost when releasing a 4K vs a 1080 Blu-ray is pressing a BD-66/100 vs a BD-50. The rest is a negligible difference in authoring, while packaging and distro are the same. Economies of scale differ depending on the release but then 4K Blu-ray sells at a considerable premium.

There's no reason to replace one thing with another entirely. Charge a premium to the discerning customer and charge a discount to the less-so. Everything else amounts to fucking over the core customers who have shown up time and again to support the best releases while catering to the fickle masses who will disappear in a heartbeat should the tides change..

If boutique labels can remain viable while releasing the most obscure titles at only a small premium while offering Dolby Vision FEL on BD-100GB discs with nice packaging and a mountain of extras. There's no excuse for Disney or the like; they're just trying to gaslight everyone into thinking streaming is the only way because they want complete control.
 
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j0hnnix

Member
Finally sitting down to watch Conan the Barbarian. I got the Chronicles edition.

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LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
LG brought DTS:X passthrough back last year. Don't think they added that feature to firmware updates of older tvs.


But why insist on DTS passthrough when PCM sounds exactly the same as DTS HD? If you're using a soundbar, you're probably not using a multi speaker setup with speakers on the ceiling. Because in that case you're not missing out on anything when you choose PCM.
Do you happen to know if that includes a C1 or CX?
 

RNG

Member
So yeah, browsed the Bluray forums/read the reviews and it looks like all 3 James Cameron movies remove all the grain from their transfers and incorporate this new AI technology to "improve" the image. Thanks for saving me money JC.
 

ZehDon

Member
So yeah, browsed the Bluray forums/read the reviews and it looks like all 3 James Cameron movies remove all the grain from their transfers and incorporate this new AI technology to "improve" the image. Thanks for saving me money JC.
The new transfers leave a lot to be desired. The Terminator 2 remaster already wasn't great; I think these are worse.
 

Putonahappyface

Gold Member
I should get The Abyss delivered this week. Waiting for a steelbook version of Aliens before I pull the trigger, as that box art is ghastly.True Lies I'll wait for it to hit the sales, because If James Cameron can't be bothered why should I reward a piss poor transfer.
 

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
I should get The Abyss delivered this week. Waiting for a steelbook version of Aliens before I pull the trigger, as that box art is ghastly.True Lies I'll wait for it to hit the sales, because If James Cameron can't be bothered why should I reward a piss poor transfer.
I ordered from WOW HD but stupidly took the free post option so guess I won't get it until May!!!

Also haven't had any dispatch notification if it was out 12th March.
 
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Putonahappyface

Gold Member
I ordered from WOW HD but stupidly took the free post option so guess I won't get it until May!!!

Also haven't had any dispatch notification if it was out 12th March.
Contact them about the Abyss with your order number as I never got a dispatch email either. They sent me the dispatch email for The Abyss today after I contacted them. I used free shipping so that shouldn't affect you receiving your order in a reasonable time frame.
 

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
Contact them about the Abyss with your order number as I never got a dispatch email either. They sent me the dispatch email for The Abyss today after I contacted them. I used free shipping so that shouldn't affect you receiving your order in a reasonable time frame.
How quickly did you get a response? Nothing from them and concerned because they have sold out book took my money in January.
 

violence

Member
The Aliens 4K Blu-ray is kind of disappointing. The DNR is not as heavy as T2 but it’s pretty heavy. I probably notice it more because I now know what DNR looks like. I wish Cameron never did the T2 3D release, (where the DNR had to be at max setting for the 3D to work and then found its way into the 4k Blu-ray). Playing with this technology clearly skewed his vision on what is acceptable.

That being said, this is still the best Aliens has ever looked.
 
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vpance

Member
Started up Aliens. From what I've seen so far the AI upscaling they used is more hit than miss but I'm not as critical of a pixel peeper anymore nor am I a grain lover. I see some people are up in arms about it though with some screenshot comparos.
 

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
They usually take a couple of days to respond.
Me again sorry - did you use the contact us section on their website or email them seperately?

Four days now would have thought I'd have had a response.

Don't want to start doing a claim back with my credit card if there is a reason why they don't reply.
 

Putonahappyface

Gold Member
Me again sorry - did you use the contact us section on their website or email them seperately?

Four days now would have thought I'd have had a response.

Don't want to start doing a claim back with my credit card if there is a reason why they don't reply.
How I did it was bottom right of the screen "Contact us". Then fill out the form accordingly. If they don't reply after a week open a PayPal dispute.

tgPn7VH.jpg
 

violence

Member
Started up Aliens. From what I've seen so far the AI upscaling they used is more hit than miss but I'm not as critical of a pixel peeper anymore nor am I a grain lover. I see some people are up in arms about it though with some screenshot comparos.
It just gets me that he used it in all three of his recent 4K releases. It’s probably something that will go unnoticed by the general public and only bug the purists. My theory is that, given James Cameron‘s response to the SNL papyrus sketch was to double down. I can only imagine he did the same when people bitched about T2 4K. He’s that guy.

 
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ultrazilla

Member
Doing my part to keep physical media alive! Picked up "Kubo and the Two Strings"(2016) and
a childhood favorite, "Dragonslayer"(1981).

BTW: If you by chance you *haven't* heard of this site, check out https://www.blu-ray.com/
I've been going there for years and the forums are very active and they cover all the newest
physical media heading to blu-ray/4k disc.

Now, "ALIENS" is up next once some restock hits.


IMG-20240223-145423064.jpg

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GloveSlap

Member
Not sure about the HDR but I don’t think it’s a 2K Blu-ray upscale. You notice things you hadn’t seen before… like hair on certain nether regions. I’m sure there’s a lot of fine detail getting scrubbed away due to the DNR.
It's the same 2k transfer. People in home theater circles found a hair (as in dust) in the same exact spot as the old blu-ray. The new exaggerated details are just the AI trace job. I know the pubes part you are talking about. That is still there on the blu-ray, it's just more subtle.
 

violence

Member
It's the same 2k transfer. People in home theater circles found a hair (as in dust) in the same exact spot as the old blu-ray. The new exaggerated details are just the AI trace job. I know the pubes part you are talking about. That is still there on the blu-ray, it's just more subtle.
Those pubes deserved better treatment.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
Not sure about the HDR but I don’t think it’s a 2K Blu-ray upscale. You notice things you hadn’t seen before… like hair on certain nether regions. I’m sure there’s a lot of fine detail getting scrubbed away due to the DNR.

Bloody hell, thats brutal.. Why would JC of all people allow this, you would've thought he would have put his AAA team on this, has it ever been brought up to him or mentioned, id love to know why they'd release such classics like this as an uprez from the Bluray and not a scan of the print, which is strange as i watched Alien and it was absolutely gorgeous on my OLED and looked like it was filmed last year ffs
 
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HAYA8U5A

Member
Bloody hell, thats brutal.. Why would JC of all people allow this, you would've thought he would have put his AAA team on this, has it ever been brought up to him or mentioned, id love to know why they'd release such classics like this as an uprez from the Bluray and not a scan of the print, which is strange as i watched Alien and it was absolutely gorgeous on my OLED and looked like it was filmed last year ffs

He is the reason these releases got wrecked so nobody needed to bring it up to him. On top of him insisting on using horrible crap like DNR and the AI stuff on these films Disney UHD releases tend to not be the greatest to begin with. A boutique label with no involvement from Cameron could have been far superior. Depending on what exactly Sony have control over with this Disney deal going forward their transfers are far superior too. But any involvement from Cameron would have doomed these with a boutique or Sony too so can't really blame Disney short of the fact they seem content to keep catering to the stupidity from the likes of Cameron and Lucas who should be kept far away from their old films.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
He is the reason these releases got wrecked so nobody needed to bring it up to him. On top of him insisting on using horrible crap like DNR and the AI stuff on these films Disney UHD releases tend to not be the greatest to begin with. A boutique label with no involvement from Cameron could have been far superior. Depending on what exactly Sony have control over with this Disney deal going forward their transfers are far superior too. But any involvement from Cameron would have doomed these with a boutique or Sony too so can't really blame Disney short of the fact they seem content to keep catering to the stupidity from the likes of Cameron and Lucas who should be kept far away from their old films.
I went and looked into this as it was just baffling to me that such a technical artist like Cameron would've approved such lackluster transfers and it turns out from what I've read is he wanted the films to look like they where filmed recently, he wanted to remove that "old" "classic" look and going by my viewing of the Abyss there, he's kinda right...ISH.. the film does look prestine and new, but has an overly fake look about it in a lot scenes, bar the effects it looks like any other Netflix/Disney+ movie filmed in the last few years, visually...
 
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Mr1999

Member
Coming June 2024

ns8SDk5.jpg

Bonus Features for UHD/Blu-ray


DISC ONE (4K UHD):

  • NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
  • In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible)
  • Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Stereo
  • Audio Commentary With Author/CG Supervisor Paul M. Sammon
  • Audio Commentary With The Makers Of "RoboDoc: The Creation Of RoboCop" Documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths And Eastwood Allen
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):

  • NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
  • Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Stereo
  • Audio Commentary With Author/CG Supervisor Paul M. Sammon
  • Audio Commentary With The Makers Of "RoboDoc: The Creation Of RoboCop" Documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths And Eastwood Allen
  • Corporate Wars: The Making Of ROBOCOP 2 – Featuring New And Vintage Interviews With Director Irvin Kershner, Producer Jon Davidson, Cast Members Tom Noonan, Nancy Allen, Galyn Görg, Executive Producer Patrick Crowley, And More!
  • Machine Parts: The FX Of ROBOCOP 2 – Featuring Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran, Craig Hayes, Jim Aupperle, Kirk Thatcher, Paul Gentry, Don Waller, Justin Kohn, Randal Dutra And Kevin Kutchaver
  • Robo-Fabricator – An Interview With RoboCop Armor Fabricator James Belohovek
  • Adapting Frank Miller's ROBOCOP 2 – An Interview With Comic Book Writer Steven Grant
  • OCP Declassified – A Collection Of Rare Archival Production And Behind-The-Scenes Videos Including Interviews With Director Irvin Kershner, Actors Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy And A Look At The Filming Of Some Deleted Scenes
  • Trailers & TV Spots
  • Image Galleries
 
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