Infernal Affairs - BD-HK vs. R2UK vs. R3HK (Remaster)

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 11 Dec 2007, 14:33

R2UK is progressive
R3HK has odd interlaced frames here and there

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/1.bd-hk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/1.r2uk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/1.r3hk.jpg

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/2.bd-hk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/2.r2uk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/2.r3hk.jpg

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/3.bd-hk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/3.r2uk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/3.r3hk.jpg

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/4.bd-hk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/4.r2uk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/4.r3hk.jpg

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/5.bd-hk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/5.r2uk.jpg
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/dvd/ia/5.r3hk.jpg

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 11 Dec 2007, 14:34

I'm glad I only paid 49p for the R2UK now.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2007, 15:44

The UK DVD looks a bit of a mess when blown up. I can't say I spotted any problems though on a TV screen.

The BD doesn't look much better to the DVD. Is it on a TV?

Good idea to just post captures. It means you can see each image at full size and smaller too.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 11 Dec 2007, 16:24

The BD definitely looks better than the DVD, just not as good as it should do. There's this softness to it and that makes the grain (and this is a very grainy film) look just like noise quite often.
Put it in the context of an HK release created from a master made 3-4 years ago which didn't look too good then.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 11 Dec 2007, 16:35

Hmmm this open a whole can of worms (and perhaps I'm posting in the wrong thread), but many HK films were photographed with cheap stock and cheap use of lights, if any at all. Some times, the same scene would be shot over a period of months by 5 different DPs (if they were there). Sometime, they just shot at random, like the opening of hard boiled in the tea house, because they were running out of time, and not one shot match the other in terms of light, color and contrast.

Viewed on blurry nth generation VHS copies, or even laserdiscs, these movies looked ok, but on DVD, the seams begins to crack, and on HD, I believe it could spell the end. i'm speaking of 1980+ titles, not classic Shaw Brothers movies which were usually made like a studio would make them, with a minimum technical requirement fulfilled.

I was watching Tiger on beat the other day, and it looked like a canadian TV movie, not the epic I remembered watching 19 years ago. That scene in the bathroom that Tarantino ripped verbatim for True Romance was cool thought, but boy, Tony Scott sure have a better director of photography

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2007, 19:22

Thanks Lourdes.

I forgot to ask earlier, why does it say "HK Remaster"? Is there more than one HK DVD?

I've not seen Tiger on the Beat. Is there any HK film QT hasn't copied from?

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 11 Dec 2007, 20:11

Jeez the Blu Ray looks like shit. Barley a step up from the HK dvd. If thats the best they can do, stuff them. No sale for me thats for sure for worthless upgrades like that.

I will Keep the shitty 49p UK dvd.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2007, 20:18

Where is the cheapest place to pick up the BD? I'll be getting it for sure.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 11 Dec 2007, 20:28

You are getting it? are you looking at the same screen caps as me? it looks like shit, one of the least impressive HD transfers I have yet seen. Its an upgrade, barley.

When I upgrade any film from good old dvd, I at least expect the HD transfer to be far better. This ones far from that.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2007, 20:32

I already answered that:

The BD doesn't look much better to the DVD.

I still hear it's definitely better than the DVD. Sure it's not as good as Spider-man on HD but then DVD quality varies anyway and besides Infernal Affairs is excellent, and worthy alone of upgrading.

I won't be buying 400-500 HD Discs like I did DVD so instead I am buying them based on the quality of the film (for the most part). There are exception though I won't be getting Terminator or House of Fallen Daggers until they re-release them (a double whammy for HOFD as it's cut). I hear those two look like DVDs.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 11 Dec 2007, 21:12

bradavon wrote:Where is the cheapest place to pick up the BD? I'll be getting it for sure.

Just wait till you have a player, by that time it will be almost free

Hey I like the film, but its insulting when the HD transfer looks so unimpressive of an upgrade.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Dec 2007, 21:49

It's going to be Free in January or February next year, where?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 11 Dec 2007, 22:03

Thanks for the comparison, Lourdes.

I never realized the UK DVD was so bad.
As expected, the BD offers a remarkable increase in detail over the R3HK DVD in the wide shots (Anthony Wong's watch on cap 2, grain in the clouds in cap 4 and additional vertical information on the roof in cap 5).

Close-ups remain soft for the most part.

Not worth upgrading unless you have a huge screen IMO.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 12 Dec 2007, 17:02

I will say the difference between the HK and UK dvds is far more apprent than the Blu Ray to the standard dvds

I aint stuck that UK dvd on yet, just hope it does not look as messy when it is in motion