Top Gun - EU HD-DVD vs. R2UK CE

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2008, 15:02

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2008, 15:06

It's a clear improvement over the DVD.

It's a real shame that Paramount have done their usual remastering shenanigans of DNR'ing a film to hell. A film from 1984 is not supposed to look as if it's from 2008, FFS. To think of how much better the detail may've been with a Warner-esque remastering.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 01 May 2008, 17:11

I think it looks awful. Hardly much more details and they've eliminated the grain in favour of horrific blockiness, looks like they smeared vaseline over the lot.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 May 2008, 17:43

Just like Face Off and many other back catalogue titles they seem to love to noise reduce till they are abstract.

Pretty amazing they have eliminated pretty much all the grain!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 May 2008, 17:57

I agree. It looks better but has had way too much DNR'ing done to it. The image almost looks fake.

I imagine Joe Public would prefer it and be annoyed if the noise was there on a "HD WOW" release.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2008, 18:04

It's ironic how many of the best HD transfers of older films that I've seen have been panned by the critics. Eg Army of Darkness and The Sting HD-DVDs.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 May 2008, 18:53

Grain rocks, DNR is for Cocks!

Transformers has tonnes of grain, as does 300, both stunning HD transfers, both sold massive amounts, so it dont matter to Joe Public at all.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2008, 18:55

I agree, the HD-DVD transfer for 300 is very good. I've concluded that the High Def Digest reviewer, Peter M. Bracke, is a total tool.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 01 May 2008, 19:05

Yup The thing is some people seem to think Grain = bad transfer, some people really need to learn what the hell they are looking at still, esspecially reviewers.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 May 2008, 22:55

romerojpg wrote:so it dont matter to Joe Public at all.

You misunderstand what I meant. Side by side I'd wager Mr. Public would prefer it with DNR, that doesn't mean with noise they won't buy it. They don't care all that much. Joe public would buy 300 and Transformers in Pan & Scan if that was all it was available in.

p.s - Is your Top Gun from The UK or Australia Eva?

Kris · Post by **Kris** » 02 May 2008, 02:02

Blocking ahoy! You know you've done a poor encoding job when the DVD has better compression despite the fact that it still has all the grain.

And you might want to take a look at your HD playback/capture setup. The DVD caps are expanded to PC levels (RGB 0-255) but the HD caps are still using video levels (RGB 16-235) which is why they look a bit washed out in comparison.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 02 May 2008, 18:07

This DNR shit has got to stop. Hopefully this and Face-Off will be some of the last titles from Paramount to use DNR. Now that they are launching their BD catalog they can hopefully stop using it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 May 2008, 18:27

Aren't Paramount using DNR to reduce the noise not because of space reason? Why would moving over to BD stop this?

Is Face/Off really DNR'ed too? Is there a capture comparison online? Thanks.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 02 May 2008, 19:01

bradavon wrote:Aren't Paramount using DNR to reduce the noise not because of space reason?

Correct. They're reducing the noise to appeal to Joe Average who wants every catalogue title to look like a modern film. This is the same reason why they remix older films into 5.1 (At least with audio, they can give people a choice - with transfers, they can't.).

Why would moving over to BD stop this?

It wouldn't.

Is Face/Off really DNR'ed too?

Yes, it's commonly known that Face/Off (and off the top of my head, Black Rain) has been DNR'ed to hell. The Buena Vista BDs are like this too.

Is there a capture comparison online? Thanks.

Yes, Paramount HD-DVD vs. Buena Vista BD (you've seen this before, remember?).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 May 2008, 19:26

Thanks Eva. Yes I have but forgot sorry.

The BD looks better, in theory better audio too. Pity it's basically barebones.