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Despecialized: Is it worth getting the MKV editions after already downloading the AVCHD

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So I recently got all 3 AVCHD of the latest versions for each movie, and the result is… alright, but I’ve been hearing so much talk about how the Harmy’s despecialized edition is basically at the same level as the current Blu Ray in terms of picture quality, and what the AVCHD I’ve got, leaves much to be desired, especially with wide and semi wide shots.

I know from Harmy in a post that the MKV is the highest quality version and the AVCHD is very lossy,

So my current setup is plugging my laptop into the TV which I think further emphasises this.

So does the MKV bring it up to blu ray quality or very close, is it a significant improvement that will fix my gripes with the AVCHD? If it is I will be prepared to set aside many many nights downloading chunks of it and there’s nothing stopping me from doing so, I can absolutely do it. I just want to know if the MKV version will actually solve my gripes.

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It goes into more detail, also I think that person well meaning as they were, failed to realise that the “blockyness” is just irrelevant to this release

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I think ChainsawAsh did a good job of explaining the differences you might find between the AVCHD and MKV in the other thread. I’m not sure why you’re starting all over.

And you never explained what you feel is lacking from the AVCHD. What problem do you see in the wide and semi-wide shots?

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Yeah, I explained the difference in video between the AVCHD and MKV. They use the same video master, but the AVCHD is more highly compressed than the MKV. So literally the only difference is the “blockiness” (compression artifacts) that you deem to be “irrelevant.”

If what you’re looking for is higher resolution (1080p vs 720p), you won’t get it. Despecialized is 720p in all flavors.

Maybe if you described your “gripes” with the AVCHD in more detail we could be more helpful to you.

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My gripes were that the edition was a generally feeling of fuzziness, if this is what 720p is then so be it, I’ll accept that and go with it, this shot while fine on the surface, when blown up onto my screen through HDMI shows it’s flaws

Here are images that showcase this taken directly from my computer:
https://imgur.com/a/CPoaIFv
https://imgur.com/a/fNdO5pR
https://imgur.com/a/IjQISqU

So based on what you’ve told me it doesn’t seem like the MKV will actually change any of this,

Update: I actually HAVE noticed some compression blocky artifacts but literally only once and it comes in the form one one jagged line on the floor in dagobah somewhere. My issue overall is just a lack of definition and the grain slightly.

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All of those shots you linked to are effects/composite shots, which are going to be softer and grainier just by the nature of how they were done (multiple layers of film layered on top of one another). 4K83 in particular has shown (to me, at least) that ROTJ’s effects shots are noticeably less sharp/defined compared to its “pure”/non-composite shots.

Some of those shots might have been “Despecialized” using low resolution laserdisc/GOUT material, too, since they may have been made before higher quality sources like 4K77 became available. I’m not sure about that, though, and I don’t know which version of the AVCHDs you have (2.0, 2.5, 2.7), nor do I know offhand which GOUT shots remain in which versions.

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I have 2.7 for anh, 2.0 for empire and 2.5 for rotj

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Yeah, those are the most current version. Again, not sure if you’re noticing GOUT shots or just optical composite shots that are a couple film generations away from the surrounding ones or not, but these aren’t things that will be improved by getting the MKV version.

You might want to look into the Blu-Ray ISO versions of 4K77 and 4K83 for SW and ROTJ, or the 4K DNR MKVs if you have equipment that can handle 4K H265 video. That will at least eliminate the possibility of it being a lower-quality source patched in to remove a Blu-Ray change, but if it’s just an optical compositing thing then it will still look fuzzier, just in 1080p (or 4K). There isn’t really an equivalent for ESB yet, though (4K80 is a long ways off as it’s going to require a lot of work).

I wouldn’t recommend 4K77 Non-DNR for you as it seems like grain is something you’re not a fan of, and film prints of SW77 are pretty grainy. It’s still there in the DNR release (which the BR ISO uses), but significantly reduced.

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I might be wrong, but I think that Star Wars shot comes from the GOUT (RotJ DeEd 2.5 was the first GOUT-free release, except for a easter egg). Star Wars DeEd 2.7 also used a few shots from the SSE, which is lower quality than 4K77.