"there is a definite increase in brightness and contrast." That refers to the original SE.
Now, I'd bet you've all seen the catastrophe that is the '04 sabers, but in case you haven't:
And here's the SE's, just for fun:
I'm wondering if perhaps they took the SE masters and just downed the brightness/contrast to closer match the original release, and ignored the lightsabers. I apologize if this is common knowledge, by the way. Comments?