TheForce.net user Chreff allegedly has connections at Lucasfilm, and he's explained why the 2004 DVDs looked so bad, and how the Blu-Ray version will have fixed all the problems that the 2004 transfer had, and he also makes the claim that this is Lucas's "final" version of Star Wars. I kind of doubt that since there's still the 3D release looming ahead, and if Lucas is given enough time I suspect he'll think up new things to tweak, but overall Chreff's post sounds encouraging, not just for the Blu-Ray release but for the digital preservation of Star Wars in general. He even mentions Adywan. ;)
Chreff said:
Let me see if I can be more clear. The 1997 SE was a restored version of the original print plus new effects added. What they did in 2004 was completely disassemble the restored film, cleaned it more and scanned everything in the computer separately. THis basically means the celluloid negative will never have to be touched again. They then re-composited the films together back into the SE version with more additions. Because this process is almost like putting a film together again from scratch, the original color timing that was done in 1977 or 1997 was basically erased and had to be redone. The problem is that because they attempted to meet a DVD release deadline they completed the composites but never finished the color, sound and other little things that would normally be done on a full restoration. That's why things that weren't even in the original release in '77 (like the big blue halo around the Death Star explosion in ANH) are seen on the 2004 DVD. The digital transfer is almost too good.
What's good about all this though is that everything is in a computer at super high res quality. They can pretty much dial in a piece of film and the effect and adjust and correct at will. It's far less laborious than trying to redo real film. Instead of having to mess with celluloid they just hit a keyboard. They put all 3 films together for the 2004 release in less than a year. They've now had 6 years to do the same work. There's no question this quality will be the best ever for SW.
I know how this process works because I have experience in digital editing and also follow SW quite closely, obviously. I also know people in the business who are involved and I know the restoration on the SW saga was still being done long after the DVD release. People like to call GL names but he's continued to put a lot of cash into this project for years (as he should since this is where everything started). The blu-ray is essentially the final version of SW.
The lightsabers will be fixed, especially the green one in ANH. That black smudge on the Emperor in ROTJ? Gone. Those boxes around TIE fighters in ANH? Bye bye! The magically appearing TIE's in the ROTJ space battle? I don't know about that one honestly. It's won't be like that Adywan Revisited stuff though. I'm as anxious to see it as anyone to see it all on my 55" plasma!
http://boards.theforce.net/the_star_wars_saga/b10456/30885339/p12