Today I flipped through the 2004 dvd and found that in many cases, the colouring is actually not nearly as bad as I had previously thought it to be. There's still a huge amount of problems, but it's probably not beyond salvage if timed to a proper reference.

The main issue, which makes its use the most difficult, is that the whole thing is so damn dark. The crushed blacks and general darkness are much worse than I remembered, and as a result skin tones take on an 'ultra-tan' look, such a strong brown look that is not at all natural. Reds are also hugely oversaturated in many cases--Chewie is starting to resemble Elmo half the time--and there is of course the blue cast on things that shouldn't have it, like the interior of the blockade runner and Vader and stormtrooper armour, and there are pink laser blasts and things like that. Still, if there was some way of getting past that huge black crush, the rest of it could fall into place without too much difficulty, because it's often not as far off as it seems.

(But the '04 sound mix is still by far the worst problem with that dvd, surpassing any grievances with the image. It's truly repulsive.)

I'm not a video expert, so I don't know how much more I can add, but this concept is rather exciting. ;)