Dack Ralter, are you viewing these images on a calibrated monitor? The examples you have shown have the black levels almost identical to the matte bars. having checked the hd transfer of esb i boosted the gamma and the starfield background is the same black level as the matte bars. boosting the gout gamma however shows how red shifted the transfer actually is as the starfield blacks turns very red, but are brighter. But you have to remember that the gout is very washed out and blacks aren't at the level they would be with a decent transfer