xhonzi said:

asterisk8 said:

Criterion is the industry leader in reference-quality when it comes to old films.

When you say 'reference quality' do you mean

1. The Best PQ/AQ to be had.

or

2. The Best PQ/AQ a particular film can have.

?

Huh? What's the difference?

The best picture/audio quality to be had means going back to original negatives for a new transfer followed by meticulous restoration resulting in a clean master with original grain that can be used to create DVDs and BluRay discs. That is reference quality. It means that the particular transfer is the reference by which all other prints of that film are judged. There is no such thing as an umbrella reference by which all films ever made can be judged. How could there be? There are too many variables. There are sites like avsforum that ascribe ratings to film releases, based on criteria they've established, but that's subjective.