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Overlooking all the problems with the blu rays( it's additions or it's unfixed problems) is the 1080p pq make it worth the purchase??

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Hello, I was wondering if anyone who may have seen the 1080p versions of the new set can tell me their opinion of the pq. I've seen the 720p of Empire and Jedi so far,and it does look good IMO,however I have Harmy's and Adywan's versions and I'm thinking they look very similar. I can't see a side by side of the blu rays/Harmys,Adys versions so I can't tell. Does the extra HD in the blu rays really IMPROVE the look?  I am an amateur compared to most on here,so I would love opinions or even better screenshots. Thanks.

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In my opinion, no. There are many other releases in HD that I have avoided due to image problems or tinkering. Then again I'm an analog geek so I can be happier with a well made Laserdisc version if the Blu-ray is problematic.

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The Blu-Rays have a marginal improvement over the HDTV captures, which Adywan and Harmy use, but because of all the problems, it's so marginal an improvement that it's really not a necessary purchase. Harmy recently even decided to stick to the HDTV captures as sources, since they held up against the Blu-Ray. Remember though that Harmy's Despecialized Editions are 720p.

If you're looking for comparisons between HDTV capture and Blu-Ray, there are some on the last few pages of the Blu-Ray thread I believe.

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Changes aside, the Blu-Ray transfers are great in detail. It is worth the purchase, but only if really want Star Wars in your Blu-Ray collection (like I do).

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 (Edited)

Here's my 2-cents on the matter, using the Lost in Space Blu-Ray discs as an example.

There are two releases of Lost in Space on Blu-Ray: the Alliance Release and the Warner Release.  They're both the Theatrical cuts, mind you.  (It wasn't popular enough to have any other version made)

The Alliance release is in 1080i, and the Warner is in 1080p.  View the thumbnails in full rez for the best comparison.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/386/10830.png

The Alliance looks nice and sharp, but dull in some places, to say nothing about the interlacing problems.  Come to think of it, this may be how an HD Laserdisc would look.  IMO.

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/2909/10830us.png

The Warner has a new transfer in 24p, but looks more blurry than the Alliance, has an orangey-yellow tint, and crushed blacks.

I made the comparison before purchasing and then made my decision.  I'm very happy with my Alliance copy.

EDIT: The moral of my story is that picture quality is more important than video quality.  The picture quality of the official Star Wars BDs is terrible, whereas the picture quality of the preservations here are superb.

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Really? You think the pq of the SW bd's are terrible? I'm not dismissing your opinion,but the 720p bds of Empire and Jedi looked good. I'm a big Star Wars fan,always will be and of course I've wanted to see them on BD. I'm getting different opinions on the PQ ,still. I'd love to see 1080p screencaps,still.

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lordsidi said:

Really? You think the pq of the SW bd's are terrible? I'm not dismissing your opinion,but the 720p bds of Empire and Jedi looked good. I'm a big Star Wars fan,always will be and of course I've wanted to see them on BD. I'm getting different opinions on the PQ ,still. I'd love to see 1080p screencaps,still.

Well, terrible may be an overstatement, but then again, maybe not.  There are issues with crushed blacks, blue tints, and dull lasers and lightsabers, etc.  That accounts for the bad PQ.  The high video quality doesn't add much enjoyment when the picture quality is this bad.

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The franchises I get nerdy about are so obscure that not even most nerds know about them.

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Don't forget the DVNR. In my opinion, they did cleanse Star Wars of some of its character by removing too much grain. The crushed blacks are bothersome though; you do lose detail, stars, and lightsabers. Furthermore the 2004 version was only done at 2K.. If this is of no issue to you, then I suppose the Blu-Ray may be fine for you.

Normally HDTV vs Blu-Ray comparisons appear on AVSForum. You just need to wait for them. They've done ones for Back to the Future and Aliens.

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Not to beat a dead horse here,but this is where I got my first review of the BD's HD quality and I'm sure most of you have seen it from "the Digital Bits site"...quote"So the next obvious question is, how to the films look in HD based on what we say on Friday morning? The answer is very good indeed. Do they look better than the 2004 DVDs? Absolutely. Do they look better than recent 1080p HD cable and satellite broadcasts? Again, yes - not just for the fixes to problem A/V issues that have been done but also because of the added video and audio data rate afforded by the Blu-ray format, and the fact that each film comes on its own BD-50 disc. And don't forget that Episodes I, II and III should look fantastic simply for having been mastered directly from the digital production files.".
  Was this interviewer/writer being true? I have great trust in Harmy,Adywan and many on this site who's opinion is quite different. The interview also goes into the fact of how the fixed the lightsaber dullness's. I can't download the 1080bd's cause they are just too large files. So who's reviews should I acknowledge as being more informative??

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No! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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lordsidi said:

Not to beat a dead horse here,but this is where I got my first review of the BD's HD quality and I'm sure most of you have seen it from "the Digital Bits site"...quote"So the next obvious question is, how to the films look in HD based on what we say on Friday morning? The answer is very good indeed. Do they look better than the 2004 DVDs? Absolutely. Do they look better than recent 1080p HD cable and satellite broadcasts? Again, yes - not just for the fixes to problem A/V issues that have been done but also because of the added video and audio data rate afforded by the Blu-ray format, and the fact that each film comes on its own BD-50 disc. And don't forget that Episodes I, II and III should look fantastic simply for having been mastered directly from the digital production files.".
  Was this interviewer/writer being true? I have great trust in Harmy,Adywan and many on this site who's opinion is quite different. The interview also goes into the fact of how the fixed the lightsaber dullness's. I can't download the 1080bd's cause they are just too large files. So who's reviews should I acknowledge as being more informative??

Well, let me just say that I used to enjoy reading The Digital Bits quite a lot... until they became Blu-ray fanboys. I now find it hard to trust anything they say, because despite their technical knowledge, I simply no longer believe that they are even remotely objective. I read TDB now mainly for news about new releases, but even there thev've pretty much thrown DVD to the back of the bus in their orgasmic gushing over Blu-ray.

Take that for what it's worth.

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The Aluminum Falcon said:

Don't forget the DVNR. In my opinion, they did cleanse Star Wars of some of its character by removing too much grain. The crushed blacks are bothersome though; you do lose detail, stars, and lightsabers. Furthermore the 2004 version was only done at 2K.. If this is of no issue to you, then I suppose the Blu-Ray may be fine for you.

Normally HDTV vs Blu-Ray comparisons appear on AVSForum. You just need to wait for them. They've done ones for Back to the Future and Aliens.

By sheer coincidence, the Lost in Space Blu-Ray comparison shots are from the AVS forum, too!

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The franchises I get nerdy about are so obscure that not even most nerds know about them.

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I guess I was just so excited to hear that my favorite movies(and still are) were finally being released using the pinnacle of HD technology. I was expecting this to surpass or at least equal the work done on The Lord of the Rings movies and its' unbelievable documentaries. I wanted to see my characters from the Empire and the Rebellion duke it out in the highest resolution possible. I watched the last 40 min of Jedi in 720bd last night and I was happy with the image and even after hearing it like 20 times, Vader's "No","Nooo!" did'nt bug me but something just felt not right. Now today...just for comparison I put in Harmy's Despecialized ROTJ,I watched the same 40 min and was blown away how good the image was! All the preservationist's on here are really godsends. They brought back MY return of the jedi,empire strikes back,a new hope in all their "no extra frills,noises,cgi and added dialogue" glory.     P.S. Do you have to buy the complete bluray set to get the documentaries? Cause I love those.

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lordsidi said:

P.S. Do you have to buy the complete bluray set to get the documentaries? Cause I love those.

Yes you do need to get the Complete Saga Blu-Ray but it is common for it to be sold individually on eBay, so if that's all you want, then you can find a good deal over there. That's actually what I personally plan to do since you don't give money to LFL directly but can still see those deleted scenes and doumentaries.

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lordsidi said:

Really? You think the pq of the SW bd's are terrible? I'm not dismissing your opinion,but the 720p bds of Empire and Jedi looked good. I'm a big Star Wars fan,always will be and of course I've wanted to see them on BD. I'm getting different opinions on the PQ ,still. I'd love to see 1080p screencaps,still.

What he's getting at is that there's more to great picture quality than shear resolution.

720p Vs. 1080p also has a lot to do with your setup as well. If you're watching on a 22" screen 10 feet away, you're not going to notice a lick of resolution difference.


Made for IE Forum's Episode III theme month - May 2005.

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Klingon_Jedi said:

lordsidi said:

Really? You think the pq of the SW bd's are terrible? I'm not dismissing your opinion,but the 720p bds of Empire and Jedi looked good. I'm a big Star Wars fan,always will be and of course I've wanted to see them on BD. I'm getting different opinions on the PQ ,still. I'd love to see 1080p screencaps,still.

What he's getting at is that there's more to great picture quality than shear resolution.

I swear this typo never fails to make me laugh.