My bad, I guess I just remember the 77 effects being worse than they actually were.
Looking at the photographs from the Technicolor screening, it can easily be seen that the 1977 lightsabre effects were actually very good and hold up well. Memories of their inadequacy can only be attributed to the flaws of transfers to home video.
Harmy's latest vid certainly gives them a more nostalgic look, though it's easy enough to tell that some of the 2004 versions are still there, even with the re-colouring. I'm still not sold on the colour scheme of the scene in general, as the print photos show the background being a more solid blue rather than grey, and Ben's blade having a darker shade, but since the 2004 transfer screwed this scene up beyond recognition, I imagine that getting it back to what it should be is quite difficult. It's certainly a huge improvement over what it was, and I look forward to seeing more of the work the next version. ;)