After a number of delays I was finally able to check your disc, Andrea.

Used image burn, and tried it out on three different bluray players - 1 vizio and 2 different Sony models. Am happy to report all three bluray players played this disc without any issues!

AUDIO:

The assorted soundtracks made for an interesting comparison, and the uncompressed PCM track was by far the best extra feature. The Fox produced region-1 bluray also offers the original mix as an option, but at a lowly 192 kb/s bitrate. Only here is the original audio mix given its full proper due with an HD image.

Flexicon9 brings up some prominent differences between the original Dolby Surround encoded 2-channel mix and the newer 5.1 remix. To add to that list:

* When Snake is injected with the virus, the injection noise is totally different in the remix.

* When in the basement looking for the president, Snake sees the beginning of what is likely a rape sequence. The sound is distinctly hallow and phasey sounding in the remix.

Back in post #37, I pondered if the HDnet 5.1 audio used the original 4.0 printmaster, or was simply an upmix made from the original Lt/Rt 2.0 Dolby Surround mix.

The discrete possibility is not totally unprecedented, as a number of features originally downmixed to Lt/Rt Dolby Surround for 35mm and home video still survive in their original discrete 4.0 form, and would have none of the channel leakage issues inherent in all matrix / Dolby Surround mixes, but aside from that would still be the same original soundmix.

The other option already mentioned is the original Lt/Rt Dolby Surround mix was matrix decoded by HDnet using a professional Dolby Surround decoder or compatible counterpart. This is typically called an upmix and is also not unprecedented, as Universal HD and TCM do this on occasion. The reason this is done is the proper decoding is done ahead of time so sent audio is always configured as 5.1 and there is no worry a local cable provider or home listener doesn't inadvertently send or listen to a Dolby Surround track as simple stereo.

I listened to the HDnet 5.1 audio version provided on the disc and unplugged the center speaker. With discrete multi-channel audio, unplugging the center speaker should result in virtually no dialog ..at least with a production such as this one. But an upmix will always have a little bit of leakage, as it is mathematically impossible to 100% accurately and consistently matrix decode 4 discrete channels out of 2, although the matrix Dolby decoding is always getting better. Based on what I've heard, I believe this is an upmix, albeit a good one. If one has a more advanced Dolby Pro-Logic decoder, I would suggest listening to the PCM mix, although the HDnet was an interesting listen and with it being only 384kb/s Dolby Digital, the discs's overall bit budget was not overly taxed by it's inclusion.

VIDEO

As you've noted before, previous video versions were presented lighter with a higher gamma when compared to the recent bluray release. I don't mind the darker timing of the new release and think it is likely closer to the original theatrical presentation, but also understand how some may not like it, especially depending on a given individual's display device and given settings. This is likely why previous versions were altered the way they were. And to that effect this release is much closer to the previous video releases, and appears to be a very faithful reproduction of the Universal HD version I had viewed a while back. I agree with Matt that when projected this version may begin to shows its HDnet source compression limitations, but its the best reproduction of this given transfer available, and you've done a great job preserving it.

I also think you made the right call in not trying to borrow a sliver of picture info from the bluray, as the test results shown previously also showed a sliver of the bottom going away in the process. I'll always want maximum height info when compared to maximum side info. It also made your task easier as well, and keeps this a very faithful and pure preservation of the HDnet recording.

SUMMARY

I've purchased EFNY a few times now. P&S laserdisc, letterbox LD, VHS, DVD, DVD again for the remastering, and finally bluray. Your disc is without hesitation an excellent companion piece to store next to the official bluray. Thumbs up!!