AntcuFaalb said:

I've now done lots of still comparisons with WOWOW vs. grade-matched BD and I can honestly say that the WOWOW, surprisingly, has more detail.

The software I use for the MatchGrade also has a basic image registration algorithm, so the stills used for my comparison were spatially aligned rather well.

The difference is striking.

I'd like to despecialize the WOWOW, but I can't without access to that 10 year old 1080i MPEG-2 ABC TV broadcast version capture. I'm still digging, but I haven't had any luck yet.

For now we may have to settle on the 2003 "enhanced" version.

I still have to remove the burned-in JP subs from those shots. I may seek outside help to get it done well.

I'm pretty convinced that the wowow was the original restoration of the film and was used as the basis for the blu-ray color re-grade. Mostly likely they had planned to release it, but someone decided it needed a more "modern" color scheme or just something to make it look different and newer. Whatever the rationale, they inconsistently applied DNR and the orange/gold haze which actually reduced detail. They messed with the gamma and ended up crushing blacks a bit and blowing out whites, especially in the extreme contrasts of the ark opening sequence. Then they attempted to compensate for that by dialing down the highs, resulting in blown out whites being reduced to a dull grayish white. On top of that is a rather odd remix with re-balanced sound effects and music in the surrounds which sounds like it's in a cavern. There are places where the blu looks nice, but overall it's a messy, botched job which certainly doesn't reflect the look of the film. I'm just glad we have the wowow.