James Cameron uses DVNR on Aliens Blu Ray transfer. — Page 3

msycamore said: I believe it had two brief altered scenes with the ship Nostromo, where in the original film there was just a black background, it now has a added star field.

Good point!  I think you are right.   Fortunately the starfield doesn't trouble me though.

zombie84 said:  The levels throughout the rest of film probably are more accurate representations of the original answer print, for instance, the white levels of the awakening chamber were dialed down in some telecines because the primitive video couldn't handle whites like that (some early video telecines had the levels of the DC, which just blew out detail, which is why it was diaed back for the subsequent DVDs; the DC didn't have to adjust to such variables since video display was better).

That's really good information.  I always liked the whites on the quadrilogy version. 

msycamore said:

the color timing on Alien seems to be the modern Director's Cut timing though.

As I feared...  So it's goodbye to the look of ALIEN that I've loved over the years then.  Damn, I hate the new colour timing throughout.

I may need to pick up the old 20th Anniversary Edition DVD.  I don't remember the colors being that significantly different.

I'll check DVDBeaver and see if they have a comparison ...

What the hell is "D-Theater"?

ChainsawAsh said:

What the hell is "D-Theater"?

You have never seen a D-Theater release?  D-Theater releases were basically HD tapes.  There is another name for it, but I cannot remember what is is --  D-Scene or something like that.  They are usually quite good, but not modern HD quality.

Why is the BD cropped?  I have seen a number of cropped BD releases recently. The pictures also seem to stretch when you move the cursor over them.  This might be to do with NAB, I suppose.

CompMovieGuy said:  Edit: Also you are not the only one complaining about the cropping and color timing Chewie

Yeah; I just don't understand why this cropping is taking place.  It seems bizarre to me.   There are increasing number of films that I like that I am not buying on Blu-ray.  I never thought this would happen a year or so ago, when I first started buying HD movies.  It is not great, but it is at least saving me money! :D

Almost every release of every film ever made (on film) is cropped somewhat.  Hell, when you see it in a theater, it's cropped a bit on all 4 sides, and if you see an open-matte 1.85:1 film in a theater, you're entirely at the mercy of the projectionist when it comes cropping the top and bottom properly (for an example of what happens when this is done improperly, see the original pressings of Back to the Future Part II and Part III on DVD).

It's not that the Blu-Ray is cropped while the D-Theater version isn't.  It's that the framing is done slightly differently.  It's cropped a bit more on the sides, but a bit less on the top and bottom.  I don't see a problem here (unlike, say, the GoldenEye Ultimate Edition DVD - now there's some atrocious cropping).

And fuck, I'll say it - I like the Blu-Ray's color timing more than the D-Theater's.  The D-Theater has way too much of a red shift.

Skyjedi, I think you and I are looking at two different Blu-Ray caps.  The ceiling grate looks just fine to me.  I see no evidence of excessive DNR.

That's all well and good, but I don't see that much of a difference in the amount of grain between the D-Theater and Blu-Ray caps.  The Blu-Ray has slightly less grain, maybe, but there's still plenty there, and I simply don't understand where you are getting the idea that DNR has been overused.

Specifically this grate being "completely blurred."  Well, it's OUT OF FOCUS in the frame, because that's the way it's shot.  Even in the D-Theater cap, it's "completely burred" ... because it's OUT OF FOCUS, as it's meant to be.  It's slightly darker in the Blu-Ray cap, but that's due to the difference in color timing.

Usually I side with the "purist" camp on these issues, but here I just can't see it.  There's nothing at all wrong with the Blu-Ray cap unless you disagree with the new color timing, which I can understand, but as I said before, I personally prefer it.  Even the "cropping" is nearly insignificant.

Everyone seems to be making mountains out of molehills when it comes to this release.

ChainsawAsh said:

Almost every release of every film ever made (on film) is cropped somewhat.  It's not that the Blu-Ray is cropped while the D-Theater version isn't.  It's that the framing is done slightly differently.

I know that, but there seems to be a fair bit of cropping here to me, and I was also commenting on the trend towards tighter cropping of BD releases in general, and wondering why.  For example, the remastered Gangs of New York BD is pretty heavily cropped.

I agree with you in not disliking the new color timing though.

CompMovieGuy said:  If I remember correctly, the D-Theater tapes, ones officially released, didnt have any alterations or "touch-ups" done to them, so this makes me think that the Bluray has been deliberately altered with the DNR and color at least

It is definitely Ridley Scott's practice to change the color timing on his films when they are remastered/restored.

I still think the perception that the grate is blurred more on the Blu-Ray is caused by the new color timing being darker than the original.  I could be wrong, but I saw nothing that led me to believe excessive DNR had been applied in all 3 caps.

...and the double post strikes again...

ChainsawAsh said:  I could be wrong, but I saw nothing that led me to believe excessive DNR had been applied in all 3 caps.

I would agree.  Despite the initial panic, I do not think the DNR is excessive.  I can tolerate a certain amount of DNR, as long as it is not overused, but it is just taste.  Skyjedi seems to find any amount of DNR unacceptable.

What is it with you and the double posts? :D

skyjedi2005 said:  Because of the idiotic complaint of black bars, the same as in not understanding that film is supposed to have grain.  Same with the louder is better people for liking their cd's dynamics to me ruined.

What does this mean?

Oh, I see.  Well, I prefer the black bars to reproduce the theatrical experience, but I can understand people not liking them.  It is taste, as far as I am concerned.

Skyjedi - the grain thing is difficult.  Every Blu-Ray you'll ever see has had some DNR applied to it.  Period.  The issue is when too much DNR has been applied.

Everything I've seen about this Alien set has led me to believe that the level of DNR applied is very sensible and minimal, and that the grain left over is a perfect amount to keep the "film" look.  The possible exception to this is the third film, which (from the few caps I've seen) looks like it may have been overdone (I haven't looked at any caps of Resurrection, as I simply don't give two shits about the film).

For an example of how not to do it, look at the difference between the two releases of Predator on Blu-Ray.  Now that's excessive DNR.

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About the double posts, that happens because I still don't have a proper Internet connection (it was supposed to be my roommate's responsibility if I took care of gas and electricity), and I've been tethering my Android phone's 3G Internet to my computer via USB.  For some reason, it makes visiting certain sites impossible, and causes double (or triple, or quadruple) posts on forums occasionally.