Members of the AVS Forum who have had a chance to preview the upcoming Lord of the Rings Blu-ray set are reporting that the transfer/encode does not live up to expectations. The first film in the series, The Fellowship of the Ring is noted as purportedly being particularly soft and subject to overuse of Digital Noise Reduction (DNR), which causes faces to look waxy and detail to disappear.
Member eric.exe has posted a lot of screenshot examples, comparing the new Fellowship of the Ring Blu-ray with a previous HD broadcast of the film. He goes further to show the differences between the same shots used initially in Fellowship and then repeated in a montage sequence in its sequel, The Two Towers. Here are a only a couple of his many examples:
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Fellowship of the Ring Blu-ray
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Fellowship of the Ring HDTV Broadcast
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Fellowship of the Ring Blu-ray
CLICK TO ENLARGE: The Two Towers Blu-ray
Please visit the discussion thread on AVSForum.com for further screencap examples.
I don’t know about you but I’m going to hold off judging this release until I can inspect it in person. For the record, writer/director Peter Jackson has signed off on these new Blu-ray editions of his film trilogy and in most cases, that should be a ringing enough endorsement for anyone. There could be any number of reasons for these anomalies in image quality, from poor post-production on original film elements to a simple change in colour timing and contrast. It’s even possible that some DNR was added to cover up sloppy CGI in places. But like I said, at this point, for me, it’s too early to tell.
I’ll still be picking up the boxed set in a couple of weeks. I’ll let you know what I think of it at that time.
Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Lord of the Rings Blu-ray Box Set Details
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I saw the review and screenshots over at blu-ray.com. It’s sad that the picture is not as great as we thought it would be. Warner transfers have never been the best so far, and this one is no exception. I may buy it anyway, but I hope the extended edition will be top notch.
Warner can do a spectacular job on their transfers at times. Just look at the recent Ninja Assassin or Sherlock Holmes or last years Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Gorgeous work!
[...] possible that we’re all taking all this entertainment a bit too seriously. [avsforum via Blu-ray Blog via CrunchGear] Tagged:blu-rayentertainmentlord of the [...]
Yall are smoking crack. The Bluray version is clearly better. Load each one in a separate tab and focus on the eyes as you switch back and forth.
@Geoff: If you think waxy faces and scrubbed out detail equals “better,” then sure…. Check to see if you’re looking at the right URLs.
This is one of the biggest disappointments ever. Shame on Warner for sitting on an old, 8-year old master and then slathering unnecessary post-processing filters.
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I aint no expert, but the blu ray looks like it has had a warming filter over it and may be softened a bit, which would lose the detail I guess. If Peter Jackson has had nothing to do with the production of these discs then thats not a good sign at all.
[...] 2. “The Lord of the Rings,” extended editionsWait—isn’t the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy already on Blu-ray? Yep, it sure it, but the version that finally arrived on Blu back in April outraged fans for a variety of reasons. For one thing, only the original theatrical versions were released—not the longer extended editions, which (“Rings” fanatics argued) could easily have been added to the retail discs via seamless branching. Meanwhile, reviewers complained about the skimpy extras, the lack of filmmaker commentaries, and—worst of all—the murky video transfer. [...]
[...] 2. “The Lord of the Rings,” extended editionsWait—isn’t the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy already on Blu-ray? Yep, it sure it, but the version that finally arrived on Blu back in April outraged fans for a variety of reasons. For one thing, only the original theatrical versions were released—not the longer extended editions, which (“Rings” fanatics argued) could easily have been added to the retail discs via seamless branching. Meanwhile, reviewers complained about the skimpy extras, the lack of filmmaker commentaries, and—worst of all—the murky video transfer. [...]
[...] 2. “The Lord of the Rings,” extended editionsWait—isn’t the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy already on Blu-ray? Yep, it sure it, but the version that finally arrived on Blu back in April outraged fans for a variety of reasons. For one thing, only the original theatrical versions were released—not the longer extended editions, which (“Rings” fanatics argued) could easily have been added to the retail discs via seamless branching. Meanwhile, reviewers complained about the skimpy extras, the lack of filmmaker commentaries, and—worst of all—the murky video transfer. [...]
[...] 2. “The Lord of the Rings,” extended editionsWait?isn’t the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy already on Blu-ray? Yep, it sure it, but the version that finally arrived on Blu back in April outraged fans for a variety of reasons. For one thing, only the original theatrical versions were released?not the longer extended editions, which (”Rings” fanatics argued) could easily have been added to the retail discs via seamless branching. Meanwhile, reviewers complained about the skimpy extras, the lack of filmmaker commentaries, and?worst of all?the murky video transfer. [...]
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[...] examples) with either visual fidelity or lossless audio the casualties. And lord knows, after the debacle with the transfers on the Theatrical Edition Blu-ray set, Warner needs to deliver nothing but the highest quality image with the Extended [...]
[...] 2. The Lord of the Rings, extended editionsWaitisn’t the Lord of the Rings trilogy already on Blu-ray? Yep, it sure it, but the version that finally arrived on Blu back in April outraged fans for a variety of reasons. For one thing, only the original theatrical versions were releasednot the longer extended editions, which (Rings fanatics argued) could easily have been added to the retail discs via seamless branching. Meanwhile, reviewers complained about the skimpy extras, the lack of filmmaker commentaries, andworst of allthe murky video transfer. [...]
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[...] well and good unless it smooths the details out of the movie, for example, The Lord of the Rings Blu-Rays. I’m not a fan of this side effect. It needlessly ruins movies. Hopefully, the rest of the [...]