DVD vs Bluray, Blade Runner: The Final Cut
In my previous post about the PS3 I said that the image quality between DVD and Bluray was marginal on my small HDTV. This statement is true, but only for a small number of DVDs. I never realized how variable the picture quality of DVDs was. Some DVDs look outstanding and others look terrible, especially when compared with the Bluray version, even on my 26" HDTV. I imagine this is indicative of the level of compression used on some discs versus others. That said I was surprised how variable even recent titles can be. The Departed for example looks rather mediocre on DVD while The Prestige looks great. I have been going through my movie collection and deciding if:
- Do I like the movie enough to buy it again on Bluray?
- Is this the type of movie that would benefit most from upgrading it to HD? (ie. comedies in general don't rely on their cinematography and thus don't matter as much as a western or sci-fi)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is the first movie I saw on Bluray and it is definitely an improvement over the Director's Cut. The visual upgrade it received in the remastering process is excellent along with the subtle corrections and tweaks made to certain scenes. The Bluray version is a 5 disc set that comes with tons of extras including a 3+ hour documentary on the making of the film, along with the original US, International, and Director's Cut versions of the film; all redone in hi-def. This set is definitely worth the price and is a great example of how to refine a classic without overdoing it (George Lucas should take notes from Ridley Scott).
Comments
Posted by: Joe
Posted on: April 1, 2008 04:22 AM
Thanks for the tips on the variable quality of Blu-ray Discs. That is most interesting.
I have not yet taken the plunge to buy a Blu-ray Disc player. I was waiting for the clear winner between HD DVD and Blu-ray. It will be exciting to see what the image looks like on our 61-inch Samsung DLP TV.
Posted by: Robert
Posted on: May 3, 2008 01:48 AM
Thanks for the heads-up about the Bladerunner set. I've seen the compression variability on my own DVDs and I have been disappointed with the quality of some. Quite a few people are having the same experience with DTV, as there is so much compression variation in broadcasts. Many are complaining that they aren't seeing a better picture than they get with cable or satelite.
Again, thanks for the tip about Bladerunner!
Cheers,
Robert