Comparing TV release to Blu-ray release - Blu-ray Forum

skatalite · 01-10-2010, 03:53 AM

I'm curious if you guys notice a big difference in color and hue of a movie when you watch it on digital television. For instance, "Batman" is on SpikeHD right now. Watching it, I'm noticing it's darker and has a greener hue to it than the Blu-ray does.

Just curious if you guys notice the same thing and what movies are the biggest culprits.

Cheers!

Dotpattern · 01-10-2010, 04:21 AM

Yes, but it's not just between cable and Blu-ray. It's always been like this whether it was cable/network broadcast and VHS or DVD.

However, when it comes to Blu-ray and cable or digital broadcasts, Blu-ray (in most cases) is probably closer to what the filmmakers intended in regards to color and contrast.

Penitus · 01-10-2010, 04:30 AM

+1 to your username skatalite...

DarknessBDJM · 02-13-2011, 05:18 AM

Reviving an old thread here, but there are variables between different cable providers (Verizon Fios being the only one that doesn't downgrade/cap bit-rates, so they are the reference quality provider here), channels, those channels and Blu-Ray, and different region and edition Blu-Ray releases.

In the U.S. of the movie channels I've noticed Starz channels (minus Encore HD), HDNet (and HDNet movies), and Epix (which is 1080i, unlike what Wikipedia states) are the most consistent in quality.
Showtime and The Movie Channel (both under the same channel family banner), I've recorded some hd movies on different channels in that family and they have different sizes/bit-rates (Showtime 1/prime sees to have the low end of the rates, The Movie Channel Xtra has a high end rate where the 89 minute The Skeptic took up over 11 Gigs of space to around 9 for the same movie on another channel in the family lineup). The Showtime/TMC family hd masters vary (The Thirst and some other films looked bad, and it's not all the quality of the film itself), but when they are good they are top notch and as good as anything else out there (I've really noticed this surprisingly with recent airings of recent British horror films like Severence, Splintered, and Eden Lake).
MGM HD is much like the Showtime+The Movie Channel family in that some movies look weak (Pumpkinhead being one), and some look fantastic (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Troll 2, surprisingly The Video Dead, The Indian Runner, etc.).
HBO and Cinemax look quite good in low motion scenes, but are very glitchy and pixelated in scenes with decent to strong motion. The channels are consistent though, unlike the grab bag for Showtime/The Movie Channel, but the films never really have a real exceptional quality the latter channels can often show.
Sci-Fi usually looks pretty good when they show a genuine hd movie, but they often show 4:3 sd movies. I don't often catch movies on TNT, but I thought they looked decent before (I'd guess TBS would be similar).
InHD 1 and 2 and Mojo HD used to look very good when they were around. Universal HD was very good before NBC took them over and butchered them (hopefully Comcast changed that).

The differences between Blu-Ray and broadcast hd vary, but there have been times where broadcast versions look as good or better than Blu-Ray versions, though by and large the Blu-Ray versions look superior. It depends a lot on the compression techniques and equipment and the technicians working on the master.

01-10-2010, 03:53 AM	#1
skatalite Banned Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Norman, Okla. Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:12	Comparing TV release to Blu-ray release I'm curious if you guys notice a big difference in color and hue of a movie when you watch it on digital television. For instance, "Batman" is on SpikeHD right now. Watching it, I'm noticing it's darker and has a greener hue to it than the Blu-ray does. Just curious if you guys notice the same thing and what movies are the biggest culprits. Cheers!

01-10-2010, 04:21 AM	#2
Dotpattern Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Southern California Blu-ray collection:796	Yes, but it's not just between cable and Blu-ray. It's always been like this whether it was cable/network broadcast and VHS or DVD. However, when it comes to Blu-ray and cable or digital broadcasts, Blu-ray (in most cases) is probably closer to what the filmmakers intended in regards to color and contrast. My short film featuring Jenny McCarthy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcLj_rMH0Zk My featurette on Clive Barker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnnIu9fHOUg Last edited by Dotpattern; 01-10-2010 at 04:26 AM.

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01-10-2010, 04:30 AM	#3
Penitus Expert Member Member since:Dec 2008 Location:Ohio Blu-ray collection:127 Blu-ray reviews:10	+1 to your username skatalite...

02-13-2011, 05:18 AM	#4
DarknessBDJM Special Member Member since:Sep 2010	Reviving an old thread here, but there are variables between different cable providers (Verizon Fios being the only one that doesn't downgrade/cap bit-rates, so they are the reference quality provider here), channels, those channels and Blu-Ray, and different region and edition Blu-Ray releases. In the U.S. of the movie channels I've noticed Starz channels (minus Encore HD), HDNet (and HDNet movies), and Epix (which is 1080i, unlike what Wikipedia states) are the most consistent in quality. Showtime and The Movie Channel (both under the same channel family banner), I've recorded some hd movies on different channels in that family and they have different sizes/bit-rates (Showtime 1/prime sees to have the low end of the rates, The Movie Channel Xtra has a high end rate where the 89 minute The Skeptic took up over 11 Gigs of space to around 9 for the same movie on another channel in the family lineup). The Showtime/TMC family hd masters vary (The Thirst and some other films looked bad, and it's not all the quality of the film itself), but when they are good they are top notch and as good as anything else out there (I've really noticed this surprisingly with recent airings of recent British horror films like Severence, Splintered, and Eden Lake). MGM HD is much like the Showtime+The Movie Channel family in that some movies look weak (Pumpkinhead being one), and some look fantastic (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Troll 2, surprisingly The Video Dead, The Indian Runner, etc.). HBO and Cinemax look quite good in low motion scenes, but are very glitchy and pixelated in scenes with decent to strong motion. The channels are consistent though, unlike the grab bag for Showtime/The Movie Channel, but the films never really have a real exceptional quality the latter channels can often show. Sci-Fi usually looks pretty good when they show a genuine hd movie, but they often show 4:3 sd movies. I don't often catch movies on TNT, but I thought they looked decent before (I'd guess TBS would be similar). InHD 1 and 2 and Mojo HD used to look very good when they were around. Universal HD was very good before NBC took them over and butchered them (hopefully Comcast changed that). The differences between Blu-Ray and broadcast hd vary, but there have been times where broadcast versions look as good or better than Blu-Ray versions, though by and large the Blu-Ray versions look superior. It depends a lot on the compression techniques and equipment and the technicians working on the master.