Omega Man Disappointment

[reconredneck]

I had a Dvd retail version of Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston which I enjoyed and have watched a number of times.. Now that I have purchased a Blu-Ray Player I decided to purchase " The Omega Man " on BD.
Visually speaking this BD version is a disaster! I can see snow & grain throughout the film.... Not to mention the sound was not upgraded from the retail Dvd, still a Dolby 1.0 soundtrack...
I actually enjoy the SD version of Omega Man, via my Oppo 981HD, which gives off a better picture, with less grain and no snow..
I know what you are thinking, " Whats this guy thinking, this movie is over 30 years old ". Sure it is, but whoever let this Blu-Ray out on the market should be drawn and quartered over this flap!

[ryoohki]

Here we go again... Altought this release is NOT the best at all, there's about 20300000 review site that reviewed it and off course we will not talk about how DVD's are DNR to death to ease the compression.

But again, this is just a patch release from Warner, witch matched with the Theatrical release of I Am Legend last year. So it's surely a very old master. I'am sure it's the same one as the DVD, but since DVD can't resolve grain and noise and most of them are DNR. You just seeing what's more on the master that is available now..

[JasonR]

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

'The Omega Man' first received the remaster treatment back in 2003, when Warner issued the film on standard DVD. Since the studio is only releasing the flick on high-def as a quick cash-in with the upcoming Will Smith update, it's no surprise that this HD DVD's 1080p/VC-1 encode (identical to the Blu-ray) is minted from the same master used for that previous DVD. But in this case that's actually a positive, as the 2003 remaster was a real surprise, with 'The Omega Man' looking way better than any 1971 film has a right to. I would even go so far as to say this is one of the better catalog remasters I've seen from Warner in recent months.

Warner has really spiffed up the print, with very few signs of the kind of wear and tear that you'd normally associate with such a dated sci-fi flick. Sure, there's grain throughout and some dirt specks and such, but it is consistently minimal, to the point where you forget about it within minutes. Colors are nicely reproduced as well, with reds and blues especially vibrant and clean. I can't say that the level of detail rivals that of a new release, but considering the age of the film and the archaic effects techniques of the time, the illusion of depth is considerable, and shadow delineation is well above average for a catalog title. The studio has done a fine job with the encoding, too, as there are no major compression artifacts to speak of, nor is edge enhancement an issue. An impressive transfer, all around.

This is the HDDVD review, it is the same as the Blu-Ray though.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1064/omegaman.html

How high is your sharpness turned up? I haven't seen this version, but if it looks that bad I would say it is a calibration problem.

[#Darren]

reconredneck,

I have this on DVD and Blu too.

The DVD was actually VERY good PQ and played well on my 92 inch screen, which very few DVD's do. I thought the jump from DVD to Blu was not as great a leap as with some other films (perhaps because of the great DVD) but I still thought it was a noticable improvement. Didn't see this snow you refer too...

[reconredneck]

Originally Posted by JasonR

This is the HDDVD review, it is the same as the Blu-Ray though.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1064/omegaman.html

How high is your sharpness turned up? I haven't seen this version, but if it looks that bad I would say it is a calibration problem.

I turned on the Samsung NR and brought down sharpness which seemed to help with the snow and grain.. It seems like when they were filming Omega Man they must of had more than one film crew, with different sized film stock and equipment, because sometimes the picture is crystal and then it becomes muddy with grain, possible from poor lighting.. and I will not even bring up the sound quality..

[Sky_Captain]

Don't know what the hell disc the OP was watching. Assuming the BD has the same transfer as the HD DVD,(which I own), it should look very good. It kicks the crap out of the DVD.

[cartman781]

Very happy with my BD

[PowellPressburger]

I won this on BluRay also and used to own the previous DVD release. This one does look a bit better than the standard edition release esp. the city scape shots look so detailed. You can't get rid of the grain though and that doesn't bother me. People need to know that if the film contains grain so will the transfers.

We probably won't see Soylent Green on Blu in a while since that film seems to have a very dirty look in some scenes. It looks like it is coated in brown dust/dirt at times. This would be huge headache for most HD movie buyers.

[olds403]

Not sure what disc the OP is looking at either? I have this BD and it looks great(for the age of the movie) on my 60" sony 60a3000. I saw none of the snow that was mentioned. Overall great picture quality to me.

[Blu Titan]

I would agree with most of the posts in this thread. I own the Omega Man in BD and the PQ is very good. NOT a bad transfer at all.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by reconredneck

I turned on the Samsung NR and brought down sharpness which seemed to help with the snow and grain.. It seems like when they were filming Omega Man they must of had more than one film crew, with different sized film stock and equipment, because sometimes the picture is crystal and then it becomes muddy with grain, possible from poor lighting.. and I will not even bring up the sound quality..

Part of your problem is if you have blu-ray and you are using HDTV you need to turn the sharpness all the way off. Set it at -0- (zero). That is what the experts say. You also may want to calibrate your HDTV... Just curious what samsung set do you own. I have the Samsung LN-T4671F . If you would like I can give you my tv settings just send me an email on here...

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by reconredneck

I had a Dvd retail version of Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston which I enjoyed and have watched a number of times.. Now that I have purchased a Blu-Ray Player I decided to purchase " The Omega Man " on BD.
Visually speaking this BD version is a disaster! I can see snow & grain throughout the film.... Not to mention the sound was not upgraded from the retail Dvd, still a Dolby 1.0 soundtrack...

Why should it be any different? The movie was mono, the DVD was mono, the BD is mono.

I actually enjoy the SD version of Omega Man, via my Oppo 981HD, which gives off a better picture, with less grain and no snow..

This proves that BD players need a "smoothie" knob you can turn to eleven.

I know what you are thinking, " Whats this guy thinking, this movie is over 30 years old ". Sure it is, but whoever let this Blu-Ray out on the market should be drawn and quartered over this flap!

I have a better idea - buy only recent movies and leave grainy 1970s movies to those of us who know how they looked like.

[reconredneck]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Why should it be any different? The movie was mono, the DVD was mono, the BD is mono.

And you are happy with that? mono sucks!

Originally Posted by Grubert

This proves that BD players need a "smoothie" knob you can turn to eleven.

I think you played with your smoothie knob until you got blisters on it..get a life!

Originally Posted by Grubert

I have a better idea - buy only recent movies and leave grainy 1970s movies to those of us who know how they looked like.

Your just a little flaming punk, who came into blu-ray.com to insult someone just to make yourself feel important to make everyone think your cool or something, instead of the loser you are.. stick that one up your pipe!

[reconredneck]

Originally Posted by wsciv123

Part of your problem is if you have blu-ray and you are using HDTV you need to turn the sharpness all the way off. Set it at -0- (zero). That is what the experts say. You also may want to calibrate your HDTV... Just curious what samsung set do you own. I have the Samsung LN-T4671F . If you would like I can give you my tv settings just send me an email on here...

I have the LNS-4696D 46".. I would be interested in your settings.
All my other Blu-Ray movies look fantastic, except for the Omega Man Disc.

[reconredneck]

You Guys don't Get me wrong... I love Omega Man. I just feel cheated that my SD copy looks better than my BD version of it... I mean why bother if no improvements can be made..
Heres someone who basically is saying what I am saying about this BD version:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/dvd-reviews-archive/266703-htf-blu-ray-review-omega-man.html

Video Quality

3.5/5

The Panavision 2.40:1 aspect ratio is presented in a 1080p transfer using the VC-1 codec. Image quality is an up and down affair. Almost all of the scenes with Heston are sharp, dimensional, and free from blemishes (though there is one nighttime sequence in which dirt sparkles like glitter most disconcertingly taking the viewer completely out of the action). The image is sharp enough, for instance, to notice clearly Heston’s stunt double on the motorcycle and in some other driving sequences. Colors can be strong though blacks are mediocre, and some scenes have trouble with adequate shadow detail. The film has been divided into 30 chapters.

Audio Quality

2.5/5

The Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track, completely typical of its era, has limited fidelity (at 192 kbps, that’s no surprise) and is disappointing overall sounding rather flat and lifeless.

My point, exactly

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by reconredneck

And you are happy with that? mono sucks!

Do you believe SUC can get HD from SD? How do they get surround from mono?

Originally Posted by reconredneck

I think you played with your smoothie knob until you got blisters on it..get a life!

Tasteless and crude.

Originally Posted by reconredneck

Your just a little flaming punk, who came into blu-ray.com to insult someone just to make yourself feel important to make everyone think your cool or something, instead of the loser you are.. stick that one up your pipe!

Welcome to a three day suspension. (Update: He requested to be banned, and I am all to willing to oblige)

Gary

[JJ]

I was going to comment on how he had responded before, but alas, there it is. Done for me already!

[Headphone Czar]

Originally Posted by reconredneck

I had a Dvd retail version of Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston which I enjoyed and have watched a number of times.. Now that I have purchased a Blu-Ray Player I decided to purchase " The Omega Man " on BD.
Visually speaking this BD version is a disaster! I can see snow & grain throughout the film.... Not to mention the sound was not upgraded from the retail Dvd, still a Dolby 1.0 soundtrack...
I actually enjoy the SD version of Omega Man, via my Oppo 981HD, which gives off a better picture, with less grain and no snow..
I know what you are thinking, " Whats this guy thinking, this movie is over 30 years old ". Sure it is, but whoever let this Blu-Ray out on the market should be drawn and quartered over this flap!

I had the HD DVD version & it was very good considering the age of the film. A lot of scenes had vivid colors & looked very sharp..

[GORT]

Another Bites the dust banned after ten posts thank you to Mod Gary for cutting the head off that monster before it had a chance to grow

[Blu Titan]

I was going to jump all over the OP for the comments he made. Grubert has never been anything, but nice to everyone. Great job by Dialog!