The Departed PQ

[Jack Torrance]

I'll probably get blasted for posting this... but after watching this on BD tonight I have to say the PQ was oddly a little flat for me and not as good as it should've been. I haven't been this disappointed with the look of a BD movie since... well SUPERMAN RETURNS, also a Warner title.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN I think looks amazing... and that was using an older (and according to some "inferior") codec, Mpeg 2. CRANK also looked beautiful. THE DEPARTED's picture just didn't "pop" the same way as these other titles.

Great movie... but anyone else let down by the PQ?

[BallsHD]

hey jack well i love the departed it really has to be my favorite movie of all time. i loved it but i think one reason why i loved it so much is because i live in a suburb of boston and saw many little things like Weymouth Contractors at 344 Wash and how they say fitzy lives in brockton which is a city where my cousin lives in. anyways, i bought it on blu-ray instead of hd dvd because my blu-ray player is 1080p and i was thinkin ahead to when i buy a 1080p tv so that i wont have to go out and buy another departed. BUT GETTING TO THE POINT, I honestly think the departed looked amazing on blu-ray for PQ. i think some of the best scenes where it really shows the color and great picture are: the beginning where Frank Costello is talking about "What the *****rs dont realize is that nothings free, you have to take it" (just quoting on what he said thats all). you can see a navy cadillac in tghe background and it just looks great. also when fitzy and delahunt are talking about who they think are cops, the PQ of that seen is great too with delahunts leather scali cap and jacket stand out and of course another great scene in PQ is the ending funeral where Billy Costigan, Anthony Anderson's character Brown, and the guy that killed them both are honored in funeral and looking at all the staties with their suits and their faces and the grass and fields behind them are just great. BUT, in conclusion i truly think the departed IS THEE BEST LOOKING warner title that i have (i have batman begins, goodfellas, the perfect storm, troy, T3, V for Vendetta on hd dvd) and i dont know maybe you should try adjusting the color or the warmness of the tv. i just recently changed my tv temperature from neutral to warm and i think it makes the PQ look better. so yeah i love the departed on blu-ray and i think it's almost perfect. just wish there were more extras and i wish they waited til the academy awards so they could put on the case "Winner of 5 Academy Awards" cause they are gonna win all 5

[BallsHD]

am i'm planning on picking up kingdom of heaven today or soon so i'll be looking forward to a great PQ from that

[Jack Torrance]

I hear ya, Balls. The Depearted for me was far and away the best movie for me of the last year... but still a little let down with the PQ is all compared to some of the other releases. Wondering if anyone can confirm that PQ wise, is this just a port of the HD-DUD version?

Kingdom of Heaven looks fantastic and from a picture quality standpoint, you won't be disappointed.

[ProvenFlipper]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

I hear ya, Balls. The Depearted for me was far and away the best movie for me of the last year... but still a little let down with the PQ is all compared to some of the other releases. Wondering if anyone can confirm that PQ wise, is this just a port of the HD-DUD version?

Kingdom of Heaven looks fantastic and from a picture quality standpoint, you won't be disappointed.

All of Warner's releases since their first batch of 4 BDs have been direct ports of the HD-DVD versions. They do one encode and put it through a tool that makes the encode BD compatible.

[ClaytonMG]

I am guessing it's just a port, and here's why:
The 2 disc DVD edition has a feature that the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray doesn't. A feature length thing on the director... well! If you can't fit that onto a 50gb Blu-Ray, there's something wrong here... a 30gb HD-DVD I can understand. But there is more than enough room to put it on the Blu-Ray. Also I think some of the background lacked detail (look at the red books in the psychiatrists office, they appear to have some digital artifacts in them, also look at some of the suits people wear in the movie, they suffer from the same thing). Now if you use VC-1 on a 50gb disc and fill the disc, I'd think the picture would be pretty much flawless...

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

All of Warner's releases since their first batch of 4 BDs have been direct ports of the HD-DVD versions. They do one encode and put it through a tool that makes the encode BD compatible.

That's what I figured... I've so far been disappointed with warner's bd's and it seems that dual format releases such as these are HD-DUD's fanbois biggest argument that the pq of HD-DUD and BD are exactly the same -- of course they are! It's the same encode.... aggghhh!

But if you look at some of the top notch transfers from non-HD-DUD studios, such as Lionsgate, Fox etc. the BD transfers look sensational... and far better than any warner release so far.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

I'll probably get blasted for posting this... but after watching this on BD tonight I have to say the PQ was oddly a little flat for me and not as good as it should've been. I haven't been this disappointed with the look of a BD movie since... well SUPERMAN RETURNS, also a Warner title.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN I think looks amazing... and that was using an older (and according to some "inferior") codec, Mpeg 2. CRANK also looked beautiful. THE DEPARTED's picture just didn't "pop" the same way as these other titles.

Great movie... but anyone else let down by the PQ?

Ah, so you're a little let down with Warner's low bit-rate VC-1?

Since the HD DVD has a TrueHD track (the only way we were going to get an LPCM one) this means the VC-1 is even more bandwidth restricted than normal. Maybe this is the cause?

When my copy arrives, I'll let you know what I think.

Gary

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Ah, so you're a little let down with Warner's low bit-rate VC-1?

Since the HD DVD has a TrueHD track (the only way we were going to get an LPCM one) this means the VC-1 is even more bandwidth restricted than normal. Maybe this is the cause?

When my copy arrives, I'll let you know what I think.

Gary

Gary:

I think so - I don't profess to be a major expert on these things, but there's always something funky looking with Warner's discs (at least the ones I have -- FMJ, Superman Returns and now The Departed)... I'd be very interested to hear your take on it.

[jorg]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

Gary:

I think so - I don't profess to be a major expert on these things, but there's always something funky looking with Warner's discs (at least the ones I have -- FMJ, Superman Returns and now The Departed)... I'd be very interested to hear your take on it.

i have head not officially tho that warner uses the same version for hd dvd and blu-ray(saves money)

to me blu-ray is dvd and hd dvd is VHS lol

[nobody]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

I'll probably get blasted for posting this... but after watching this on BD tonight I have to say the PQ was oddly a little flat for me and not as good as it should've been. I haven't been this disappointed with the look of a BD movie since... well SUPERMAN RETURNS, also a Warner title.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN I think looks amazing... and that was using an older (and according to some "inferior") codec, Mpeg 2. CRANK also looked beautiful. THE DEPARTED's picture just didn't "pop" the same way as these other titles.

Great movie... but anyone else let down by the PQ?

I wasn't too crazy about the PQ for the Departed either.
PQ for Crank was off the hook!!!!!!!!!!!1

[BallsHD]

i thought crank looked really really good. with the taxi scenes it reminded me of the saints row PQ style but idk i am very happy with the departed on blu-ray for pq. i think other really good looking brs are gridiron gang, the covenant, click, the prestige, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (ah yee jack). so idk

[GTP]

I would rate The Departed PQ at 4/5 and thats being generous because there are 4.5 moments...and also 3-3.5 parts to the transfer.

Warner needs to stop with the port handicapping of the BD P/Q IMO.

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by GTP

I would rate The Departed PQ at 4/5 and thats being generous because there are 4.5 moments...and also 3-3.5 parts to the transfer.

Warner needs to stop with the port handicapping of the BD P/Q IMO.

Agreed. Also there was a weird blurring/artifacting in the background when DiCaprio was knocking the stuffing out of the guys in the corner store... specifically when he threw one of the guys into the drinks cooler.

Also it was another good point that the SD offers more extras, where bd probably could have accommodated them all HD-DUD couldn't so we get handicapped on this as well.

[Garconis]

I just scrolled through the scenes, and I gotta say I am not too impressed. Sure it looks good, but so far I haven't seen anything that blows me away. Ice Age 2 is the best I've seen so far, and that was an animation. I haven't seen Crank or Open Season yet, so those might be better. I also just got the Prestige today too, but I dont want to just scroll through it to look at the quality, because I havent seen that yet. But from what I hear, the prestige is pretty good (better than the departed).

[Garconis]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

Agreed. Also there was a weird blurring/artifacting in the background when DiCaprio was knocking the stuffing out of the guys in the corner store... specifically when he threw one of the guys into the drinks cooler.

Also it was another good point that the SD offers more extras, where bd probably could have accommodated them all HD-DUD couldn't so we get handicapped on this as well.

Yea that was retarded. All of the extras, even the theatrical trailer, were in 480p. What a rip off.