Reviews hurting Blu-ray sales?

[Chaka]

Does anyone else feel that reviews, not just from this website but others don't give blu-ray a fair shake in picture quality?

Don't get me wrong, I think having reviews helps in a great deal in deciding on what to buy when you are on a budget however I think they can be improved upon especially back catalog releases that have already been released on standard DVD. Not everyone is technically savvy to understand some of the vocabulary used and not all movies were filmed created the same way. There are many inherent aspects whether it be technology at the time to the vision of the film in general. I think that majority that buy a certain release just wants to be entertained but want to know that they are not getting a junk release that isn't worth buying over standard dvd. Some of these releases put the scare in you thinking its Fifth Element all over again.

Perhaps a new gauge that shows how much more of an improvement over standard releases in picture quality? What a realistic expectation for a particular movie is in clarity, depth and color? Its a two way street also, if the studios want these movies to sell they need to release statements on their website or box cover letting the consumer know that this product has been approved by the director and meets their vision or that this is the best transfer they can muster up and account for some fluctuations through the movie.

I don't know just a random thought after watching a blu-ray that got less than stellar reviews in picture quality.

[bageleaterkkjji]

what movie did you just watch

[patrick99]

My general complaint about the treatment of PQ in reviews is that many of the reviews give more praise to the PQ than I, at least, think is deserved. I have seen several reviews praising the PQ on The Game Plan, for example, but I was not impressed with the PQ on this title.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Perhaps a new gauge that shows how much more of an improvement over standard releases in picture quality?

In the poll I made yesterday, with now over 180 responses, 71% of people notice overall a "Huge Improvement" in PQ over DVD.

25% notice a "Substantial Improvement"
2% notice a "Slight Improvement"
1% notice "No Improvement"

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=35724

[surfdude12]

2 big problems i see in reviews are:

(1) anti-blu reviews (see amazon) giving all blus 1 star
(2) people who rate the PICTURE instead of the TRANSFER. see the 28 weeks later review on this site, it got a 4.5/5 but most users gave it 2/5. the 4.5 i think is correct when you compare the DVD and Blu.

[tron3]

Meh, the worst blu-ray will look like the cheesy transmitted HD stuff. The Polar Express on the other hand, looks worse than that.

In general, as long as it isn't a Warner HD DVD transfer to BD, it generally looks very good.

[KenThompson]

As long as there is a step up in picture quality from dvd thats the ticket. Of course we all want perfect but sometimes its what the director wanted or it was just filmed that way, nothing you can do but there is no excuse for dirt on the print. We are paying a premium on bd's over dvd and we should get a premium product, enough said.