Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Out of Print

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by MisterFantastic

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=7865&d2=7864

Looks great.
It does look a bit zoomed in on all 4 sides. You'd still miss less of the movie than you do in the darkness of the TT version though!

[travisbickle]

Originally Posted by MisterFantastic

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=7865&d2=7864

THAT's what I was waiting for...ORDERED!

Damn, the TT is so ****ing dark. You miss out on so much detail because of that. Umbrella destroys it.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by MisterFantastic

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=7865&d2=7864

You know, I'n not only seeing better colour and brightness on those caps, but I'm also seeing better detail.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Both versions are Region Free. The 1968 disc is the same used in the 2010 AUS release which was region free.

I think all the extras have been confirmed to be US compatible as well. Either 1080p or 480i -- no 50HZ or PAL issues

But isn't the PQ on the JP disc for the 1968 release superior?

[MifuneFan]

Looks like the framing is veey different between the two releases.

[Blu MacReady]

Mine arrived today in the UK, love the reverse art. And the removable rating sticker is something I'd like to see on all Oz imports (those things are giant).

Can't wait to rewatch this in what I read is an excellent transfer

[travisbickle]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Looks like the framing is veey different between the two releases.

Very similar to the framing on the old DVD, except the Blu has a bit more info on the top and bottom.

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a...=74935&i=2&l=0

[Irongod2112]

Looks like the limited edition is almost sold out!!! Says LAST CHANCE on the stock meter!!
Better hurry guys!!!

Got mine yesterday!!!

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by #Darren

You know, I'n not only seeing better colour and brightness on those caps, but I'm also seeing better detail.

And along with that detail, some very obvious scanner noise. It makes me wonder if these both started from the same scan, with the TT version being softened to remove the noise before the the blue was cranked up.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by #Darren

You know, I'n not only seeing better colour and brightness on those caps, but I'm also seeing better detail.

The Twilight Time version looks like a one-light scan graded very, very badly. The colour and contrast are both awful and the result is a smudging of detail. So I agree! Sharpening or not, I do think the Umbrella disc has more genuine visible detail underneath all that 90s-era transfer garbage.

Originally Posted by Nocturnaloner

And along with that detail, some very obvious scanner noise. It makes me wonder if these both started from the same scan, with the TT version being softened to remove the noise before the the blue was cranked up.

Nope, I think it clear both are different masters. The Umbrella disc is using the same master as the 1998 DVD. That's early for mainstream HD but there it is in HD. Maybe they knew that, in 2012 or so, someone would do a new scan and ruin it so they thought it wise to future proof their 1998 scan...

[MifuneFan]

It is probably sharpening giving the illusion of more detail, which often happens. The TT release is from a 4K scan, while the Umbrella release is from a DVD-era master. Plus, it's hard to show the level of detail with the TT one when the thing is all smurf'd up

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Plus, it's hard to show the level of detail with the TT one when the thing is all smurf'd up

Which is surely part of the issue? Some further detail may well be extractable from tweaking that master on professional kit but we're talking about what looks best on consumer level home cinema setups. I don't think it would be as much as you believe though, a lot of the colour information is essentially gone and couldn't be brought back as is some detail has been lost in the dark fog. The transfer reminds me of Kino's The Whip and the Body, which was similarly dark and blue. A UK label tried to regrade that master and it still looked awful, maybe even worse in places as you could see how obvious the boosting was as they'd tried to restore what was already lost.

I completely agree, sharpening shouldn't be done as it removes genuine detail around hard edges in order to create the illusion, but since this is a very old HD master I don't think it really worth getting too concerned about. We all know why an older, DVD-optimised master was used.

[MifuneFan]

Look at this fix. Quite a lot could still be salvaged from the TT Blue-ray. And this is from a low bitrate 720 stream, so really, the detail is even more significant. It's really too bad Umbrella couldn't somehow access the unmolested 4K scan, or fix the blue version themselves like the one below, but ultimately having a region free non-blue version is still better than nothing

Originally Posted by bigdaddyhorse

I expect a thumbs up or 2 for this. Only took 10 minutes of thread digging, and thankfully I knew what I was looking for or I would've missed it too (original link hidden under a spoiler tag). Here's the link.

[Nocturnaloner]

Just going by what caps-a-holic has put up, and granted that the blue hides a lot, I am not seeing additional detail available in the TT transfer. If that was a 4k scan, they beat the hell out of it.

[MifuneFan]

Again, sharpening illusion

[Dickieduvet]

I posted my thoughts about it in the Australian thread after watching it a couple of days ago.

Best way to describe it is ' it's like a bad Universal catalogue job '

It's from a DVD era scan from 16yrs ago, there is no fine detail, no grain.

Heaps of compression noise etc...it's not scanner noise as some have mentioned.

Heavily sharpened...

But hey! At least it's not blue.

Extras are fantastic though.

Ideal situation would obviously be the TT scan minus the blue tint.

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Again, sharpening illusion

The Umbrella has sharpening, and scanner noise. My point is, if TT or whoever preceded them had a 4K scan with more detail in it, I'm not seeing evidence of that. Anyway, the Umbrella, for all its flaws, is the best thing going right now.

[klauswhereareyou]

Ahhh it's one of those you win some you lose some. It's be like if the only available blu-ray of Goldeneye was all blued up, and then they put out the disc that we actually got that's from an ancient scan, I think I'd take the ancient scan over something so darn blue!

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by MisterFantastic

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=7865&d2=7864

Definitely an older master used for the Umbrella release but it still looks much better than the Twilight Time release. The colour timing on that disc is horrible.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Again, sharpening illusion

With all due respect, nonsense. The sharpening filter isn't adding all those chroma details are are just gone on the TT version with everything swathed in blue. You'd have a point perhaps if we were comparing a B&W film, this this is supposed to be a colour film.

The fact you have to doctor a 4K scan to even approach the same level of detail as an old scan from 1998 is just so damning of this 4K transfer you're arguing is still better. Yes, the blue can be lessened and the lighter scenes nearer the beginning look great but in the darkest regraded scenes you've still lost lots of darker area details and most of the original colour, which leaves the corrected version still looking like one of those fashionable teal and orange jobs. Which would have been far better than the TT disc as released, but I digress.

No one is suggesting the Umbrella Blu-ray uses a fantastic master. The real argument should be both masters are crap, just one less so as at least it represents the film as it should look and doesn't come off bad in the detail stakes either for a c.1998 transfer vs. c.2012. Which is just plain wrong, the 2012 one should be knocking it's socks off. Even when "corrected", it isn't.