Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

Oh? prove it. HD over the television doesn't count. over the air or over cable always looses information while travelling. You don't get the full package.

I think the point is, aside from compression artifacts, the HD versions on Spike look pretty damn good.

Therefore, if the crappy TV HD masters look good, then I think we can be pretty confident that the Blu's will look even better.

And I agree that the versions on TV do look pretty snazzy in terms of detail and other non-format issues.

[Donat96]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

They are...HBO is a scam. they only had a digital channel broadcasting the film. Just because you broadcast something on HDTV does not make the original content HD. star wars has never been on HD so how exactly did they do that? they were basically broadcasting the regular DVD over an HD channel. lol. funny how people buy this stuff.

Maybe if you paid attention to the detail and not the source you would realize the screen caps are HD. Not Blu-ray, but HD nonetheless.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Donat96

Maybe if you paid attention to the detail and not the source you would realize the screen caps are HD. Not Blu-ray, but HD nonetheless.

I can't speak for the HBO ones, but the SPIKE ones are definitely in HD. Again, they do have compression artifacts, are not in the proper aspect ratio (they are 16x9)...BUT...in terms of detail, they look pretty nice. Almost too nice in some respects - a lot of the effects shots (and these are the redone SE's) are a lot more noticeable now. I'm very curious to see how much of it is further cleaned up for the Blu's.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by 42041

This isn't 1990. HDTV is compressed digital video, same as blu-ray. You don't "loose" information.

Proof? here are some screen caps, i'll leave the googling to you...
Empire Strikes Back: http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3...theempioa1.jpg
Return of the Jedi: http://pic.phyrefile.com/n/ni/nick00...30/screen4.png
A New Hope: http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5...vanewhocl7.jpg

They still look pretty darn DNRd.

What's the matter with Lando's cheek in the first screenshot?
Don't tell me that's a horrible make up job.
This would stick out like a sore thumb in HD1080p.

[kenkraly2004]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

They still look pretty darn DNRd.

What's the matter with Lando's cheek in the first screenshot?
Don't tell me that's a horrible make up job.
This would stick out like a sore thumb in HD1080p.

Agreed lets hope the blu-ray transfers of the saga will look better than those compressed HDTV broadcasts. Blu-ray will always be better than an HDTV broadcast.

[Mahatma]

I'm looking forward to viewing the deathstar inj SW 4!Remember seeing the SE in the theaters in the '90s and that blew me away

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Fanboyz

Because of THX-EX.

There's no such thing as THX-EX. THX is not a sound format. It's a specification for the acoustics of the theatre, specs for the equipment, a patented crossover for the speakers and a method for mounting the screen speakers.

And Lucasfilm no longer owns THX anyway - it was spun off years ago.

You're thinking of Dolby Digital EX which via a matrix creates a center rear channel out of the left surround and right surround. Star Wars Episode I was the first film to utilize it. DTS had the same thing with DTS-ES.

But not that many films utilized it because the reality was it simply wasn't that perceptible in most theatre situations. All it really did was take anything that was mono in the surrounds and drive it to the surround rear to make the localization a little harder. Both of these formats were pretty much dead after 2006 and they've been superseded by Dolby Digital 7.1 (for digital projection) which breaks up the surrounds into side surrounds and rear surrounds. The first film to use that was Toy Story 3. It was also used for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Trader, Megamind, Tangled, Tron Legacy, Gulliver's Travels and Gnomeo and Juliet. Cars 2, Lord of the Dance and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film will also be released in 7.1, although not that many theatres support it.

People keep insisting that Lucas has some corporate tie to Dolby, but that's not the case. But they do have a history together.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

They are...HBO is a scam. they only had a digital channel broadcasting the film. Just because you broadcast something on HDTV does not make the original content HD. star wars has never been on HD so how exactly did they do that? they were basically broadcasting the regular DVD over an HD channel. lol. funny how people buy this stuff.

And you have no freaking idea what you're talking about. Cable channels do not use DVDs. They get HD masters either on tape or as a file, but most of the time today, it's still a tape, although most will now copy that to a file and use the file internally and for broadcast. The HD masters may be true HD or they may be uprezzed HD. The problem however with cable networks is that they all use heavy compression and this results in artifacts. In fact, if you can manage to obtain an over the air broadcast digital signal for the broadcast networks, you'll get a much better picture than watching them over cable or satellite.

[Ryan0503]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

There's no such thing as THX-EX. THX is not a sound format. It's a specification for the acoustics of the theatre, specs for the equipment, a patented crossover for the speakers and a method for mounting the screen speakers.

And Lucasfilm no longer owns THX anyway - it was spun off years ago.You're thinking of Dolby Digital EX which via a matrix creates a center rear channel out of the left surround and right surround. Star Wars Episode I was the first film to utilize it. DTS had the same thing with DTS-ES.

But not that many films utilized it because the reality was it simply wasn't that perceptible in most theatre situations. All it really did was take anything that was mono in the surrounds and drive it to the surround rear to make the localization a little harder. Both of these formats were pretty much dead after 2006 and they've been superseded by Dolby Digital 7.1 (for digital projection) which breaks up the surrounds into side surrounds and rear surrounds. The first film to use that was Toy Story 3. It was also used for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Trader, Megamind, Tangled, Tron Legacy, Gulliver's Travels and Gnomeo and Juliet. Cars 2, Lord of the Dance and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film will also be released in 7.1, although not that many theatres support it.

People keep insisting that Lucas has some corporate tie to Dolby, but that's not the case. But they do have a history together.

Wow... Lucasfilm has never owned THX ... but George Lucas has... please refrain from posting things you know nothing about

[Mr. Movie Fan]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

There's no such thing as THX-EX. THX is not a sound format. It's a specification for the acoustics of the theatre, specs for the equipment, a patented crossover for the speakers and a method for mounting the screen speakers.

THX Surround EX is a real thing, like Pro Logic II or DTS NEO:6.

[greg_achen]

Ahem. Well, I know this is slightly off topic, this being a Star Wars thread and all, but I thought I would share one of my all time favorite Star Wars scenes out of all six films. Revenge of the Sith is not a perfect film, none of the Star Wars films are, but the scene where Anakin and Padme look at each other across Coruscant at dusk is as close to perfect a moment as one can get, in my opinion. The cinematography, the effects, Natalie and Hayden's acting, and especially John Williams haunting music elevated this scene into darn well epic proportions. Nothing else in Star Wars was ever like this one scene. It still gives me goosebumps even after all these years. George Lucas gets things wrong a lot of the time, but occasionally he does something so epically right that I am willing to overlook a lot of the warts inherent in all six films.

Here is the scene in question:

Padme's Ruminations

.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Fanboyz

THX Surround EX is a real thing, like Pro Logic II or DTS NEO:6.

Read this, Especially the second paragraph

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/THX

[kenkraly2004]

Originally Posted by greg_achen

Ahem. Well, I know this is slightly off topic, this being a Star Wars thread and all, but I thought I would share one of my all time favorite Star Wars scenes out of all six films. Revenge of the Sith is not a perfect film, none of the Star Wars films are, but the scene where Anakin and Padme look at each other across Coruscant at dusk is as close to perfect a moment as one can get, in my opinion. The cinematography, the effects, Natalie and Hayden's acting, and especially John Williams haunting music elevated this scene into darn well epic proportions. Nothing else in Star Wars was ever like this one scene. It still gives me goosebumps even after all these years. George Lucas gets things wrong a lot of the time, but occasionally he does something so epically right that I am willing to overlook a lot of the warts inherent in all six films.

Here is the scene in question: Padme's Ruminations.

Agreed that is a great scene in Episode 3 ROTS. Could'nt of said it any better.

[Mr. Movie Fan]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Read this, Especially the second paragraph

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/THX

On THX receivers there is a surround mode called THX-Surround EX, I am VERY much aware of what THX is (was is really more accurate) and what it isn't.
As I said THX EX **IS NOT** a codec, it's a decoding scheme like DD PRo-logic II or Neo 6, or Logic 7.

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by starwarsagent

You said digital video. Digital video is inferior to digital media like HD cams. HDTV where you get the signal from a server or the internet (netflix) is inferior to bluray.

Once it enters the super highway of information and bits...it leaves behind something and you don't get the full current. HDTV is not the same a bluray. No way, no hay. sure, some studios do poor jobs with blurays and it looks like HD, but not Lucas. I guarantee you that!

His argument was that we do have Star Wars in better than DVD quality. Well it's not blu-ray but it's definitely better than DVD.

Originally Posted by 42041

star wars in better-than-DVD form has been available for YEARS.
These blu-rays should be top notch. If you're happy with studios throwing you half-assed scraps for MAJOR movies, you're a sucker.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Ryan0503

Wow... Lucasfilm has never owned THX ... but George Lucas has... please refrain from posting things you know nothing about

Not that Wikipedia gets everything right, but:

THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, in 1983 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Fanboyz

THX Surround EX is a real thing, like Pro Logic II or DTS NEO:6.

OK, technically you're correct, but all THX Surround EX is is a certification by THX for receivers that properly decode Dolby Digital EX. But they do call it THX Surround EX and in that respect, I was incorrect.

[eddievanhalen]

I really hope the Star Wars BDs are released with a DTS-HD Master Audio track. For old fashioned A/V receivers it means legacy DTS which surpasses plain Dolby Digital, for new HD codecs receivers it means lossless audio and no dialog normalization.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

OK, technically you're correct, but all THX Surround EX is is a certification by THX for receivers that properly decode Dolby Digital EX. But they do call it THX Surround EX and in that respect, I was incorrect.

That is right ~ It is the same thing as Dolby Digital Surround EX. Just another way of getting THX on something.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

OK, technically you're correct, but all THX Surround EX is is a certification by THX for receivers that properly decode Dolby Digital EX. But they do call it THX Surround EX and in that respect, I was incorrect.

THX Surround EX is a different playback mode from Dolby Digital EX. A THX certified receiver will have it these days, just as they will have THX Select or THX Ultra modes. It's not a certification per se. Being THX Certified allows you to add the mode to the preamp/receiver, just as it allows the other THX modes.

Dolby Digital Surround EX was a joint development between LucasFilm's Skywalker Sound and Dolby Labs, as a way of getting surround back into movie theaters for The Phantom Menace.