Picture quality problems, Public Enemies

[ianmac]

Hi

I have noticed some very poor picture break up, banding and distortion on my blu ray Public Enemies.

Examples here:




Interesting that the distortion is only in the picture frame - it doesn't happen in the black bars.

I am playing it on a Denon 3800BD but the problem also shows up on a friends' Pioneer player.

Has anyone had the same problem?

Would I be right in assuming there's no point in swapping it as it will be on all disks?

Many thanks, Ian

[Resettito]

Wow, I think that you definitely have a faulty disc, I've read 3 or 4 comments on this one, and nobody mentioned anything.

[M]

If that's a faulty blu-ray, I hope I never get one, that looks bad.

[vasyndrom]

i remember some artifacts during night car chase in woods, but nothing like i can see in your pics, i'm almost sure as other guys said ... you got faulty disc.

[sapphire_nick]

It was the same on mine. I assumed it was the film but I returned it for a refund. The other problem I had was that the audio on the dialogue would be normal And then suddenly get very loud. Did you notice this?

[WVbkelley]

I didn't notice the banding problem with my Blu-ray copy and the first frame grab I had plenty of detail on the brick wall in the distance.

But, my biggest issue is that I'm not a fan of director Michael Mann using what I would consider sub par hi-def digital cameras. The footage looks like broadcast video, which lacks visual depth compared to the scenes filmed on 35mm.

It's pretty jarring seeing the jump from HD footage and the ones using 35mm film stock. The HD footage is just too constrasty with many highlights blown out and a huge lag video artifact problem throughout, when the camera pans across a scene.

The closing scene when a FBI agent visits Dillinger's girlfriend (Billie Frechette) in jail was filmed in 35mm and it looks great. After watching 90% of the movie filmed in HD and then this final scene I only wish Mann would've shot the entire film in 35mm. But, if he continues to film in HD, then at least process the imagery to look like film.

[crich86]

Originally Posted by ianmac

Hi

I have noticed some very poor picture break up, banding and distortion on my blu ray Public Enemies.

Examples here:




Interesting that the distortion is only in the picture frame - it doesn't happen in the black bars.

I am playing it on a Denon 3800BD but the problem also shows up on a friends' Pioneer player.

Has anyone had the same problem?

Would I be right in assuming there's no point in swapping it as it will be on all disks?

Many thanks, Ian

My copy does the exact same thing. I cannot even enjoy the film with all the grain and distortion.

[jaykays hat]

I found that some of the scenes were really grainy and thought I had a dodgy disk? I am using a sony BDP-300 with the latest firmware. The griany bits are probably the worst I have seen on Blu Ray.

I only watched half of this film as I found it boring and I didn't think that the HD filming suited this film.

[McCrutchy]

I'll chime in and say that I hated the HDV presentation in Public Enemies when I saw it at the theater. I don't remember Collateral (Mann's first HDV project) affecting me in the same way, but here, the smoothed image, blurred motion and profound lack of depth in the print felt like I was watching a History Channel re-enactment and not a film. I'm sure some will say that this is Mann's intention, but I found it far too distracting to enjoy the film, and it probably negatively impacted my feelings about it.

At least Heat was shot on film...

[Golden Sparrow]

I just watched it last night and right at the 1 hour 28 minute mark, it freezes up on me (watching it on a PS3)... the disc was brand new and just unwrapped. I ejected it and inspected for dirt or smudges but there was no indication of physical damage of any sort. I tried it again and ended up having to skip to the next chapter and scan backwards. It would make it back to around the 1 hour 31 minute mark before it would freeze again. I just thought that based on the screen shots above (exactly my freezing problem area) that this was more than a coincidence.

Oh and other discs have worked and continue to work fine on the same PS3, so I'm not faulting it right now.

[JBL4645]

Originally Posted by Golden Sparrow

I just watched it last night and right at the 1 hour 28 minute mark, it freezes up on me (watching it on a PS3)... the disc was brand new and just unwrapped. I ejected it and inspected for dirt or smudges but there was no indication of physical damage of any sort. I tried it again and ended up having to skip to the next chapter and scan backwards. It would make it back to around the 1 hour 31 minute mark before it would freeze again. I just thought that based on the screen shots above (exactly my freezing problem area) that this was more than a coincidence.

Oh and other discs have worked and continue to work fine on the same PS3, so I'm not faulting it right now.

That’s wired? Did you also open the player up to inspect for hair or dirt as that will get inside believe me!

I once was playing Vertigo DVD many years ago before HD discs! It produced green pixels and locking-up! I looked at the disc which was spotless. Yes it happened again and its never happened before.

Okay I opened up my Sony DVD player looked around the area where the laser was and BINGO! I saw single fine hair laying across the laser that was stuck! I had to be careful at removing this as this wasn’t 35mm projector where you can just get in there fine brash and clean dirt!

I had to use strip of paper that I made pointed and go in and lift off the hair as I didn’t want to damage the laser. It was tricky. Once removed I placed the cover over the disc compartment and played the DVD again, wham perfect!

I then placed the cover over the whole player and relaxed back into the film. SIGH

I think opening up a Sony PS3 will be real dogs’ dinner to inspect for cleaning. It’s the design shape of the player, over most conventional players. If it does in fact have dirt inside.

[Billy & Dutch]

Originally Posted by Golden Sparrow

I just watched it last night and right at the 1 hour 28 minute mark, it freezes up on me (watching it on a PS3)... the disc was brand new and just unwrapped. I ejected it and inspected for dirt or smudges but there was no indication of physical damage of any sort. I tried it again and ended up having to skip to the next chapter and scan backwards. It would make it back to around the 1 hour 31 minute mark before it would freeze again. I just thought that based on the screen shots above (exactly my freezing problem area) that this was more than a coincidence.

Oh and other discs have worked and continue to work fine on the same PS3, so I'm not faulting it right now.

I'm having the same issue here, at around 1h24 though, it will freeze again at 1h30-something. I'll get my copy exchanged.

Strangely, I didn't notice the issue from the OP, but I'll double check again.

[samdaman94]

i was very impressed with my public enemies blu, i think its a faulty disc

[thebluemax]

I have the same pronblem, the disc is defective and it should be recalled