[HDD] Lake House Review

[Chris Beveridge]

Review

The lasting impression of this transfer is that it is rather soft. The source material is in good shape -- whistle-clean with no blemishes or other defects -- but it rarely looks three-dimensional. The sense of depth and detail can vary from sequence to sequence, with some shots looking quite good and others bland. Oddly, this variance doesn't really seem to be an aesthetic choice as it seems to happen arbitrarily. Close-ups fare better than long and medium shots, which often appear ill-defined. Otherwise, color reproduction is good, with fairly vivid hues and no instances of smearing or chroma noise. Blacks are also solid, and contrast consistent across the entire spectrum. And I noticed no issues with compression artifacts and the like.

I'm starting to wonder if I need to come back in a year and see how reviewers are doing since so many transfers seem to be "not bad" but "not three dimensional". Does anyone remember a promise that ALL HD would be three dimensional looking? Anyone whose watched broadcast/satellite HD over the last few years has seen some great stuff but also the realization that a lot of movies will look better and far more detailed (as well as reduced compression issues) but they're not all going to look like you're looking out a window.

It's something I keep seeing in a number of reviews. Even when you have the compressionist saying things like "It's not perfect, but I'm a perfectionist, but what's on the disc is the great." I'm not losing faith in the releases since I'm seeing some gorgeous releases but I'm losing faith in the review community in general.