Sony Black Crush on late-2014 / early-2015 BDs

[chip75]

Originally Posted by tenia

This being said, he might also be simply compressing too much his JPEG caps, but I also don't think it is the issue.

I just picked a random BD and the DVDBeaver captures are slightly larger than ours, so you're right it isn't an issue, I'm not sure why I thought it is. I do remember that people have mentioned there's something screwy with some of his captures but I'm not sure what the issue is.

Do you have any examples of the ones which people have taken issues with? I'd be curious to check them out.

I did do a test with three different software players and each one looked slightly different and they're all at the default settings. But the average .png is over 1.5MBs compared to the compressed .jpgs much lower file size, as you said caps-a-holic are the place to go to see exact captures.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

Nope, it's how they take them

Sorry dvdmike, I was getting my wires crossed ...

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by chip75

I just picked a random BD and the DVDBeaver captures are slightly larger than ours, so you're right it isn't an issue, I'm not sure why I thought it is. I do remember that people have mentioned there's something screwy with some of his captures but I'm not sure what the issue is.

Do you have any examples of the ones which people have taken issues with? I'd be curious to check them out.

I did do a test with three different software players and each one looked slightly different and they're all at the default settings. But the average .png is over 1.5MBs compared to the compressed .jpgs much lower file size, as you said caps-a-holic are the place to go to see exact captures.

The guy at DVDBeaver used to take screencaps with a camera taking a photo of his TV. That's why they looked like crap.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Received The Interview today.

At first I was like "This doesn't look too bad."

That quickly turned into "What the f***?!"

Entire scenes where you either can't see the actor's eyes, or they look like they have two black eyes.

Good lord, Sony.

Glad to see others recognizing this. Check out the clips from the film in the special features docs. You'll be shocked by how good the clips look, they don't have the black crush. This is a gorgeously shot film and the BD, which will basically be the official record of the film for the next few years, completely distorts how the filmmakers intended it to look. I'm not going to give up this fight until we get a revised BD.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Glad to see others recognizing this. Check out the clips from the film in the special features docs. You'll be shocked by how good the clips look, they don't have the black crush. This is a gorgeously shot film and the BD, which will basically be the official record of the film for the next few years, completely distorts how the filmmakers intended it to look. I'm not going to give up this fight until we get a revised BD.

Someone should rent the DVD for comparison's sake.

I rented Fury on DVD and took a screenshot. I posted it in the Fury thread but forgot to add it to the OP. I've done so now, though. The Fury DVD does not have black crush, and it should've been taken from the same master as the BD.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by chip75

But the average .png is over 1.5MBs compared to the compressed .jpgs much lower file size

I use TMT 5.0.1.114 to take my caps and the JPEG caps it generates can be as heavy as 2349 ko (I had this for Chicago Diamond Edition).
But it can also go as low as 600 ko depending on the type of movie I'm capturing (eg 1.33 N&B movie).
However, TMT 5 inserts meta-data into the caps, and they also take up some space.

Land of Whimsy also performed blind tests between JPEG and PNG and showed differences to be minimal when JPEG is properly done.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by tenia

(eg 1.33 N&B movie).

"Noir et Blanc"

Your English is perfect, but your Frenchness still asserts itself.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

"Noir et Blanc"

Your English is perfect, but your Frenchness still asserts itself.

Habits die hard.
And you haven't heard my accent !

[StingingVelvet]

I rented Fury and thought it looked great. This was before I read about this issue. Assuming the rental disc looks the same as the store disc I guess I just disagree it's too dark, it certainly looked closer to the "correct" screencaps in the OP.

No interest in the other titles.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I rented Fury and thought it looked great. This was before I read about this issue. Assuming the rental disc looks the same as the store disc I guess I just disagree it's too dark, it certainly looked closer to the "correct" screencaps in the OP.

No interest in the other titles.

The rental BD is not the same as the retail BD, though. Sony strips rental BDs of special features.

Do you still have the disc by any chance? I wonder if the rental BD is superior to the retail BD?

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

The rental BD is not the same as the retail BD, though. Sony strips rental BDs of special features.

Do you still have the disc by any chance? I wonder if the rental BD is superior to the retail BD?

Don't have it anymore but it was redbox, so anyone could check.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

The rental BD is not the same as the retail BD, though.

Wasn't there a few titles recently that the rental copies had better PQ than the retail ones?

Edit: Some of Paramount's titles.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by chip75

Wasn't there a few titles recently that the rental copies had better PQ than the retail ones?

Edit: Some of Paramount titles.

As far as I have been able to research, just Super 8 and Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol. However, the possibility always exists when the studios create rental-specific masters.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by tenia

I use TMT 5.0.1.114 to take my caps and the JPEG caps it generates can be as heavy as 2349 ko (I had this for Chicago Diamond Edition).
But it can also go as low as 600 ko depending on the type of movie I'm capturing (eg 1.33 N&B movie).
However, TMT 5 inserts meta-data into the caps, and they also take up some space.

Land of Whimsy also performed blind tests between JPEG and PNG and showed differences to be minimal when JPEG is properly done.

TMT seems to screw with the aspect ratio when taking captures.

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING caps:


UV version:


BD version:
[/SPOILER]

Sorry, I disagree...

On this last one above, I feel that you can see a LOT more detail in the reflection of the floor and in the colours and definition of the buildings in the background. In this instance, the BD looks FAR better than the other. If you look in the upper third of the picture, I think you can see a HUGE increase in detail in the black area as opposed to the UV capture.

But, with that said, I do see at least SOME of the other examples where it does appear that the blacks are 'crushed' somewhat. But, then again, in the UV examples, I find in some cases the colours and details far more washed out than on the BD. So, in my lowly and wretched opinion, I think it varies somewhat...

[Latheofheaven]

Quote:
Originally Posted by James Luckard

This is outrageous!!!! I paid $20 for a BD with a pristine copy of the film, not this GARBAGE. I'll be calling Sony Home Video tomorrow to complain. This is unacceptable!!

Originally Posted by jscoggins

$20? It's $9.96 at Walmart.

Heh... I'm sure that makes him feel a LOT better...

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by tama

Same goes for MBFW, looks like possibly 2 different masters with the BD having better overall color saturation. The colors do not look quite right on the download? It has a pinkish tinge that you can see in the whites. Not sure if it would be fair or correct to compare those two.

Yep... fully agree

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by sjconstable

Ironically one of my very first Blu-ray experiences back in the day was Sony's release of Silent Hill, and that had its black level/gamma too high!

FWIW, the French Blu-ray is stunning and blows the U.S. one completely out of the water!

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

And with appropriate calm politeness, please remember that. Anyone who responds with anger will only make it 1000x more difficult for the rest of us.

Ahhhhh, but it DID work with Kim Jong-Un! (well, at least in 'THE INTERVIEW' it did... )

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

Weird...it works here.

Well, here are manual links >>>


Whiplash

BD:

click

Digital Copy:

click


The Interview

BD:

click

VUDU UV:

click

Sorry... the VUDU is SO completely washed out and blurry compared to the BD which has like a MILLION times more depth, clarity and detail. At least in my lowly eyes. YES it is a TAD darker, but GEEZ, just look at the top of the cymbal and at his face for Goodness sake. To me anyway, absolutely NO comparison what so ever...