American Masters vs European Masters - Blu-ray Forum

quexos · 11-20-2008, 07:12 AM

Anyone knows if American transfers and European transfers are the same ? how often are they the same ?

My point is when I read a review on a specialized site for whatever movie it talks about the American transfer but is it going to be the same as the European one coming usually a little later ? if not then anyone knows of a European site that reviews professionally European BD releases ?

Mermen79 · 11-20-2008, 07:30 AM

No, they are not always the same. If the distributors are different in Europe, it most likely is a different master. Sometimes I've heard that the European master/transfer is better than the US version (rarely the other way around). A good example is Silent Hill on Blu Ray.

You don't really need to be concerned if it is a major film through Fox, Disney, Sony, etc as those all use the same video. The only time I would double check is if it's some obscure distributor.

Midnightsailor · 11-20-2008, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djepic112

No, they are not always the same. If the distributors are different in Europe, it most likely is a different master. Sometimes I've heard that the European master/transfer is better than the US version (rarely the other way around). A good example is Silent Hill on Blu Ray.

You don't really need to be concerned if it is a major film through Fox, Disney, Sony, etc as those all use the same video. The only time I would double check is if it's some obscure distributor.

Pan's Labyrinth

Mermen79 · 11-20-2008, 07:40 AM

^which way do you mean? Is the US or German transfer better?

quexos · 11-20-2008, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djepic112

^which way do you mean? Is the US or German transfer better?

This makes it all the more confusing. We absolutely need a site that reviews European transfers whenever there is a different one for Europe.

Midnightsailor · 11-20-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djepic112

^which way do you mean? Is the US or German transfer better?

I'm really not sure who got which transfer(s) but I've seen the comparisons and the UK version of Pan's Labyrinth is indeed better than the US because they left the grain in. The US version has crazy DNR.

Mermen79 · 11-20-2008, 08:22 AM

There is a UK site (AV forums) and a German site that reviews BD's. The first one is only so-so since most of their stuff is very US-centric. The German site is very helpful but it doesn't tell you if the transfer is different. I mean, how many people are going to buy two copies of the same film just for a comparison?

And also, "European" releases may be a bit confusing since countries WITHIN the EU may have different transfers themselves. It all depends on the distributors.

I'll compare my German "Pans Labrynith" with the US for differences sometime. I suspect that it may also be better (could be the same as the UK one).

Quakeball7 · 11-20-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djepic112

You don't really need to be concerned if it is a major film through Fox, Disney, Sony, etc as those all use the same video.

Yeah, video might be the same, but audio is a whole different ballgame. Especially Disney is very annoying with this. For instance, the US version of Wall-E has DTS-HD MA, but the Dutch version has PCM (and I prefer DTS-HD any day).

Actually a lot of Buena Vista/Disney releases have issues like this

richieb1971 · 11-20-2008, 09:30 AM

Silent hill - German - Weaker sound, stronger picture
Total recall - UK - Better all round
T2 - UK - Better all round
Prestige - USA - Better everything

If the extras for the Euro version are 480p, it means its the same identical disc as the USA release. Usually Warner adopt this kind of policy.

If the Euro version of a USA movie comes out first (Island etc). Its safe to say the USA version will be better, since they usually come with better extras. In this example, the island is Warner in the UK and they use BD25 and DD5.1 lossy audio. Its safe to say the USA version will have full HD audio and alot of extras, but its not out yet.

Those are my findings. Usually if its Fox, Sony, Paramount, Universal.. Expect the same print on both sides of the Atlantic.

11-20-2008, 07:12 AM	#1
quexos Banned Member since:May 2007 Location:Brussels, Belgium	American Masters vs European Masters Anyone knows if American transfers and European transfers are the same ? how often are they the same ? My point is when I read a review on a specialized site for whatever movie it talks about the American transfer but is it going to be the same as the European one coming usually a little later ? if not then anyone knows of a European site that reviews professionally European BD releases ?

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11-20-2008, 07:30 AM	#2
Mermen79 Senior Member Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:3	No, they are not always the same. If the distributors are different in Europe, it most likely is a different master. Sometimes I've heard that the European master/transfer is better than the US version (rarely the other way around). A good example is Silent Hill on Blu Ray. You don't really need to be concerned if it is a major film through Fox, Disney, Sony, etc as those all use the same video. The only time I would double check is if it's some obscure distributor.

11-20-2008, 07:40 AM	#4
Mermen79 Senior Member Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:3	^which way do you mean? Is the US or German transfer better?

11-20-2008, 08:22 AM	#7
Mermen79 Senior Member Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:3	There is a UK site (AV forums) and a German site that reviews BD's. The first one is only so-so since most of their stuff is very US-centric. The German site is very helpful but it doesn't tell you if the transfer is different. I mean, how many people are going to buy two copies of the same film just for a comparison? And also, "European" releases may be a bit confusing since countries WITHIN the EU may have different transfers themselves. It all depends on the distributors. I'll compare my German "Pans Labrynith" with the US for differences sometime. I suspect that it may also be better (could be the same as the UK one).

11-20-2008, 09:30 AM	#9
richieb1971 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 4K collection:89 Blu-ray collection:706 Trading Score:16	Silent hill - German - Weaker sound, stronger picture Total recall - UK - Better all round T2 - UK - Better all round Prestige - USA - Better everything If the extras for the Euro version are 480p, it means its the same identical disc as the USA release. Usually Warner adopt this kind of policy. If the Euro version of a USA movie comes out first (Island etc). Its safe to say the USA version will be better, since they usually come with better extras. In this example, the island is Warner in the UK and they use BD25 and DD5.1 lossy audio. Its safe to say the USA version will have full HD audio and alot of extras, but its not out yet. Those are my findings. Usually if its Fox, Sony, Paramount, Universal.. Expect the same print on both sides of the Atlantic.

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