Arrow Video - City Of The Living Dead

[Pinhead0303]

Originally Posted by mercury

If you are finding the colours too bright, adjust your tv

Seriously though, everyone likes different things. Just because the 2 pictures are different doesn't mean someone has made a mistake.

Ah, but unfortunately I can't add the colour that's been removed, or not added in the first place?

And being serious, I'm simply trying to understand why they're different and what has been done to make them so, which is why I'm asking questions. It's the only way things can be improved upon and I'm sure everyone would be happy with improvement?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

And being serious, I'm simply trying to understand why they're different and what has been done to make them so, which is why I'm asking questions. It's the only way things can be improved upon and I'm sure everyone would be happy with improvement?

You're not going to get any constructive answers by saying things like this:

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

Perhaps someone on the Arrow staff overseeing the transfers is colour-blind, it'd explain a lot.

Anyway, what makes you think that the Arrow one is wrong and the Blue Underground transfer is right?

[springjack]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

Could the encoding be responsible for the brighter image? And by that I mean not something deliberate.

Brighter image has nothing to do with encoding.

When you encode something, if you encode it in to to fit a lower space you end up with less bitrate on the image meaning mor compression artefacts.

The bright in the image means someone in the video department has done it after the conversion to HD.

I only own "City" from Arrow in DVD for because buying the blue undergound blu-ray was the only chance to get all the extras.

[Nemesis]

And being serious, I'm simply trying to understand why they're different and what has been done to make them so, which is why I'm asking questions. It's the only way things can be improved upon and I'm sure everyone would be happy with improvement?

Ah, but do you really believe that though?

You've recently accused people, including me, of working for or shilling for Arrow just because we choose to support Arrow's releases. Now I have to ask you in turn - are you trolling or do you have some other vested interest?
Because you seem to have some sort of beef with Arrow.

[Pinhead0303]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Ah, but do you really believe that though?

You've recently accused people, including me, of working for or shilling for Arrow just because we choose to support Arrow's releases. Now I have to ask you in turn - are you trolling or do you have some other vested interest?
Because you seem to have some sort of beef with Arrow.

I actually support Arrow's releases probably as much as most, to the extent that I've bought all but 3 of the films they've released so far (I specify films because I haven't bought both the DVD and Blu-rays of a single release), so I'd certainly say that spending my hard-earned cash makes me entitled to give an opinion? I'll praise Arrow releases when they're good (and I have, there's no doubt that generally the whole package is good), but when I don't like something I'll say that as well. Though I'll admit I don't take kindly to nonsensical comments along the lines of 'you should just be happy to have it all' (not aimed at anyone in particular, it's just the sort of thing that pops up a lot) when I already own all these films on various releases so I'm looking for an improvement over what I already have. Perhaps I shouldn't be expecting so much from the Arrow releases? But frankly it's hard not to with so many people gushing over them.

Originally Posted by springjack

Brighter image has nothing to do with encoding.

When you encode something, if you encode it in to to fit a lower space you end up with less bitrate on the image meaning mor compression artefacts.

The bright in the image means someone in the video department has done it after the conversion to HD.

I only own "City" from Arrow in DVD for because buying the blue undergound blu-ray was the only chance to get all the extras.

Thank you, I was just after clarification, as much for everyone else as myself. If that's what happened, then I wonder why?

You've definitely done it the right way, I ended up with both Blu-rays.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

I actually support Arrow's releases probably as much as most, to the extent that I've bought all but 3 of the films they've released so far (I specify films because I haven't bought both the DVD and Blu-rays of a single release), so I'd certainly say that spending my hard-earned cash makes me entitled to give an opinion? I'll praise Arrow releases when they're good (and I have, there's no doubt that generally the whole package is good), but when I don't like something I'll say that as well. Though I'll admit I don't take kindly to nonsensical comments along the lines of 'you should just be happy to have it all' (not aimed at anyone in particular, it's just the sort of thing that pops up a lot) when I already own all these films on various releases so I'm looking for an improvement over what I already have. Perhaps I shouldn't be expecting so much from the Arrow releases? But frankly it's hard not to with so many people gushing over them.

By all means, definitely give an opinion, but judging by your comments on ABOB, it looks like you're hoping that it flops.

The real reason why I asked you is that there is currently a review on Amazon UK for ABOB written by Dragon0303 which is remarkably similar to negative comments made on that thread. It's a review that seems to be mainly based on hearsay, rather than detailed observations from the reviewer himself. It naturally slams the PQ for muted colours and attributes a quote to Tim Lucas - which Nika provided. Of course, when someone dares challenge the review, the reviewer hits back accusing them of working for Arrow and how dare they refute Tim Lucas, the expert on Bava.

The only problem is that I cannot find any official quote by Tim Lucas on Arrow's ABOB - there's nothing on his Video Watch Blog. Therefore, the quote seems to be unsubstantiated.

Whoever wrote that review could have only gone that quote from this website, and the people who criticised the release made it clear that they were not prepared to buy it. They were prepared to judge it on the basis of screencaps and on Tim Lucas's word, rather than actually watch it in motion and judge it accordingly.

Where I have a big problem, is where someone chooses to review and slam a product without actually watching it in the first place, knowing that such reviews may influence others' decision to watch and/or buy it.

[Pinhead0303]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Where I have a big problem, is where someone chooses to review and slam a product without actually watching it in the first place, knowing that such reviews may influence others' decision to watch and/or buy it.

I would agree with that, but wouldn't you agree the same the other way around? Also, if you check my previous posts, I said I'd still buy it, for the extras if nothing else and I'd imagine that'd be the same for a lot of people. As a whole package the Arrow releases are generally good value.

Plus the Tim Lucas quote is on many sites, not just this one, not everything revolves around cult labs, you know

[Nemesis]

I totally agree about the reverse - having said that though, the reverse positive reviews are gnerally much easier to spot and weed out by the fact that they are usually one line sentences, saying that the product is awesome and not giving much detail beyond that.

As to Tim Lucas' comment, well we must remember that we do not know the precise context in which he said it i.e there is no magazine review or any original other source, and that he is apparently referring solely to the screencaps.
But he has not reviewed the disc. For all we know, he could appreciate it more in motion. And we're forgetting that there is an Italian subbed version on the disc, which although nowhere near as detailed as the HD english transfer and in apparently pretty rough shape, is closer to the colour schemes of the AB and the Raro which should meet his concerns with regards to colour schemes.

[springjack]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

You've definitely done it the right way, I ended up with both Blu-rays.

I believe the best edition of this movie is the DVD from Arrow.

In terms of the movie itself I don´t like the Blu-Ray editions of Arrow/Blue-Underground. There´s some good definition and detail in some scenes that are ruined on others. It´s still a good work but at the end of the day when I watch the movie I prefer the DVD.

[L'enfant Errant]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

...after seeing the yellow tinge making everyone look ill on the screencaps of the Deep Red DVD I could be using that as a third example...

The Italian HD-WMV release has the exact same yellowish color timing. Likely all of that's up to the materials Medusa handed out, not Arrow.

The only difference I can spot between the Arrow and Blue Underground releases of City of the Living Dead is that the BU release has lower gamma, which makes the grayscale look darker without directly affecting the shadows/highlights. (Well, that and the compression is different.) The Arrow transfer looks slightly washed out, I think, but the BU transfer has details that get swallowed in the darker scenes... kind of a no-win situation. So, who changed the gamma? Was it Arrow or Blue Underground?

All we can be certain of is that the Arrow transfer is "brighter", not more or less accurate. Without access to the HD tape master we can't be sure which one looks closer to the source itself, and without an approved answer print for comparison we can't be sure that the gamma on the HD master was accurate to begin with!

I'm not saying they look identical or that one "should" prefer one over the other, just that it's not fair to say Arrow messed it up without seeing at least one other transfer that has the BU gamma. Heck, maybe the German release XT Video promised will look totally different, too.

Arrow's transfers of Dawn and Day of the Dead are slightly different from Anchor Bay's, too - Dawn of the Dead is more saturated and sharper, Day of the Dead is less saturated and softer. I don't have a clue which is "right", but it's interesting to keep tabs on.

A Bay of Blood is certainly... odd, to say the least. But much like Deep Red, I don't think this is Arrow's "fault" - that's likely just how the new HD master is. What sense would it make for Arrow to randomly desaturate a title from a director so well known for his vibrant technicolor features?