(2022-01-29, 08:45 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: SC's is a pin-sharp rendition of grain via a better encode. Nothing about it looks unnatural in appearance.

Well, I beg to differ based on the example I linked to. But at least we have two UHDs that seem to perfectly satisfy both camps of opinion (audio issues aside).

(2022-01-29, 08:45 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: Interestingly, their Elephant Man Blu-ray has a dose of sharpening applied to it that the regular SC Blu does not have. This is also evident in screenshots.

Hadn't noticed that before, thanks. Criterion TEM looks a tad sharpened indeed.

The Criterion UHD appears to have been low pass filtered, probably to make compression easier. Pixelogic authored the UHD. I believe they do most of Lionsgate BDs, which tend to suffer quite a bit from the pre-filtering.

(2022-01-29, 10:18 PM)TheLoon Wrote:

(2022-01-29, 08:45 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: SC's is a pin-sharp rendition of grain via a better encode. Nothing about it looks unnatural in appearance.

Well, I beg to differ based on the example I linked to. But at least we have two UHDs that seem to perfectly satisfy both camps of opinion (audio issues aside).

(2022-01-29, 08:45 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: Interestingly, their Elephant Man Blu-ray has a dose of sharpening applied to it that the regular SC Blu does not have. This is also evident in screenshots.

Hadn't noticed that before, thanks. Criterion TEM looks a tad sharpened indeed.

The example you posted looks great. The Criterion doesn't retain that pin-sharp grain reproduction. I highly recommend checking out other FiM discs because they all present grain similarly though it's always slightly different per film; it's absolutely marvelous encoding. I find myself very sensitive to actual sharpening and other digital tinkery; Mulholland Drive is not sharpened on either disc. I will echo what was said above, Criterion's was definitely given a light low-pass touch in comparison. The grain is a bit blockier the more you look at it despite that.

(2022-01-30, 07:47 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: The example you posted looks great. The Criterion doesn't retain that pin-sharp grain reproduction. I highly recommend checking out other FiM discs because they all present grain similarly though it's always slightly different per film; it's absolutely marvelous encoding. I find myself very sensitive to actual sharpening and other digital tinkery; Mulholland Drive is not sharpened on either disc. I will echo what was said above, Criterion's was definitely given a light low-pass touch in comparison. The grain is a bit blockier the more you look at it despite that.

I own many discs authored by FiM and agree their encoding is usually superior. Not saying their encoding is the culprit there, rather SC may have tinkered with their master beforehand. Just my thoughts. Let's agree to disagree on how good it looks.

(2022-01-30, 07:47 PM)SpookyDollhouse Wrote: The example you posted looks great. The Criterion doesn't retain that pin-sharp grain reproduction. I highly recommend checking out other FiM discs because they all present grain similarly though it's always slightly different per film; it's absolutely marvelous encoding. I find myself very sensitive to actual sharpening and other digital tinkery; Mulholland Drive is not sharpened on either disc. I will echo what was said above, Criterion's was definitely given a light low-pass touch in comparison. The grain is a bit blockier the more you look at it despite that.

(2022-01-30, 09:00 PM)TheLoon Wrote: I own many discs authored by FiM and agree their encoding is usually superior. Not saying their encoding is the culprit there, rather SC may have tinkered with their master beforehand. Just my thoughts. Let's agree to disagree on how good it looks.

Hi SpookyDollhouse & Loon, I brought this up in Curzon's Three Colors UHD thread on BR. (For those interested, the occasion was I demonstrated a 4-way caps comparison among Criterion's HDR10 BL, Criterion's DV FEL, Janus ProRes trailer, and Curzon, which proved that Criterion/Pixelogic indeed low-pass filters a master before encoding.)

To my surprise, David M. actually responded! He confirmed that no filtering or sharpening was done to StudioCanal's Mulholland Dr master or encoding. To Loon's point, maybe the OCN just looks too good : )