2023-09-23, 03:07 PM
So, I am always disappointed that there is no perfect choice in watching The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.
The DVDs have the best colours but are painfully low-res for modern displays, and have lossy audio. The older Blu-rays have whack colour grading, but the best grain and the best audio mixes so far. The 4K UHDs have better colour grading than the Blu-rays (still worse than the DVDs) and the best resolution, but far worse DNR, an inferior Dolby Atmos remix.
This got me and a friend of mine thinking what could possibly be the best way to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.
We just thought of syncing the older Blu-ray audio mixes with the DVDs, and just stick to watching them on CRT displays.
But, we thought that most people wouldn't want to watch a 480p DVD transfer in 2023.
So the best solution would be to regrain the 4K UHD and regrade it to the DVD colour timing.
But we cannot do this, so we thought of this as an idea.
We saw regrained fan restorations of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which were sourced from that film's 4K "remaster", which had even worse DNR. And it looked amazing.
We thought that regraining and regrading the film would fix the 4K "remaster". The 4K "remaster" was also done in HDR. So, a potential HDR upgrade (one that stays mostly true to the DVD's colours, but with the upgraded dynamic range of the 4K UHD) would be great as well, especially if one can make Dolby Vision and HDR10+ dynamic metadata similar to the 4K UHD Blu-ray and the Amazon Prime Video streams.
Essentially, "demastering" the newer 4K "remaster" with elements from older releases (the inherent grain being restored, the Blu-ray and VHS audio tracks, and the DVD's colour grading).
All to create the definitive releases of the trilogy.
As for the audio, it would be best to include not only the DTS-HD MA 6.1 tracks from the old Blu-rays, but also the 2020 Dolby Atmos remixes and the Hi-Fi VHS Dolby Stereo SR 2.0 tracks.
It's easy enough getting the DTS-HD MA 6.1 and Atmos remixes, but it would be significantly harder to track down VHS copies in good condition (only US copies, as they are the only ones to get NTSC English VHS tapes, and the only ones to get the Extended Editions on VHS). And another challenge would be to capture the Hi-Fi VHS audio and sync it up to the now-Demastered 4K UHD.
However, one thing I am still not sure of, is if regraining the 4K "remasters" would restore the illusion of resolution, and if it would make the films look filmic and not a waxy DNR hell.
Another thing would be the challenge of basing the regrades around the DVDs, but making them in HDR. And not just regular HDR, but also Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It is possible to make custom Dolby Vision and HDR10+ gradings, but it's probably not easy, to say the least.
I hope one or more brave souls can take part in the journey of demastering The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.
The DVDs have the best colours but are painfully low-res for modern displays, and have lossy audio. The older Blu-rays have whack colour grading, but the best grain and the best audio mixes so far. The 4K UHDs have better colour grading than the Blu-rays (still worse than the DVDs) and the best resolution, but far worse DNR, an inferior Dolby Atmos remix.
This got me and a friend of mine thinking what could possibly be the best way to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.
We just thought of syncing the older Blu-ray audio mixes with the DVDs, and just stick to watching them on CRT displays.
But, we thought that most people wouldn't want to watch a 480p DVD transfer in 2023.
So the best solution would be to regrain the 4K UHD and regrade it to the DVD colour timing.
But we cannot do this, so we thought of this as an idea.
We saw regrained fan restorations of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which were sourced from that film's 4K "remaster", which had even worse DNR. And it looked amazing.
We thought that regraining and regrading the film would fix the 4K "remaster". The 4K "remaster" was also done in HDR. So, a potential HDR upgrade (one that stays mostly true to the DVD's colours, but with the upgraded dynamic range of the 4K UHD) would be great as well, especially if one can make Dolby Vision and HDR10+ dynamic metadata similar to the 4K UHD Blu-ray and the Amazon Prime Video streams.
Essentially, "demastering" the newer 4K "remaster" with elements from older releases (the inherent grain being restored, the Blu-ray and VHS audio tracks, and the DVD's colour grading).
All to create the definitive releases of the trilogy.
As for the audio, it would be best to include not only the DTS-HD MA 6.1 tracks from the old Blu-rays, but also the 2020 Dolby Atmos remixes and the Hi-Fi VHS Dolby Stereo SR 2.0 tracks.
It's easy enough getting the DTS-HD MA 6.1 and Atmos remixes, but it would be significantly harder to track down VHS copies in good condition (only US copies, as they are the only ones to get NTSC English VHS tapes, and the only ones to get the Extended Editions on VHS). And another challenge would be to capture the Hi-Fi VHS audio and sync it up to the now-Demastered 4K UHD.
However, one thing I am still not sure of, is if regraining the 4K "remasters" would restore the illusion of resolution, and if it would make the films look filmic and not a waxy DNR hell.
Another thing would be the challenge of basing the regrades around the DVDs, but making them in HDR. And not just regular HDR, but also Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It is possible to make custom Dolby Vision and HDR10+ gradings, but it's probably not easy, to say the least.
I hope one or more brave souls can take part in the journey of demastering The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.
![[Image: 118946.png?1673149411]](https://card.exophase.com/2/0/118946.png?1673149411)
