Twins (1988) - Shout Factory Blu-ray Audio question *UPDATE*

[bendermac]

The video on the SF BD is really bad. It's heavily DNR'ed. But it has a 2.0 mix and no 5.1 mix. So, can this mean it's a genuine 2.0 mix based on the Dolby Stereo master? I'd like to remux the audio with my German BD, which isn't DNR'ed.

[dwalkerdon]

im pretty sure that it's the unaltered Theatrical Dolby Stereo Mix on the Shout Factory BD, because Universal minted that transfer back in 2006-2007 and released the remastered transfer on the Arnold Schwarzenegger: Comedy Favorites Collection DVD set which had remastered transfers of Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Junior, and they all had the same 2.0-5.1 mixes from the old DVD's.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

All DVD releases and even digital have a 2.0 track, so it's safe to say the SF BD is the same source as they weren't able to get the new transfer signed off. However, the 2.0 on digital/BD could be different than the old VHS/LD/DVDs in terms of whatever dynamic range and volume adjustments they did. Not to mention if they went off the studio master tape or the Dolby Stereo optical (both easily containing differences in terms of range and dynamics).

I'm hearing that the German Concorde BD is the only one with a 5.1 for both English (and German). Pretty sure it's an upmix of the Dolby Stereo, but there's a chance it could be an entirely different mix like a new one created from the D/M/E stems or perhaps an unreleased 70mm six-track mix.

[bendermac]

I highly doubt that Twins got a 70mm treatment. It's not worth it. If the 2.0 mix on the SF BD is the real deal, then the 5.1 on German BD is probably just a discrete mix of the 2.0. Maybe a little remix for the surround to make use of them. Need to check the audio on my computer to see what the surrounds do.

[bendermac]

A little update

I've compared the US with the Italian and German Blu-ray releases video and I think that I was wrong about the US release. The German release has more grain, but it looks artificial. The Italian release is probably from the same master with added grain, but with a tad of DNR applied. The US however looks sharper/more detailed.

Judge yourself at caps-a-holic
In motion the German and Italian BD look worse. Though the US BD isn't the greatest to begin with. A new scan would be great.

Now I haven't compared the audio just yet

But if you want the sync info, there you go

Synced to the German BD [DTS-HD MA 5.1] (since I thought it would be the best video at first)
US BD (Shout Factory) [DTS-HD MA 2.0]: -2000ms
Ita BD [Dolby 2.0]: -208ms

No further adjustments needed.

If anyone wants the audio tracks, let me know.

[Yarp]

The German release has more grain, but it looks artificial. The Italian release is probably from the same master with added grain, but with a tad of DNR applied. The US however looks sharper/more detailed.

I definitely suggest the US disc for video. DE/IT don't look like they have much grain at all to me, just sharpened noise and macroblocking. The German one in particular is pretty bad in terms of sharpening and the IT has a pretty poor encode (but de has some issues too). You can see that the DE disc doens't really any detail:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=2&x=340...&i=15&go=1
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=2&x=809...1&i=2&go=1