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Old 17th May 2019, 05:14 PM
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g053584398 g053584398 is offline
Cultist on the Rampage
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Yorkshire
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As someone who refrained from getting a Blu-ray player until about a year ago, I do have sympathy for those who haven't yet made the leap from DVD. I resisted mainly because I didn't want to upgrade my old CRT TV and also because I was under the incorrect impression that you had to upgrade the firmware on Blu-ray players regularly. When my old TV died I took the plunge as it were, and I haven't been disappointed.

Although the leap in quality from DVD to Blu-ray isn't as significant as it was from VHS to DVD, there is still a considerable improvement in quality, in grain structure and in colour and I only buy DVDs now that aren't available in Blu-ray format. If you compare the DVD versions of Ben Hur (I'm talking about William Wyler's masterpiece and not the stupid remake) with the Blu-ray then you will seen an astounding leap in quality. I would say the same things about the 2014 restoration of Spartacus and Gone With the Wind as well. And if you get the chance to see How the West Was Won on Blu-ray, the video quality is staggering. Having said that, there are some Blu-rays that look inferior to DVDs; usually due to the application of DVNR. The special edition of Predator is one such example.

I own dozens of 88 Films Blu-rays and I would say that I'm delighted with the quality of the majority of them. Some, but not all, of the Shaw Brothers releases look a little too noise reduced for my tastes, but I imagine the masters were provided by the owner in that state. But if you look at Eye of the Hurricane, Amuck, Spasmo, Mad Dog Killer and the majority of their other releases, they look fantastic and far better quality than the DVD format would ever be capable of.

If 88 Films are are only generating 5% of their sales in terms of the DVD format then the decision to drop future releases on that format makes sound commercial sense. Some people will be disappointed of course, but you can't argue with simple economics if you're running a business.
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Last edited by g053584398; 17th May 2019 at 05:28 PM.
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