[the id]

Just read the first review of the Blu-Ray combi release of 'Underworld Awakening'. Unfortunately it looks like this trend for including both versions of a film 3D/2D on one disc has yet again ruined the 2D version. If your only after the 2D version in the UK your lumbered with an inferior product.

A similar problem arose with the UK release of 'HUGO' on combi, it just ruined the 2D version.

For me the only solution was to purchase the US release of both discs on standalone 2D release.(we in the UK do not get this choice)

This is a worrying trend that the UK distributors have chosen to go down. A financial solution that gives the UK purchaser an obviously inferior product...it sucks!!

War

[rebel_scum]

They used the same master as the Sony US 3D release, which has the same problem...

[BULL3T_OR_BLADE]

Noticed this as well, pain in the rear. My U.S address is gonna start getting more post than here the way things are going.

[the id]

Thanks for the comments guys. I honestly don't think the UK distributers give a monkey's where the 2D version is concerned. It will be interesting to see how this disparity plays out over the coming months.

[Indiana Jones]

I am assuming the 2D only version from the US will be ok? as I got the 4 film boxset 2 weeks ago and have slowly been making my way through the set but haven't got to Awakening yet.

[bootyman81]

What's actually wrong the uk version? As I have it preordered.

(Haven't seen any uk 2D reviews)

[the id]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jones

I am assuming the 2D only version from the US will be ok? as I got the 4 film boxset 2 weeks ago and have slowly been making my way through the set but haven't got to Awakening yet.

I have the region free US 2D only version and there are no problems with the picture, it's breathtaking.

Originally Posted by bootyman81

What's actually wrong the uk version? As I have it preordered.

(Haven't seen any uk 2D reviews)

First and only review of UK 3D/2D single disc Blu-Ray Underworld Awakening UK 3D/2D(only version we get). One of my mates was unfortunate in purchasing the UK disc before the review came out and we've looked and compared with my US standalone and can confirm the 2D picture problem.

War

[DICKIEDUVET]

OK but what actually IS the problem that you are referring to?

Thanks

[brian s]

Originally Posted by DICKIEDUVET

OK but what actually IS the problem that you are referring to?

Thanks

This is from the link given by the id.

The 2D version, included on the same disc through MVC encoding, doesn't fare as well. The picture looks horribly washed out without the reduced brightness of the 3D to counteract it, and banding also becomes a major issue. I've awarded 7 out of 10 for the 3D video quality, but for the 2D version you can reduce the score another couple of notches to 5.

Bri

[mentasm]

Bit confused by this. This image is taken from BD.com, allegedly from the 2D version.:

This is taken from the UK BD release:

Not a whole lot in it and both versions look washed out. Is there a more comprehensive thread about this anywhere on the web (with caps)?

[simonblue]

I thought the UK 2D version,was ok didnt seem that washed out to me

[Geoff_D]

The blacks are truly, truly terrible on the UK 2D version. The annoying thing is, the 3D just doesn't work all that well (for me) on this movie and I'd rather watch it in 2D, so I'm screwed either way.

I enjoyed Awakening so I'll definitely be getting the US 2D standalone at some point. The caps (not those from blu-ray.com) look gorgeous.

[mentasm]

Have you got a link to the others?

[Donnacha]

Would watching the 3D version in "non-3D" mode be any better than watching the 2D version? Software on my Home Cinema PC allows me to watch 3D films in 2D !

[saarnold]

Got the UK version and to be honest it looks very good on my 50VT50.

saarnold

[hippo99]

Originally Posted by Donnacha

Would watching the 3D version in "non-3D" mode be any better than watching the 2D version? Software on my Home Cinema PC allows me to watch 3D films in 2D !

You've misunderstood what the other posters are saying.

The UK version is 1 disc which contains the 3D version & that disc also allows you to watch it in "non-3D" as you put it.
ie there is no 2D version for the UK, just a 3D version which also allows you to watch it in 2D.

The US release however is a separate 3D disc & a separate 2D disc. The separate 2D US disc apparently looks better

[Donnacha]

Originally Posted by hippo99

You've misunderstood what the other posters are saying.

The UK version is 1 disc which contains the 3D version & that disc also allows you to watch it in "non-3D" as you put it.
ie there is no 2D version for the UK, just a 3D version which also allows you to watch it in 2D.

The US release however is a separate 3D disc & a separate 2D disc. The separate 2D US disc apparently looks better

ahh - that explains it then, yes I misunderstood the issue. So technically how do they achieve that for the UK version...or is that OT?

[hippo99]

All 3D discs are technically able to be displayed in 2D, however most 3D films have a flag to tell your equipment to only display a picture if you have a 3D player & 3D display (& they then include a seperate 2D disc in the pack).

Some recent releases have decided not to include a separate 2D disc so they have a flag telling them to display in 2D if your equipment isn't a 3D player & 3D display.

[jammyone]

Originally Posted by hippo99

You've misunderstood what the other posters are saying.

The UK version is 1 disc which contains the 3D version & that disc also allows you to watch it in "non-3D" as you put it.
ie there is no 2D version for the UK, just a 3D version which also allows you to watch it in 2D.

The US release however is a separate 3D disc & a separate 2D disc. The separate 2D US disc apparently looks better

The US 3D version is just one disc too with both 3D & 2D versions on the same disc.

[hippo99]

Looks like I misunderstood the OP as well

So the US has the same 3D release as us, but the US also gets a standalone 2D release as well.
The PQ on the standalone 2D release is supposed to be better than the 2D picture you get from the 3D discs.

The UK doesn't get a standalone 2D release, so we're stuck with the 3D disc.

[mentasm]

I'm still trying to find reliable caps of the US 2D release so I can compare...

[hippo99]

Maybe the OP could be so kind as to send you a few caps as he has the US 2D disc now?

[casharlow]

Originally Posted by mentasm

Bit confused by this. This image is taken from BD.com, allegedly from the 2D version.:

image

This is taken from the UK BD release:

image

Not a whole lot in it and both versions look washed out. Is there a more comprehensive thread about this anywhere on the web (with caps)?

Those images must be from the same versions, i.e. the 3D/2D version (the top one obviously stateside, the bottom one is UK). The top screen shot is NOT taken from the US 2D-only disc, as Blu-ray.com would have you believe.

I've just completed the review for the US 2D release, mainly because of this thread and the comments on Simon's review of the 3D/2D disc, and the results are actually pretty surprising.

Sorry I can't take a grab to add here, but on a freeze-frame of the shot that you've sampled above (which is at approx 13:32), basically both images shown above match up to the UK 3D/2D disc (more or less), whereas the US 2D-only disc, in the same exact shot, has much deeper black levels around the edges which almost blend into the black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen. As you can see from the shots, the blacks in the samples don't blend at all, they stick out as blue set against a black frame (as they do when I play the same shot from the UK 3D/2D disc on the same player with the same TV). On the US release they are much closer to the same black as the black bars. Hope I've been descriptive enough.

The review should be up over the weekend.

Cas

[mentasm]

Wouldn't surprise me if BD.com used the wrong caps. I understand your meaning as well. Odd that they chose to produce two different versions for this title.

TBH it didn't bother me at all when I watched the UK disc, because the film is so heavily stylised it's not unreasonable to assume that it's meant to look like that (and who know, maybe it is).

[casharlow]

Originally Posted by mentasm

Wouldn't surprise me if BD.com used the wrong caps. I understand your meaning as well. Odd that they chose to produce two different versions for this title.

TBH it didn't bother me at all when I watched the UK disc, because the film is so heavily stylised it's not unreasonable to assume that it's meant to look like that (and who know, maybe it is).

Yep, I agree, I can completely see why some people aren't bothered by it at all. In fact, it's only really a side-by-side comparison that brings up the difference, you could probably happily watch the movie either way, and, depending on how critical you're feeling, not actually notice there's anything wrong. As you say it almost feels like a stylistic choice, although that seems unlikely. Unless William Friedkin personally supervised the colour timing, lol.

Could it be an after-effect of making things lighter for the 3D version?

[the id]

Originally Posted by casharlow

Could it be an after-effect of making things lighter for the 3D version?

I think there lies the problem on the 2D/3D UK Blu-Ray, although there's a different problem with the UK 'HUGO' 2D/3D version. Unfortunately authoring these to include the 3D and 2D on one disc has caused inferior 2D versions of the films.

War

[mentasm]

It might well be that Cas. I'm assuming EiV licensed this one from Sony as the US 2D/3D combo disc is pretty much identical visually. I don't own Hugo, but I do have/have seen a couple of the other combos (Conan, Drive Angry, Monster House, Res Evil 4) and they all looked okay.

[Geoff_D]

Originally Posted by casharlow

Those images must be from the same versions, i.e. the 3D/2D version (the top one obviously stateside, the bottom one is UK). The top screen shot is NOT taken from the US 2D-only disc, as Blu-ray.com would have you believe.

I've just completed the review for the US 2D release, mainly because of this thread and the comments on Simon's review of the 3D/2D disc, and the results are actually pretty surprising.

Sorry I can't take a grab to add here, but on a freeze-frame of the shot that you've sampled above (which is at approx 13:32), basically both images shown above match up to the UK 3D/2D disc (more or less), whereas the US 2D-only disc, in the same exact shot, has much deeper black levels around the edges which almost blend into the black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen. As you can see from the shots, the blacks in the samples don't blend at all, they stick out as blue set against a black frame (as they do when I play the same shot from the UK 3D/2D disc on the same player with the same TV). On the US release they are much closer to the same black as the black bars. Hope I've been descriptive enough.

The review should be up over the weekend.

Cas

Surprising? Not to me. I called the blue blacks on the 2D/3D version ages ago on the blu-ray.com forums, and got plenty of **** from people who kept on pointing out review after review after review which waffled on about the "deep blacks" of the 2D/3D edition.

While the 2D MVC encode is properly fubar, the 3D version ain't no great shakes in terms of blacks either. It's dark in the right places, sure, but it's still got that stylised blue hue, and not true video black. I'm not saying it's wrong per se, as it may well have been a deliberate choice, but I'm astounded that so many seasoned reviewers didn't pick up on it.

Perhaps it's a psychological thing akin to the LOTR green-o-vision phenomenon; your brain simply tunes it out because it's such a pervasive effect.

[mentasm]

Just playing Devil's advocate, but why anyone would 'pick up on it' if the assumption is that it's meant to look that way? Not every film has, or is indeed meant to have, inky blacks. When I watched it I didn't see anything incongruous stylistically - the whole film (and indeed the previous films) has a metallic look so the blueish blacks don't really look terribly out of place.

[Geoff_D]

It's not about the blue tint as a stylistic choice, I'm perfectly fine with that. It's about scores of reviewers specifically praising the black levels, when the only thing black about the image is the letterbox bars. As I said in my own review (see post #7), it's not that the 3D image isn't dark (blue) in the right places, but black it most certainly is not.