Have A Sip Of Homogenized Blu-ray

Just came across this.

To paraphrase Pink Floyd - it's nearly a laugh, but really a cry.

Panasonic Hollywood Labs is, I believe, the shop responsible for the recent controversial Blu-ray releases of Patton and The Longest Day - two titles that use pretty severe digital noise reduction (DNR) to remove grain (and unfortunately much of the high-frequency detail).

Here's an excerpt from the article. The emphases are mine:

Takeshi Kuraku, Manager, Audio Video Marketing Team, Overseas Sales & Marketing Group, is quick to point out that the technologies used to improve video comes from the PHL’s work with proprietary encoding and authoring software in tandem with movie studios who have spent serious time analyzing how their films will translate to disc. When viewed on the huge projection screen next door to where we’re seated, every imperfection (film grain for example) of a BD transfer from film stands out like a sore thumb. “Studios want the film grain to look realistic,” Kuraku says. “It must be properly accounted for, appear natural and not look as if it was added in.”

Now, I have no reason to believe that PHL is comprised of anything but skilled, professional people using state-of-the-art equipment, capable of producing fine work. Nonetheless, Mr. Kuraku's comment brings focus to my view that the decision to remove grain from HD releases in order to satiate the grain-hating masses is made from a position of weakness, fueled by fear and insecurity.

But this should be no surprise to all those viewers who have rolled their eyes at the special feature disclaimers about "the opinions of the filmmakers" not being endorsed by the studio.

Maybe they should add yet another disclaimer that states:

"The look of this Blu-ray may bear no relation to the original creative decisions of the filmmakers, in order to provide you - The All-Knowing Viewer - with the most homogenized version possible. We thank you for your patronage."