US Blu-ray release of the complete series, March 22nd, 2022

[Keleko]

That was me that posted the Amazon review about the missing eight minutes in the pilot in the US release. The UK release is okay for the pilot, I don't have the French release to check.

Upon further inspection of the US set, all the episodes that aired in two hour timeslots (a total of six) are split into two parts and missing seven or eight minutes each on the US release. The UK release is good for all but the last two hour episode, but has the edited syndicated version of S8E12.

The quality of the UK release is far better than the US because grain removal was not employed for the UK set. The grain removal on the US set is so heavy that finer details are lost. The higher compression on the US set didn't help it either. Here is a example from S1E02. Check the loss of detail in the girl's hair.

Hi Chris, thanks for posting. Very interesting. I downloaded the original PNG files from your link and after flipping back and forth between the two, as far as that particular comparison from the episode China Doll, I think the US release looks better. I am specifically looking at the detail in the plants behind Higgins, the textures of the rocks and dirt on the ground, the denim cloth in Magnum's jeans, etc. The UK release actually looks like it has utilized the "classic" technique of applying digital noise reduction to the image, filtering out detail, and then sharpening the image on top of that. I see edge halos around Higgins' pants and along the tiles of the roof that aren't present on the US Blu-ray. The colors also look more accurate on the US release. The only detractor I see is Mill Creek's compression.

I am wondering if you would be so kind as to check some episodes towards the end of season 1; there are a few that have an egregious green push to the image on the UK set, like The Black Orchid and Don't Say Goodbye.

Here's a quick color comparison between the US DVD (top) and UK Blu-ray of a scene from The Black Orchid (S01E16) :

[FigNewtons&Milk]

Thank you for posting these images of the UK and US blu-ray releases for comparison. I already own the Fabulous Films set, but these pictures convinced me to go ahead and purchase the Mill Creek release. IMHO, the color timing looks much richer on the US set compared to the UK, compression issues notwithstanding.

There’s an Amazon customer review which states that the color detail for the US release is a significant improvement over the Region B FF release, which he also owns. I was skeptical of this at first due to the UK release being spread out over 37 discs compared to the US release being only thirty. However, these images confirm that the reviewer was accurate.

[ChrisPappas]

It's definitely a case of each having their pros and cons. Here are a couple of caps from the US and UK Don't Say Goodbye.

The US version has what appears to be truer colors, but there is a loss of detail from the grain removal, look at TC's hair, the fuzz on his t-shirt or the bills in his hand. The UK version is blowing out the lighter colors, look at TC's shoulders.

Can anyone post a few PNGs or other lossless screen caps from different episodes from the French Elephant Films release? Include episode names and approximate time code I'll get the same frames from the US and UK version for a complete comparison.

[Old Düsseldorf]

It's definitely a case of each having their pros and cons. Here are a couple of caps from the US and UK Don't Say Goodbye.

The US version has what appears to be truer colors, but there is a loss of detail from the grain removal, look at TC's hair, the fuzz on his t-shirt or the bills in his hand. The UK version is blowing out the lighter colors, look at TC's shoulders.

Can anyone post a few PNGs or other lossless screen caps from different episodes from the French Elephant Films release? Include episode names and approximate time code I'll get the same frames from the US and UK version for a complete comparison.

Good ideas, this is helpful. It will be interesting to see how the Elephant Films release compares. Also would be interesting to know if the US release improves on providing a more consistent level of quality (perhaps with its own limitations) across the series, compared to the variable quality of the UK release noted earlier in this thread.

[JungleBird]

Good ideas, this is helpful. It will be interesting to see how the Elephant Films release compares. Also would be interesting to know if the US release improves on providing a more consistent level of quality (perhaps with its own limitations) across the series, compared to the variable quality of the UK release noted earlier in this thread.

So I got the US set yesterday and I'm very (very!) happy to report the variable quality, soft/low-res issue is resolved on the new set!

I checked episodes from each season and all appear to be 1080p with the first seasons being slightly sharper but in general all look pretty great. Huge improvement over the existing UK FF set in terms of colors and clarity!
I also didn't find compression to be too concerning. Watched it on a 150" screen with 4k-upscaling projector and I didn't find any scenes so far where it was too appearant or distracting. That being said it's always better to let episodes breathe a little but I would say it is definitely okay on this set.

Concerning the use of noise reduction... Generally I'm all for keeping natural film grain. But personally I actually even like the decision to use some denoising here in this specific case because it was pretty extreme (distracting even) on the UK set in some darker scenes and couldn't be improved enough by using the internal noise reduction of my TV or projector. I also don't feel that it was too bad a tradeoff in terms of losing too much detail IMHO.

One thing to note is: The set says "region A" on the cover but it actually plays without any problem on my region B player (at least this batch does).


The only negatives I found so far:

-the image is "flickering" in some darker scenes. If I'm not mistaken this was the case on the UK and DVD releases too. I guess it's just the source (film) material. However I suppose with the right video remastering algorithm this could be dealt with nowadays.
-the 2 part versions that are missing some scenes
-the subtitles have the occasional spelling mistake or jump from left to right when they shouldn't, but no big deal, happy to get any at all!

I can definitely recommend this set. Even more so if you're watching on a big screen (resolution). But I have to say just for the color improvement alone it's worth it IMO.

[Old Düsseldorf]

Thanks for that review! For me I guess it's down to the trade offs of loss of some detail from de-noising and the syndicated episodes.

Does anyone know which extras are new for the US release? And does the US release also contain all the extras in the UK release?

[eagle]

I've been looking for a way to purchase this, but haven't found it yet. Anybody got a link?

[TheSurfrider]

I'm really interested to see any comparison shots and hear opinions with the French (Elephant Films) release.

I got the Mill Creek USA set a couple days ago and it's mostly pretty good, but I really do notice how muddy some scenes seem to my eyes.

Details have been lost in many darker areas.

I'm sort of mixed about it honestly

Not sure if I should spend the money to import the French set ($160 USD delivered)

[Gorilla Mask]

Hello to all. Having acquired the French version published by Elephant, I can talk about it. Unfortunately, I can't post any image, as I don't have an adapted reader on my PC.

I found the same image regarding the comparison of the episode 1.16 The Black Orchid. Not big difference for me.

The color balance is more related to the image of the UK version. However, I have to say though that the grain and detail point looks a bit sharper in the French release.

The difference appears on the blacks in the outdoor scenes which seem to me of good quality, within the limit of the exposure of the grain of the original film. On the other hand, the color balance appears more contrasted and less successful for some of the indoor scenes.

At this point, it is really at the margin... There is, needless to say, definitely a clear difference with the Dvd's.

[TheSurfrider]

@Gorilla Mask

Thank you for commenting.

On the Mill Creek set, I can't stop thinking about so many scenes seem too dark to me.
I've confirmed this in comparison with my DVD set as well.

Very different grading

[Gorilla Mask]

I don't have this problem on the French version. But it is enlightening.

The darker aspect that you describe corresponds, could be, in the French version, to the necessity that the editors had to reinforce the contrast of the indoor scenes?

[JungleBird]

I've been looking for a way to purchase this, but haven't found it yet. Anybody got a link?

Sure, I ordered mine from Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Magnum-P-I-Compl ... B09NL64GYC
But I guess it's available from other stores too in the US.



Regarding the mentions of darker areas appearing "muddy": That's true. However I have seen this problem with all versions I had so far, unfortunately (UK BR, DVDs, US BR, TV airings...).
I guess MPI just doesn't look too great in most darker scenes. I always thought this was down to the source material (film) they used...
I have to note that in my view many scenes indoors (so also with not much light), in Higgins' study for example, while not looking great, do have more detail on the MC release compared to the UK BR.

I'd love to see some screen caps for the french set too. It's very hard to judge without direct comparison.

To the point of the US BR looking overall darker: I guess that's true, I think they did a very different color grading. On the UK set for example, I'd say it is generally brighter with the issue being that some details look a little bit blown out and the picture lacking contrast overall. Plus the many episodes that have the low-res-issue of course with the UK set. Would be really interesting to know whether the french EF set has the same issue or not.

[TheSurfrider]

DVD is on the right here

Notice how they've tried to boost things here.
The lamp is brighter and you can't really make out the ocean through the window anymore (and sky is blown out)

On HD version, the shadow detail is lost a bit also
More extreme on shadows/highlights all around it seems like

I did tons of shots of this episode (Skin Deep) -- it's amazing how well the DVD holds up actually.

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi Surfrider,

For this scene, the very same image on the EF HD version might look somewhat disappointing: luminosity slightly too exaggerated, which creates a somewhat "milky" or "grainy" rendering. Besides, the much dark ambience in the US version is avoided.

For the contrast settings, it is also a bit overexposed, as on the US DVD version above in your previous message.

Too bad i am not able to post any screen capture.

[TheSurfrider]

Thank you Gorilla!