Problems With the Blu-Ray Release!

[Matt5]

Well I have the FF blu ray now as well as the Mill Creek Version . 

I have only watched "Too Much, Too Late" and "Freefall" so far as those were the episodes I was up to when rewatching the series again . Now I start from the Pilot again. Whereas the new FF version is not perfect the two episodes Ive watched is the best Ive seen Vice look. I saw detail hadn't noticed before . So I'm pleased so far 

Here are a few captures from the new Fabulous Films blu ray release from the series finale "Freefall"  You can see the grey in DJs stubble and wrinkles clearly .

[Matt5]

These photos are from Season 5s "Lost Madonna" and clearly shows the difference and detail from the first photo the new FF blu ray release and the second photo from the 2007 Region 1 dvd release . Just look at the detail in Crockett's jacket here in the FF blu ray still 

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by Matt5

[summer84]

It's great to see some more Blu-ray shots of Miami Vice! 

Yes it's definitely more detailed compared to the DVD's. Thank you for sharing Matt and for the comparison shots! 

[summer84]

I definitely agree on that the Fabulous Films release has got more color/contrast added to the picture compared to Mill Creeks version. And I like that better. Not sure how to explain it exactly, but it gives the picture a warmer look. Also it seemed to me that FF's Blu-ray didn't have the exact same audio errors as Mill Creeks?

The difference in contrast is also noticeable between the DVD's and Mill Creeks Blu-ray set. As somebody on the Blu-ray forum said, they've turned up the brightness and turned down contrast/color.
 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191780/picture:0

Edited April 1, 2017 by summer84

[Matt5]

5 hours ago, summer84 said:

I definitely agree on that the Fabulous Films release has got more color/contrast added to the picture compared to Mill Creeks version. And I like that better. Not sure how to explain it exactly, but it gives the picture a warmer look. Also it seemed to me that FF's Blu-ray didn't have the exact same audio errors as Mill Creeks?

The difference in contrast is also noticeable between the DVD's and Mill Creeks Blu-ray set. As somebody on the Blu-ray forum said, they've turned up the brightness and turned down contrast/color.
 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191780/picture:0

Ive only caught two episodes so far in the new FF blu ray set it's not the best you'll ever see but certainly not the worst...yet!  So far it's the best Ive seen Vice look on any format . Some of the daylight close up scenes have very good quality - like the "Lost Madonna" capture I hadn't realised the pattern on that black jacket Sonny wore was that bold - so it's nice to see new things !

The screen captures show a good quality 

I'm starting back soon with the Pilot so I will keep you posted if interested ? 

[summer84]

2 hours ago, Matt5 said:

Ive only caught two episodes so far in the new FF blu ray set it's not the best you'll ever see but certainly not the worst...yet!  So far it's the best Ive seen Vice look on any format . Some of the daylight close up scenes have very good quality - like the "Lost Madonna" capture I hadn't realised the pattern on that black jacket Sonny wore was that bold - so it's nice to see new things !

The screen captures show a good quality 

I'm starting back soon with the Pilot so I will keep you posted if interested ? 

That would be great.  I have already seen the screen shots Crockettt posted from the "Pilot." It was the night/boat scene with Sonny and Gina. I wouldn't mind seeing other scenes too.    I just wanted to ask, are those pics taken from a TV screen? I can still see the difference in detail, but it is a bit harder. 

[James]

14 hours ago, summer84 said:

I definitely agree on that the Fabulous Films release has got more color/contrast added to the picture compared to Mill Creeks version. And I like that better. Not sure how to explain it exactly, but it gives the picture a warmer look. Also it seemed to me that FF's Blu-ray didn't have the exact same audio errors as Mill Creeks?

The difference in contrast is also noticeable between the DVD's and Mill Creeks Blu-ray set. As somebody on the Blu-ray forum said, they've turned up the brightness and turned down contrast/color.
 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191780/picture:0

Yeah exactly, it does seem like they put more colour in, adjusted the hues. It really brings it to life. There is that downside which was mentioned last week that some details are too dark to see, however I don't mind if the colours stand out more. Like I've said multiple times, Mill Creek has that noticeable faded look you get from old film, and Fabulous Films' version gets rid of that. 

I don't think Fabulous Films made a mistake, I think they done that on purpose. 

You may be onto something, the audio errors are different, I think. Or maybe they fixed some of them. On Mill Creek in Definitely Miami, when Cry start's playing there's a noticeable change in sound where they used original audio, and switched to a high quality version of the song, there's a slight pause. I didn't hear that in Fabulous Films' release. I'm half way through Season 3 and the only errors I noticed were in season 1 with Heart of Darkness and The Great McCarthy. 

[Matt5]

6 hours ago, summer84 said:

That would be great.  I have already seen the screen shots Crockettt posted from the "Pilot." It was the night/boat scene with Sonny and Gina. I wouldn't mind seeing other scenes too.    I just wanted to ask, are those pics taken from a TV screen? I can still see the difference in detail, but it is a bit harder. 

No worries !

Yes on a Hd TV screen - harder to see the difference? I thought you could see the difference between the FF blu ray and Region 1 Dvd in my screen captures from "Lost Madonna" .?

You can certainly see the difference in the FF blu ray clearer - better color and brightness 

[summer84]

8 hours ago, James said:

Yeah exactly, it does seem like they put more colour in, adjusted the hues. It really brings it to life. There is that downside which was mentioned last week that some details are too dark to see, however I don't mind if the colours stand out more. Like I've said multiple times, Mill Creek has that noticeable faded look you get from old film, and Fabulous Films' version gets rid of that. 

I don't think Fabulous Films made a mistake, I think they done that on purpose. 

You may be onto something, the audio errors are different, I think. Or maybe they fixed some of them. On Mill Creek in Definitely Miami, when Cry start's playing there's a noticeable change in sound where they used original audio, and switched to a high quality version of the song, there's a slight pause. I didn't hear that in Fabulous Films' release. I'm half way through Season 3 and the only errors I noticed were in season 1 with Heart of Darkness and The Great McCarthy. 

When those dark spots are fixed in the Fabulous Films release it gets to look just like Mill Creeks picture without that, but makes the color fade too. So that's a downside and I would rather have the colors standout in the picture. And yeah you're right to me it looks like a deliberate decision too by Fabulous Films. 

 

[summer84]

8 hours ago, Matt5 said:

No worries !

Yes on a Hd TV screen - harder to see the difference? I thought you could see the difference between the FF blu ray and Region 1 Dvd in my screen captures from "Lost Madonna" .?

You can certainly see the difference in the FF blu ray clearer - better color and brightness 

It's a bit harder to see, because it's taken from a TV screen, but yes I can still see the details especially in that close up shot of Don Johnson from the episode "FreeFall."

Looks really great! As you also said a big improvement to the DVD's. And those little things you didn't notice before gets clearer. 

 

[Matt5]

20 minutes ago, summer84 said:

It's a bit harder to see, because it's taken from a TV screen, but yes I can still see the details especially in that close up shot of Don Johnson from the episode "FreeFall."

Looks really great! As you also said a big improvement to the DVD's. And those little things you didn't notice before gets clearer. 

 

aha ! got ya ! 

[bodie]

On 01/04/2017 at 2:09 PM, summer84 said:

I definitely agree on that the Fabulous Films release has got more color/contrast added to the picture compared to Mill Creeks version. And I like that better. Not sure how to explain it exactly, but it gives the picture a warmer look. Also it seemed to me that FF's Blu-ray didn't have the exact same audio errors as Mill Creeks?

The difference in contrast is also noticeable between the DVD's and Mill Creeks Blu-ray set. As somebody on the Blu-ray forum said, they've turned up the brightness and turned down contrast/color.
 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191780/picture:0

Those captures show the difference between the old masters and the new. And Mill Creek and Fabulous both have the new masters, so either set will give that result

Edited April 2, 2017 by bodie

[bodie]

Below I'll quote the video that shows the sound errors on the 5.1 - both Blu-ray sets are from the same masters, so they both have these 5.1 problems, just Mill Creek has more audio issues because they also included the original stereo audio for the episodes, and there are faults on those too, but Fabulous does not have the stereo tracks at all - that doesn't make the Fabulous more correct, whatever 5.1 errors are on the Mill Creek are the same on the Fabulous.

Edited April 2, 2017 by bodie

[bodie]

On 21/03/2017 at 10:06 AM, bodie said:

I mentioned this a while back, but it's much better to have a demonstration. First is the Blu-ray 5.1 mix, where you will hear the doubling of the sound. Next plays the same master on the Mill Creek DVD (NOT Blu-ray, DVD), it's the 5.1 mix and it does not have the sound problem. Thus, as I said before, these errors were most likely introduced in encoding these masters for lossless audio;

 

 

and this is our audio proof ^

[bodie]

On 01/04/2017 at 2:09 PM, summer84 said:

I definitely agree on that the Fabulous Films release has got more color/contrast added to the picture compared to Mill Creeks version. And I like that better. Not sure how to explain it exactly, but it gives the picture a warmer look. Also it seemed to me that FF's Blu-ray didn't have the exact same audio errors as Mill Creeks?

The difference in contrast is also noticeable between the DVD's and Mill Creeks Blu-ray set. As somebody on the Blu-ray forum said, they've turned up the brightness and turned down contrast/color.
 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/191780/picture:0

I know we have our own captures earlier from members here, but in case anyone thinks screenshotcomarison.com are showing something new here; it's just the difference in the HD masters compared to the DVD ones. So it's something consistent to both Blu-ray releases and to prove it, here are the screenshotcomarison.com frames matched to the same shot on the new Mill Creek DVDs, which are from the same masters as both Blu-ray sets, as you'll see, it matches - so whichever Blu-ray set you get, it has these colours;

[bodie]

On 20/03/2017 at 0:25 PM, ivoryjones said:

The Prodigal Son

 

 

 

 

And here is that episode on both Blu-ray sets, as we've said before, the blacks differ, but it's the same master. Fabulous have not undertaken any remastering or intentional alteration

[Vincent Hanna]

I'm glad I picked up the Mill Creek set. They really love screwing us guys over in the UK/Europe

[summer84]

2 hours ago, bodie said:

Those captures show the difference between the old masters and the new. And Mill Creek and Fabulous both have the new masters, so either set will give that result

Comparing the old DVD screenshot you posted above with the Blu-ray of Mill Creeks release, the DVD's look colorful and natural than the new masters.

Although being an error, I thought that those black spots at the same time gave color/contrast to the picture of Fabulous Films release. Couldn't they intentionally have brought on that error to add more color?

That is just my opinion, what I felt they did. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by summer84

[bodie]

53 minutes ago, Vincent Hanna said:

I'm glad I picked up the Mill Creek set. They really love screwing us guys over in the UK/Europe

That's why I've been so hot on this, I have wanted this show on Blu-ray for years, but I want it without errors. I still have hopes that Koch in Germany will come along and save the day as they did with Airwolf.

29 minutes ago, summer84 said:

Comparing the old DVD screenshot you posted above with the Blu-ray of Mill Creeks release, the DVD's look colorful and natural than the new masters.

Although being an error, I thought that those black spots at the same time gave color/contrast to the picture of Fabulous Films release. Couldn't they intentionally have brought on that error to add more color?

That is just my opinion, what I felt they did. 

Nah, it's just a mistake by Fabulous. That's the whole thing with them and why many people didn't preorder it - they're M.O. is minimum effort, maximum price.

[Sonny-Burnett]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 11:28 AM, bodie said:

Yeah. With Thief there is a great set from Arrow which has the remaster and a more conventional presentation of it in the same package - both in HD.

With Vice, I'd say a keen fan would get the recent DVD not Blu-ray from Mill Creek as Season 1 and 2 were released individually. They are from the HD masters and they don't have any of the faults so far anyway, and they're dirt cheap.

With Blu-ray, I'm waiting to see if another company releases it without errors, like Koch in Germany who rescued Airwolf when Fabulous had already released a less than ideal set.

Or perhaps just pick up the Mill Creek release once they have incorporated the 3 replacement discs in the new releases. It is also dirt cheap imo and I am pretty happy with my set. Thanks for your very insightful comments about the Blu-ray comparatives bodie.

Fyi, I have still not received any notification from Mill Creek that they intend to address the missing Stereo audio in Definitely Miami, which seems to be the remaining issue.     I just emailed a follow-up to them requesting a disc replacement.

Edit....and just now received the following reply: " Sorry, there will be no replacement for this disc. The issue is on the master provided to us by the content rights holder. "

 

Edited April 3, 2017 by Sonny-Burnett

[bodie]

Thank you. Yeah, it seems we've now reached the end of their patience, so looks like the set is as it is now. Just to draw a line under this, please could you confirm what the three discs are and if the codes around the central hub differ from the originals, or indeed just post what they are now if you had to send back the faulty ones? Then at least people looking to get the best available know what to look for, or more importantly what to avoid. That is assuming the corrected stock ever makes it to retailers, or just stays something you have to send in for.

[Sonny-Burnett]

With all credit to @ivoryjones, forum.blu-ray.com, and http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Miami-Vice-The-Complete-Series/22775 for identifying the Mill Creek Blu-ray disc issues, they are as follows:

S1D1  & S1D4 issues (according to Mill Creek) with 5.1 audio: 

• "Heart of Darkness"
  • The 5.1 audio track does have issues in the mix creating an echo/reverb-like effect that phases in and out periodically throughout the episode.
  
  
• "The Home Invaders"
• "Nobody Lives Forever"
  • The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks were accidentally left-off the disc after we conducted the original QC
  
  
• "Evan"
  • The 5.1 audio track does have issues in the mix creating an echo/reverb-like effect that phases in and out periodically throughout the episode.

S4D4  "Mirror Image" has no sound on 2.0 stereo audio track. (added later in the disc replacement program)

S2D3: "Definitely Miami", 10 seconds blank on 2.0 (Stereo) track, starting at 42'41''  ( the song “Cry” by Godley and Crème should be playing. ).

           NOTE**: Mill Creek today rejected making this fix because they apparently received a bad master.

As to the new discs I received, there is no difference in the printed side of the discs to the original nor was there any coding identifiable. I looked at the read side of the disc and could not make out any markings. I'll pose the question to Mill Creek as to when their retailers such as Amazon will have new stock on hand that will include the new discs.

 

[bodie]

Many thanks. The codes are round the hub on the data side (see image below) - we need all the codes written there, there are usually at least two sets. You will need good light and probably easiest to scan them or use a phone camera, unless you have a magnifying glass. Those are what we need to know for the fixed discs

[Sonny-Burnett]

Mill Creek just sent me a reply to my query about timing for the new product:

"New merchandise has been produced and has been shipped to our retail partners."     So it would appear new inventory should be on hand.

And if you ordered from Amazon and somehow didn't receive the new inventory, you could return for a replacement and continue (at their return expense ) until the correct versions are received.

 

Also forgot to mention that the 3 discs I received as replacements were S1D1, S1D4, and S4D4. 

Edited April 3, 2017 by Sonny-Burnett

[Sonny-Burnett]

5 minutes ago, bodie said:

Many thanks. The codes are round the hub on the data side (see image below) - we need all the codes written there, there are usually at least two sets. You will need good light and probably easiest to scan them or use a phone camera, unless you have a magnifying glass. Those are what we need to know for the fixed discs

ok, let me work on that. I couldn't see what was on there other than what looked like some unreadable random characters. I may need to take a photo.

Edited April 3, 2017 by Sonny-Burnett