Search - The Twilight Zone: Season 1 [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

Comparison between Blu-ray and Definitive DVD

Rushead 2112-Hemispheres | Los Angeles, CA. | 10/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After first learning about this Blu-ray release, I was hesitant as I already own the Definitive DVD set. Regardless, my wife surprised me with this for our anniversary as she knows I'm a fan of both The Twilight Zone and the Blu-ray format.

So far I've watched all the episodes, but none of the extras so I can't comment on those specifically. My first impression was that the picture quality looks very good, but I wasn't necessarily blown away when comparing to how I remember the DVDs looking. I decided to do an A/B comparison, using my Panasonic BD60 for the Blu-ray and my Oppo 980H for the DVD (both going to a Pioneer 50" Kuro plasma). I compared random frames in pause mode with two episodes, "One For The Angels", and "Perchance To Dream". The amount of detail in longer shots was more of a subtle difference, but the Blu-ray still looked better. I noticed how the Blu-ray revealed much blacker blacks, and whiter whites. Because of this, the DVD has a bit of a yellow tinge that you don't see on the Blu-ray. It was obvious at this point that my memory of how the DVD looked was not the best.

Close-ups is where we see the the advantages of the Blu-ray to a much greater degree. In "One For The Angels", I was amazed at the added detail in Mr Death's hair, you can see every strand, and the black level makes it look even more realistic. In "Perchance To Dream", I paused both players when we see the close up of Richard Conte's face in horror. I could see far more detail, I literally saw the pores on his chin. The DVD didn't quite reproduce this frame as faithfully.

The sound quality of the Blu-ray, with it's lossless PCM audio track, is slightly better than the DVD's lossy Dolby Digital track (I'm using an Onkyo 705 receiver and JBL Northridge speakers). What's cool is the fact that both unrestored and restored audio tracks are included on the Blu-ray, and it's interesting to compare the two. At times, I couldn't tell the difference, and in other instances, the difference was very noticeable. Mostly what I heard was loudness level fluctuations in the unrestored track, and much more uniform audio with the restored lossless audio track. This made dialogue more consistent and ineligible. The restored track also seems to have slightly clearer bass response. I'll give the audio 4 out of 5 stars.

Overall, I give the picture quality of this Blu-ray 5 stars. When I first saw the Definitive DVDs, I would have also given them 5 stars as they looked better than I'd ever seen this show look (and that was with an older Pioneer DVD player and S-video!). On my Oppo upconverting player, the DVDs look even better. However, the Blu-ray looks even better yet."

BUYER BEWARE

Ernesto J. Maisonet | Chula Vista, CA | 10/09/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Be aware that Discs 1 and 4 DID NOT operate on my Sony Blu Ray. Disc 4 DID NOT operate on my Sharp Blu Ray. I returned this product to Amazon. I guess quality control is not a high priority at Amazon. I am a Twilight Zone fan and was extremely disappointed. The quality of the discs that worked was excellent, it was like I was watching the epidsodes when they first aired. I kind of wished that they had included some of the commercials from back in the day. Due to the excellent quality of the discs I was able to watch is the only reason I gave it two stars. Now I am a hesitant to purchase Season 2 when it is released."