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Now that many old films are coming out on blu-ray, it drives crazy that black levels and contrast seem to vary so widely.
Why is this so?

A good example is found on dvdbeaver.com with the many versions of RED RIVER. Same is true with IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, in its three releases. Black levels and contrast look very different on the different versions. I think the same was true of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN in their various releases. Maddening, or I need new eyeglasses.

Wouldn't know about Bluray, a technology foreign to my experience, but having to adjust & readjust contrast on early-talkie DVDs of unknown origin is almost inescapable. On the poorest of them, looking like the TV reception you got from rabbit-ears in the '50s, just about every scene exhibits a different level of contrast.

Some more films I can think of with contrast issues: the original release of THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), as well as the 1952 MONKEY BUSINESS. These are major and well-preserved films. Are these remastering errors?

Throwing my two bits in, unless you have a camera negative of the film in pristine condition, the contrast, black levels, film grain, color and density are all variables subject to the whims of the lab technicians and the film restoration budget (if there was one). In DVD Savant's review of the blu-ray of 1961's "The Day The Earth Caught Fire," a footnote mentions the fact that the previous Anchor Bay DVD of this black and white movie incorrectly had orange tinting used for scenes showing deserted and baking hot London streets. The tinting was yellow on the prints shown in 1961, according to a projectionist who contacted DVD Savant. http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4665fire.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

Restoring old films is a labor and computer intensive job. I wish the Warner Archive had enough funds to restore its early 1930s movies, to get rid of scratches and age related variations in print quality that degrade their image quality. Except for a few movies from back then like "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy," both out on blu-ray, that ain't gonna happen.

Keep in mind, too, that some films only survive in elements that were created for television showings in the fifties. At that time, prints for tv were made with low contrast to make them look better on more primitive tv equipment. Technicians might not compensate for this when making a transfer or it can be difficult to compensate for it in some cases.

It's much better than the days of 16mm prints. There was a stark difference between one of these old fifties tv prints and one made for institutional or film library use and you'd sometimes never know what you'd get when you ran into a print.

coolcatdaddy wrote:Keep in mind, too, that some films only survive in elements that were created for television showings in the fifties. At that time, prints for tv were made with low contrast to make them look better on more primitive tv equipment. ...

Didn't know this, but it certainly accounts for the prevailing washed-out look of so many early-talkie DVDs. Many of these--ain't talking about WA, Kino, etc., products, which account for only a small fraction of early-talkie DVDs in circulation--display the artifacts that suggest they were first taped from TV broadcasts on VCR machines, then copied by (I presume) amateur DVD makers.