DigiPack / Remastered

Monterey Pop Blu-ray, Video Quality

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, D.A. Pennebaker'sarrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:"This new digital transfer ofwas created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 16mm original A/B camera reversal at Metropolis Post in New York. The 4K digital restoration was undertaken at L'immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy, with additional restoration performed at Criterion Post in New York. The original stereo soundtrack forwas remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. The stereo and 5.1 surround materials for, andwere created by Eddie Kramer from the original analog 8-track tapes made at the concerts by Wally Heider, and conformed to picture by by Ted Hall at POP Sound in Santa Monica, California. The audio for the outtakes was mixed by Howard Frank and Dennis Dragon from the original concert recordings. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD.Transfer supervisors: Frazer Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Lee Kline.Colorist: Jason Crump/Metropolist Post. "I was already quite happy with the first release ofthat emerged in 2009. Obviously, given the nature of the project there were certain source limitations that were retained, but I thought that the overall presentation had strong organic qualities. This new release, however, offers a wide range of improvements that further strengthen these qualities. The most substantial ones are in terms of density and color reproduction. Indeed, now that a new 4K master has been created the entire film boasts better density levels that help the depth and fluidity, and it is worth mentioning that you do not have to have a very large screen to appreciate the difference (compare screencapture #5 with the corresponding screencapture from the review of the first release). The entire film also has a more convincing color scheme that helps the overall dynamic range. Grain is a lot better defined, though as it is typically the case with 16mm material that is scanned in 4K now it also appears slightly overexposed. But this is a proper and very convincing organic look. It appears that some additional work was also done to minimize or entirely remove some remaining age-related imperfections. My one minor concern is about the management of the color values as during some of the stage performances it almost looks like there is color bleeding. In fact, I went back to Jimi's performance twice to take a closer look as the strong projector makes his red pants look a bit harsh, but on the other hand his face and shirt are far better defined now (see screencapture #14). In other words, some of the ways in which the light hits the stage could be quite misleading. All in all, this is a very fine upgrade that should please fans of. (: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).