Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers 4K Blu-ray Review - DNR Spoils Great HDR

We review the 4K Blu-ray disc of The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers in the Trilogy boxset, and found many instances of digital noise reduction (DNR) and edge enhancement (EE) despite great use of HDR (occasionally even exceeding 2000 nits), as well as more generous deployment of WCG (wide colour gamut) colours than in The Fellowship of The Ring.

Our HDR & WCG analysis was performed using the Canon DP-V2411 reference monitor with inbuilt HDR analysis toolkit.

This video was graded and uploaded in HDR10, and so is best viewed on an HDR display. Please let us know how it looks to you in the Youtube comment section below.

Warning: This video contains spoilers for LOTR: TTT.

*Disclaimer: This is an Amazon affiliate link, from which we may earn a small commission with each qualifying purchase to help us purchase more 4K Blu-rays to review. Our analysis and opinion are never influenced by potential commissions.

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[derptyderp]

I'm no purist, but even I find that noise reduction to be off-putting... Making details disappear like that, kinda makes 4k a little pointless.

[AndyGilleand]

Thank you for discussing the evils of DNR/EE in this movie. It's also present in the other LOTR movies and the fake sharpening was even added to the Hobbit movies too. It's a shame because the HDR and sound quality is incredible.

[liaminwales]

I love seeing the texture of film, BlueRay is one of the few ways to get film's that can hold the quality needed to retain all the detail of the film texture.
one step forward with the HDR
two steps back with the blur filter

[SilkMilkJilk]

you should do a top10 list of your most favorite/ recommended to buy HDR blurays. Many ppl would fall back to that once they get their hands on a good new TV^^

[Prodrummer]

For me the DNR is really the killer. I find the Extended-Bluray to be the most organic way to watch the movies. HDR and color timing might be great on the 4k bluray but the DNR takes you out of the movie so many times. Look how Gollum looks digital on the 4k version.

[ericmoss]

I noticed that on King Theoden’s face but didn’t know what that was. Thanks for the info.

[potatochalbro]

My 4K steelbook edition arrived today, I am very happy. I remember watching the first movie on VHS I borrowed from a friend on a very bad TV so I'm actually grateful we can nitpick like this and I look forward to watching the extended version in 4K :).

[Flunkiii]

With 4k, you can see more details than with 1080p. Whats the whole point of 4k releases, if those details getting killed by filters? Who the heck came to that brilliant idea?

[ElliotCoen]

I said the same about the DNR in my video review. Hopefully people see the light now. Thanks Vincent!

[domobluu]

The DNR really stands out negatively throughout the trilogy. I was very disappointed. So much potential lost there. I absolutely love these movies and it would be such a great watching experience (LG C9) if it wasn't for the noise reduction.

[peterlunny]

DNR should never be used on movies that where shot on film ! change my mind.

[YeahWhiplash]

As someone who plans to work with hdr content in the future these videos are very informative and educational. I loved when you pointed out colors outside the 709 range. Thanks for the work you do as a hdr evengelist!

[desertfish]

Thank you for all the work on this channel.

[SarkkiKarkki]

Original Predator had massive filmgrain and I think it got a couple bluray releases and one of them was so heavy with the noise reduction that it was like watching wax museum figurines instead of people. I'd be really interested in you checking out how the UHD bluray of it is.

[mgm]

The scene with the flag was shot accidentally it wasn't meant to be Flying, but after they cought the scene decided to leave it since it gave deeper effect.

[editwell]

Why are they doing this? The whole point of us spending all this extra money for better picture quality is to GET better picture quality. Why adjust a scene in a way that clearly makes it worse? Just make the whole thing look good for god sake, it's not hard!!!!

[turricand]

1:44 "Eowyn looks thicc!" Vincent Theo 2021

[poluticon]

I noticed the DNR but I'm fine with it, the HDR is so good that it really supersedes the DNR issue for me.

[sauronbaggins]

The thing is. There's a massive amount of scenes that are not 100% in focus. And this is very well documented that happened. Is the fact that 2nd, and 3rd unit direction would be under extreme pressure to finish scenes. Then those scenes were sent over via satellite to Peter Jackson. But the control process was bad, since the technology and time to control such amount of scenes was simply not possible to do in such short period of time. No pixel peeping possible, sorta speak. So those scenes are indeed the cause of bad camera focus due to delivery time pressures. Andrew Lesnie would be at the helm of 1st camera along with Peter. But not commanding the other units.

[SmokeMonster]

Great video! Another issue with the 4K is that the Atmos track is simply the same old DTS audio but with a noticeable bass cut. It's most apparent in the Balrog battle.