I don't mind the rather excessive grain, but what really annoys me is the terrible posterization or color banding on the DVD version's underwater scenes.
Since I don't have access to HD, I tried searching some HD reviews. It turns out that the posterization/banding is present even on the HD discs. Home Theater Spot's David Vaughn says:
"I really had high hopes for this one on HD DVD, and for the most part it delivers. Color saturation is outstanding on the VC-1 encoded 1080P transfer, but heavy posterization is evident in a lot of the underwater sequences. In fact, this is the worst posterization that I have seen on HD DVD." http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/dvd-review.php?sequence=1730=================================================================
Hindi ko ma-gets ang review ni Peter M. Bracke:
Technical aspects of this transfer are also excellent. Presented in 2.40:1 widescreen and 1080p/VC-1 video, compression artifacts are non-existent. Posterization and macroblocking never intrude, and colors appear free of chroma noise. ...
Ano ba yung
"Posterization and macroblocking never intrude"? Does it mean that they are not present on the transfer? Or does he mean that they're present but acceptable?
At any rate, Bracke's review is a far cry from Vaughn's observation:
"In fact, this is the worst posterization that I have seen on HD DVD."
