Titanic: 100 Years in 3D Blu-ray 3D Review

Posted August 6th, 2012 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4 (2D); MVC (3D)
Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
Audio Codec: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, Danish, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish
Subtitles Color: White
Region: ABC (Region-Free)
Rating: Not Rated
Run Time: 45 Mins.
Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray 3D)
Studio: A&E Home Video/New Video
Blu-ray Release Date: August 14, 2012
List Price: $29.95

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Overall

The Film

Video Quality
2D HD:
3D Effect:
Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All Blu-rayDefinition.com screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

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The Film

From a 2010 expedition by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and RMS Titanic, Inc. to document the wreck site of Titanic, using high-resolution optical video, sonar, acoustic imaging, and 3D HD video and acoustic modeling in memory of the 100 year anniversary of the sinking, Titanic 100 Years in 3D from The History Channel presents much of the same story we already know with some new and spectacular imagery. The 45-minute documentary offers some looks at parts of the wreckage that have never been explored before while narration and voice overs tell the personal stories of the passengers of Titanic. A glimpse at some recovered artifacts helps personalize the stories.

Video Quality

2D HD:

3D Effect:

This production looks good in its straight 2D presentation at 1.78:1 1080p/24 with an AVC/MPEG-4 encodement, even if there are some slight appearances of aliasing. The flesh tones are natural and detail is strong. Still, the real reason for this title existing is the 3D content, and the 3D is some of the best I have seen for a documentary, heck, for any title, really, to date. The underwater sequences of the Titanic wreckage are downright eerie, and nearly flawless as far as their front-to-back depth and lack of crosstalk. The flotsam and jetsam of the ocean float rather far out from the screen in front of you as well. Even the other CG sequences show strong 3D depth and the creators even manage to make the archival photographs seem more interesting. Rather than the usual pan across the photos, as pioneered by documentarians like Ken Burns, the photos here pop out from the screen, often times with the underwater footage of the Titanic wreckage as the backdrop.

Audio Quality

The disc gets only a lossless English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It has a rather decent mix, nonetheless, with clear narration in the center channel and dialogue at times panned hard left and right across the front. Atmospherics aren’t as clean and natural as they might have been were this a lossless mix and dynamic range seems just a little bit more squeezed, but lows are rather deep.

Supplemental Materials

Nope, nothing doing.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

An interesting enough documentary that offers up spectacular 3D imagery of the Titanic wreckage, Titanic: 100 Years in 3D may not offer too much new information on the voyage and sinking of the Titanic, but it is still well worth owning for anyone who is 3D capable.