DVDBeaver Comparisons

[Michael Kerpan]

So, it looks like the Geneon R1 matches the Geneon R2. Can't argue with that much. I guess one would hope that they did.

[Gary Tooze]

In our review of Criterion's "Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara" we have compared to the corresponding UK DVDs (from BFI – Woman in the Dunes, and MoC – Pitfall and The Face of Another). The Criterion boxset once again has pictureboxed transfers.

From Woman in the Dunes

BFI


Criterion


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

[daniel p]

The comparison looks like SD vs HD. It is an incredible improvement judging by those screenshots. This box has been my most anticipated release for years, and it looks like it was worth the wait. Still a shame Ruined Map is not included though.

[kekid]

Is it possible to compare the Criterion Teshigaharas to the corresponding films in the Asmik set? Thanks!

[Gary Tooze]

2 upcoming releases....

Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC "Ivan's Childhood" vs. MK2 - Region 0 - PAL vs. Artificial Eye - Region 0 - PAL vs. Spectrum (Korean) - Region 3 - NTSC

Paramount (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC "The Rainmaker" vs. Paramount - Region 1- NTSC

Ivan's Childhood:

Mk2


Criterion


One more....

Panorama Entertainment (2 disc Box) - Region 3 - NTSC "Hana and Alice" vs. Home Vision - Region 1 - NTSC

Finally !

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC "Kansas City Confidential" vs. Sony/BMG - Region 0 - PAL vs. Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Alpha, Gotham Distribution - Region 0 - NTSC vs. TreeLine Films - Region 0 - NTSC

Image Entertainment


MGM


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

[feckless boy]

In recent reviews (the Teshigahara-set and Ivan's childhood) I've noticed some oddities with the caps (more on that later). Let's see what we can agree upon.

PAL dvds has an image size (capacity) of 720x576.

NTSC dvds has an image size (capacity) of 720x480.

HOWEVER if a dvd is anamorphic the widht (when viewed) expands.

The height always stays the same (anamorphic or not).

With the full-frame ratio (1.33 or 4:3) the frame size for PAL is 768x576 (slightly anamorphic in my use of the word). For NTSC the frame is just 640x480 (to maintain the correct proportions).
(This is also the size screencaps get if you use VLC).

So screencaps with heights other than 480 (NTSC) and 576 (PAL) has been resized (either by the capturing-software or afterwards with an image editing software).

In the review of Ivan's childhood the MK2 caps used as comparison all have different height (531, 536 and 539).

In the review of the Teshigahara-set the all of the caps have the right proportions, the MoCs are shown at their full size and the Criterions are "blown-up" to 720x540.

So my question: is this done intentionally or is this the way that PowerDVD captures 1.33?

[Gary Tooze]

I believe everything you have said is correct, feckless boy, except

For NTSC the frame is just 640x480 (to maintain the correct proportions).

No. Power DVD will make it 720 X 540. This also depends on your video card but for our purposes we consider that 'native'. We do have some NTSC caps that are 640 because of the video limitations of that particular computer's video card.

In the review of Ivan's childhood the MK2 caps used as comparison all have different height (531, 536 and 539).

I inadvertently had my image software crop the black borders of Ivan's Childhood (or we shrunk the caps so they are the same size). Those MK2 caps were done a while ago when our methods were, although still quite viable, not as stringent as they are now. We prefer not to alter from native even if it means the caps are different sizes. And we don't crop away borders (if we can help it) to show windowboxing. This decision is more recent since Criterion started windowboxing.

In the review of the Teshigahara-set the all of the caps have the right proportions, the MoCs are shown at their full size and the Criterions are "blown-up" to 720x540.

So my question: is this done intentionally or is this the way that PowerDVD captures 1.33?

No, the Criterions are not 'blown up'. They are their native resolution - NTSC 720 X 540. PAL caps are native 768 X 576. Anamorphic caps are native 960 (NTSC) and PAL are larger (1160 I think) but we resize both the latter 16X9's for web viewing - alerting their image down to 800 wide (and keeping aspect ratio). Resizing the image about 80% is nothing like it would be for HD caps that are native 1920 wide. (it would make them somewhere around 35% of their original size - not efficient).

I hope this clears things up. If you are interested in more please contact me privately at [email protected].

Best,
Gary

[feckless boy]

Thanks for your swift response-and for sharing your view on dvd technicalities. I think we end this now and happily continue to disagree about the "native resolution" for NTSC dvds.
Keep up your good work with the Beaver site!

[Gary Tooze]

I should clarify. It is not 'native' to the DVD itself, but native to our software... and it gives us a standard that we wil try not to deviate.

Best,
Gary

[feckless boy]

Now I understand your take on native resolution - and we can happily continue our lives knowing that there is someone else out there that has spent a fair amount of time acquiring almost useless knowledge. And that we have come to very similar conclusions. Thank you for your time.

[Gary Tooze]

Since we have multiple contributors with multiple software(s) we find letting one standard do our work uniformy helps us to create as accurate comparisons as possible. We, of course, aren't perfect but we are always trying to attain as high a standard as we can. With our SD DVD images we don't use filters or any other 'improvements' so we can keep it all on a level playing field. It may appear trivial to some but....

Ex. A DVD we review might exhibit 'combing' but watching through a CRT - it may not be unnoticeable. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Our hardcore niche want their favorite films in the best digital presentation possible even realizing the DVDs they purchase will outlast their current viewing systems.

New out today....

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC "The Stranger" vs. Focus-Films (single-disc) Region 0 - NTSC vs. MGM Region 2 / 4 - PAL vs. Roan Region 0 - NTSC vs. Parade Region 0 - NTSC vs. Focus-Films (2-disc) Region 0 - NTSC vs. Eureka Region 0 - PAL

New...

BFI - Region 2 - PAL "Les Enfants Terribles" vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC

ERA (RE-Mastered) Home Video - Region 0 - NTSC "Raise the Red Lantern" vs. MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Razor - Region 0 - NTSC

and, although not official comparisons, Leonard compared screen captures in his reviews of the Blu-ray editons of Terminator and Infernal Affairs with their SD counterparts.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Best,

[justeleblanc]

ERA (RE-Mastered) Home Video - Region 0 - NTSC "Raise the Red Lantern" vs. MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Razor - Region 0 - NTSC

and, although not official comparisons, Leonard compared screen captures in his reviews of the Blu-ray editons of Terminator and Infernal Affairs with their SD counterparts

Thankfully they're cracking down on Oil Rigs.

[Gary Tooze]

The upcoming Region 1 Dragon Dynasty (Weinstein) is added...

Tartan - Region 2 - PAL 'Hard Boiled' vs. Long Shong Int. (Taiwan) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Fox/Lorber- Region 1 vs. Mei Ah Region 0 NTSC vs. Dragon Dynasty - Weinstein (2-disc Ultimate Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. TF1 Vidéo (France)- Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC

Not being a John Woo fan I didn't initially verify this but the new Hard Boiled coming out next Tuesday by Dragon Dynasty (Weinstein) has DUBtitles. Some may still wish to get for the extensive supplements.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Best,

[starmanof51]

Not being a John Woo fan I didn't initially verify this but the new Hard Boiled coming out next Tuesday by Dragon Dynasty (Weinstein) has DUBtitles. Some may still wish to get for the extensive supplements.

Gary, Is there a screencap that might capture an example translation demonstrating why that's a problem with this particular release? My cursory googling of the subject seems to indicate that sometimes dubtitling leads to problems, sometimes not so much. School me.

[Michael Kerpan]

A detailed comparison discussion is going on elsewhere, this might be of some interest to you.

[Gary Tooze]

Starman,

It would more appropriately be a clip rather than a capture. DUBs often precis or expand dialogue to suit the characters lip movement. It often bastardizes, in its attempt, to accurately translate the dialogue - making it quite different from how text would. So, for purists, this is unacceptable. We've seen it before with Japanese animation features.

As far as other problems - perhaps someone could school me.

Best,
Gary

[ellipsis7]

Re: that Oil Rigs reference.... They have a lot of time off duty on the rigs for R & R, but obviously can't drink alcohol, so apparently carry large libraries of DVDs, video games etc. to while away the hours, which when screened to a fair crowd on the rigs they are obviously deemed as a form of public showing, as opposed to private home use....

[Gary Tooze]

...and 4 out of 5 oil rig workers would choose Raise the Red Lantern for movie night.

Added the Enter One...

Enter One (2 disc Box) - Region 3 - NTSC "Hana & Alice" vs. Panorama Entertainment (2 disc Box) - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Home Vision - Region 1 - NTSC

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Best,

[colinr0380]

Re: that Oil Rigs reference.... They have a lot of time off duty on the rigs for R & R, but obviously can't drink alcohol, so apparently carry large libraries of DVDs, video games etc. to while away the hours, which when screened to a fair crowd on the rigs they are obviously deemed as a form of public showing, as opposed to private home use....

It beats passing time by sleeping with your boss's girl while he is putting golfballs at those damn Greenpeace protesters! Armageddon - the only film where working on an oil rig seems only to involve causal sex, shotgun practice and using highly dangerous technical equipment in the same way children would use a climbing frame in an adventure playground!

I thought oil rigs were mentioned on most copyright notices? A lot of my VHS tapes and Region 2 discs included them instead of the FBI warning. Is this something new for the US?

[tryavna]

Gary,

Re. your review of 47 Ronin: If this release is like others by Animeigo, then the "limited subtitles" option will only provide subtitle translations for written text, not spoken words. It doesn't make a lot of sense for feature films, but I presume it's a holdover from their anime releases. It allows people who prefer to listen to an English dub to read any Japanese text that might appear onscreen.

[Gary Tooze]

Thanks tryavna!

That explains things.

Although not a full comparison per-se - in our review of The Film Noir Classic Collection - Volume 4 we have compared a couple of frames from the new Warner with the older Éditions Montparnasses - Region 2 - PAL for They Live By Night and The Big Steal.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

[Person]

Gary, will you be reviewing the Manon Of The Spring / Jean De Florette reissue? Confirmation is needed as to whether the transfers are new, ie. anamorphic with accurate colors. Cheers.

[Gary Tooze]

I'll get to Manon as soon as I can. It's anamorphic!

MGM (Double Feature) - Region 1 - NTSC "Jean De Florette" vs. MGM/UAÂ - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Pathe (UK) - Region 2 - PAL

New...

Carlotta - Region 2 - PAL "Bigger Than Life" vs. BFI - Region 2 - PAL

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

[zombeaner]

Any possibility of a comparison of the newish Peeping Tom R2UK V the Criterion? How about the new 2 disc Tokyo Shock Ichi The Kiler comparison?

[Gary Tooze]

yes... possible
***
One more...

Criterion Collection (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC "If..." vs. Paramount Pictures - Region 2 - PAL

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Have a good weekend,