A Few Words About A few words about... The Wizard of Oz (1 Viewer)

[Rolando]

Man I hope they pillarbox with black bars. Those grey bars are ugly. Sure they say grey bars are supposed to be safer but I have been watching plenty of 2:35 movies and still no burn in on my CRT RPTV.

besides about 75% (I guess) of HDTVs by 2006-2007 will be LCDs, DLPs, LCOS or some other new tech that does not have a problem with burn in.

 

[Kevin M]

I assume they will use black rather than grey, in over the air HD broadcasts of 2.31:1 material they use black so I would assume that they will continue using black with disc based 1.33 HD.....I assume.

 

[Haggai]

There's 4X3 material on some 16X9-enhanced DVDs now (like on the 16X9 side of the That's Entertainment discs) where the image appears with black bars on the sides for widescreen TVs.

 

[Cees Alons]

Haggai,

Yes, but that's bad, because then you lose resolution.


Cees

 

[Damin J Toell]

I can't speak for Haggai, but I don't think he is disagreeing with that point. Rather, I believe he is offering information indicative on the issue of the color of the bars that studios will use when presenting 1.33:1 transfers in HD.

DJ

 

[Haggai]

Damin's right, all I meant to do was chime in on the fact that some standard-def DVDs already have black bars on the sides on 16X9 TVs, as opposed to gray bars.

 

[Cees Alons]

Haggai (and Damin),

Perhaps I typed a bit hastily - sorry if it looked harsh. I realized that you knew that, and just like you: all I wanted to do was stress a point in this discussion, not "correct" you in any way.


Cees

 

[Will Krupp]

This is a myth. The effect is acheived the way Mr. Harris describes it. In the old tv/vhs days...the effect was not seamless because the Kansas scenes were in pure black and white as opposed to sepia, so the careful recreation of the sepia door in Technicolor is meaningless. Returning the Kansas scenes to their original tint makes a perfect match.

One quick note to Mr. Harris concerning the combination printing that WAS used on the release prints of The Women. I don't believe the dvd actually uses the original b&w portion of the overlap shot (which leads me to believe that it is indeed lost) but instead uses a b&w still from later in the fashion show to fill in the frame. It's a neat effect, and far less jarring than the stark white of the old vhs and laser releases, but I have to believe that the original shot had the stage in color with the rest of the room in b&w.

 

[ScottR]

Actually, the effect wasn't seemless on the 1998 prints. I was a projectionist, and I know. The effect was seemless on the last release, with the huge light reflection on the door toned down. I know the set was painted in sepia tones, but I understand that the original prints took it one step further.

 

[Tim Glover]

I love reading Robert Harris's a few words about...especially when it centers around a film that I love. The Wizard Of Oz is a film that I have loved and cherish for many years. Can't wait for the dvd.

It will be an expensive year for dvds. :b

 

[ScottR]

Does anyone know if there are reviews out yet?

 

[oscar_merkx]

sooo looking forward to this one

 

[Mike Williams]

I, too, look forward to Mr. Harris' "A Few Words About . . ." and had been very much looking forward this one. However, I found it quite lacking, and as much as we heard what a dramatic improvement "Gone With the Wind" was over its previous release, it seems that the improvement in "The Wizard of Oz" is negligible, depite the Ultra Resolution. Not to say that it is Mr. Harris' comments that are lacking, but perhaps the new transfer itself.

Regardless, I will still be picking up the 3-disc set.

 

[Haggai]

I doubt the new transfer is lacking. RAH's point seemed to be that the previous one was already about as good as it could get for this film on DVD.

 

[ScottR]

I think I will notice a difference, because I have seen the film about 400 times or more.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

According to Glenn Kenney in the latest issue of Premiere Magazine, the new transfer is hardly "lacking"....

He says:

"A stunning new 'ultra resolution' transfer renders the (Oz) environs even more hallucinogenic than thought possible...."

"Even those who love this movie like no other and are expecting big things from this three-disc edition will be sent reeling."

"A labor of love and a deep well of delight, this is one of the most stunning packages the DVD medium has yet yielded."

 

[Robert Harris]

The new release is certainly not "lacking."

The point was that it looked superb in the last release, and even with new processing in place, will only be seen in terms of anything even close to major by those with high end systems.

It is neither the DVD nor Ultra-resolution which is holding anything back, here, but rather, our current playback systems.

I'm certain that as a high definition release, the difference between the new master and the previous will be astounding.

The new three disc release is a veritable cornucopia of Wizard of Oz material, that delights the eye, the ear and the brain.

RAH

 

[Arnie G]

The more I read in this thread, the more I think I'll be disappointed with this release:frowning:

 

[Mark Lucas]

This would be the best solution. A flag in the bitstream would indicate the aspect ratio and the display device would do the appropriate stretching/squeezing. The problem is that HD sets are largely fixed pixel displays. So if a 2.35:1 film is encoded using the full 1920x1080 resolution how are you going to take advantage of the extra vertical resolution if the set is fixed at 1080p?

 

[Paul McElligott]

Only thing missing is the "Dark Side of the Moon" audio track for the potheads.