Are There Disadvantages to Import Releases? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Bendiksen]

I'm looking to purchase Mulholland Drive in HD DVD. However, is there any potential downside to this? I realize HD DVD does not currently have regional encoding, but I didn't know if there were other issues I should be concerned about before making these sorts of purchases.

 

[Vincent_P]

There have been reports that some of the overseas HD-DVDs (not all, but some of them) have noticeably higher-pitched audio. It sounds like PAL-speed up, but oddly the discs themselves are not actually sped up. On one of the AVS Forum threads somebody actually posted audio comparison clips from BASIC INSTINCT that clearly indicate something is wrong with some of these titles in terms of the audio pitch.

Vincent

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Thanks for the info, Vincent. I was not aware of that; this is all virgin territory for me!

Given that fact, I should ask more specifically, has anyone experienced problems with the French import of Mulholland Drive?

 

[Rachael B]

I got Basic Instinct, King Kong '76, and Harry Potter.... and I'm OK wih them. I haven't really scrutinized the audio. I thought the pic could of been better on Harry Potter. It seemed a cut below domestic releases.

 

[MarekM]

european version of harry is us release.....
on my 40" lcd screen it looked very nice.....

RachelB, do you find any specific part which could have been better ?

Marek

 

[Dave Mack]

they apparently used a sped up PAL master for the audio and digitally slowed it down by 4% to match the new HD transfer. the audio is now a mess on some of those titles and the people who imported them rightfully pissed.

 

[Sean Bryan]

While different eyes and different set-ups may result in different viewing experiences, the general consensus for the quality of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire HD DVD is overwhelmingly positive. And it looks great to me as well.


And yes, this particular "import" HD DVD is the USA disc (FBI warning and all). It is just that for whatever reason (probably WB waiting for BD) WB decided to hold off on the US release and diverted the discs to the UK instead.


So, technically, this HD DVD isn't really relevant to the topic of expected quality/problems with HD DVDs made for other countries.

 

[Cees Alons]

Harry Potter is indeed exactly the version you will see in the US and it's splendid!


Cees

 

[Paul_Scott]

the reason they decided not to release HP in the fall or at Christmas is obivious-
there is a new theatrical release due in a few months. I don't understand how many people are questioning Warners intentions here, when synergistic releases have been an annoying fact of dvd life for years and years now.

For petes sake, I remember when we had to wait for Chicago just so we could get All That Jazz. It is lame, but this is how the studios think.
the Matrix got delayed so that all three movies could be released at once (probably a boxset). No big conspiracy, just a big corporation trying to guage the best way to exploit its property.

 

[ppltd]

Which releases are you talking about. I have King Kong (76), First Blood, Harry Potter and Elephant Man from Studio Canal, all encoded 1080p/24. There are absolutly no audio issues on any of these disks. As I do not own Basic Instinct, I can not comment on the reported issues on this title.

 

[Rachael B]

Yes,, when they're out at "witch camp out", those villians who come and shoot it up....that scene left somethin' to be desired. It's a dark scene and surely a hard scene. I've only watched it the once and in 1080i. It might come off better in 1080p...? Otherwise, I was mostly impressed. I didn't see it in the cinema and don't have that for as a refrence point. That one big scene looked weak to me.....

 

[Rachael B]

I've just watched my Basic Instinct the once. The audio didn't bug me. Now ya'all proably ruined it for me...? I'm bound to hear somethin', eh? I was comparing Basic Instinct to a Muse LD I have of it. I thought all the outdoor, daytime shots on Muse LD looked better. It wasn't even a contest on the indoor and night shots, the HD-DVD cleaned the HD LD's clock. Supposedly, the HLD-X0 will play this disc, well, all Muse LD's better than my HLD-X9.

The fact that the Muse LD was somewhat competative with this disc suprised me....well atleast on the outdoor shots.

Is it my imagination but does this Euro version have a bit more erotic footage than U.S. versions?

 

[Cees Alons]

Probably yes. The European version of the film has always been a few seconds (almost a minute) longer in that area. Started with the theatrical release and the VHS tapes.


Cees

 

[Rachael B]

I thought so Cees....

I watched Total Recall on Studio Canal, Euro HD-DVD last night and it's a better print or encode than Lionsgate's Blu-ray disc. The BD looks washed out where the HD-DVD has much more colour content. The BD has less detail in backgrounds and wider shots.

I have Elephant Man on HD-DVD coming from X-ploited Cinema next.....

 

[gandolf01933]

i have Harry Potter and everything is fine

 

[dkny75]

From the AVS forum the only Studio Canal releases they had a sound problem is with Basic Instinct, Total Recall, and one or two of the Rambos (not sure which one). I've seen Basic Instinct and didn't notice it and haven't watched Total Recall yet.

 

[ppltd]

First Bllod (Ramdo 1) has no sound issues I could detect. Don't care for Ramob 2 or 3 so I will pass on them. Elephant Man was fine also.

 

[ppltd]

I agree with you on Total Recall. I own the BD version, and a friend brought over the HD-DVD. Much better all around disk.

 

[Chris Dugger]

Personally, as a collector of region free dvd for over 8 years, the only time the PAL speed up bothered me was on the "Buffy" TV series....

It was there that I noticed a higher pitched difference...

Now with hd-dvd, I have imported allot of titles.... when comparing these soundtracks up against the region 1 sd, they do seem to exhibit a higher pitched difference.... but as I ran TOTAL RECALL the other night for over 60 people, no one person (nor myself) could tell that there was PAL audio speed up..... In fact is sounded quite good.....

and for the compare of the TOTAL RECALL bd vs hd-dvd..... well.... this is a case of blu-ray or lions gate getting there ass kicked by the studio canal release.....

Dugger

 

[dkny75]

Here's a review of Basic Instinct that acknowledges the sound issue.

http://www.dvdreview.com/reviews/pages/2516.shtml