DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Star Trek: First Contact - Special Collector's Edition (Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[Travis Brashear]

The bottom shots have to be the Collector's Edition--smoother, more film-like, with cleaner edges to objects.

 

[GregK]

Interesting- The bottom images are slightly cropped on the left side, and ever so slightly cropped at the bottom.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Yes indeed the second images are from the new transfer. But the bad news is that the new transfer is cropped on the left. So I think I will still keep the original.

 

[Jaxon's Dad]

Great review Scott! I was on the fence about purchasing this right away, but I gave in to the inevitable and placed my order. Gotta have it - it's Trek fer cryin' out loud! Especially after scrutinizing those comparison screenshots. Thanx Sam!

 

[Tino]

I have the original script for First Contact and also a copy of the workprint that I received two months before the premiere and there are no such scenes in either.

Can't wait for this S.E. Sounds great!

 

[Scott Kimball]

Here is a link to a videocapture of the main menu.

49 seconds, Quicktime 6, 4.8MB, 10fps

Main Menu Movie


24 seconds, Quicktime 6, 2.1MB, 10fps

Main Menu Movie - Disc 2


Excuse the quality... trying to keep bandwidth down.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Nice review. Yes, the second set of pictures look better. Less pixelization, less moire, better resolution etc.

 

[Clark Bradley]

That menu looks awesome!!! Thanks Scott!

Could you do one for the second menu too?

 

[Rocky F]

Are any of the features anamorphic?

 

[Scott Kimball]

Unfortunately, none of the special features are anamorphic. I meant to mention that in the review. I'll edit it to reflect that.

Clark - I added a link to another video in my previous post.

-Scott

 

[Clark Bradley]

Thanks again Scott!!!

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Quoting GregK:This fact is very disappointing to me.

It's true that all of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's head is visible in the first picture with a good deal of space after that and the second picture cuts off part of the back of Picard's head. The same again with the control instrument on the table at the bottom of the screen. You can see the whole control with additional space after it on the bottom of the screen in the first picture and the corner of the control cut off in the second picture.

Maybe this should also be mentioned in the review, like the few occasions of mild dialogue distortion at peak levels?

Unfortunate; I wonder if the cropping is throughout the whole film?

Paul

 

[Scott Kimball]

It should be noted that, since these are digital captures, they don't take into consideration the "action safe" framing. The cropping is pretty minor, and it is unlikely that one would notice any problem with standard overscan.

There is also a bit more of a reveal on the right of the frame (though not as much as is cropped on the left). Who is to say which transfer is "right"? I would estimate that both are within tolerance for an "action safe" frame.

It should also be noted that, in the first instance anyway, neither the camera nor Patrick Stewart are static in the scene. If the capture was even one frame off, it could explain some of the difference. I'm not faulting Sam's procedure - just pointing out some variables.

I don't see clear evidence that either transfer is flawed. If one is - which one?

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Quoting Scott Kimball:
Good point Scott! Because of my concern for the OAR and the Original spacial dimensions framed in the OAR, I expressed my concern too early.

First, I notice that Sam Davatchi, who posted the pictures, is from Paris, France. Are his "original" pictures from the 'Region 1' DVD? Same for the "Collector's Edition"?

Paul

 

[Scott Kimball]

I can't answer on Sam's behalf... however, I've been playing around with his captures.

Here's a superimposition, with the frames lined up as close as possible on a point of reference near the center of the screen (the control in front of Troi was used for convenient reference). This serves to point out the difference in zooming on the two transfers.



Doing some pixel measurements, here is the framing difference for each edge of the frame, based on points of reference near each edge:

.028 Left
.007 Right
.001 Top
.019 Bottom

2.8% for the largest framing difference is smaller than the overscan of most calibrated displays. Most sets out of the box have a greater than 5% overscan.

-Scott

 

[Britton]

Good price + improved picture + interesting and plentiful collection of extras = sure fire purchase.

Definitely the best of the TNG flicks.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Thanks for the review, Scott. It's too bad about the cropping, but at least it's slight. Also good to hear the problems with the Generations transfer haven't been repeated here.

I'm also looking forward to the Goldsmith tribute.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Yes all my captures in this forum from the past and present are from region 1. I will try to do more later.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Another one. It's easy, the one that misses half the image is the CE!

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Joking and cropping aside, doesn’t the original look more detailed?