PSYCHO to Blu Ray (1 Viewer)

[Douglas R]

The picture quality of this Blu-ray disc is really excellent. The new 5.1 sound mix, reworked from the original mono soundtrack (there were no separate music/sound effects/ dialogue elements to use) has also been carried out well, although I think Bernard Herrmann's music loses its harsh quality when not heard in the original mono track. What music is playing over the menu screens? It's not Herrmann's music.

 

[warnerbro]

The Beaver has just released a review of the REGION FREE UK STEELBOOK and they said it is "superlative" and it is IN STOCK NOW! It is 2 months until the US version is released. I ordered the steelbook today. The screen shots on Beaver are breathtaking. I can't believe you can see Martin Balsom's pores and a few whiskers that he missed shaving and where his makeup was applied unevenly. Unbelievable! They quote RAH as saying it was made from a fine-grain master and not the original negative. I can't wait to get my hands on this! The screen captures make it look like there is more frame on the sides on this edition. The detail and gray scale look amazing. I hope RAH will comment here soon.

 

[David Wilkins]

Very good write-up at The Beaver. I just might spring for the imported steelbook.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've looked at the UK covers and the USA cover and I like the Bates Hotel cover better. It seems to rumble with tension. Of course that could just be me. I was 14 when my parents took me to see this. We were expecting another North by Northwest, which while it had moments of suspense, was not a horror movie. Psycho is a horror movie and I literally did not sleep for 2 days.

 

Was it because the star died early in the movie or because the deaths were so convincing or the music was so scary or not knowing what would happen next? What I do know is I find it a difficult movie to watch. I've only watched my DVD once. So I think I'll be waiting for the US release to drop in price before buying.

 

It's great movie, no doubt about it. When I do watch it, it will be at high noon with every light in the house on.

 

[Charles Smith]

Not to digress, and please excuse my ignorance, but is PAL speedup an issue on BLU's like it is on DVDs, or did BLU technology come to the rescue? I've enjoyed a number of PAL DVDs, but they were always films unfamiliar enough to me (or for which the music, at least, wasn't familiar, because I have a pretty decent "perfect pitch") that there was no distraction. At least, not till I finally heard them played at the correct speed (thank you very much, Chuck Pennington!). I'm asking this here, because there's no way I could watch a film for which the sound is as intimately familiar to me as Psycho if Herrmann's score, for instance, was playing at the wrong pitch. In fact, with any truly classic films, let alone actual musicals, I'd bet that one might even notice some visual differences...?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Chas in CT

Not to digress, and please excuse my ignorance, but is PAL speedup an issue on BLU's like it is on DVDs, or did BLU technology come to the rescue?

 

It depends on how the disc was encoded and what the source master is. As I understand it, all 1080P transfers on Blu-Ray are either 24 FPS or 23.976 FPS; essentially the same thing. Some BDs are released in 1080i, however. Interlaced video on Blu is encoded at the old NTSC and PAL framerates of 29.97 and 25.0 frames per second. Movies encoded interlaced would therefore presumably have either the motion problems of NTSC or the speedup issue of PAL.

 

The vast majority of BDs are 1080P at 24 frames per second, however. The only thing you have to worry about in that case is whether its sourced from an HD master originally intended for 25 FPS use. The solutions for getting back to the 24 FPS original are messy, either keeping the film sped up and dropping 1 frame per second (and therefore introducing a whole new motion issue in addition to dumping 1/25th of the movie) or slowing it back down to 24 FPS (and therefore have a soundtrack that's been perverted twice).

 

Solution: Read trusted reviews, such as the ones on the HTF. Because PAL related issues are such a rarity for Blu, you're definitely going to hear about it when one pops up. Pretty much any time a movie's released in 1080i rather than 1080P, for instance, there's going to be a number of people up in arms about it.

 

[Torsten Kaiser]

The vast majority of Blu-ray encodes are at the frame rate of 23.976p 1080, not 24p. This is important because the two are two different High Definition standards, so not the same. The 23.976p standard is used in the US and all other regions that have NTSC SD broadcast signals as it allows the 3:2 Pulldown and vice versa to --> 59.94i 1080 or 525i [480i] downconvert for interlaced TV distribution. With 24 f/s this would not be possible; a crossconversion to 23.976 would have to be made first. Since most Blu-ray masters, specifically those by the major studios, are crafted in the US, the m.o. is also somewhat understandable. Ironically, some displays even have difficulties with refreshing the genuine 24p rate as some manufacturers SAY their displays work at 24p, but actually MEAN 23.976p. The result: frame jumps every other minute. So simplification in communication is not always a good thing; and accuracy does have its merits.

 

As for masters crafted at 25p(sf) 1080 that need to be crossconverted to 24, this is not a problem at all. No frames are skipped. Its called speed-down and can be performed on HDCAM and on HDCAMSR level without any limitations. Only one thing needs to be slightly adjusted - the sound in pitch.

 

[Tim Glover]

Originally Posted by Cees Alons

I had the US version on order, but I cancelled it and ordered the steelbook version at Amazon/UK. It's more expensive, but I simply couldn't help it.

 

 

Cees

1

 

[Tim Glover]

Originally Posted by Cees Alons

 

50th Anniversary Edition of truly one of the GREATS in film history. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. On Blu-ray!!
 

Should be here sometime next week from amazon.uk.

 

[warnerbro]

I ordered the Steelbook from Amazon UK after the Beaver review. Should be here early next week. Can't wait! I love the cover art on the Steelbook of Janet Leigh screaming and I don't want to wait for two more months for the US version. It looks like Universal is finally doing their first good Blu-ray. I have been so disappointed in their other classic Blu-rays. They have been horrible and smeared-looking and so digitally cleaned that they have cleaned all the detail out of the picture. It looks like they may have done this one right. I'll let you know (as always) my honest unvarnished opinion.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Great post, Torsten! I knew I was on the right track, but it's great to get correction and clarification from a pro. I love learning about what's "under the hood" for technical formats like this.

 

[David Wilkins]

Okay...I'm a bit slow on the up-take. But after reading Torsten's post above...should I be concerned about ordering the UK BD of 'Psycho', or should it be immune from framing or audio distortion issues when played on U.S. equipment?

 

[Timothy E]

Originally Posted by David Wilkins

Okay...I'm a bit slow on the up-take. But after reading Torsten's post above...should I be concerned about ordering the UK BD of 'Psycho', or should it be immune from framing or audio distortion issues when played on U.S. equipment?

Psycho on BD should not have any distortion issues. My experience with Universal

Blu-rays from the United Kingdom makes it appear that the encodes by Universal are similar, if not identical, to the North American releases.

There are some smaller companies producing Blu-rays which will have issues, aside from the region coding (A, B or C), when played back on North American equipment.

 

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by David Wilkins

Okay...I'm a bit slow on the up-take. But after reading Torsten's post above...should I be concerned about ordering the UK BD of 'Psycho', or should it be immune from framing or audio distortion issues when played on U.S. equipment?

It's not going to be a problem with domestic HT equipment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

[Torsten Kaiser]

As I said - the vast majority of Blu-ray encodes is 23.976p 1080; all of the majors adopted that frame rate with extremely few releases that differ (which may have been produced/shot on video or where a finished broadcast master was the only useful source [CSI S1, which is 59.94i 1080 interlaced]). Understand that this is NOT a regional issue; 23.976 works just fine both in the UK and the US - as it does in all the other parts of the world, for that matter. A few small distributors thought that genuine 24p 1080 would be just as fine, but found out the hard way that some customers experienced problems because the display hardware is clocked on 23.976 and not 24, causing some problems. OPTIMUM's first releases were among them.
 

This does NOT affect almost all releases, especially the majors, out there. In other words: PSYCHO will haunt you just fine also in your Region A BD player.

Originally Posted by David Wilkins

Okay...I'm a bit slow on the up-take. But after reading Torsten's post above...should I be concerned about ordering the UK BD of 'Psycho', or should it be immune from framing or audio distortion issues when played on U.S. equipment?

 

[alistairKerr]

Originally Posted by Douglas R

What music is playing over the menu screens? It's not Herrmann's music.
 

 

 

I didn't recognise that music either - anyone out there have any suggestions? It sounds a little like Bernard Herrmann, but I immmediately thought I haven't heard this music before.......

 

Alistair

 

[Kai Penttila]

 

Originally Posted by Douglas R

[...] The new 5.1 sound mix, reworked from the original mono soundtrack (there were no separate music/sound effects/ dialogue elements to use) has also been carried out well, although I think Bernard Herrmann's music loses its harsh quality when not heard in the original mono track. [...]

What about the isolated score on the LD, then?
 

 

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by Kai Penttila

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What about the isolated score on the LD, then?
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Good question. I may have misinterpreted what is said in the "Psycho Sound" featurette. It's not all that clear what sound elements they had - maybe they did have separate mono music tracks, as on the LD.
 

 

[XyzzyoOoyzzyX]

I've had the US release pre-ordered since day one but just can't wait another two months and have ordered the UK Steelbook. It's been at the top of my Blu list for years.

 

[Steve Christou]

 

Originally Posted by Douglas R

 

 

Btw the running time of the UK blu-ray of Psycho is 108m 51s, 4mins longer than my old DVD, so no speedup.