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Direct Graphic DVD Comparisons now Online!

#31
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8/25/02 at 5:53pm
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Quote:
What program do you use to view the bitrate graphs?
Carl, the question was asked in the 6th posting of this thread. I answerd it in the 7th post.

Regards,
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#32
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8/26/02 at 6:05am
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For a laugh: ( Here is an even bigger reason Bill ! )

TBMC Region 0 "The Seven Year Itch" vs. CBS/Fox Region 1
in the "Region 1(or '0' NTSC) vs. Region 1" section.
http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

The Pan and Scan TBMC version represents what I remember when seeing the film on televsion many many years ago... Quite a huge difference.

By the way, Our "The Red Violin" comparison lean towards that film being shot in 'Open Matte' ie. " ...a variable aspect ratio (usually 1.66:1 or 1.85:1) "... and specified matted by the projectionist in the theatre.

Regards,
Gary
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#33
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9/3/02 at 4:14am
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Two more updates:

Artificial Eye Region 2 PAL "Ivan's Childhood" vs. German Television transmission ( by Steffen Bieker mail@bieker.de )

Criterion Region 0 NTSC "The Killer" vs. Region 1 encoded Fox/Lorber - Winstar

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Regards,
Gary
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#34
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9/4/02 at 5:25am
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FYI,

With the help of Jeroen, Markus has added the Starmax NTSC Yi Yi Region 0 version to his DVD Comparison in the NTSC vs. PAL section.

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/


It is by the far the best version of the three, as you can plainly see.

It now reads:
Fox Lorber NTSC Region 0 "Yi Yi" vs. ICA Projects PAL Region 2 vs Starmax NTSC Region 0

Cheers,
Gary
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#35
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9/5/02 at 1:41pm
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New One:

Artificial Eye - R2 - PAL "Rosetta" vs. SPRING - Region 0 - NTSC

NOTE: I only bought the SPRING one because it was so cheap on EBay and I didn't own a region-free player at that stage. It was the only option on DVD for Region 1 NTSC 'ers.

Cheers,
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#36
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9/6/02 at 5:54am
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My R2 discs arrived so I can do a few more. I have posted:

Mega Star (Salon Films) - NTSC - Region 0 "Cyclo" vs. ARTE - Region 2 - PAL

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#37
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9/8/02 at 4:51am
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Two new Comparisons:

Columbia Tri-Star Studios - NTSC Region 1 "The Scent of Green Papaya" vs. ARTE - Region 2 - PAL

- the Pan and Scan Columbia disc is miles behind the Arte... I hate to compainn about Columbia Tri-Star as their discs are usually magnificent. I don't know why they didn't put the effort into this one.

Artificial Eye - PAL Region 2 "Eureka" vs. Artist Film - Japanese Region 2 - NTSC

This last one really shows the flaws of the Artificial Eye DVD...

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/


Cheers,
Gary
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#38
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9/10/02 at 6:15am
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Three more:

Central Park Media Region 0- NTSC "Grave of the Fireflies" vs. Warner Bros. Japan R2 - NTSC

Artificial Eye - R2 - PAL "La Promesse" vs. New Yorker Film - Region 1 - NTSC

and in the R1 vs. R1 section "Singin' in the Rain" Old R1 vs. Upcoming "New" R1 ( courtesy of DVD Authority)

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com


Not much to say about any La Promesse differences - pretty compatible... but we R1'ers got shafted on the Grave of the Fireflies... I wonder if the new one (also by Central Park Media) coming out with have a better image and the proper aspect ratio (not picture-boxed) as well as Ebert's commentary...

Cheers,
Gary
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#39
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9/11/02 at 8:31am
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I have redone the captures for the Hard Boiled comparison in the R1 section. I now realize why, on this particular film, that it was hard matching the correct frame. Criterion has slightly cropped there image on the DVD (my guess is to remove the apparent frayed edges visible on the Fox/Lorber DVD).

Criterion first, Fox next



http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
Gary
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#40
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9/13/02 at 5:01am
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New Comparison:

Zeitgeist Video Region 1- NTSC "Water Drops on Burning Rocks" vs. Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL

The Artificial Eye disc is a bit more detailed, check out the title screen, buildings in the distance have more detail. You can clearly see there's more detail in the Artificial Eye disc: watch the skin under her eyes in the 5th capture below. The Zeitgeist Video Disc is washed out, plus whites are clipping. The Artificial Eye disc has better skin tones. On the Zeitgeist Video Disc they are too green.

In favor of the Zeitgeist R1 the Artificial Eye disc is cropped a little compared to the OAR of 1.66:1.

The Artificial Eye disc shows combing in the fast movement. You can't see it now because of the resolution adjustment for the webpage, but in the original untouched capture you could clearly see it. The Artificial Eye disc is a bit too dark. Black level is excellent though, but there's not enough shadow detail. - Jeroen H. Komen

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
Gary
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#41
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9/14/02 at 12:26pm
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3 More... not particulariuly noteworthy ones:
NOTE Comments by Jeroen H. Komen.

Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "The Road Home" vs. Columbia Tri-Star - Region 2

Comments: Discs look identical to me, except that the R2 is a bit darker with better black level but less shadow detail. Both have too much edge enhancement. I've seen worse, but it's still too much to ignore.

Because Pal has 20% more resolution the R2 should look a lot more detailed. Unfortunately it doesn't, which is a shame. I own a lot of PAL discs, but I can count the ones that actually show the increased resolution on one hand

Saerom Entertainment/SRE - Korea - Region 0- NTSC "Love Letter" vs. KING - Japan R2 - NTSC

Comments:The Saerom R0 Disc has much too high black level. Even the brighter pictures appear washed out. This makes the picture look flat with very little contrast compared to the R2 Japan.

Both discs have blue-ish whites. This looks more severe on the R2 Japan but that's because the problem is obscured a bit on the R0 by the too high black level.

Edge enhancement is a problem on both discs. Especially the wider shots suffer, background detail is always lacking. R0 whites are clipping. Check out the snow on the rooftops (below) there's less detail there compared to the R2 Japan.

Again, I prefer the R2 Japan. One could argue that the R0 black level problem could be fixed by turning down brightness on your display but that's a no-go for me, because it messes up my calibrated grayscale. And the clipping whites just look bad.


Universal Studios 1 - NTSC "But I'm a Cheerleader" vs. Metrodome Region 2 - PAL

Comments:Both are much too dark. I've been told the VHS release is like that too, but in the theater it was much brighter. Both have excessive Edge Enhancement.

The R2 UK has massive overscan, especially on the left and right. I haven't measured but I'd say it's close to 15% l/r and 5% top/bottom. It's as if they performed some sort of zoom. It isn't a Pan and Scan job because both discs are roughly 1.85:1 . The R2 UK looks very blurry, with much less background detail than the R1. Check out the grass lawn in the picture of Natasha walking away from the camera. This isn't just an edge enhancement issue because like I said both discs seem to have the same hideous amount of Edge Enhancement applied.

A note about the colors, they are supposed to be this extreme. They look about the same on both discs.

I own both discs, because the R1 looks better and the R2 is the longer, uncut version

See the results for yourself at:
http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Regards,
Gary
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#42
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9/18/02 at 10:55am
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Two more VERY good ones...

Pioneer "Rashomon" vs. Criterion Region 1 vs. German Television transmission.
NOTE: Included: a special animated gif which shows a direct back/forth comparison of a film frame!
-Courtesy of Steffen Bieker

Paramount Region 1 "Don't Look Now" vs. Kinowelt Region 2
-Courtesy of Markus of ChiaroScuro

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

P.S. Coming Soon: Image Dersu Uzala: Image vs. Spectrum ( Korean 3 disc set )

Cheers,
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#43
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9/18/02 at 1:48pm
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Where do you find the software that did the histogram
for the Rashomon DVD?
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#44
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9/18/02 at 1:59pm
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Quote:
Where do you find the software that did the histogram
for the Rashomon DVD
The comparison was done by Steffen Becker, you may ask him: mail@bieker.de

Regards,
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#45
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9/20/02 at 6:26am
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3 more:

Warner Region 1 "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" vs. Kinowelt Region 2

Sony Pictures Region 1 "Beijing Bicycle" vs. Seville Pictures Region 1 vs. Starmax Region 0 - NOTE Starmax just added to old comparison !

Spectrum Region 3 (3 Discs) "Dersu Uzaka" vs. Image Entertainment NTSC Region 0

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Gary
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#46
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9/23/02 at 6:15am
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Monday morning, so 2 more:

Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "All About My Mother" vs. Pathé Distribution Ltd. Region 2 ( thanks to Markus for the R2 screen grabs )

Criterion Region 1 "This is Spinal Tap" vs. MGM - Region 4 ( thanks to Jeroen for the R4 screen grabs )

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Actually, this is turning into an excercise on "Why to Buy a Region-free Player" or to see what you are missing by NOT owning the 'Out of Print' Criterions...

Cheers,
Gary
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#47
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9/23/02 at 6:31am
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Wow, sweet!

Pardon my ignorance, but is this an on-going project?
Will there be the same thing for more "mainstream" titles?
Or is there maybe such a place already "out there" on the net? Any tips?
_____________________
Collection | OotS | The Bits
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#48
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9/23/02 at 7:07am
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Worth noting about the Spinal Tap comparison, is that the Criterion version has the original burnt-in titles, the MGM S.E. versions have these removed and replaced with player generated ones......

In R1, MGM has apperently revised this policy, but in PAL countries burnt-in titles are still removed (e.g. The Silence Of The Lambs, The Usual Suspects).

And also:
- The Criterion version does not have DD 5.1 audio.
- Only the discographic information of the Criterion is mentioned. The R4/MGM has one DVD-5 (single layer disc) which contains the movie, and one DVD-9 (dual layer disc), which contains the extra's.
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#49
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9/23/02 at 8:39am
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Quote:
Wow, sweet!

Pardon my ignorance, but is this an on-going project?
Will there be the same thing for more "mainstream" titles?
Or is there maybe such a place already "out there" on the net? Any tips?
Hi Kristian,
Yes, this is an ongoing project with a few of our NON-North American ListServ members from my website.
As our website generally gravitates toward "Eclectic Cinema and Digital Versatile Discs", I would say we would do those titles first.. and probably more mainstream titles second, BUT there are a few mainsteam titles already in the R1 vs. R1 Section.
There are a few other sites, one in French and one in German... but I see new ones all the time ... none as extensively detailed as ours though
You can see some links to these sites in our 'Links Section'.


Thanks Mark_vdH !

I have added your tech specs... sometimes its pretty hard to find this stuff on the web... most e-tailors don't go into detail, and I hate to bug the person oveseas who was nice enough to send me timecoded captures.

Regards,
Gary
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#50
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9/26/02 at 9:36am
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Posted:

Criterion Region 1 "Diabolique" vs. TF1 Vidéo Region 2

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/
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#51
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9/28/02 at 5:34am
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One more...

MGM Home Entertainment NTSC Region 1 "No Man's Land" vs. Gaumont-Columbia Tristar Home Video PAL Region 2 - Buy the R2!

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#52
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9/30/02 at 5:30am
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Artificial Eye Region 2 Pal vs. Paraent (Paradise Entertainment ) Korean - Region 0 - NTSC

If my sources are correct and we have triple checked them... then the Korean Tri-Color Trilogy ( Kieslowski, Blue, White and Red ) may be anamorphic, but they are definitely NOT in the correct aspect ratio (1.85:1) . They have taken the original and vertically squeezed it (somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1.78 to 1.66 :1 ), as well as the Extras not having English subtitles. So unless you want to see the characters longer and thinner than intended, avoid these Korean Region 0 releases... and get a Region-free player or wait till they come out in R1.

You can see the captures for yourself with Blue as my first example at:

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Regards,
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#53
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9/30/02 at 8:38am
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FoxLorber NTSC Region 1 "Breathless" vs. Gaumont-Columbia Tristar Home Vidéo PAL Region 2

Go for the European release yet again!

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#54
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10/1/02 at 11:43am
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We are doing a correction on the Tri-color Blue. Our source was misinformed and not utilizing his software correctly. Stay tuned.

But for your viewing pleasure:
Warner Home Video NTSC Region 1 "Eyes Wide Shut" vs. Warner Home Video PAL Region 2

I'm afraid I'll have to put a warning about the nudity etc. We are graphically showing the differences between the Censored R1 and Uncensored R2 versions. This is what was cut from your R1 DVD.

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#55
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10/1/02 at 4:42pm
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Eyes Wide Shut Jap. R2 NTSC Warner version 5.61 bit rate.
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#56
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10/2/02 at 5:50am
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Chalk one up for R1... conspicuous by their absence, here is an R1 version that is actually better than its European R2 counterpart.

Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "Gilda" vs. German - Region 2

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

By the way, this is a great film and great R1 DVD...

Cheers,
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#57
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10/3/02 at 1:22am
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certainly be interested in a Babylon 5 comparison when the time comes.
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#58
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10/17/02 at 11:05am
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This may be old news, but the Criterion "Salo" DVD receiving upwards of $600 US on EBay is cropped. To compare it to the BFI version... frame side-by-side identical frame click below to our latest comparison.

Criterion R1 "Salò or The 120 Days of Sodom" vs. BFI Region 2

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#59
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10/17/02 at 11:05am
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This may be old news, but the Criterion "Salo" DVD receiving upwards of $600 US on EBay is cropped. To compare it to the BFI version... frame side-by-side identical frame click below to our latest comparison.

Criterion R1 "Salò or The 120 Days of Sodom" vs. BFI Region 2

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
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#60
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10/21/02 at 10:28am
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I think this will be my last post to this thread as I'm sure the Admins are wondering why no one else posts here. I know many of you must be subscribed to this thread and I know many are venturing to see the comparisons (hits on the page), but until it promotes some discussion, I will cease. I will continue to do the comparsions, just not waste the Forums discs space.

Two more:
Criterion R0 "The Cranes are Flying" vs. RusCiCo
- Criterion image blows away RusCiCo, but RusCiCo has good extras. See how great the Criterion image is over the RusCiCo.
Thanks to Gregory for the R2 Screen Captures

Added the new Central Park Media Region 0- NTSC COLLECTORS EDITION "Grave of the Fireflies" to the CPM's Region 0 ( old version ) - NTSC vs. Warner Bros. Japan R2 - NTSC
- The New CPM image is magnificent, and if my bitrate counter is working properly it flew at 10.99 BPS !
Acknowledged assistance and appreciation for all above to Jeroen H. Komen

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Regards,
Gary
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