Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › DVD › Direct Graphic DVD Comparisons now Online!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Direct Graphic DVD Comparisons now Online! - Page 10

post #271 of 2333
5/21/03 at 10:39am
Thread Starter 
Three New and Two Updates:

Buena Vista - Region 1 - NTSC "Kiki's Delivery Service" vs. Intercontinental Video Ltd. (Hong Kong) - Region 3 - NTSC

Anchor Bay - Region 1 - NTSC "Turk's Fruit" vs. Filmax (Spain) - Region 2 - PAL

UPDATED: Continental Home Video (Brazil) Region 0 - NTSC "Mr. Arkadin" vs. LaserLight Region 0 - NTSC vs. Metrodome Region 0 - PAL

UPDATED: Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL Theatrical Cut "Army of Darkness" vs. Anchor Bay Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal - Region 1 - NTSC

UPDATED: Anchor Bay - Region 0 - NTSC (30th Anniversary) "The Night of the Living Dead" vs. Elite (Millennium Edition)- Region 1 - NTSC vs. Elite (Special Collector's Edition) Region 0 - NTSC

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

Regards,
Gary
Reply
post #272 of 2333
5/21/03 at 11:35am
Cool.

what about a Zulu DVD comparison? I thought there was one but I searched the website and couldn't find it. Is my memory in error?

dave
Reply
post #273 of 2333
5/21/03 at 11:47am
Gary,

Regarding Kiki's Delivery Service:

Quote:
More irritating is the fact that while the English dub version of the BV disc is playing, the video quality would suddenly drop to VHS quality whenever on-screen English characters are shown: during the opening credits, the closing credits, and in three more instances during the film. Apparently, inferior video source had to be used for these scenes in the English version. The last screenshot comparison indicates this drop in quality. In one absurd instance, there is a three-minute duration of poor video quality, during which the English characters only appear for a few seconds! On the bit rate diagram above, you can actually see where these take place. For reasons unknown to me, the jumps to inferior picture occur where the bit rate graph goes "off the chart." The picture quality of the Japanese version always looks good, however. This wouldn't be so irritating if we were allowed to watch the Japanese version while listening to the English dub. But such an option is locked from the user, as is the option to change subtitles on the fly.

This has a very simple explaination and the review should be updated accordingly. The reviewer revealingly noticed that (ironically) these are the times when the bit-rate seems to be the hightest. That's the hint:

This is bcs BV uses multi-angles to encode various language versions for these portions of video. The down-side of the multi-angle feature (unlike branching) is that all video 'angles' share the same bit-space...and so each video angle option essentially cuts your potential max bit-rate for that scene in two. A scene with 2 "angles" only has 50% max-bit-rate, a scene with 3 "angles" only has 33% max bitrate, and a scene with 4 "angles" only has 25% max bitrate because they are encoded simultaneously and share the same bit-space (the same way that multi-channels of a 5.1 Dolby Digital signal share the same 384 kbps bit-space).

BV is in love with their multi-angle feature for supplying people with movie credits in their own languages so often PQ suffers when you reach the title or ending credits. It's also the reason that the Beauty and the Beast DVD has such problems with MPEG artifacting...they did the "work in progress" scenes as multi-angle so when whatching the normal film...when you reach a scene that has a WIP "angle" tucked away suddenly you get MPEG crap bcs your bit-rate is cut in half.

-dave
Reply
post #274 of 2333
5/21/03 at 11:58am
Quote:
BV is in love with their multi-angle feature for supplying people with movie credits in their own languages so often PQ suffers when you reach the title or ending credits. It's also the reason that the Beauty and the Beast DVD has such problems with MPEG artifacting...they did the "work in progress" scenes as multi-angle so when whatching the normal film...when you reach a scene that has a WIP "angle" tucked away suddenly you get MPEG crap bcs your bit-rate is cut in half.
Actually, the only portion of BatB that does not have WIP multi-angle content chewing up available bitrate is the part of the "SE" that occurs after the layer change (addendum: I'll have to double check this to see if the "finished animation" segments are actually the same or not). The entire theatrical version and almost the first hour of the SE (which is the same as the theatrical version) are particularly bitrate-starved. Of course the later SE scenes are still relatively bit-starved becasue of the disc capacity.

Regards,
Reply
post #275 of 2333
5/21/03 at 12:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks David (and Ken),

I have let Kevin know and I'm sure we will be adjusting the comments in the comparison very soon.

Regards,
Reply
post #276 of 2333
5/21/03 at 12:26pm
I plan on doing a comparison between the two Zulu discs next week. I'm curious to see how the MGM version compares to the old Criterion laserdisc.
Reply
post #277 of 2333
5/21/03 at 12:48pm
Hi DaVid,

I was the one who took the Kiki screenshots. It seemed to me the drop in video quality was not entirely due to multi-angle because of the rather drastic differences in color, resolution, clarity between the good- and the bad-looking sequences. It indicated to me that footage from an inferior video source (perhaps a VHS version or laserdisc) was the primary reason for the poor quality.
Reply
post #278 of 2333
5/21/03 at 1:47pm
gotcha. Worth mentioning never the less...but perhaps they filtered the image severely to avoid noticable MPEG artifacting that would have been more obvious?

But you're right...it could very well be due to inferior "multi-language" edit-material as well.

chances are that it's combination of *both* aspects...the bit-rate not being adequate due to multi-angle *and* inferior source material.

-dave
Reply
post #279 of 2333
5/21/03 at 6:56pm
If you guys are planning a comparision for Giant, I'd be happy to nab a few screenshots off the Canadian DVD if you don't have access to one.
Reply
post #280 of 2333
5/24/03 at 3:51am
Quote:
I plan on doing a comparison between the two Zulu discs next week. I'm curious to see how the MGM version compares to the old Criterion laserdisc.


I don't have the software to do a screen comparison on my PC but, I did compare them using my old Vidikron front projector. Of course the picture quality is better on the DVD. Also, you see more picture information, mostly on the sides and a little bit on the bottom on the DVD.
Reply
post #281 of 2333
5/27/03 at 5:11am
Thread Starter 
Sorry... took a bit of a break

RAIN, if/when I get the other Giant I will take you up on that offer ! Probably fairly soon...

RolandL - I will be glad to host and format that for you, if you are interested, e-mail me at gary@2ze.com to discuss...

Three more:

Criterion "Andrei Rublev" Region 0 - NTSC vs. RusCiCo Region 0 NTSC

Crash Cinema (USA)- Region 0 - NTSC "The 36 Chamber of Shaolin" vs. Celestial Pictures (Hongkong) - Region 3 - NTSC - Special intro by Linn Haynes!

Criterion Region 0 - NTSC "The Seventh Seal" vs. Tartan Video Region 0 - PAL

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/
Reply
post #282 of 2333
5/27/03 at 10:46am
Gary, I was reading your "The Piano Teacher" Canadian dvd review. You listed French subtitles. Is the English subtitle also available? And is it English 5.1 or French 5.1? Lastly, how does it compare to the US version?

Thanks.
Reply
post #283 of 2333
5/27/03 at 10:28pm
Quote:
You listed French subtitles. Is the English subtitle also available? And is it English 5.1 or French 5.1? Lastly, how does it compare to the US version?

No French subtitles, just English.

The French soundtrack is in both 2.0 Dolby & 5.1 Dolby.
Haven't seen the US version, but the Canadian Remstar disc is 1:77 non-anamorphic and is taken from a PAL source therefore it runs about 5 minutes shorter than the theatrical version (nothing is cut, just a slightly faster speed).

The Canadian disc is available at FutureShop for $12 Cnd.
Reply
post #284 of 2333
5/28/03 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Bill!,

Tom, It wouldn't surprise me if the Homescreen Entertainment Region 2, DVD9, anamorphic is the best DVD image... but it doesn't have English subs...

I have not done a comparison of these discs... I understand the U.S version has saturated colors and occasional debris interfering with the picture quality...

Cheers,
Reply
post #285 of 2333
5/28/03 at 6:51am
Quote:
Tom, It wouldn't surprise me if the Homescreen Entertainment Region 2, DVD9, anamorphic is the best DVD image... but it doesn't have English subs...
I haven't got the disc but I've just read the review in your post and it isn't too positive. I'll translate some brief excerpts:

"The image quality (....) is between mediocre and reasonable."

"Many dark scenes have good contrast and show enough shadow detail, but there are also some scenes that don't have these qualities."

"The layer change takes place at 81.39 and is very badly done. Normally the image only freezes for a short time, but on disc, we actually loose 1 -3 seconds of the movie during the layer change."

"The cover states a DD5.1 track, but it's only DD5.0: there is no LFE.1 channel."

"The cover also states a DD2.0 track, but instead we get a stereo PCM track with a bit rate of 1536 kb/s."
Reply
post #286 of 2333
5/28/03 at 6:57am
Thread Starter 
Hmmmm... maybe its time I talked to my group to do a comparison of this film... which I really liked, btw!

There certainly a lot of versions of it out there...

Cheers,
Gary
Reply
post #287 of 2333
5/29/03 at 6:14am
Thread Starter 
Front Row Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC "Zulu" vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Roland Lataille for the MGM Screen Caps! Thanks Roland !

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



Cheers,
Reply
post #288 of 2333
5/29/03 at 4:37pm
Thread Starter 
We have expanded our Zulu Comparison to include two more releases ( our 1st 4X comparison!)
Goodtimes - Region 0 - NTSC "zulu" vs. Paramount - Region 2/4 - PAL vs. Front Row Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC

and

Columbia Tri-Star - Region 1 - NTSC (2-disc set) "Close Encounters of the Third Kind vs.Columbia Tri-Star - Region 2/4 - PAL (2-disc set)

Cheers,
Reply
post #289 of 2333
5/30/03 at 5:33am
Thread Starter 
Added the extremely improved Gaumont/Columbia Tri-star Region 2 PAL "Salo" to the existing comparison:

Gaumont Columbia Tristar - Region 2 - PAL "Salo" vs. Criterion (oop)- Region 1 - NTSC vs. BFI - Region 2 - PAL

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

Cheers,
Reply
post #290 of 2333
6/4/03 at 4:30am
Thread Starter 
With great thanks to Marc Colella, the comparison of the Alliance Atlantis "The Straight Story" (WS) vs. the Disney (Buena Vista) version is now up at:

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/
Reply
post #291 of 2333
6/4/03 at 8:27am
It would be great if you could get a comparison
of the new Chaplin films coming out from Warner (by mk2)
vs. the old OOP Image editions.
It will be a 4 films, 2 discs each!
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
The Gold Rush
Limelight
Reply
post #292 of 2333
6/7/03 at 4:59am
could compare the new R2 Citizen Kane transfer with the R1 version ?

a review stated the R2 pic is better.
Reply
post #293 of 2333
6/7/03 at 10:16am
If you need screen grabs from the Image Chaplin discs, I can do so for the 1942 Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.
Reply
post #294 of 2333
6/7/03 at 10:20am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Patrick... but I have all the Image Chaplin DVDs... but am dying to compare them to the Warner (mk2) ones as soon as I can... hopefully mine will be delivered early...

I haven't posted any comparisons for a while as DVDBeaver is getting a facelift... but I have 4 on the way... should be ready by Monday...

Cheers all,

P.S. Jon... and Enrique... thanks for the suggestions... Citizen Kane may be a possibility...
Reply
post #295 of 2333
6/7/03 at 1:07pm
I've been hearing so many bad things about Alliance Atlantis lately, it is making me wonder if I could have better versions of some of the DVDs in my collection.

Did anyone ever compare the Canadian Alliance Atlantis version of The Man Who Wasn't There with the US version? Is the US version any better (not that the one I have is really bad)?
Reply
post #296 of 2333
6/7/03 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Did anyone ever compare the Canadian Alliance Atlantis version of The Man Who Wasn't There with the US version? Is the US version any better (not that the one I have is really bad)?

Before it's release on DVD, I asked a couple people at Alliance regarding the transfer - and they stated it's the exact same transfer as the US version.

From the reviews of the US release, and watching the Alliance release a few times on my 40" HDTV - I'm pretty sure their information is correct/truthful. The picture quality on the Alliance DVD is fantastic.
Reply
post #297 of 2333
6/9/03 at 6:28am
Thread Starter 
There are 4 new comparisons at DVDBeaver:

Criterion - Region 0 "The Red Shoes" vs. Carlton - Region 2 PAL
Do any of you own this Region 2 disc ? It has the most wonderful packaging
I've ever seen...

New Yorker - Region 1 - "Maborosi" vs. Bandai - Region 2 - NTSC (Thanks Trond!)


Anchor Bay Region 0 NTSC 'Daughter of Darkness' vs. Blue Underground Region
0 - NTSC (thanks Gregory!)


Kaze (FR) Region 2- PAL "Grave of the Fireflies" vs. Warner Bros. Japan R2
- NTSC vs. CPM CS Region 1- NTSC

3www.compare.dvdbeaver.com
Reply
post #298 of 2333
6/9/03 at 7:27am
^ wow, great job with the new design, Gary.
Reply
post #299 of 2333
6/9/03 at 8:41am
Quote:
Criterion - Region 0 "The Red Shoes" vs. Carlton - Region 2 PAL
Do any of you own this Region 2 disc ? It has the most wonderful packaging
I've ever seen...
I just bought it a few weeks ago, and it indeed looks very nice. R2/UK editions of Salò, The African Queen and Beauty and the Beast ('46) had similar packaging when I purchased them, BTW.

I really like Criterion, but because I had only seen one Powell and Pressburger movie before the dvd era (A Matter of Life and Death, which was wonderful), I thought buying the expensive Criterions would be a little bit too expensive.
So instead, a few weeks ago I purchased the R2 Carlton versions of The Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death (the last two in one 2-disc pack) for a grand total of GBP 17.99 including shipping.

Pretty good value for money, me thinks...
Reply
post #300 of 2333
6/9/03 at 9:20am
Nice new look on your site Gary!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: DVD
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › DVD › Direct Graphic DVD Comparisons now Online!