A few pictures about....The Sound of Music (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Wow. It usually takes me a long time to spot EE, ghosting and such things...but that cap from the original SOM with Rolf and Leisl is dramatic with ghosting. (Around the baron, too).

Thanks for the pics, Ron!

Looking forward to this release with great anticipation!

 

[Tim Glover]

Looks much better now. Thank you.

 

[JohnMor]

Also, check out his tie in those same captures. Much more detail in the new transfer, I think.

 

[BrettB]

I don't know if this is a fair observation as the 2 grabs aren't the same and it looks as if his hand in the 'new' grab has possibly turned somewhat more into the light.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Ahhh, silky smooth new picture. Love it.

I do have to admit to missing the text supplements from the old LD set. I know, I know, they were on the original DVD release, but they were a blurry mess compared to the LD set. It almost looked like they took screengrabs of the LD frames and then used them instead of either using the original image files or making up new ones. I'm an old fart. I find most of the current "special features" rather dumbed down in comparison to a lot of the LD sets.

*Climbs off of soapbox and runs across an Austrian mountaintop in lederhosen*

 

[Greg_M]

The newer DVD does look a bit better, but just a bit, the only reason I would upgrade is for the extra materials like the Julie Andrews Commentary.

 

[RobertR]

Ron, I'm just curious. In the past, you've said you can't see EE. Can you notice the differences in these two transfers?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

No, I really don't/can't see the EE. This
is a problem related to me. I just haven't
trained my eyes to see it, and actually, I
may be better off for it.

What I do see is a hardening around
the edges of the actors in the original DVD.

The new version is a lot smoother, more
natural looking. While I am not certain I
like the fact that sharpness has been removed
(resulting in slight detail loss), I do like
the fact that some other details have been
brought out such as already mentioned, the
stick in the Captain's hand.

There's also obviously less background noise
evident in the new transfer.

 

[JasonKZ]

Thanks for the screen shots. Personally, I still prefer the old version. However, both look pretty good.

Interested in hearing about the extras when folks have time to look at them and see how much we lost from those missing featurettes/documentaries.

I may be going back to get my old copy back off ebay.

 

[David Sal]

Looks that finally I will be enjoying SOM once again in my 7 foot screen. The old one was unwatchable for me. All details lost.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

People seem to forget that the original DVD received an "award" at Bill Hunt's "The Digital Bits" site for "Worst DVD Transfer of the Year". The award was well deserved as the DVD was unwatchable on my 96" FPTV system.

Here's the link to the "Award":
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...2nd/page3.html
(Scroll down to "WORST DVD - VIDEO")

In addition to the horrible EE which pervaded every scene of the movie with the exception of "The Lonely Goatherd", the transfer was marred in places by "pumping" and crushed blacks.

I can't wait for the new transfer!

 

[GlennH]

To see the EE, look closely at the first large capture with Maria singing.

In the old version, focus on the left side of her head (hair) against the sky. Notice the bright "ring" with faint dark line around it, sort of like a halo. It runs the whole way up to the top of her head. Notice the same thing on the right side on the edge of her face. An artificial second "edge." It's very unrealistic looking and quite distracting on a large screen, at least to me.

Now notice how reduced (not completely gone, but much reduced) that effect is in the new version. That's the reduction in the amount of artificial sharpening being applied.

I don't see any real reduction in detail at all in the new one. I think the excessive sharpening on the old one is being perceived as detail, but it really isn't. I also agree that the new one is a lot less "noisy" which is actually probably a manifestation of the same thing.

I'll reserve final judgment till I see the actual DVD on the big screen, but I can already see that the new version is superior.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Ron,

Your comments (along with the rest not quoted above) hit the nail on the head for how "edge enhancement" affected that first DVD. EE doesn't always produce "ringing" in every scene...sometimes just the "hardening" and background noise you described.

There are a few scenes in SOM with bonifide ringing...but the majority of scenes just took on a more artifical, electonic "hardened" look exactly as you describe. So there you go...you *are* seeing EE...as there are 3 basic artifacts from edge sharpening we typically see:

[*]Ringing around hi-contrast edges[*]Hardening of detail that starts to look artificial[*]Exaggeration in background noise and film grain.[/list]
The new version fixes all 3 problems to a substanial degree.

BTW Ron, if you ever want to see actual "ringing" loud and clear, the Triplets of Belville is loaded with it if that's a DVD you own.

 

[Citizen87645]

When I first learned about "edge enhancement" I'd already spent some time on Photoshop (over)using the sharpening filter. Besides the plethora of information on this forum, I think this is a good way to train your eye.

 

[Stephen PI]

Here is an interesting website on the first dvd. I am sure it has been seen by many of you here.
http://www.dvdreview.com/html/sound_..._special.shtml

 

[Darrell S.]

I have seen this film many times on the big screen and the new version is what it should look like. The old DVD version is too inky and black with much edge enhancement and wormy-like images crawling through it substituting for authentic detail. Many details are lost. The film on the big screen has always had muted colors and extreme detail because it was filmed in Todd-AO which was 70mm and more frames per second allowing the most detail possible. Also, any information coming from the costumer, production designer has always stated that they were going for a more pastel, muted color scheme because the story content leaned toward sugary, so they wanted to understate everything. They did not use any bright colors at all (Nazi flag withstanding). When the Baroness wears red, it is very muted near the lake and in her exit scene, the red is also framed in black and night lighting was used. I also remember when seeing the film on the big screen Peggy Wood's spiderweb-like wrinkles in HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA were so sharp they practically jumped off the screen. Also, when Christopher Plummer tears the Nazi flag in half you could actually see that it was pre-cut a fraction of an inch and that he was searching for that spot to grab the flag so he could tear it with ease and it would be perfectly centered. Also, on the new edition, Julie Andrews said in an interview that they are including behind-the-scene films of the actors' prerecording sessions of the soundtrack that even SHE never knew existed. This is particularly precious considering that she can never sing again because a doctor damaged her vocal chords.

 

[RobertR]

Frankly, that DVD Review article is an example of why I haven't had much trust in them as a hard nosed, independent assessor of DVD quality. It comes across as more of a promotional site. There have been many comments over the years talking about how THX is hardly the assurance of top quality the article makes it out to be.

 

[Stephen PI]

One slight correction with your very informative post Darrell. By 1965 the Todd-AO process had been standardised, for about 7-8 years, from 30 to 24fps. "South Pacific" being the first.

 

[Darrell S.]

If only we could get Fox to use the breathtaking original poster art instead of these horrible new-fangled ones that look like something from Sesame Street. The original poster art has Julie Andrews jumping up in the air with her guitar in one hand and carpet bag in the other with the Captain and children climbing up a hill behind her. It has kind of a sloppy, gritty, Louis Lamour Western paperback novel look to it. It was painted by Howard Terpning, the same man who painted the famous GONE WITH THE WIND poster in 1967 where Clark Gable is carrying Vivien Leigh with her breasts bursting out of her plunging-neckline dress with an orangy background of fire burning behind them. You can check out his and other original poster art on learnaboutmovieposters.com.

 

[Shawn McCann]

Has anyone answered the above question from Mark Oates? I have the "5 Star" DVD and was wondering the same thing. The picture darkens when the text fades in, then lightens when the text fades out. I find this more distracting than EE.