Buffy S4 scratched discs... NOT AGAIN! (1 Viewer)

[Dave Mack]

I'm sorry for the thread going astray, guys. I was just trying to explain about the "combing" to 1 person who wondered what was up to try and help him out as I and others have had to deal with this and I got into that protracted argument which was utterly pointless.
Obviously others keep seeing this phenomena and it should have, and has had, it's own thread.
Back to topic. My season 3 had a floater and luckily it wasn't scratched. I do feel that the American "Buffy" sets are and have always been made on the cheap in SEVERAL areas, from packaging to transfer quality to the limited extras. (PLEASE no arguments, this is just my opinion, everyone has one) Imagine if the upcoming ALIEN Quad. or Indy sets had these problems? People would be screaming bloody murder.


D

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Dave, the Season 6 sets have OODLES of extras. 30min OMWF behind the scenes and a 60min+ panel with Joss and most of the cast at the AFI


As for thinpack, it seems that Fox is going to them, but you're right that they won't change in the middle of a series

 

[Adam_ME]

So Dave, just to clarify, are the Season 3 and 4 sets plagued with the exact same horrific combing problems that I spotted in Season 2? The scene that sticks out the most in my memory was the end of Becoming Part 2 right after Buffy says "close your eyes" to Angel(I won't go into specifics for those who still haven't seen it).

I was half considering picking up the R1 sets for Seasons 3 and 4 with all the discounts being offered at B&Ms, but if they're as unwatchable as Season 2, I'll just stick with the sets I've already got, PAL speedup be damned.

Dave, the Season 6 sets have OODLES of extras. 30min OMWF behind the scenes and a 60min+ panel with Joss and most of the cast at the AFI

It's also got 6 commentaries(7 if you count Bargaining as 2 episodes) and the entire Buffy Biography that aired recently on A&E. Hopefully, the latter extra makes it over to the R1 set.

Figures that the weakest overall season up to that point gets the biggest number of supplements. I guess that means Season 7 will need around 2 or 3 additional discs to fit all the extras they'll be slapping on that set(none of which will feature Sarah Michelle Gellar of course).

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Adam, four also gets seven commentaries. We don't know if they're adding additional commentaries for S5 in the US like they did with S4 yet, so there's a possibility there as well.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

just to clarify, are the Season 3 and 4 sets plagued with the exact same horrific combing problems that I spotted in Season 2?

Both Season 3 & 4 exhibit these problems on my set-up.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

PS - I'm not at home, but I can't remember if the TV also needs to be told its getting an interlaced signal.

Many TVs convert to 480p internally regardless

 

[Jeff Kleist]

On a happier note for those complaining about flagging. I finally saw a production title card for Firefly, and it was mastered 1080p. Stands to reason at the very least season 7 of Buffy was as well.

 

[Dave Mack]

Adam, Season 3 had the problems too. Don't know about season 4. Ironically, my R2 Season 6 does not. Transfers look a zillion times better picture-wise as well. And there is NO "combing" on these episodes. I doubt future R1 sets will resolve this.

And please don't even START about the aspect ratio debates or the PAL speedup issue. I did not bring them up so I don't expect to be argued with on those points. And yeah, season 6 has some good extras, too little, too late. There aren't a heck of a lot of extras on my Seasons 1-3 sets.... Add to that the truly mediocre transfers on those sets, (and alot of review sites will back me up on that) and no, it has nothing to do with low budget, shot on 16mm etc..., the transfers just don't look that good, even when they switched to 35mm in Season 3.

Ex.. From DVDfile's review of season 3...
"It's not perfect, unfortunately. As noted, black level detail is often difficult to make out, and even bright scenes often look too dark. The compression and DNR issues which plagued the first two box sets have mostly evened out and are much less distracting, but do rear their heads from time to time in the form of frozen grain patterns or fine object detail that smears while in motion. Oddly, disc 6 seems to suffer the worst problems. All three episodes on that disc are particularly smeary and exhibit rampant displacement artifacts, which are completely unacceptable. At the beginning of chapter 3 on episode The Prom, look closely at Anya's chest (please, no dirty old man jokes!). As she walks, a layer of the image lags a half-step behind the rest of the motion, causing a very distracting judder effect. The whole episode is affected, as are the following two. It is most disconcerting in close-up shots of the actors, to the point where even my wife, who is normally not sensitive to picture quality problems, was questioning why people's faces were moving so strangely..." Hmmm... Sounds like the dreaded "combing" to me.

So, all in all, just in MY opinion, these sets could have been a WHOLE lot better on many levels, which is truly disappointing as Buffy is one of my favorite shows as well as many other people's.

Jeff, if that's true for Buffy Season 7 that would be AWESOME. I hope so.


D

 

[Jason Quillen]

open package in car

If the Buffy S3 DVDs taught me anything it was opening digipacks in the car is key.

Luckily all the discs in my S4 set were securely in place when I opened it up. In fact, I really had to pry the discs out.

JQ

 

[Dave F]

If the Buffy S3 DVDs taught me anything it was opening digipacks in the car is key

This is one of the Ten Commandments of DVDs, along with "Thou shalt shaketh thy case before purchase, lest ye inherit a floater."

-Dave