Phantom Menace DVD vs. Phantom Menace Laserdisc (1 Viewer)

Chris Brown · Oct 4, 2002

Warning lots of images! (Forgot to put warning in topic)
Ok, so I managed to get my hands on both the Phantom Menace DVD and the Laserdisc. Just for fun I took some screenshots of each at various points for comparison. Thought I would share them with you all. Keep in mind that this is hardly the definitive comparison. There are just way too many variables on both sides to make any decision such as “which one is better, etc”. DVD screenshots were done using the computers internal drive, and PowerDVD XP. Laserdisc Screenshots were done using a Panasonic LX-1000 Laserdisc player feeding it’s composite output into my Radeon64VIVO’s Video input and using ATi’s MMC software to view it. I Tried to sync up the images as best I could. DVD is the first picture Laserdisc is the second picture.
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SvenS · Oct 4, 2002

Well any newer film on a Anamorphic DVD will BLOW AWAY a LD visually every time! And the Phantom Menace LD is a quite poor LD (videowise). People can talk all they want about very expensive line doublers & scalers but they still don't look nearly as good as a well done Anamorphic DVD.

Dave H · Oct 4, 2002

Are these DVD shots anamorphic? No comparison here - obviously.

Chris Brown · Oct 4, 2002

Yeah they are anamorphic. Again i'm not trying to prove a point or anything, just posting these for fun, discussion, whatever. I want to get a new video-in card and use dScaler, hopefully that will improve the laserdisc picture a little.

I have a few more DVD's and Laserdiscs of the same movie like Apollo 13, Star Trek: First Contact, and Jurassic Park. Might do this again with those.

cafink · Oct 4, 2002

Thanks for posting these, Chris!

Are these DVD shots anamorphic?

That question doesn't exactly make sense in this context.

Yes, the "Phantom Menace" DVD from which these shots were taken is anamorphic. That just means that the disc uses the format's full 480 lines of resolution for the picture (those who want to get nit-picky might want to note that it's actually less because "TPM" was shot in scope, but let's not confuse matters further), whereas a non-anamorphic version would use just 360.

The pictures Chris posted are not at DVD's full resolution of 720×480 pixels. Chris scaled them down so that they're only 360 pixels tall. So while the DVD itself is anamorphic and contains all the improvements that that entails, such details are lost on the pictures above.

And on a personal note, though I prefer the laserdisc version because it contain's the film's proper theatrical version. In my opinion, this outweighs any advantages the DVD may have.

Click to expand...

Chris Brown · Oct 4, 2002

Obvious differences aside, I do still prefer the laserdisc version. Along with viewing the proper theatrical version, I believe the Laserdisc sounds much better. I reduced the DVD images from the raw screenshot in size by exactly 50%, which made them the same size as the laserdisc screenshots, and then converted them to .JPG files for obvious reasons. You can tell on the DVD screenshots that the "Black bars" are much thinner, this is an effect of anamorphic. If anyone is interested in the .BMP files they can be found at http://www.GotNoRice.com/PhantomMenace/

cafink · Oct 4, 2002

I reduced the DVD images from the raw screenshot in size by exactly 50%

I'm a little puzzled about this statement Chris. A raw DVD image measures, in pixels, 720×480. The images you posted are all about 640×360. This means that you reduced them only by about 11.11% horizontally and 25% vertically.

You said you used Power DVD to capture the screenshots in question. I'm not familiar with that particular software (I use WinDVD), so perhaps it is artificially enlarging the screens it captures?

Click to expand...

Chris Brown · Oct 4, 2002

When I take a screenshot, It gives me two options.
1) By Original Video Source Size
Example: Http://www.GotNoRice.com/T2source.jpg
2) By Current Video Window Size
Example: Http://www.GotNoRice.com/T2window.jpg
In #1 the image is stretched vertically because it is in it's natural anamorphic state before being compressed down to normal viewing size
In #2 the image is back in it's proper viewing ratio, therefor it is the option I used when I took the screenshots, which I then reduced by half.

cafink · Oct 4, 2002

Okay, I understand now.

Personally, I like to just grab screenshots at their native DVD resolution. It will result in a distorted image no matter what (too wide if it's 4:3, too tall if it's 16:9), but I like to have the exact original images to work with, and then I can just use my paint program of choice (for me, that's Corel Photo-Paint) to resize them as I choose. It's a relatively trivial matter to resize the images to their proper aspect ratio (either 4:3 or 16:9) if you have a reasonably powerful bitmap editing program.

That's the route I typically go with when posting screen caps to the HTF, because there's less intermediate steps in going from the original to the reduced-sized final picture. No need to deal with the artificially enlarged version, only to shrink it back down anyway.

Anyway, thanks again for the pics.

cafink · Oct 4, 2002

Oh, one more question just for the heck of it…

What paint program did you use to resize the images? Just as some DVD players downconvert a 16:9 image better than others, some paint programs do a better job of rescaling images. I'm just curious.

cafink · Oct 5, 2002

Simple and Straightforward. I like that.

Chris Brown · Oct 5, 2002

Microsoft Paint
...

Mattias_ka · Oct 5, 2002

First, of all, I prefer the Japanese LD over the US DVD.
Second, the test is not a really good test.
Using composite in the computer is not the best way to do it. You will get added noise and softer picture. Maybe you could use a stand alone DVD player a connect it to the computer, then we have a more even ballpark.

But people can believe what they want, I have compared the LD and DVD (on both a high-end Loewe 16:9 TV-set and Barco 801 CRT), I VASTLY prefer the color saturated and contrast of the Japanese LD. The US DVD has a little more resolution but not so much that is should have.
On the sound side I can only say that the little I compared the PCM track on the LD is better than the DD 2.0 on the DVD, (I only use a high-end 2 channel set-up)

But most people will not see what I see because they don't have as good LD player as I. The Pioneer HLD-X9 makes a really big difference. Of course it will not make good LD better than perfectly made DVD but it will even the ballpark much and not all DVD are perfect...
If I say it like this, use a first generation low-grade DVD player with composite and compare it against a high-end model today with component/RGB and you will not come close to the picture quality between great LD player and not so great.

-Mattias-

Dave Anderson · Oct 5, 2002

Using composite in the computer is not the best way to do it. You will get added noise and softer picture. Maybe you could use a stand alone DVD player a connect it to the computer, then we have a more even ballpark.

Agreed. This isn't even close to a fair comparison. Not to mention a player like my Pioneer LD-S9 is going to make the LD image look a hell of a lot better.

Click to expand...

Terrell · Oct 5, 2002

If I say it like this, use a first generation low-grade DVD player with composite and compare it against a high-end model today with component/RGB and you will not come close to the picture quality between great LD player and not so great.

DVD is just flat out better than LD. But why should he use a crappy DVD player and a high end LD player? That's not any more fair. Use a high end DVD player as well as a high end LD player. Of course that's a moot point if you don't have a high end player of both. Use s-video on both. Then compare the image. The results are going to be the same. The DVD has the better image quality aside from the EE.

Click to expand...

Gruson · Oct 5, 2002

The LD's sound is still better.

I am glad I own both.

Plus, the LD is the only way to get the theatrical version of the movie, which is a must to me.

Grant B · Oct 5, 2002

I have the Japanese PM and box too. I was wondering if the LD and DVD differ much in content? I assume he added some crap instead of deleting the Rasta Jackass from the film.
Chris
Nice work! I know how tedious it is trying to synch up. I did it once with Stargate (DTS LD). On my elite 79, DVD has a edge in video but the LD blows the DVD away.
But most people know that.
I have heard the Braveheart LD has no EE. Not sure about the DVD; but that would be an interesting match.

Chris Brown · Oct 5, 2002

Like I said, I never said it was an even comparason, even went as far as admiting it wasn't. Never the less, I did use a fairly decent Laserdisc player for the test. Although, the screenshots for the DVD were done on the computer and going from the internal computer drive to the screenshot resulted in little picture degridation... So while the DVD setup may have resulted in screenshots better than your average setup, I believe the Laserdisc screenshots are an accurate respresentation of what you could expect when using "average" equipment (Not everyone can afford a HLD-X9 you know).

When I get another input card and get dScaler running, i'll use that to make the laserdsic picture look better, and then i'll hook up an external DVD player and do the comparason again. should even the ballpark a little.

Terrell · Oct 5, 2002

The LD's sound is still better.

I personally think the DVD is better. The LD surround track is ridiculously overcooked and extremely hot in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Mattias_ka · Oct 6, 2002

DVD is just flat out better than LD. But why should he use a crappy DVD player and a high end LD player? That's not any more fair. Use a high end DVD player as well as a high end LD player. Of course that's a moot point if you don't have a high end player of both. Use s-video on both. Then compare the image. The results are going to be the same. The DVD has the better image quality aside from the EE.

Well Terrell, this test is almost like that! I have used a really good DVD player (Sony DV-S9000ES European version) against the really good Pioneer HLD-X9 laserdisc player and I can say that those picture are NOT what I see.
And I DID use a 16:9 tv-set with RGB for the DVD so I have not cheated. Even on my Barco 801 CRT on a 95" (4:3 screen) I prefer the LD. If you don't have seen LD with these Japanese players you have not seen how good LD can look.

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