A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Quiet Man (Region B) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[David_B_K]

I leave my Oppo in region B mode for the same reason and use the Sony for region A locked discs.

 

[Hollywodland]

Fuck me, thats good to hear... but its also confusing cause the Olive BD of Quiet Man got score 5/5 on Bluray.com. So---WTF?

 

[David Mackenzie]

Robert,
Thanks a ton for the kind words.

To address some of the comments regarding whether or not encoding can change image characteristics:

I am frankly endlessly confused about the word encode, and I don't think that's what this improved release is about, actually. It's about how this company took the scan and did whatever they did to it - isn't encode just another word for authoring a disc

No, although encoding and authoring are two complimentary parts of the process of taking a video master and turning it into a format that consumers can enjoy.

I have made hundreds of DVDs as a videographer. I have never seen various encodings change the black level one bit. It doesn't change white or black levels, unless you are changing that along with the re-encode. A straight re-encode just changes the compression, not the levels.

Actually, some do. If we break this down to semantics, we are both correct. The actual compression stages, that is, the work done by the encoder core - quantization, motion detection, run length coding etc., should absolutely not change the video levels, color or gamma to any visible extent.

However: the way the encoding software handles the input file absolutely can affect colorimetry and gamma, which I assume is what happened with US disc of this title. (The black level is not different, it's actually the gamma that is - although if you're encoding from an RGB source, black/white levels can end up being affected too). Sonic Solutions actually has (or had!) a few knowledge base articles on this subject.

What you see on the Eureka disc is exactly as it is on the HDCAM SR video master in terms of the levels/gamma/color.

Regarding the bitrate, that has nothing to do with levels/gamma/color. It does help preserve texture, though.

 

[EddieLarkin]

What you see on the Eureka disc is exactly as it is on the HDCAM SR video master in terms of the levels/gamma/color.

Meaning Olive could have delivered a disc exactly like Eureka's back in 2013 (achieving a 4.5 from Mr. Harris instead of a 3.0) if they only understood how important the encoding stage is, and how apparently easy it is to foul it up.

 

[haineshisway]

I got it - I watched it - better than the Olive, but still not what it should be, I'm afraid. As Mr. Harris says, it could be fixed if they wanted to spend the dough. So, better, but no cigar, not for me.

 

[David Mackenzie]

You'll have to wait for another restoration effort to fix the registration issues, yes. UHD BD 6 years from now, who knows!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I got it - I watched it - better than the Olive, but still not what it should be, I'm afraid. As Mr. Harris says, it could be fixed if they wanted to spend the dough. So, better, but no cigar, not for me.

Sadly, I can't comment either way because I'm still waiting on my copy for arrival. I'm starting to think something happened to my order while in transport.

 

[McCrutchy]

Sadly, I can't comment either way because I'm still waiting on my copy for arrival. I'm starting to think something happened to my order while in transport.

Robert, if you ordered from Amazon.co.uk, I noticed that they have been sending a lot of my parcels (with Standard Shipping) via UPS i-parcel (EU) and this offers a tracking number in the dispatch e-mail Amazon send.


If it has been sent i-parcel, you can plug the tracking number in here, and then, once the parcel goes through customs, it will be assigned a UPS/USPS tracking number, and will be delivered by either UPS or USPS via UPS SurePost.


It's also possible that Amazon has sent it with Royal Mail, or through another service, but either way, I have noted that my European packages in general are taking longer to arrive, probably because of the holiday season.


For anyone curious, it's also possible to order Masters of Cinema (or any of their titles) directly from Eureka via their store. They offer free worldwide shipping, the prices generally match Amazon, and, you cut out the middleman, so pre-orders get shipped much sooner, as soon as Eureka receives stock to distribute. In my experience, packing and shipping are as good as, or better than, Amazon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Robert, if you ordered from Amazon.co.uk, I noticed that they have been sending a lot of my parcels (with Standard Shipping) via UPS i-parcel (EU) and this offers a tracking number in the dispatch e-mail Amazon send.


If it has been sent i-parcel, you can plug the tracking number in here, and then, once the parcel goes through customs, it will be assigned a UPS/USPS tracking number, and will be delivered by either UPS or USPS via UPS SurePost.


It's also possible that Amazon has sent it with Royal Mail, or through another service, but either way, I have noted that my European packages in general are taking longer to arrive, probably because of the holiday season.


For anyone curious, it's also possible to order Masters of Cinema (or any of their titles) directly from Eureka via their store. They offer free worldwide shipping, the prices generally match Amazon, and, you cut out the middleman, so pre-orders get shipped much sooner, as soon as Eureka receives stock to distribute. In my experience, packing and shipping are as good as, or better than, Amazon.

Thank you for that information. Unfortunately, my delivery date has been changed from today to Friday now. If I don't have my discs by Friday, I can contact Amazon for a refund or replacement.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Here in Brooklyn I got my Quiet Man disc today, along with my Eureka orders (via Amazon Uk) of A New Leaf and Day of the Outlaw. Shane arrived last week. Quiet Man took 15 days to arrive and did exactly on schedule today, 12/14.

Eureka is doing a hell of a job adding value to films given less substantial releases Stateside.

 

[Alan Tully]

Well I received my copy today, & funny enough it was also on the telly (Film Four UK) in that beyond awful transfer that we've been getting for years (think of the worst VHS bootleg you've ever seen, dub it VHS to VHS about ten times & you're nearly there). I zipped through it & it looks pretty damn good, some of the lower light interior stuff may look a little bit odd, & there may be some small registration problems, but overall it looks fine: a transfer I can really enjoy.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

My copies of The Quiet Man and Shane were shipped by amazon.uk on 12/6 and arrived today.


I am happy to report that I can play them on my Region 1 Panasonic Blu-ray player using the Stop-Menu workaround.


Eureka gets a thumbs-up for providing a screen which pops up when the disc loads in a non-Region 2 player and explains why the disc is unplayable. That beats just getting an error message. Anyway, with the Panasonic I just hit Stop and Top Menu and I'm ready to go. I also have a region-free Toshiba player but I prefer the Panny.


Shane is a very nice set - two discs, one framed at 1.37:1 and one framed at 1.66:1. Mono and stereo soundtracks, commentary track by George Stevens Jr. and Ivan Moffat, a lengthy analysis of the film by Neil Sinyard, The Lux Radio Theater production of Shane, and the film's trailer.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I got my copy of Shane, but still awaiting the arrival of The Quiet Man.

 

[John Hodson]

The moment Tag Gallagher's video essay was announced as a supplement on The Quiet Man, I pre-ordered. That Eureka would deliver on the encode front was, I figured, a given. That Gallagher would also deliver was placed in the same bracket, and it would be worth the price of admission alone.

I figured that he would tell me things about the film, and about Ford that I previously didn't know; little nuggets of information, small revelations, that could only increase my enjoyment of the film and the director that I revere. I was not wrong.

It's a beautiful piece on the poetry of Ford, that is poetry in itself. Gallagher's delivery is Mark Cousins-eque, but will not deter those that can't stand Cousins delivery (I'm not one of them), he lights up the minutest details (six Irishmen in the frame? Fancy that...), and only a man such as he, with decades of Ford appreciation behind him could essay facts as found here, and in *the* most entertaining fashion. It's a video essay that fans will dip into again and again, which in itself marks it as one of the rarer film supplements.

Excellent work. I loved it.

 

[SAhmed]

I'm in the same boat as Robert - I ordered Shane one day after The Quiet Man shipped (both from Amazon UK) and yet Shane arrived yesterday (it shipped two days later !). Go figure.


Regards,

 

[Richard Gallagher]

I ordered mine together and they arrived in the same package.


Of course, once a package arrives in the custody of the U.S. Postal Service it all depends upon what priority it is given.

 

[lark144]

I also received THE QUIET MAN from Amazon UK a few days ago. It's much better than I expected, Almost everything I didn't like about the Olive BD is gone, What amazed me in particular is that the texture of the color has changed (& the color was the one thing I really liked about the Olive BD). Now it seems warmer, more luxuriant, even (a word that Mr. Harris likes to use) velvety. Although there are still some minor registration issues, .the ones that really bothered me, well, that I though were registration problems: specifically a blue squiggly line around John Wayne & Maureen O' Hara's bodies when they kissed among the trees, is no longer there.


I wasn't as taken with TAG Gallagher's visual essay as I had hoped to be, it seemed to me to meander a bit too much, though I was happy he managed to reference Ford's PILGRIMAGE, which I think is one of Mr. Gallagher's favorite Ford films. Now that I think about it, perhaps Mr. Gallagher's essay didn't meander so much as take on the form of Ford's THE QUIET MAN, which is a bit of a pilgrimage in itself, an act of self re-discovery, of going back in order to move forward, of lingering in front of flowers, trees and churches, and watching how they change in the wind, the rain, and the sudden sunlight.


One thing I must confess, I always have tears in my eyes at the end of the film when Ward Bond says, "Let's cheer...just like Protestants." If only the world could be a little bit like that.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm in the same boat as Robert - I ordered Shane one day after The Quiet Man shipped (both from Amazon UK) and yet Shane arrived yesterday (it shipped two days later !). Go figure.


Regards,

Though, I ordered them the same day, I didn't place them in the same order which was my mistake.

 

[David Weicker]

my copy shipped (excuse me, 'despatched') on 11/30, and was delivered on 12/12

 

[Robert Crawford]

my copy shipped (excuse me, 'despatched') on 11/30, and was delivered on 12/12

My dispatched the same day, but still waiting.