A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection — in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Nick,

It is heartbreaking.

I should just stop being lazy and queue up the DVD to see if the problem exists there.

I would almost bet anything it does not.

 

[Dick]

Yup, & don't forget the Hope/Crosby 'Road To' movies

At the rate they've been going this past year, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Fields set, at least.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Nick,

It is heartbreaking.

I should just stop being lazy and queue up the DVD to see if the problem exists there.

I would almost bet anything it does not.

I wish you would as I like to confirm your opinion, but I just don't see the differences you noted between this BD release and the DVD disc.

 

[Paul Penna]

I should just stop being lazy and queue up the DVD to see if the problem exists there.
I would almost bet anything it does not.

I just compared the Horsefeathers Blu-Ray to the DVD in the 2004 set. The same sections in both have the vertical jitter.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Paul,

It is just as bad on both?

 

[Paul Penna]

Paul,

It is just as bad on both?

The jitter itself appears to be the same (going by what Robert Harris said at the top of this thread, it's apparently something baked into the surviving element) but the murkiness and softness of the DVD has a kind of masking effect that makes it seem somewhat less apparent.

 

[bigshot]

It probably got evened out as a process of the compression for DVD. They could have probably corrected it, but it would mean losing info at the edges of the screen.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The jitter itself appears to be the same (going by what Robert Harris said at the top of this thread, it's apparently something baked into the surviving element) but the murkiness and softness of the DVD has a kind of masking effect that makes it seem somewhat less apparent.

I beg to differ, but I'm going to compare the two discs again on another player and display.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am going to do the same later this morning.

 

[Nick*Z]

The jitter and edge-effect-like distortions are there in both the DVD and the Blu-ray, more noticeable on the Blu-ray because of the higher resolution and yes, Ron, it's heartbreaking. I don't see why there's confusion about this. Anyone with eyes can see it plainly for themselves and it afflicts a good six to eight minutes of the movie. From a purist's perspective I guess I'm 'glad' Uni didn't try to apply some heavy-handed stabilizing tool that would have caused information to be cropped along the sides, although, on the flip side, I sort of wish that they had, offering a branched version of the movie so that the viewer could decide for themselves which version they prefer. I can honestly say even on my 40 inch screen bedroom plasma it's irritating. Blown up to wall size on my projector set up it positively gives one a headache and is virtually unwatchable. Again, regrets.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Nick,

You just nailed it!

I am watching this for the first time on a 110" screen. That is why I am really noticing it, whereas on smaller screens I have watched this on over the years (some as large as only 15-19"), I never did.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Nick,

You just nailed it!

I am watching this for the first time on a 110" screen. That is why I am really noticing it, whereas on smaller screens I have watched this on over the years (some as large as only 15-19"), I never did.

Perhaps that is the reason why I am not seeing what you are in this situation. Yesterday, I watched both discs on a 50" Panny Plasma sitting just 4 feet away and the jitters were only apparent to me during the opening credits and moreso on the DVD compared to the Blu-ray. Just moments ago, I watched both discs again, but on a 65" Panny Plasma sitting about 8-9 feet away from the screen. Once more, the jitters were more apparent on the DVD during the opening credit sequence. I viewed both discs up to the point in the film when Groucho and Zeppo are talking about football players at a speakeasy which is just passed the 8 minute mark of the film.

At this point, I'm not arguing what others are seeing on their screens in their individual home theater setups. I'm just stating what I'm observing on my home theater setups. As far as being unwatchable as somebody stated, I don't agree with that assessment, but I respect those that share that opinion as to what they're seeing on their particular screens.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The shaking is during the sequence where Harpo gets entangled with the cop who is issuing him a ticket on the street. Same sequence where Harpo locks the cop up in the dog cage.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The shaking is during the sequence where Harpo gets entangled with the cop who is issuing him a ticket on the street. Same sequence where Harpo locks the cop up in the dog cage.

So you're not talking about the first minutes of the film?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

So you're not talking about the first minutes of the film?

No. It's in the first scene with Harpo, on the street, with the cop who is issuing him a ticket.

 

[Robert Crawford]

No. It's in the first scene with Harpo, on the street, with the cop who is issuing him a ticket.

I'll take a look then as I was going by what you stated below in post #69.

As all of you who have seen this transfer can relate, the picture shakes uncontrollably for a good 5 minutes or more near the start of the film.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

That scene is near the start of the film. I would say no more than 30 minutes in, but I can see how that could be misleading.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That scene is near the start of the film. I would say no more than 30 minutes in, but I can see how that could be misleading.

Alright, I just viewed that particular Harpo scene on my 65" Panny. I observed some jitter on both discs during that particular scene. I can't distinguished which disc is worse when it comes to the jitter, but I would say the increased detail of the blu-ray makes that particular scene more pleasing to my eyes than the murkier DVD. Also, that particular scene is just passed the 19 minute mark of the film.

Anyhow, I can see why those with larger screen scenes can be distracted by the jitter so I'll leave this discussion for now.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks for checking, Robert

 

[Paul Penna]

On the Blu-Ray, the sections with the most apparent jitter are:

19:39 - 25:25
45:17 - 49:21

DVD timings closely correspond, although I noticed that in the latter section, the jitter on the DVD begins during Harpo's harp solo, but is much steadier on the Blu, which doesn't begin jittering until the medium shot of Thelma Todd and David Landau inside her apartment.

 

[TJPC]

Have you tried standing in front of the TV and jumping quickly up and down during this section?