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Direct Graphic DVD Comparisons now Online! (1 Viewer)

Gary Tooze

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NOTE Comments by Jeroen H. Komen.
Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "The Road Home" vs. Columbia Tri-Star - Region 2
Comments: Discs look identical to me, except that the R2 is a bit darker with better black level but less shadow detail. Both have too much edge enhancement. I've seen worse, but it's still too much to ignore.
Because Pal has 20% more resolution the R2 should look a lot more detailed. Unfortunately it doesn't, which is a shame. I own a lot of PAL discs, but I can count the ones that actually show the increased resolution on one hand
Saerom Entertainment/SRE - Korea - Region 0- NTSC "Love Letter" vs. KING - Japan R2 - NTSC
Comments:The Saerom R0 Disc has much too high black level. Even the brighter pictures appear washed out. This makes the picture look flat with very little contrast compared to the R2 Japan.
Both discs have blue-ish whites. This looks more severe on the R2 Japan but that's because the problem is obscured a bit on the R0 by the too high black level.
Edge enhancement is a problem on both discs. Especially the wider shots suffer, background detail is always lacking. R0 whites are clipping. Check out the snow on the rooftops (below) there's less detail there compared to the R2 Japan.
Again, I prefer the R2 Japan. One could argue that the R0 black level problem could be fixed by turning down brightness on your display but that's a no-go for me, because it messes up my calibrated grayscale. And the clipping whites just look bad.
Universal Studios 1 - NTSC "But I'm a Cheerleader" vs. Metrodome Region 2 - PAL
Comments:Both are much too dark. I've been told the VHS release is like that too, but in the theater it was much brighter. Both have excessive Edge Enhancement.
The R2 UK has massive overscan, especially on the left and right. I haven't measured but I'd say it's close to 15% l/r and 5% top/bottom. It's as if they performed some sort of zoom. It isn't a Pan and Scan job because both discs are roughly 1.85:1 . The R2 UK looks very blurry, with much less background detail than the R1. Check out the grass lawn in the picture of Natasha walking away from the camera. This isn't just an edge enhancement issue because like I said both discs seem to have the same hideous amount of Edge Enhancement applied.
A note about the colors, they are supposed to be this extreme. They look about the same on both discs.
I own both discs, because the R1 looks better and the R2 is the longer, uncut version
See the results for yourself at:
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Regards,
Gary
 

Gary Tooze

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Two more VERY good ones...
Pioneer "Rashomon" vs. Criterion Region 1 vs. German Television transmission.
NOTE: Included: a special animated gif which shows a direct back/forth comparison of a film frame!
-Courtesy of Steffen Bieker
Paramount Region 1 "Don't Look Now" vs. Kinowelt Region 2
-Courtesy of Markus of ChiaroScuro
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P.S. Coming Soon: Image Dersu Uzala: Image vs. Spectrum ( Korean 3 disc set )
Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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3 more:
Warner Region 1 "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" vs. Kinowelt Region 2
Sony Pictures Region 1 "Beijing Bicycle" vs. Seville Pictures Region 1 vs. Starmax Region 0 - NOTE Starmax just added to old comparison !
Spectrum Region 3 (3 Discs) "Dersu Uzaka" vs. Image Entertainment NTSC Region 0
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Gary
 

Gary Tooze

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Monday morning, so 2 more:
Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "All About My Mother" vs. Pathé Distribution Ltd. Region 2 ( thanks to Markus for the R2 screen grabs )
Criterion Region 1 "This is Spinal Tap" vs. MGM - Region 4 ( thanks to Jeroen for the R4 screen grabs )
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Actually, this is turning into an excercise on "Why to Buy a Region-free Player" or to see what you are missing by NOT owning the 'Out of Print' Criterions...
Cheers,
Gary
 

KristianH

Agent
Joined
May 9, 2001
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44
Wow, sweet!

Pardon my ignorance, but is this an on-going project?
Will there be the same thing for more "mainstream" titles?
Or is there maybe such a place already "out there" on the net? Any tips?
 

Mark_vdH

Screenwriter
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May 9, 2001
Messages
1,035
Worth noting about the Spinal Tap comparison, is that the Criterion version has the original burnt-in titles, the MGM S.E. versions have these removed and replaced with player generated ones......

In R1, MGM has apperently revised this policy, but in PAL countries burnt-in titles are still removed (e.g. The Silence Of The Lambs, The Usual Suspects).

And also:
- The Criterion version does not have DD 5.1 audio.
- Only the discographic information of the Criterion is mentioned. The R4/MGM has one DVD-5 (single layer disc) which contains the movie, and one DVD-9 (dual layer disc), which contains the extra's.
 

Gary Tooze

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Wow, sweet!
Pardon my ignorance, but is this an on-going project?
Will there be the same thing for more "mainstream" titles?
Or is there maybe such a place already "out there" on the net? Any tips?
Hi Kristian,
Yes, this is an ongoing project with a few of our NON-North American ListServ members from my website.
As our website generally gravitates toward "Eclectic Cinema and Digital Versatile Discs", I would say we would do those titles first.. and probably more mainstream titles second, BUT there are a few mainsteam titles already in the R1 vs. R1 Section.
There are a few other sites, one in French and one in German... but I see new ones all the time ... none as extensively detailed as ours though ;)
You can see some links to these sites in our 'Links Section'.
Thanks Mark_vdH !
I have added your tech specs... sometimes its pretty hard to find this stuff on the web... most e-tailors don't go into detail, and I hate to bug the person oveseas who was nice enough to send me timecoded captures.
Regards,
Gary
 

Gary Tooze

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One more...
MGM Home Entertainment NTSC Region 1 "No Man's Land" vs. Gaumont-Columbia Tristar Home Video PAL Region 2 - Buy the R2!
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Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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Artificial Eye Region 2 Pal vs. Paraent (Paradise Entertainment ) Korean - Region 0 - NTSC
If my sources are correct and we have triple checked them... then the Korean Tri-Color Trilogy ( Kieslowski, Blue, White and Red ) may be anamorphic, but they are definitely NOT in the correct aspect ratio (1.85:1) . They have taken the original and vertically squeezed it (somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1.78 to 1.66 :1 ), as well as the Extras not having English subtitles. So unless you want to see the characters longer and thinner than intended, avoid these Korean Region 0 releases... and get a Region-free player or wait till they come out in R1.
You can see the captures for yourself with Blue as my first example at:
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Regards,
 

Gary Tooze

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FoxLorber NTSC Region 1 "Breathless" vs. Gaumont-Columbia Tristar Home Vidéo PAL Region 2
Go for the European release yet again!
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Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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We are doing a correction on the Tri-color Blue. Our source was misinformed and not utilizing his software correctly. Stay tuned.
But for your viewing pleasure:
Warner Home Video NTSC Region 1 "Eyes Wide Shut" vs. Warner Home Video PAL Region 2
I'm afraid I'll have to put a warning about the nudity etc. We are graphically showing the differences between the Censored R1 and Uncensored R2 versions. This is what was cut from your R1 DVD.
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Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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Chalk one up for R1... conspicuous by their absence, here is an R1 version that is actually better than its European R2 counterpart.
Columbia Tri-Star Region 1 "Gilda" vs. German - Region 2
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By the way, this is a great film and great R1 DVD...
Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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This may be old news, but the Criterion "Salo" DVD receiving upwards of $600 US on EBay is cropped. To compare it to the BFI version... frame side-by-side identical frame click below to our latest comparison.
Criterion R1 "Salò or The 120 Days of Sodom" vs. BFI Region 2
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Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

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Messages
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This may be old news, but the Criterion "Salo" DVD receiving upwards of $600 US on EBay is cropped. To compare it to the BFI version... frame side-by-side identical frame click below to our latest comparison.
Criterion R1 "Salò or The 120 Days of Sodom" vs. BFI Region 2
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Cheers,
 

Gary Tooze

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2000
Messages
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I think this will be my last post to this thread as I'm sure the Admins are wondering why no one else posts here. I know many of you must be subscribed to this thread and I know many are venturing to see the comparisons (hits on the page), but until it promotes some discussion, I will cease. I will continue to do the comparsions, just not waste the Forums discs space.
Two more:
Criterion R0 "The Cranes are Flying" vs. RusCiCo
- Criterion image blows away RusCiCo, but RusCiCo has good extras. See how great the Criterion image is over the RusCiCo.
Thanks to Gregory for the R2 Screen Captures
Added the new Central Park Media Region 0- NTSC COLLECTORS EDITION "Grave of the Fireflies" to the CPM's Region 0 ( old version ) - NTSC vs. Warner Bros. Japan R2 - NTSC
- The New CPM image is magnificent, and if my bitrate counter is working properly it flew at 10.99 BPS !
Acknowledged assistance and appreciation for all above to Jeroen H. Komen
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Regards,
Gary
 

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