Richard Stammer
Stunt Coordinator
I started this thread in the Software forum but it elicited no interest, only ridicule. Perhaps the region-free enthusiasts in this forum might find it more interesting. I'm sorry if the last paragraph is too "absurdly long" as mentioned by someone in the other forum:
"I'm not sure if this has been reported in another thread. But it just came to my attention that the R2 version of the new restored Metropolis, both the British, and particularly the German, R2 versions are superior in bit rate (and thus image quality)to the R1 version. They were released in two disc sets with the movie on one dual layered disc and the specail features on the second disc. See this link at DVDbeaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/.
Following is a discussion of the differences:
Also available in a PAL-to-NTSC conversion transfer (23.98 f/s) as a single DVD-9 from Kino on Video in North America:
The German intertitles have been removed from this edition and replaced with new English intertitles, with subtitles for title cards available in French & Spanish
Also available in a PAL transfer (25 f/s) as a 2-DVD-Set from Eureka in the UK
The German intertitles have been removed from this edition and replaced with new English intertitles
"... In all fairness I should stress that the Kino edition is good and acceptable; but, with 210 minutes worth of weight put on one dual layered disc instead of being split onto two dual layered discs (the way Metropolis is presented in Europe) the difference has to show somewhere, provided the European editions were not screwed up, which they were not. The Region 1 by Kino was mastered by the same company (Imagicon) as the European editions; and it was Kino that insisted on a single Dual Layered disc. Compared to the European Editions, the Kino disc shows good resolution and detail, very good, detailed grey scale and excellent density, being based on the 2K restored print, which only occasionally reveals the use of material very noticeably different to the splendid negative. ... The similarities end between the DVD issues in the U.S. by Kino and those in Europe (Eureka and Ufa, respectively) when it comes to artefacts, and true representation of the prints' speed - the former was affected because the restoration of the English intertitles was done on high resolution video in PAL, and it was decided that the master would be converted to NTSC (from 25 fps PAL) rather than restoring everything to film and then transfer it back for the DVD mastering process. This also affects the music (going slightly slower) and you can see slight problems in sharpness and detail, as some frames overlap to merge into one. Also, there are some static noise patterns forming whenever the film elements are grainy. This is due to the limited disc capacity - as the feature had to be more compressed in order to get the extras onto the single disc. In essence, the decision by Kino was unfortunate. It is a good to very good release, but it could have been perfect. The Pal release by both Eureka in the U.K. and UFA in Germany is quite different: METROPOLIS is one of the few films actually being of the same projection speed as the TV standard PAL (25fps). This offers the tremendous opportunity to do everything right - the speed, the music, the quality without compromises due to speed differentials such as a conversion process. Disc One with the feature is an excellent presentation with almost entirely flawless results in compression and transfer of elements. Density is breathtaking, especially keeping in mind the dreadful releases in the past. Here, on the European release, there are no signs of artefacts, and the image is sharp and crisp benefiting from a much higher resolution as well as far higher detail. ..."
— DVDScan-LaserExaminer
Posted: Today
06:19 PM
Post (#5 of 7 posts)
man, it just never ends in trying to get the best version.
"I'm not sure if this has been reported in another thread. But it just came to my attention that the R2 version of the new restored Metropolis, both the British, and particularly the German, R2 versions are superior in bit rate (and thus image quality)to the R1 version. They were released in two disc sets with the movie on one dual layered disc and the specail features on the second disc. See this link at DVDbeaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/.
Following is a discussion of the differences:
Also available in a PAL-to-NTSC conversion transfer (23.98 f/s) as a single DVD-9 from Kino on Video in North America:
The German intertitles have been removed from this edition and replaced with new English intertitles, with subtitles for title cards available in French & Spanish
Also available in a PAL transfer (25 f/s) as a 2-DVD-Set from Eureka in the UK
The German intertitles have been removed from this edition and replaced with new English intertitles
"... In all fairness I should stress that the Kino edition is good and acceptable; but, with 210 minutes worth of weight put on one dual layered disc instead of being split onto two dual layered discs (the way Metropolis is presented in Europe) the difference has to show somewhere, provided the European editions were not screwed up, which they were not. The Region 1 by Kino was mastered by the same company (Imagicon) as the European editions; and it was Kino that insisted on a single Dual Layered disc. Compared to the European Editions, the Kino disc shows good resolution and detail, very good, detailed grey scale and excellent density, being based on the 2K restored print, which only occasionally reveals the use of material very noticeably different to the splendid negative. ... The similarities end between the DVD issues in the U.S. by Kino and those in Europe (Eureka and Ufa, respectively) when it comes to artefacts, and true representation of the prints' speed - the former was affected because the restoration of the English intertitles was done on high resolution video in PAL, and it was decided that the master would be converted to NTSC (from 25 fps PAL) rather than restoring everything to film and then transfer it back for the DVD mastering process. This also affects the music (going slightly slower) and you can see slight problems in sharpness and detail, as some frames overlap to merge into one. Also, there are some static noise patterns forming whenever the film elements are grainy. This is due to the limited disc capacity - as the feature had to be more compressed in order to get the extras onto the single disc. In essence, the decision by Kino was unfortunate. It is a good to very good release, but it could have been perfect. The Pal release by both Eureka in the U.K. and UFA in Germany is quite different: METROPOLIS is one of the few films actually being of the same projection speed as the TV standard PAL (25fps). This offers the tremendous opportunity to do everything right - the speed, the music, the quality without compromises due to speed differentials such as a conversion process. Disc One with the feature is an excellent presentation with almost entirely flawless results in compression and transfer of elements. Density is breathtaking, especially keeping in mind the dreadful releases in the past. Here, on the European release, there are no signs of artefacts, and the image is sharp and crisp benefiting from a much higher resolution as well as far higher detail. ..."
— DVDScan-LaserExaminer
Posted: Today
06:19 PM
Post (#5 of 7 posts)
man, it just never ends in trying to get the best version.
