Oddball ghosting with Silence of the Lambs (1 Viewer)

[Daniel T.]

I have a Samsung 507 DLP and a Pioneer DV-45 player.

All my movies look wonderful, that is until I popped in Silence and what I saw almost made me sick. Sharp edged lines wiggle, the main FBI guy's glasses bounce around his face when its a closeup. I tried switching aspects, toggling between progressive, all sorts of stuff.

I know the DVD is at fault here, I know because I popped in a newer DVD(5th Element, superbit) and all was back to normal...I.E. great looking.

Whats this effect called and why do DVD's do this. It made the movie unwatchable. Anything to look for on the back of DVD cases to avoid this effect?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Which DVD version do you have? The phenomenon you're describing is called "edge enhancement." All DVD transfers have some degree of EE.

 

[Bill McA]

You must be referring to the Criterion edition, as my copy does the exact same thing.

The answer - really poor digital compression.
Many early DVDs look like this, including some early Criterion titles.

 

[Daniel T.]

Yep, its the Criterion edition. Dang it, I like this movie.

 

[CameronS]

Try the anamorphic MGM edition.

 

[Bill McA]

Try the anamorphic MGM edition.

I'll second that!

MGM's version looks terrific with lots of extras to boot...and it's inexpensive.

P.S. It's available in both widescreen & pan and scan versions.