International SHENANDOAH Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[John Hermes]

Soul Media in Europe has just put out Universal's Shenandoah, the James Stewart Civil War film from 1965. I received the disc yesterday. It looks quite nice with excellent color and contrast and decent sharpness. Keep in mind it is zone (region) B, and is 1080i50Hz, so make sure your gear can play it. They put out a BD of Hellfighters a while back with the same specs. It looks excellent.

 

[Virgoan]

1080i50Hz?

 

[trajan]

Universal needs to release this in the US. One of the best civil war films ever.

 

[John Hermes]

1080i50Hz?

It's encoded at 1080 interlaced and at the European television standard of 50 cycles per second. So, you need a TV which can handle that and a BD player which can output it. Some players like my LG will output them as 60 cycles, making it easier for TVs in our market to play them. Many projectors can handle the native disc output fine.

 

[Mark-P]

Has anybody bought the Italian Blu-ray of Shenandoah? The back of the box says region B, but Blu-ray.com has it listed as region-free. I'd like confirmation that it is region-free before buying it.

 

[Alan Tully]

Interesting, I've just checked Amazon UK, & you can buy it for as cheap as £9.66 delivered (marketplace). If it's the same HD transfer as the one shown on the telly, then I know it looks good.

 

[Mark-P]

I just received the Italian Blu-ray (pictured above) and I am happy to report that it is indeed region-free, despite what it says on the package. It has great picture quality (1080p 24fps). However the English soundtrack is lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192 kbps). Some would argue that a soundtrack from this era doesn't require lossless sound, but the BD still sounds very good. The menus are in Italian, so be prepared to fumble around exploring. The sound defaults to Italian 5.1 but when you choose the English track, Italian subtitles come on automatically, but fear not, they can be disabled via the button on your remote! I heartily recommend the disc.

 

[John Hermes]

I just received the Italian Blu-ray (pictured above) and I am happy to report that it is indeed region-free, despite what it says on the package. It has great picture quality (1080p 24fps). However the English soundtrack is lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192 kbps). Some would argue that a soundtrack from this era doesn't require lossless sound, but the BD still sounds very good. The menus are in Italian, so be prepared to fumble around exploring. The sound defaults to Italian 5.1 but when you choose the English track, Italian subtitles come on automatically, but fear not, they can be disabled via the button on your remote! I heartily recommend the disc.

Thanks for the report. Even though I had the 1080i Danish release, I ordered this one yesterday, it being 1080p and zone-free.

 

[RMajidi]

Thanks for the report. Even though I had the 1080i Danish release, I ordered this one yesterday, it being 1080p and zone-free.

Hi John, I realise your last post on this was a while ago, but I wonder if you would post a brief update comparing the Danish and Italian versions - as I understand you have both now? Thanks in advance.

Edit: I wish to order one of these, but want to select the superior quality release.

 

[John Hermes]

Hi John, I realise your last post on this was a while ago, but I wonder if you would post a brief update comparing the Danish and Italian versions - as I understand you have both now? Thanks in advance.

Edit: I wish to order one of these, but want to select the superior quality release.

Well, there's not an ideal choice here. I like the PQ on the Danish disc better but it is 1080i 50Hz with the PAL speed-up, running about five minutes shorter. It is also region B locked. The Italian disc is region-free and 1080p but seems a little softer and less solid picture-wise, although there's certainly not a huge disparity. So, it's your decision to make.

 

[RMajidi]

Well, there's not an ideal choice here. I like the PQ on the Danish disc better but it is 1080i 50Hz with the PAL speed-up, running about five minutes shorter. It is also region B locked. The Italian disc is region-free and 1080p but seems a little softer and less solid picture-wise, although there's certainly not a huge disparity. So, it's your decision to make.

Hmmm ...more dilemmas! I might settle for the Danish offering on image quality. Many thanks for the quick reply John.