TCM/Columbia Film Noir Classics IV-Improperly Authored Discs (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

I haven't experienced any problems with Film Noir 4 set but I did notice the picture quality was not as good as with the previous three box-sets.

 

[Sadsack]

The picture quailty suffers from aliasing (each frame is made of two overlapping fields, but they are not identical in this case) which gives it a shimmery, interlaced look.
When this was first released, I submitted a review but it wasnt published on the TCM store. I later got an email asking to review the product, submitted the review again, but still unpublished. Since then, I've seen several reviews added - only uncritical happy ones.

Not everyone notices the jerkiness even though it's present, and it's independent of screen size - I can see it on my 32" hdtv, as well as a small media player window on my PC monitor. This kind of telecine is known for jerkiness, as described near the beginning of this article:
http://www.neuron2.net/LVG/telecining1.html
"Although they could simply duplicate 1 out of every 4 frames to produce the extra frame, this method is not used. This is because the duplication of one frame would cause that frame to be displayed for twice as long as the other 3 frames, which leads to jerkier motion. Fortunately, film producers can make use of the field-based nature of video to more gradually introduce the extra frame."

I uploaded a very short clip comparing the two telecine methods - the original versus the smoother pattern. The clip is very short, so you need to watch it several times until you notice the difference. Watch it enlarged or better yet, download it and watch on mediaplayer which can loop playback: The taxis on the left are much jerkier than on the right (no political jokes, please!).

 

[Craig Beam]

Pretty fucking amateur in this day and age. No sale.

 

[jdee28]

It's too bad the Film Noir and John Ford sets aren't up to the same quality as the earlier ones. The TCM/Universal sets followed the same pattern of decreasing quality with every new release. I was hoping the Sony/TCM sets would be different.

I doubt Sony/TCM will go to the trouble of authoring new sets for this issue. Like with so many other things MOD, those interested in owning the films will just have to live with it.

To put a little salt in the wounds, it seems as if the John Ford and Film Noir sets are excluded from any current coupons. None of the cyber discounts currently apply to them.

 

[larryKR]

I purchased Film Noir Classics 4 in April 2014 from Movies Unlimited and just recently watched JOHNNY O'CLOCK. I noticed the jerkiness Sadsack mentions almost right away. Too bad because I really like this film, and it's the reason I bought this set. I don't want to deal with returns or refunds as I hate the process, and will probably never view the other films in this set. 58 dollars wasted, and a very sloppy unprofessional job done by TCM and Sony. I won't be buying any more product in this series.