An FYI:

Let's not forget the Video-CD of Episode 1 which I have. I would judge its PQ to be equal to a laserdisc even though I am not an expert in the field.

My DVD changer plays the movie just as well as a DVD. What is interesting is that the changer will play the second disc when the first disc ends without my intervention. (The movie is divided between 2 discs).

yes the VCD is known to be the best VCD release ever

I did not know that.

The VCD's I have are for sale only in Malaysia. The copyright warning at the beginning is written in the language used in Malaysia and in english. The english version warns that the VCD's are only for sale in Malaysia and nowhere else. Either the e-bay seller is in trouble or I am lol.

It was indeed extremely well encoded for a MPEG1 video disc (I had the Singapore release) but in action scenes the compression artifacts would be all over the place.

Soundtrack was quite acceptable and punchy as well.

I guess the Eps 4-5-6 VCD trilogy released at the same time had the same care applied to it?

Julien

I did not buy episodes 4, 5 and 6 on VCD. When I bought the VCD of Episode 1, episode 1 on DVD and LD were not available that I remember. I already had episodes 4, 5 and 6 on CED and LD so I had no desire to buy them on VCD. I later bought episodes 2 and 3 on DVD. I also have episode 7 on DVD which I will watch sometime in the near future.

Two things come to mind about VCD: 1) There is no menu system therefore there is no way to select scenes, languages and/or sound, and 2) No 5.1 sound. Also, the amount of movie stored on one disc is about half what a DVD can store. A 2 hour movie needs to be split between 2 discs.

How would you compare the LD of episode 1 compared to the VCD release in terms of picture quality? Because up until now, I thought the LD of episode 1 was the best way to watch the theatrical cut of the film.

I don't have the LD version so a comparison between the VCD and the LD would be extremely difficult (lol). I may not buy the LD at all as the price is too steep right now for me ($130 from Amazon, $38 to $70 from E-bay).

Is there any one else who could make the comparison?

i have the LD and the LD is better for perfect motion...

im just saying that this Vcd is great for being a VCD..

I will have to take your word on that. This VCD is the only one I have so I cannot make a comparison with other VCD's.

Did the VCD predate DVD's?

Yes, to simplify:

VCD is MPEG1 video.
DVD is MPEG2 video.

Julien

there are some official vcd releases like
Lord of the rings boxset, Im legend or this Star
wars episode one which are a really good effort
to bring quality to this format, almost free from
macroblocking when played by a good player...
.....but but still under quality compared to Laserdisc.....

Another FYI:

I was perusing Episode 1 laserdiscs on e-bay and noticed something. The LD has Japanese subtitles on the picture border. The VCD does not!

As usual, your mileage may vary (ROFL).

Jap subtitles are mostly on the black bar no big problem

Seriously. No matter how good the VCD of this (universally panned) movie is it can't hold a candle to the same title on any other format it was released on, yes, including VHS.

I saw this very disc when it came out (had a friend...) and wasn't even impressed by the standards of the day as I was swimming in LD and SVHS at that time. You don't have to be very good to be the best VCD ever made. Leaving aside the resolution (354x240) the artifacting is pretty ridiculous. VCD is like the CED of the 90s; inferior to every competing format. Don't let some urban myth fool you into wasting $1 on this or any other VCD. It's like VHS viewed through a colander in the rain.

All kidding aside, the VCD format is one that is no match for LD, DVD, HD-DVD or BR for PQ.. It was a format that was a footnote in the history of video. It is like the CD Video format that appeared and disappeared with nary a consumer complaint. I have one CD Video disc which I am keeping as a curiosity.

As to the Episode 1 movie, I watched my VCD copy once in its entirety and was not impressed. It is by no means equivalent to the classic movies that have appeared over the last ~80+ years (i.e. 2001, Gone with the Wind, Spartacus, etc).

Que sera, sera.

Edit: When I say equivalent, I mean the subject matter and the script of the film. I am not referring to the PQ which is a whole other matter.

It may be worth mentioning that back in the early 90s, MPEG-1 was probably the only real way to actually play some FMV games in your home. Not that FMV games from this era were any stellar nor they had any kind of good visual quality, but if compare something on the CD-i to the Sega CD you may see a reason why it did make a bit of sense as those games did get some attention back then.

For feature films however, I never saw the point of VCD. Unless you're completely desperate for watching a specific film (which I've been at some point), there's no reason not to spend some more money and see your films without wondering whether or not they used an old cellphone for shooting. DVDs are available for peanuts and those are vastly superior to VCDs unless the master itself is technically defective.

When I buy a movie, I attempt to get either the DVD or the LD. Sometimes the DVD is the only format for the movie that i can buy. BD is of little use to me as I do not have an HDTV yet.

The VCD of episode 1 that I have is my only VCD. When I bought it, I wanted to see Episode 1 very badly and it was not out on DVD or LD at the time (that I knew of). I guess that i was in a hurry and should have waited. Oh well, that's the way it goes.

That is almost poetic, & hilarious.

Cheers.

With or without goggles?

Nice comparison .