Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on Laserdisc

flcl4evr · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 05:57

tomtastic wrote:

Here's some screen comparisons of the LD/DVD:

The Dolby Digital Train, this is pretty neat at the front of the LD, anyone know of another LD that uses this?

I have several discs that have the Dolby Digital Train. None specifically come to mind however......

alien · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 06:14

tomtastic wrote:

Here's some screen comparisons of the LD/DVD:

The Dolby Digital Train, this is pretty neat at the front of the LD, anyone know of another LD that uses this?

LD - Comp 1

DVD - Comp 1

LD - Comp 2

DVD - Comp 2

LD - Comp 3

DVD - Comp 3

LD - Comp 4

DVD - Comp 4

LD - Comp 5

DVD - Comp 5

LD - Comp 6

DVD - Comp 6

LD - Comp 7

DVD - Comp 7

LD - Comp 8

DVD - Comp 8

Surprisingly, they're real close but you can see the DVD is just a little clearer. Notice in comp 4, 6, 8 the detail, color and even sharpness are very close. You really can't compare LD to DVD because DVD is a newer generation of tech and should look better. What you really have to notice/appreciate is how well the LD looks for being a much older tech. This is a really nice LD, it's too bad they didn't release it in US as it's missing the alien/english translation subtitles.

The reason to buy the LD of course isn't because it might be better than the DVD, because it's not better overall. The DVD wins in detail, color, sharpness, etc. It's mostly if you really like Star Wars or LD or both and want it in all formats. Aside from that it is a really good transfer for LD, one of the best I've seen so far. Basically, it looks really good for LD.

Thank you again tomtastic! :thumbup:

Its really only the first 3 screenshots when the DVD version easily holds the advantage, but the rest of the screenshots are pretty close. The close up of the droids in #4 looks almost identical!

Its interesting because the DVD in screenshot #7 is more detailed however is it just me or is their a pinkish tint on the right side of her face? The LD version doesn't have this.

Like I said, if you have the time, you should rip parts of the video of both the Laserdisc and DVD versions and do an actual side by side video comparsen on YouTube. :thumbup:

laserbite34 · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 07:39

tomtastic

smashing good job on those if I had the time but its too much hassle on my end. How long did they take to do looks like a good 4 or so hours work.

tomtastic · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 09:20

Not that long to do because I did the full LD transfer first, so I can easily get to whatever spot in the movie for LD without having to setup each time with laserdisc. I'll get some more up when I get the chance. The trick is of course matching the exact frame, not sure I got each of them perfect. A YouTube side by side wouldn't really work, besides it might get taken down anyway, digital rights in all. YouTube compresses it down so it won't look as good, plus it will appear much smaller in side by side frame and even harder to see the differences.

For analog this LD looks fantastic. I forgot I took some pics of the movie while I was transferring it over. I'll sneak them in too so you can see it how it is on actual screen.

laserbite34 · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 09:54

I couldn't find the step-by-step frame advance on the pc DVD player I had to watch and then hit pause within + - few frames of DVD capture DVD R2 and then the DVD-RW.

The captures are brilliant.

alien · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 10:24

tomtastic wrote:

A YouTube side by side wouldn't really work, besides it might get taken down anyway, digital rights in all. YouTube compresses it down so it won't look as good, plus it will appear much smaller in side by side frame and even harder to see the differences.

The reason l I just suggested that idea is because someone else did a side-by-side comparsen between the 1985 Laserdisc vs the 2007 DVD of Evil Dead which I thought showed a difference. Take a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeaLiJVvy1c

Believe it or not but in that above comparsen of the Evil Dead, the Laserdisc has better picture quality then the DVD in my opinion! Amazing!

tomtastic · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 14:22

According to the notes here they used a cool filter in the transfer so they'll be a big difference in color appearance between the two. That would be the main reason why they look so much different.

Evil Dead, The (1981) [SF078-5044]

tomtastic · Posted: 29 Aug 2012, 15:41

I'm posting a new thread on this, so we don't get off topic.

alien · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 03:31

A really interesting discussion I found about Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on Laserdisc vs DVD back in 2002. Check the link out bellow if you're interested. Generally speaking, the opinion was that the DVD version was still the cleaner, sharper and more detailed transfer, HOWEVER because LD is an analog format which means the picture quality is vastly different depending on the machine, some knowledgeable posters were arguing that on the very best top of the line Laserdisc players ever built, The Phantom Menace on Laserdisc was actuelly BETTER then the DVD in terms of picture quality.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/88474 ... -laserdisc

tomtastic · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 04:24

That discussion is ten years old. Displays, AVR's have vastly improved since then. You could upconvert with progressive scan DVD players at that time with component cables, but not up conversion to 1080p. But even if the LD was better on a X9, that's not what typical results would yield for the average LD player.

alien · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 04:28

All you said there is true tomtastic. However I still found it a interesting read none the less.

tomtastic · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 04:41

I guess, on the same playing field, thru analog cables, they would be closer in spec but since DVD is digital it has more potential, hence progressive scan and upscaling. Watching some poorly mastered children's dvd's of Thomas the Tank Engine with my kids this past week, oh the scan lines and macro blocking is just awful. Really depends on good mastering too.

alien · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 06:24

Good points. Still even so, I'd still rather watch the Laserdisc of TPM rather than the DVD. I wish I could buy the Laserdisc some where I'd love to own it, that would be enough motivation for me to watch the film again. I have no plans to watch the Blu-Ray or DVD again, that would be too boring..

tomtastic · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 07:13

How much is shipping to Aus. from Japan? Cheapest listing for Japan is 39.00 US, I would think that'd be the closest.

I got the Blu ray 1-3 recently, still haven't popped them in yet. I guess I'm waiting till I get 4-6.

alien · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 07:55

Not sure how much postage is from Japan to Austarila as I haven't seen any Japanese outlets selling TPM on Laserdisc. I have seen 2 sellers one from the USA and the other from the UK selling TPM on Laserdisc but they are going for crazy high prices. The cheapest of the 2 is going for AUD $77.57 (not included postage).

tomtastic · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 08:21

There's one listed here for 39.00 US, maybe send a PM and find out how much on shipping.

alien · Posted: 23 Dec 2012, 10:34

tomtastic wrote:

There's one listed here for 39.00 US, maybe send a PM and find out how much on shipping.

Really? I didn't see that and I've checked eBay. Could you please maybe send me the link to the TPM Laserdisc listing either here or via PM?

cold_sleeper · Posted: 24 Dec 2012, 19:37

Rakuten
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/suru ... m/21878-1/

alien · Posted: 07 Jan 2013, 12:23

I think this is as good time as any to BUMP this thread since I now officially own The Phantom Menace on Laserdisc and have given it a couple of test runs. The picture quality on my 32" HD TV really is amazing for Laserdisc standards. The brightly lit outdoor exterior shots of the Naboo and the close-ups of things like the droids look excellent, hell this transfer is so good that even with the HQ circuit on (which generally makes everything look soft and crappy) works pretty well because there is such little noise to begin with. Its still much better with it turned off, but it was an interesting experiment none the less which is a massive credit to the transfer. The sound even with TV speakers is very good too.

The screencaps and the video sample on this thread don't fully give it justice at all.

Very happy I decided to buy this. :thumbup:

ertoili · Posted: 28 Jul 2016, 10:54

DVD R4 is the DVD versión to get....it also have
the EX sound and the picture quality is better than
the Laserdisc.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on Laserdisc

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