Arrow Video - City Of The Living Dead

[Sec]

It's always puzzled me that every UK/Euro/Australian VCR, DVD player and Bluray player of the past 20 years has been able to play PAL and NTSC material but American decks can't play PAL. They all come from the same factories!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Sec

It's always puzzled me that every UK/Euro/Australian VCR, DVD player and Bluray player of the past 20 years has been able to play PAL and NTSC material but American decks can't play PAL. They all come from the same factories!

I've never understood that either -- maybe it's something to do with American companies being afraid of disreputable films from that scary place called Abroad! (I'm only kidding; there isn't any legitimate reason for such a one-way process.)

[Baseball Fury]

I believe it's because NTSC players can't slow down the SD frame rate correctly, I might be wrong though! Obviously, most 1080p runs at 24fps universally, so it's only SD content that's an issue.

[Daemonia]

Maybe this is something Arrow could look at for the future. Encode the extras with a hi-def codec at 1080p (or even 1080i) so that they will have worldwide compatibility - might even help shift a few extra units.

Personally, in this day, I think we should be moving Blu-ray towards a universally accepted format so that all discs will play anywhere in the world (region-free providing).

It should also be noted that PAL has more lines of resolution which also often posed a problem for NTSC TV sets. Although if you have an HDTV this shouldn't be a problem anymore, wherever you live.

[brain dead]

Originally Posted by Daemonia

Maybe this is something Arrow could look at for the future. Encode the extras with a hi-def codec at 1080p (or even 1080i) so that they will have worldwide compatibility - might even help shift a few extra units.

They did. Inferno HD extras were 1080p and it's reported that all HD extras for Battle Royale, Bay of Blood and Deep Red are the 1080p, too.
The COTLD were in 1080i, but at 50hz which is why they were incompatible.

[the blob]

It's the frame rate that's the issue. Most European TV's can accept a native 60hz signal alongside a 50Hz so a player can output it native. Not so common in NTSC regions for TV's to accept 50Hz so the player would usually have to do an internal conversion, which isn't common. If everything was 1080i/60 or 1080p/24 then no problem.

[Pinhead0303]

Originally Posted by Calum

Slightly off topic but is anyone a member of the Hi Def Forums?

Mario Bava's A Bay Of Blood (UK) November 1st

If so it might be helpful to inform them that the US and UK COTLD come from the same master and you'd be hard pressed indeed to notice any picture difference (at least I didn't but apologies if anyone has?!? )

Now being in a position to comment on this, I have to say that the Blue Underground US release is far superior in terms of picture quality, which is baffling since, as you say, they come from the same master.

Can't say I'm that surprised, mind, after seeing the transfer for A Bay of Blood. Arrow do seem to concentrate more on extras and the whole package which is great for collectors especially, as long as they get the film right, but if it's affecting the quality of the main feature then that's clearly not a good thing. Or perhaps it's simply staff related, I'm sure we'll never know.

[Almar@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

Now being in a position to comment on this, I have to say that the Blue Underground US release is far superior in terms of picture quality, which is baffling since, as you say, they come from the same master.

Can't say I'm that surprised, mind, after seeing the transfer for A Bay of Blood. Arrow do seem to concentrate more on extras and the whole package which is great for collectors especially, as long as they get the film right, but if it's affecting the quality of the main feature then that's clearly not a good thing. Or perhaps it's simply staff related, I'm sure we'll never know.

Bay is a different film. It has what to do with the BD of City?

[Steel76]

Originally Posted by Pinhead0303

Now being in a position to comment on this, I have to say that the Blue Underground US release is far superior in terms of picture quality, which is baffling since, as you say, they come from the same master.

Yes, the B.U. disc got better colors, contrast and black level, plus the encoding is much better. The Arrow disc have far too much artifacting going on in the picture (which is VERY annoying if your watching on a bigger screen) while the B.U. disc is free from it as far as I can see. Maybe they should have put all the High Def extras on a second disc instead to leave more room for a higher bitrate? I´m still keeping the Arrow disc for the awesome extras and the cool artwork, but my future viewings of the movie will be of the B.U. disc.

Artifacting don´t seem to be a problem on later Arrow BD titles thankfully

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Steel76

Yes, the B.U. disc got better colors, contrast and black level, plus the encoding is much better. The Arrow disc have far too much artifacting going on in the picture (which is VERY annoying if your watching on a bigger screen)

What size of screen did you watch it on? I watched it on a 42" plasma and never noticed the artifacting. But then again, I was asked at work why I was squinting to read text on a pc moniter a foot and a half from my face


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