What exactly IS available on DVD?

[evan2000]

I was browsing in my local video store a few days ago and was surprised to see Turtles Forever released in my country (Malaysia) as Region-3 DVD. It was also unusually cheap at RM19.90 (that's around $6 USD) so I bought it although I already have the Region-4 (Australia) DVD just out of curiosity of its quality.



The good news is, it has a run length of 81 minutes which means it is uncut, and I personally verified that all the "cut" scenes are there. The VIDEO_TS folder is 3.88 GB (4,174,993,408 bytes) as well:



And here is a snapshot of the quality around the 4:37 mark:

[Kirben]

Originally Posted by evan2000

I have a feeling that the Australian and UK DVD are identical sans the region coding. To confirm this, can both of you do this:

1) Load the DVD into your computer.
2) Go to My Computer => D: (or E: depending on which one is your DVD drive letter)
3) Right click on VIDEO_TS and click Properties.
4) Report back here on the Size in bytes.

If they are the same quality, most likely we will see identical (or very similar) file sizes between the two versions. If one is significantly larger than the other, it is the one with better quality due to higher encoding bitrate.

The Australian DVD release offers multiple subtitles (Dutch, English, French), so the files are going to be larger anyway.

Screenshot comparisons of high action scenes would be a better way to compare the Australian and UK DVD releases.

[evan2000]

Originally Posted by Kirben

The Australian DVD release offers multiple subtitles (Dutch, English, French), so the files are going to be larger anyway.

Screenshot comparisons of high action scenes would be a better way to compare the Australian and UK DVD releases.

The Australian DVD is a little weird, the VIDEO_TS folder is detected by my computer as 42.7 GB (45,890,963,456 bytes) although the entire DVD is only 3.91GB (4,208,195,584 bytes), they probably have duplicate file index pointing to the same files over and over again in order to replicate the multiple language "versions" in the same disc. So yeah, I guess comparing file size is no longer an accurate way to tell the encoding quality.



Here is a screenshot of the same 4:37 mark from the Australian DVD:



Subjectively speaking I feel that the Australian version is encoded better than the Malaysian version I posted earlier. There are lesser compression artifacts and has a wider screen (1014x576 after cropping the black bars, instead of 992x576 for the Malaysian version). Notice Donatello's bo staff is not cropped off this time.

Since the file size of the UK DVD seems to be closer to the Malaysian DVD, they might come from the same source, but we need somebody with the UK DVD to verify this. To take a snapshot, I use VLC player to play the video, pause it at the right time (use the 'E' on the keyboard to cycle through frame by frame) and then click Video => Take Snapshot to save the frame as a PNG image in the My Pictures folder. You can upload this PNG file to imgur like I did and link it here.

Oh, and I find it hard to compare high motion scenes as all you get are a ton of interlaced mess. Still shots are much easier to compare.

[thingy]

UK version (first clear frame of the shot):
http://i.imgur.com/vsBgKjv.png
VLC screencaping added some artefacts, but this should give you an idea what it looks like

And just for comparison here's the shot on the US edition:
http://i.imgur.com/IBlVeTm.png

[evan2000]

Originally Posted by thingy

UK version (first clear frame of the shot):
http://i.imgur.com/vsBgKjv.png
VLC screencaping added some artefacts, but this should give you an idea what it looks like

And just for comparison here's the shot on the US edition:
http://i.imgur.com/IBlVeTm.png

Thanks for the shots!

Looks like the Malaysian version did come from the same source as the UK version after all, with Donatello's bo staff being cropped and all. The DVD cover art also looks similar.

It's inevitable that the US version (being NTSC 720x480) will be less sharp than the other (PAL 720x576) versions due to the lower encoding resolution.

So the Australian DVD has the best of both worlds I guess? Being higher resolution than NTSC and wider screen than the other PAL versions. Ironically the Australian version of the season releases were said to be of lower quality than the rest.

[THGhost]

Damn that US release is blurry.

Originally Posted by evan2000

So the Australian DVD has the best of both worlds I guess? Being higher resolution than NTSC and wider screen than the other PAL versions. Ironically the Australian version of the season releases were said to be of lower quality than the rest.

Weird how the AU release of Turtles Forever is the overall best, but the season sets are considered bad. Yet they're the only way of getting them right now, am I right?

[Kirben]

Originally Posted by THGhost

Weird how the AU release of Turtles Forever is the overall best, but the season sets are considered bad. Yet they're the only way of getting them right now, am I right?

The Australian DVD release of Turtles Forever was by Paramount Home Entertainment, which really makes you wonder why the USA release was so bad in comparison.

The Australian DVD releases of the TMNT 2003 series were by Magna Pacific, a much smaller company. Magna Pacific were well known for only using DVD5, and having poor video quality in their DVD releases.

Also the Australian DVD releases of the TMNT 2003 series are well out of print too, just seems to be more stock still around places.

[THGhost]

Hurry it up, Nick. The releases for this excellent series are a complete mess.

[evan2000]

What a day! I have finally received all the 4Kids DVDs that my friend (who just travelled back from US) bought back for me! I did missed out some of them though, such as 3.6 (too expensive), 3.4 and Season 4 (cancelled due to shipping complication), and Season 7 which is still no where to be found as of this writing.


(Click for larger image)

The 4Kids DVDs has definitely taken up most of the space (and most of my money! ) among my other TMNT collection, though I guess it's worth my joy right now! I just need to get those remaining missing pieces, one day...

[Davetello]

^^ Fantastic photo, my friend.

[marcelangelo]

I HAVE the australien season 3 dvd sets by magna pacific and I cant understand what you fellows are yapping..the picture looks great in my opinnion...but this may depend on how annaly tight you are when it comes to 'super important' things such as picture quality...

to anyone who feels unsure if he/she should give these sets a shot I say go get them, they look wonderful!(in my oppinon..)

[evan2000]

Originally Posted by Davetello

^^ Fantastic photo, my friend.

Thank you!

I forgot to ask, does anybody have a high quality scan of the DVD cover art (including the spine art) of Notes From The Underground (Volume 5), with the correct 1st part of Raphael's face? I would like to print just that part myself and overlay it above the incorrect spine art, so Raphael's face would look right on my DVD shelf. Anybody who can help, please?

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by evan2000

Thank you!

You're welcome mate.

[Longview01]

Boom!

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Free DVD inside? What does that refer to?

[Longview01]

Originally Posted by TheSkeletonMan939

Free DVD inside? What does that refer to?

It came with a sample dvd, I got the Raph one

[Powder]

I've been re-watching the series for a week or two, & once I hit season 3, I found myself on the edge, losing my sanity. Holy hell, these episodes are so unbelievably scattered. So many episodes would come along referencing things that are two discs away but took place 5 episodes prior! Completely maddening. Good thing I know what's happened already, otherwise I'd be spoiled to hell. They really need to put out a box set, or at least a proper season 3 two part set like they did for the first two.

[ToTheNines]

I don't know what they're going for now, but I'm really glad I got the Australian box sets. You should track em down.

[tmntpower1988]

Originally Posted by Longview01

It came with a sample dvd, I got the Raph one

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/graphics...nchRaphael.jpg

I got that one too, they really should have put the Mayhem From Mutant Island episode on to the DVD instead. I like the turtles designs on those boxes, I hated the way they gave them puppy dog eyes in the BTTS episodes.

[evan2000]

Originally Posted by Longview01

Boom!

If only I can find these two at any reasonable pr... I mean, at ANY price right now! Lucky for those of you who got them early on!

Also...

Originally Posted by evan2000

I forgot to ask, does anybody have a high quality scan of the DVD cover art (including the spine art) of Notes From The Underground (Volume 5), with the correct 1st part of Raphael's face? I would like to print just that part myself and overlay it above the incorrect spine art, so Raphael's face would look right on my DVD shelf. Anybody who can help, please?