slightly-OT: need web page with LD vs. DVD screencap comparisons

Please help me, I don't own an LD player, but I would like to be
directed to a web page that has quality LD and DVD screencaps of movies,
preferably of the same shots. Anybody know of such a page?
--
"Get rid of the Range Rover. You are not responsible for patrolling
Australia's Dingo Barrier Fence, nor do you work the Savannah, capturing
and tagging wildebeests."
--Michael J. Nelson

Grand Inquisitor
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost

Grand Inquisitor

in article X3cub.18200$, Grand Inquisitor at
wrote on 11/17/03 2:36 PM:

> Please help me, I don't own an LD player, but I would like to be
> directed to a web page that has quality LD and DVD screencaps of movies,
> preferably of the same shots. Anybody know of such a page?

I hate it when someone posts a question and people respond with, "why would
anyone want to do that?" when they don't really want to know why, but
instead want to tell a person their opinion.

That being said, why do you want to do that?

If you're looking to do a comparison of quality between the two, this won't
be a good way to do it at all. Lots of problems...

IMAGE COMPRESSION / QUALITY
Any image would be posted on a Website would be a jpeg and probably
compressed and scaled in such a way that the quality would be too low to
make a comparison. One might be better than the other, but that isn't
necessarily representative of the original source. Now while it is possible
to do high quality jpeg compression and post them at full size, you're still
dealing with image issues inherent in the capture process.

DIFFERENT SOURCE FORMATS
LD is analog video. DVD is digital video. The best way to import an image
from a DVD is to pop the DVD in your drive and rip the frames you want
keeping them in digital form the whole time.

With LD, you'd play the video through a capture device where it is then
digitized. This would reduce quality.

Even if you decided to play both formats through to a video capture device,
there are differences...with DVD, you can use component inputs if your
device supports it. You can't do this with LD. If you use the lowest
common denominator of s-video inputs then you're no longer playing DVD under
optimal conditions...not to mention no progressive scan.

Further complicating things is that with LD you may actually get a better
image by using the composite inputs. The video capture device may process
this video differently than s-video. You can use composite inputs for the
DVD video, but again, you're not comparing optimal conditions.

DIFFERENT SOURCE MATERIAL
You'd want to make sure that the video you're comparing came from fair
sources. If you're looking at a DVD that cam from a LD as a source, it's
not going to be a fair comparison as if both were made from the same high
quality masters that allowed both to max out on quality. Likewise it would
be an unfair comparison if you were looking at a restored video on DVD
versus the unrestored version on LD.

MR_ED_of_Course

MR_ED_of_Course wrote:

> in article X3cub.18200$, Grand Inquisitor at
> wrote on 11/17/03 2:36 PM:
>
>
>>Please help me, I don't own an LD player, but I would like to be
>>directed to a web page that has quality LD and DVD screencaps of movies,
>>preferably of the same shots. Anybody know of such a page?
>
>
> I hate it when someone posts a question and people respond with, "why would
> anyone want to do that?" when they don't really want to know why, but
> instead want to tell a person their opinion.
>
> That being said, why do you want to do that?

Short answer: my own private curiosity. Want the long answer?

--
"Get rid of the Range Rover. You are not responsible for patrolling
Australia's Dingo Barrier Fence, nor do you work the Savannah, capturing
and tagging wildebeests."
--Michael J. Nelson

Grand Inquisitor
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost

Grand Inquisitor

"Grand Inquisitor" <> wrote in message
news:X3cub.18200$...
> Please help me, I don't own an LD player, but I would like to be
> directed to a web page that has quality LD and DVD screencaps of
movies,
> preferably of the same shots. Anybody know of such a page?

I don't know of any offhand.

One problem with doing screencaps off laserdiscs is that if the LD in
question is a CLV format disc, a screencap is going to be of only a
half-resolution still-field, not a whole video frame, because that is
the way that LD players with digital field memory freeze motion on CLV.
So LD screencaps tend to look like utter garbage unless they are taken
from CAV discs, even though the two formats look pretty much
indistinguishable from one another when viewed at the proper playback
speed.

As a rule, LD vs. DVD screencaps are essentially meaningless. Even if
the two discs were both mastered from the same video transfer, and even
if the DVD were an early non-anamorphic disc, the LD screencap is going
to look exponentially worse than the DVD screencap, whereas you might
not see as drastic a difference watching them side-by-side.

Joshua Zyber

in article MQcub.18228$, Grand Inquisitor at
wrote on 11/17/03 3:28 PM:

> MR_ED_of_Course wrote:
>
>> in article X3cub.18200$, Grand Inquisitor at
>> wrote on 11/17/03 2:36 PM:
>>
>>
>>> Please help me, I don't own an LD player, but I would like to be
>>> directed to a web page that has quality LD and DVD screencaps of movies,
>>> preferably of the same shots. Anybody know of such a page?
>>
>>
>> I hate it when someone posts a question and people respond with, "why would
>> anyone want to do that?" when they don't really want to know why, but
>> instead want to tell a person their opinion.
>>
>> That being said, why do you want to do that?
>
> Short answer: my own private curiosity. Want the long answer?

Actually, I am kinda curious.

MR_ED_of_Course

MR_ED_of_Course wrote:
>>Short answer: my own private curiosity. Want the long answer?
>
>
> Actually, I am kinda curious.
>

I always pined for a Laserdisc player but could never afford one. I
mean, I really studied up on them. I would have been happy with just a
basic player and a copy of the Criterion 2001 (maybe 8 1/2), but even
that was beyond my financial grasp (minimum of $400 for a basic player
and about $125 for the movie). I was like a guy pining for a shiny
supercar in a magazine, then gets older and the car is considered an
antique. I don't have a ton of disposable income these days (I'm still
a young guy), and part of me wants to buy a cheap LD player off E-Bay
and some movies, another part of me doesn't want to fork over the
moolah. I guess I just wanted to see what I was missing all along.
Plus, there are some movies that may never get a DVD release, but *may*
be out on Laserdisc (like The Crowd, is that one on LD?).

--
"Get rid of the Range Rover. You are not responsible for patrolling
Australia's Dingo Barrier Fence, nor do you work the Savannah, capturing
and tagging wildebeests."
--Michael J. Nelson

Grand Inquisitor
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost

Grand Inquisitor

in article IZfub.18354$, Grand Inquisitor at
wrote on 11/17/03 7:03 PM:

> MR_ED_of_Course wrote:
>>> Short answer: my own private curiosity. Want the long answer?
>>
>>
>> Actually, I am kinda curious.
>>
>
> I always pined for a Laserdisc player but could never afford one. I
> mean, I really studied up on them. I would have been happy with just a
> basic player and a copy of the Criterion 2001 (maybe 8 1/2), but even
> that was beyond my financial grasp (minimum of $400 for a basic player
> and about $125 for the movie). I was like a guy pining for a shiny
> supercar in a magazine, then gets older and the car is considered an
> antique. I don't have a ton of disposable income these days (I'm still
> a young guy), and part of me wants to buy a cheap LD player off E-Bay
> and some movies, another part of me doesn't want to fork over the
> moolah. I guess I just wanted to see what I was missing all along.
> Plus, there are some movies that may never get a DVD release, but *may*
> be out on Laserdisc (like The Crowd, is that one on LD?).

I can relate. I got a used LD player for free. It was an expensive unit
just a few years before. It can play both sides without turning over, and
plays CDs. I also was able to pick up some LDs at stores converting or
going out of business.

I don't think screen shots are going to help you, but perhaps if you can't
go the eBay route downloading some of those versions that won't ever be on
DVD might help. Then again, I'm seeing some LD players on eBay with a Buy
it Now price of $10.

MR_ED_of_Course