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Preservation of SE97 Laserdiscs (Info Wanted) (a WIP)

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Hi there,

As some members have asked me after my preservation of TPM laserdiscs, I am currently working on a preservation of the laserdiscs of the Special Edition (1997).
For now, I have planned to preserve and then merge the following versions that I have at home:

  • NTSC US (done: average of 3 captures)
  • PAL UK (ongoing: average of 3 captures)
  • NTSC JP
  • PAL FR (English version or French version)

But I have some questions for LD specialists:

  1. Are there other laserdiscs of the SE97 worthy of interest (with better quality, SuperNTSC, different bonuses, different audio tracks, CC…)? I am thinking for example of the Japanese reeditions in 2000, which I do not own: do they represent a particular interest compared to the first edition?
  2. Is there a dolby EX 6.1 or DTS version on one of the LD versions (I don’t think so)?
  3. For NTSC discs, I will obviously use my Pioneer HLD-X0. But for the UK/FR PAL discs, I hesitate between the CLD-D925 and the LD-V4300D (I feel that the CLD-D925 gives more details, but also more noise - but by mixing several captures, I could reduce this noise). Your opinion?
    NB: I also have a CLD-1050 which shows a very natural image with a lot of sharpness and very little noise, but there is a lot of ghosting IMHO…
    What do you think ?

Thank you in advance for your advice which will allow me to offer the best possible preservation!

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ZigZig said:
2) Is there a dolby EX 6.1 or DTS version on one of the LD versions (I don’t think so)?

The 12-inch LaserDisc releases of the 1997 Star Wars Original Trilogy films where released only in Dolby Digital discrete 5.1 channel bitstreams. There were never separate LaserDisc releases of these films with DTS bitstreams.

Getting off topic: There were separate LaserDisc releases of the first three Die Hard films with DTS bitstreams.

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I really want to see preservations of the Japanese 97SE laserdiscs since I’ve read that those have the best color of the various editions.

edit: this release https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/00008/PILF-2860/Star-Wars-Trilogy:-Special-Edition

redvdit.net http://redvdit.net/best-ways-original-star-wars-trilogy/
Released in November of 2000, in the twilight days of the Laserdisc format, which would be over in a commercial sense by 2001, this is the last issue of the Original Trilogy on the Laserdisc format. The video transfer uses the same exact base that was used to create the 1997 US and Japanese box sets with identical subtitles to the 1997 Japan box, but takes advantage of three years of innovations, such as a lowered brightness level that increases contrast, and a slightly more natural color timing. Skin tones look remarkably better than their 1997 counterparts. The soundtrack presentation is exactly the same, with both Dolby Surround tracks, and discrete Dolby Digital tracks as well.

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But on a serious note I’m very excited to see this! The 2000 re-release does have slightly improved colors, but the article that a_o linked to also says that, “The 2000 box set, although visually striking in terms of packaging and presentation, does not feature a transfer that really sets it miles ahead of the 1997 Japanese box set.” So capping it would probably not to get any more detail, but you would have different colors.

The user formerly known as “Trillary Dump” (it was the 2016 election…)

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A big thank you for all your answers !

I was not at all aware that the Japanese edition of November 2000 had benefited from a better quality… I learn every day on this forum!
So I ordered this Japanese edition from November 2000, and I will capture it meticulously.
Anyway, about color accuracy, I think that the TB version is by far the most accurate we can get.

Do you have an opinion on CLD-D925 vs. LD V4300D? I can’t seem to have a clear opinion about this question…

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I have the US, original Japanese, and the 2000 re-releases from Japan.

Once you account for the IRE difference between the US and Japanese releases, they’re not noticeably different. I think there’s just a tendency to prefer the deeper blacks of the Japanese NTSC standard on modern equipment. My opinion of course.

If I had some gum, I’d chew a hole into the sun…

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Thanks Schorman, your opinion is, as always, valuable!
I feel the same about US and original Japanese, but I don’t have (yet) the 2000 re-release. I’ll get it in a couple of days.

About the IRE, the Japanese releases are just perfect on a Japanese player (such as the HLD-X0).
For the US releases, I set the flag “Assume NTSC pedestal” to 1 on my ADV-EVAL7842, it seems to be more accurate than using the D-EXT button of the LD player (I read somewhere that the D-EXT button works in the analog domain, and crushes the blacks). Am I doing right?

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ZigZig said:

Thanks Schorman, your opinion is, as always, valuable!
I feel the same about US and original Japanese, but I don’t have (yet) the 2000 re-release. I’ll get it in a couple of days.

Hello, any update on this? Did you ever get your copy of the 2000 re-release? A bit of a 1997 SE junkie myself. 😃

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Hi ShiftyEyes,

I did get the copy of the 2000 release.

Currently, I have finished capturing the original US version (in 3 passes) and the JP 2000 version (in 3 passes also), from my HLD-X0 via the comb filter of an ADV-7842 card.

I plan to now capture the PAL (UK and FR) versions from an LDV-4300D.

When everything is captured, I will then be able to offer an “ultimate” version with a mix of the PAL and NTSC ("PANuP) versions.

Cheers

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ZigZig said:

Hi ShiftyEyes,

I did get the copy of the 2000 release.

Currently, I have finished capturing the original US version (in 3 passes) and the JP 2000 version (in 3 passes also), from my HLD-X0 via the comb filter of an ADV-7842 card.

I plan to now capture the PAL (UK and FR) versions from an LDV-4300D.

When everything is captured, I will then be able to offer an “ultimate” version with a mix of the PAL and NTSC ("PANuP) versions.

Cheers

Man, this release is gonna look stellar!

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ZigZig said:

Hi ShiftyEyes,

I did get the copy of the 2000 release.

Currently, I have finished capturing the original US version (in 3 passes) and the JP 2000 version (in 3 passes also), from my HLD-X0 via the comb filter of an ADV-7842 card.

I plan to now capture the PAL (UK and FR) versions from an LDV-4300D.

When everything is captured, I will then be able to offer an “ultimate” version with a mix of the PAL and NTSC ("PANuP) versions.

Cheers

Sounds great, thanks for the update!

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My external HD with ALL my preservation work, including the current captures of the SE 97 Laserdiscs (JP and US) just crashed. I lost everything.

I need now a couple of weeks to find the money and buy a new HD, then restart the complete capture process (all disks had been captured 3 times each, then manually detelecined)…

Sorry for this unforeseen delay, I’m pretty desperate.

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ZigZig said:

My external HD with ALL my preservation work, including the current captures of the SE 97 Laserdiscs (JP and US) just crashed. I lost everything.

I need now a couple of weeks to find the money and buy a new HD, then restart the complete capture process (all disks had been captured 3 times each, then manually detelecined)…

Sorry for this unforeseen delay, I’m pretty desperate.

That’s horrible, I worry about this all the time with my mechanical external drive.

If you want, I’ll throw some money your way for a new drive.

The user formerly known as “Trillary Dump” (it was the 2016 election…)

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ZigZig said:

My external HD with ALL my preservation work, including the current captures of the SE 97 Laserdiscs (JP and US) just crashed. I lost everything.

I need now a couple of weeks to find the money and buy a new HD, then restart the complete capture process (all disks had been captured 3 times each, then manually detelecined)…

Sorry for this unforeseen delay, I’m pretty desperate.

Oh shit, that sucks, man. I had an external HDD crash earlier this year that had basically everything I had worked on since I was a teenager on it. Thankfully, I was able to get most of the stuff salvaged, but I totally understand your pain. Take your time, man.

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ZigZig said:

My external HD with ALL my preservation work, including the current captures of the SE 97 Laserdiscs (JP and US) just crashed. I lost everything.

I need now a couple of weeks to find the money and buy a new HD, then restart the complete capture process (all disks had been captured 3 times each, then manually detelecined)…

Sorry for this unforeseen delay, I’m pretty desperate.

Sorry to hear. I wouldn’t mind donating a bit if you need help. Let me know.

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I am really touched beyond words by your donation proposals, you are real gentlemen/gentlewomen!
A huge thank you.

But I don’t want to receive any money, you are not responsible for my hard drive crash, and this community has already given me a lot in terms of amazing information, learning, file sharing and friendship!

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ZigZig said:

I am really touched beyond words by your donation proposals, you are real gentlemen/gentlewomen!
A huge thank you.

But I don’t want to receive any money, you are not responsible for my hard drive crash, and this community has already given me a lot in terms of amazing information, learning, file sharing and friendship!

Sorry for necroing, but you doing alright? It’s been a few months since you posted, just want to know if you’re all good. I know losing a hard drive is really disheartening for a project, believe me.