Originally posted by: Laserman
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Also, the PAL versions are framed differently, with the PAL version cropped, so missing some picture. That means what is on screen may look better as you have extra resolution and a tighter frame, but it also means you are missing some of the picture completely , which isn't a good thing. If you have a TV with a lot of overscan, then you are really missing out bigtime. I think you may be overstating this issue. Decisions on framing were made by the telecine operators who did each transfer, just like if you saw the original films in the cinema, then the amount of picture you would have seen was based on the masking decisions made by the projectionist. "Missing out bigtime" would be comparable to the amount of image lost in watching a P&S transfer on a 4:3 TV!
Originally posted by: Laserman
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If there was an X0 equivalent that could play PAL discs, then I would say the PAL transfer would outshine the NTSC transfer, but with the current PAL players available I'm expecting the result to be different. I've looked at the 925 and 2950 PAL players (both highly regarded) and in nearly every scene for ANH I prefer the X0 output once it has been processed.
If only......
Also, the PAL versions are framed differently, with the PAL version cropped, so missing some picture. That means what is on screen may look better as you have extra resolution and a tighter frame, but it also means you are missing some of the picture completely , which isn't a good thing. If you have a TV with a lot of overscan, then you are really missing out bigtime. I think you may be overstating this issue. Decisions on framing were made by the telecine operators who did each transfer, just like if you saw the original films in the cinema, then the amount of picture you would have seen was based on the masking decisions made by the projectionist. "Missing out bigtime" would be comparable to the amount of image lost in watching a P&S transfer on a 4:3 TV!
Originally posted by: Laserman
...
If there was an X0 equivalent that could play PAL discs, then I would say the PAL transfer would outshine the NTSC transfer, but with the current PAL players available I'm expecting the result to be different. I've looked at the 925 and 2950 PAL players (both highly regarded) and in nearly every scene for ANH I prefer the X0 output once it has been processed.
Do you know anything about the Theta Voyager? I can't find much information, but from what I've read, it's an OEM combi player based on a Pioneer drive, from a small videophile manufacturer in the US. See here. Apparently it plays PAL laserdiscs and DVDs. LD performance is not up to the standard of the Japanese high-end X0/X9 players, but is comparable to the US high-end CLD-97. Still, even if I could find one for sale, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to afford it...