logo Sign In

PAL speedup & pitch-corrected DVD's

Author
Date
Author
Time
Post link
Does anyone know of any database or review site that tracks which PAL DVD's are pitch-corrected ?
I've not seen that info @IMDb. Seems they're only concerned with R1 releases.

I'm particularly interested in the R2 release of Ken Loach's KES. Anybody know if it's pitch-corrected ?

However, in practice you must take into account the “fuckwit factor”. Just talk to Darth Mallwalker…
-Moth3r

Author
Time
Post link
Not going to be a big help, but... www.dvd.net.au sometimes mentions if a dvd is pitch corrected but I couldn't find the movie you were looking for. I think if it's not mentioned in a review under the audio section it isn't pitch corrected. Maybe you know of a few titles that are pitch corrected and you can check if it is mentioned in the review. One I know of is "The Dead Zone".

For my personal Star Wars edit I took the best of both the PAL and NTSC systems. It's encoded at 23,976 fps progressive at a resolution of 720x576 and pulled down to 25 fps Excellent audio (thanks to belbucus) and excellent picture
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
Author
Time
Post link
Pitch-corrected PAL releases are rare - I read somewhere that the process is only applied at the director's request.

The only time it's noticed is when it introduces digital artefacts into the audio e.g. LOTR: FOTR.

Guidelines for post content and general behaviour: read announcement here

Max. allowable image sizes in signatures: reminder here

Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: Moth3r
Pitch-corrected PAL releases are rare - I read somewhere that the process is only applied at the director's request.

The only time it's noticed is when it introduces digital artefacts into the audiom e.g. LOTR: FOTR.

What, the audio of my LOTR: FOTR dvd has artifacts? Do you have an example were in the movie I can hear that? How bad is it?

Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
Author
Time
Post link
Googling "pitch-corrected" did already lead me to dvd.net.au review of Igby Goes Down wherein it is mentioned.
And they also mention the poor job done in their review of FOTR Special Extended Edition.
Alas, they haven't reviewed Kes.

However, in practice you must take into account the “fuckwit factor”. Just talk to Darth Mallwalker…
-Moth3r

Author
Time
Post link
Out of interest, did you want it to be pitch-corrected (i.e. you will be playing the PAL disc "as is")? Or did you want the higher pitch, so that on conversion to NTSC, and slowing down the audio, the correct pitch is restored?

Guidelines for post content and general behaviour: read announcement here

Max. allowable image sizes in signatures: reminder here

Author
Time
Post link
I haven't planned doing a conversion. If it's pitch-correct I can use my standalone player.
If it's high-pitched I'll plug my laptop to the diamondtron (Trinitron clone) on the coffee table in front of my couch where "mplayer -speed 0.96" works a treat. Same sound equipment either way.
While I don't have a strong preference, given the choice I think I'd pick high-pitched because:
a) Kes is an artsy-fartsy film so I'm entitled to be snobbish about frame rate as well as pitch
b) the 17" diamondtron at close range generally looks better than the 16-year-old 20" telly across the room
c) by the reviews I've read it's a low-budget release -- 4:3 letterboxed, battered print, DVD5 -- so it's hard to imagine they spent the coin on the best software to do pitch-correction.

It's easy to imagine they haven't done any pitch-correction. But the thing is, I've previewed a couple of "online" copies (DivX & KVCD) and they just sound strange at 24fps. Such a deep voice from such a scrawny lad -- not only the main character but some of his mates as well.
I've just found some low bitrate MP3 samples from a website selling the soundtrack CD, so hopefully I'll be able to answer my own question when I compare them this weekend.

However, in practice you must take into account the “fuckwit factor”. Just talk to Darth Mallwalker…
-Moth3r