msycamore said:

SilverWook said:

How does the pan and scan process actually work? I can't recall reading anything that went into the nuts and bolts of the process. Are shots panned and scanned during the transfer process or after?

I have no idea how it really worked, sometimes the operator was even forced to make new cuts in the middle of a scene instead of panning back and forth between the important sections of the action, IIRC it happens several times in the SW transfers.

reave said:

Fingers crossed that your tape looks decent, but even if it doesn't, I would still like to make a preservation disc of it.

If the version aired on HBO really is the one used on the LD's and CED, you could maybe take use of those if you want better quality for the main feature. Like russs15 described, time-compressed meant it was just sped up by 4% just like PAL-speedup, so I think a simple conversion should do the trick.

While using the CED/LD version might technically be the same, and would work in a pinch if the true HBO airing couldn't be obtained, I would much prefer to find the original. The time compression used for the CED/LD is likely different than the PAL speedup, as its intended purpose was to fit the running time to the formats limitations, not a framerate issue. It would also be missing the HBO watermarks.

I'm sure a reasonable facsmile could be approximated, but it wouldn't have quite the same feeling.