Info: Jaws - PCM mono track

If anyone doesn’t mind the exclusion of a Nancy Sinatra song (this was the only bit of info i could find regarding the home video version rescored bit)

anyone reckon the PCM track from this Laserdisc of Jaws be worth preserving and syching up with the rather impressive Blu-ray?

[](http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21671/41086/Jaws-(1975)[http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21671/41086/Jaws-(1975](http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21671/41086/Jaws-(1975 "www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21671/41086/Jaws-(1975"))

I understand the mono track is already on the BD but only as 786kbps DTS 2.0

don't hold me to the bitrate on the DTS track on Jaws but i'm sure it was half bitrate. will dig a bit deeper and report back

not sure about that signature edition in all honesty. i thought that got the 5.1 remix if i'm honest. I've got the laserdisc that i linked to in the OP

--UPDATE--

DTS-HD Master Audio - English 4893 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 4893 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS Audio - English  768 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit

http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21671/41086/Jaws-%281975%29

It's the early 90's first letterboxed release. The song replaced is in the background of the beach scene with Brody onlooking the death of Alex Kittner. Seems to be Olivia Newton John according to this thread on the HTF. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/322958/jaws-blu-ray-review-very-highly-recommended/360#post_4019185

I have been able to check the audio (and picture) on four laserdisc releases of Jaws, to confirm that the mono audio on the Blu-ray is in fact the original mono from 1975.

The four laserdiscs I checked are:

1.  The 1995 Signature Laserdisc
2.  The 1991 Letterbox MCA Laserdisc
3.  The 1987 Pan & Scan MCA Laserdisc
4.  The 1981 Pan & Scan Discovision Laserdisc

The 1995 Laser is the only one at CAV, with the movie spread across 5 sides.  The others are CLV, with the movie spread from 2-3 sides.

Listening to Chief Brody's line "Smile you son of a bitch!" on all the mixes, I can hear the "b" just a little bit more clearly on the 1991 & 1987 discs, which matches up with how I hear it on the "Making of Jaws" clip as well.  The 1995 and 1981 discs don't have the "b" that clear.  (And the Discovision disc is muddy in everything, including both picture and sound)  But everything else is identical, down to the subtle bass rumble of the shark closing on Brody just before the blast.  Which tells me they are all the same mix.   I'm certain my neighbors will be happy after more than 30 repetitions never to hear that surge of music and Chief Brody's shout emanating from my living room again...

I note that the 1991 and 1987 lasers have a disclaimer on them reading "Home Video Version.  Some Music Rescored."  Which brings to mind one of the big reasons why I didn't keep my lasers or old VHS tapes when I upgraded to DVDs with identical content.   One of the nice things with DVD was the relicensing of various songs and musical cues that had been replaced in early video editions.  I still remember my shock and delight on hearing Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" on the 1998 DVD for The Thing, where before I had only ever heard a faux disco track on cable or on the pre-Signature laser.   I'm not sure what music on Jaws would have been rescored and maybe somebody hear could fill in the blanks on that.  Is it the pop music heard on the radio at the beach?

I have to say that the PQ of these laserdiscs, viewed on a 65" screen is pretty bad in comparison to what we have today, not only from the Blu-ray but from the 30th Anniversary DVD.  The PQ on the Discovision disc is particularly horrible.  Of course, for it's day....  Also, the Discovision disc has a very cloudy physical appearance, which is either from the design of the laserdisc or more likely a sign of its 31 years of age.

Also, the Discovision chaptering is shall we say unique.  The whole first side is a single chapter, titled "Hooper arrives at Amity Island."  Side Three opens with "Quint shares his experiences aboard the Indiana."

Interesting on the climactic line. I thought it used to be more audible when I was a kid, but put that down to false memories. I recently got the '91 CLV disc and will watch it soon.

Nice that they did the BD mono in DTS, but it would have been better at a higher bitrate. (Not to mention outdo all the pointless work done on a surround remix) Universal has been doing DTS mono tracks.

digitalfreaknyc said:

I complained about this in blu-ray.com when the blu-ray came out and several people commented that the DTS 768 equals the PCM. I didn't understand why but they explained it.

48kHz = 48,000 samples per second.

Each sample is 16 bits, therefore mono PCM is 1 x 16 x 48,000 = 768,000 bits per second = 768kbps.

However, the specs above say that it is encoded as dual mono (same track in left and right channels) and uses 24 bit samples. Uncompressed this would be 2 x 24 x 48000 = 2304kbps, so 768kbps represents a track that has been compressed to a third of its original size. 

I've seen worse.  The mono tracks on some Funimation DVDs are only 96 kbps.

To be fair to FUNimation I would only imagine that's what they received. Toei's not known for high-quality preservation efforts; the master tapes for all of DragonBall were thrown out, and the difference between the original broadcast audio and the home video releases is staggering. Not to mention the uncut version of the Fist of the North Star movie is completely lost!

No excuse for the SE Bond DVDs though.

Jonno said:

I'm curious to know what the thinking is behind encoding mono as 2.0 dual as opposed to 1.0.

I personally appreciate the dual encoding for the simple reason that my receiver can't spread 1.0 across the front speakers (I only get the centre), but presumably the majority of people don't share this problem and 2.0 is just wasted space.

 out of curiosity Jon, what reciever have you got?

bkev said:

To be fair to FUNimation I would only imagine that's what they received. Toei's not known for high-quality preservation efforts; the master tapes for all of DragonBall were thrown out, and the difference between the original broadcast audio and the home video releases is staggering. Not to mention the uncut version of the Fist of the North Star movie is completely lost!

No excuse for the SE Bond DVDs though.

The R2 Dragon Box has 448 kbps dual mono.  Still sounds like garbage though (especially compared to videotapes from 1989).

ETA, compare the UUE raw audio with the Orange Brick.  There's something else going on than "this is what Toei gave us".

SilverWook said:

Molly said:

I've seen worse.  The mono tracks on some Funimation DVDs are only 96 kbps.

They used 96kps on the extras for the 007 SE DVD's a decade ago. It makes the commentaries sound like AM radio.

96kbps is Dolby's recommended data rate for DD1.0, so it should sound transparent to most people. I used this bitrate for the mono mix on my Star Wars Pwnage Edition disc, and I certainly couldn't ABX it.

What I'm saying is that those commentaries probably sounded like AM radio before encoding...

Molly said:

bkev said:

To be fair to FUNimation I would only imagine that's what they received. Toei's not known for high-quality preservation efforts; the master tapes for all of DragonBall were thrown out, and the difference between the original broadcast audio and the home video releases is staggering. Not to mention the uncut version of the Fist of the North Star movie is completely lost!

No excuse for the SE Bond DVDs though.

The R2 Dragon Box has 448 kbps dual mono.  Still sounds like garbage though (especially compared to videotapes from 1989).

ETA, compare the UUE raw audio with the Orange Brick.  There's something else going on than "this is what Toei gave us".

Or you could get a mono mix retracked into stereo like Shoutfactory did for Transformers and not have the untouched original on the DVD.

Sure better than Rhino's new fake 5.1 but still.

A reciever will read the 1.0 channel and direct to the center channel. This is when the direct stereo option comes in handy if you want to spread out to your two mains.

Dual mono is the correct term, as there are two identical mono streams encoded for direct playback over both channels in a stereo setup.

The DTS codec is supposedly much more lossless than previous ones, but I don't know if a standard 768 kbp/s version can hold up against PCM even with the 24 vs. 16 bit difference. The biggest difference will likely be post processing work done on the new mono track. The 30th Anniv. DVD sounded pretty good when cranked up, but noticeably hollow because it had no breathing room with the DD codec. The '91 LD may be a remix, but it has greater presence and depth-especially in the natural bass.

Re-posting here for more detailed analysis.