Info: Star Wars: A New Hope (1997 SE) - GKAR Vs SET [ruLes] - split screen comparison

A split screen comparison between GKAR and SET [ruLes].

GKAR is a 1997 Special Edition version taken from a DVD broadcasting, and then authored to a PAL DVD; it has german crawl and alien subtitles, german and english soundtracks; video is PAL 25fps 720x576 anamorphically encoded, A.R. 2.25:1, MPEG2 encoded @~4000kbps; audio is AC3 encoded @448kbps (german 5.1, english 5.1 upmix) and @256kbps (english 2.0); no selectable subtitles.

SET [ruLes] is based on 1997 Special Edition PAL THX laserdiscs; its sources are the german, french and french with english soundtrack laserdiscs, plus italian VHS Hi-Fi Stereo soundtrack, DTS theatrical soundtrack (in future DVD and BD releases) and AC3 NTSC US laserdisc soundtrack; video is AVCHD 23.976fps, 1280x720 anamorphically encoded, A.R. 2.25:1, X.264 encoded @8000kbps; audio is AC3 encoded @384kbps (NTSC US laserdisc english soundtrack 5.1, english 2.0 DS, german 2.0 DS, italian 2.0 DS); english, german and italian full and forced subtitles.

The split screen comparison video is encoded using X.264 @3000kbps, 1280x720 23.976fps; audio is taken from the PAL french 1997 SE laserdisc, english soundtrack PCM, converted to AC3 @384kbps 2.0 Dolby Surround encoded.

In this comparison, is it possible to see the following differences:

• the GKAR is affected by the pinkish tone, while the SET try to fix it with a moderate color correction - almost the time SET has better colors;
• in GKAR, there are some MPEG2 artifacts due to DVB transmission and/or DVD compression, while the SET try to eliminate them using uncompressed sources and then an higher bitrate AVC compression
• GKAR has german intro crawl and alien subtitles, while SET has english crawl and alien subtitles will be selectable - not present in this comparison
• GKAR has slightly superior resolution, due to its digital presentation, while SET has lower resolution, due to its analog laserdisc sources - but sometimes the reverse is true!

Some details are lost, as the GKAR is taken from MPEG2 and upscaled, while SET is taken from X.264 and downscaled, but this is only a fast method to compare the two editions.

You can find it on myspleen

CapableMetal said:

1280x720 is not an anamorphic resolution, and I thought the aspect is supposed to be 2.35:1?

Each version is 812x360pixel, inside a 1280x720pixel frame; the AR is as the original version, as GKAR is 704x410 anamorphic and PAL laserdiscs are 720x340; if the image AR is set to 2.35:1 and compared with OT, they are vertically squeezed, so the 2.25:1 AR seems the right one.

I'm going to download this and check it out, I'm looking to seeing how they match up.

I'm waiting for your comments.

CapableMetal said:

Actually, I think you are be right about the aspect. I seem to remember having the same issue after converting it to a 2.35:1 aspect after capturing my own PAL set a while back, despite the sleeve stating its at 2.35:1! Even with the black bars uncropped (left and right only) that are normally overscanned by CRT TV's, its only in the region of 2.3:1.

If OUT AR is correctly set at 2.35:1, then SET is less, as it seems like "zoomed" in comparison to OUT... when directly compared "by eye", then 2.25:1 fit better, but maybe I'm wrong, and could be everything between 2.25 and 2.35.

I don't understand how SET is anamorphically encoded though, as stated in your description of the source materials for the comparison, as it has been upscaled to 1280x720 (which isn't anamorphic) from a letterboxed source (also not anamorphic).

My fault, sorry... thought letterbox, wrote anamorphic... you know, it was late, I was tired, I'm getting old... |xX_|

No seeders on the torrent ATM, I'm going to leave my system on once its complete and help to seed it, although that could be a while as its currently only 0.1% complete. ;)

I just switched off the wrong PC... yes, I'm getting old, but they are THE SAME PC - identical - apart the inside components, so this time I must be excused... now, the PC with GKAR Vs SET is on, and will be online for the next days, to seed it as long as I can!