Star Wars OT & 1997 Special Edition - Various Projects Info (Released) — Page 167

I was quite surprised by how good the '97 SE looks.  Since it was never touched by any of the harsh color and contrast manipulation of the 2004 version, it looks much more natural and is easier to watch by far, even with the occasional softness and compression issues.  The CGI shots fare far better here than they do in the official versions, and yet again I'm amazed at the ability of LFL to have screwed up their later releases so completely.  Well done, guys!

As for the cinema DTS track seeming to 'destroy' the Dolby Digital version, the reason for this is that the laserdisc AC3 is encoded with a DialNorm value of -27, meaning that the gain is automatically lowered by 4 dB during playback.  This is non-defeatable on most equipment, so in order to make a fair comparison between the two, you must raise the volume by 4 dB to compensate when listening to the AC3.  Once this total level discrepancy has been eliminated, the differences between them are much more subtle.

Most Dolby Digital tracks on home video have traditionally been encoded at -27, and this is the primary reason for the persistent belief that DTS is better than Dolby—we almost always automatically believe that whatever is louder must also be better, especially when it comes to bass levels (our ears perceive bass more clearly at higher levels, so this can fool you into thinking that a mix is different even if all that has happened is that the monitor level was changed).  The most recent Dolby encoders now default to a DialNorm value of -31, so there is no gain reduction.

It is possible to change the DialNorm value of an AC3 track without actually re-encoding the audio itself, so if this was done, it would be considerably more difficult to tell the Dolby and DTS versions apart, since they are essentially the same mix in every way that matters.  Aside from the bitrate, and a possible slight phase difference in the LFE, they are quite the same.

As far as I've read, the audio for these was created beefy especially for the theater experience. 

Now, I cannot say whether one is better than the other.  I also do not know if every theater they played at made use of the DTS .... I'm sure some may not have had the capability even though DTS was fairly established by 1997 but it's good to get other info on AC3 to understand the relative between the mixes.

I remember looking at them and seeing some hotspots in the DTS audio but it was apparently deliberate, I guess that is what I was trying to say.  Sorry.

:)

Dropping by to say thanks to all involved in this project!
Have been waiting patiently, and discovered last night that it's been available for a few days now. I was very excited to be able to enjoy this!!!

The original looks really good, and I'm very impressed so far. Haven't had a chance to fully appreciate it yet, but can't wait to plop in the disc as soon as I can. Only had time to fire up VLC and check the main clip out for a few minutes last night before passing out, but it was very nice!

Will also be checking the '97 edition out, as that still has a bit of nostalgia for me - I got to see those versions in the theater (after growing up with the VHS editions), and even with all the wacky changes, it was still cool to see it on the big screen. Thanks for the efforts on this version too! Well worth the work, as these seem to be all but forgotten by so many who've seen nothing but later SE versions over the years. Can't wait to check it out as well.

All that said, it was the "v3" editions that first hit me - and now seeing this, it's just.. it's something that warms my heart. It's so nice to see Star Wars in the "pure" form here, and I look forward to the other two. Sure, I like some of the other projects quite a bit, not going to lie, and I know that some parts were based on this work (which I very much appreciate as well, as do many others) but it's so nice to see this effort become a reality and succeed.
Can't thank you enough, again, for all the efforts, all the time, all the headaches, all the chaos, all the forum silliness, all the EVERYTHING you have all gone through, to make this a reality. It's very nice to see this edition in all its glory, and I sincerely thank you.

analog, thank you very much!

Jetrell Fo said:

created beefy

Now I'm hungry.

TV's Frink said:

Jetrell Fo said:

created beefy

Now I'm hungry.

How is it that you never get the Rule 3 mention with all your off topic remarks in the project threads?  LMAO.  It must be your cute smile and those sparkling eyes of yours.

:)

Only because I was asked...

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Discussion-About-the-New-Forum-Rules-Also-Frinks-Avatars-Was-For-those-of-you-who-want-to-be-rid-of-me-you-might-get-your-wish-sooner-than-you-thought/post/450252/#TopicPost450252

I really can't thank you guys enough times, so here's another THANK YOU! :)

Question: what are you guys using to print out the cover art?  My color laser printer is long gone, and I'd like a high-quality print out to store the discs (burned to M-Disc BD, FTW!) in.  I'm guessing FedEx Office won't touch it due to copyright fears?

Could I get an invite please? Also, is V3 still the most recent version of the GOUT upscale and improvement project? I'm kind of new to this stuff, and although I'm a little more familiar with Harmy's work, I'm itching to check out the GOUT upscales.

I was in 7th grade when the special editions came out. It was the first time I had seen star wars in the theater. Prior to that I liked star wars but from that moment on I loved it! I know this is when people started having issues with certain changes but for me this version has a special place in my heart!!! So thank you!

I just hope the excitement doesn't fizzle out and we'll eventually get the whole trilogy of 97SE looking this good. Thanks again!

SamS said:

I really can't thank you guys enough times, so here's another THANK YOU! :)

Question: what are you guys using to print out the cover art?  My color laser printer is long gone, and I'd like a high-quality print out to store the discs (burned to M-Disc BD, FTW!) in.  I'm guessing FedEx Office won't touch it due to copyright fears?

Some copy-places just have computer terminals that you can sit at and print simple things from.

long time follower and a bit confused as to who I ask to get an invite to Myspleen or the other place to download this.

??

Moth3r said:

Here

 Thank you

one step done

Thanks for the review Moth3r, I'm just curious to know exactly what you meant with this:

Moth3r said:

- colours may have been pushed a little too far in some places - I noticed some false contouring in some backgrounds (although this could well be a limitation of my plasma display) 

What do you mean by false contouring? And could you post a screen or point me to some scene where it happens?

@Doctor M: Banding is different, if I remember correct banding is when you look at a gradient that's supposed to be smooth but it has sharp lines in it. Moth3r's issue is something else that is caused by the TV.

I'd say either the TV isn't calibrated or it just pushes some colors way too far in saturation and/or luminance. The reason you notice it more in this one is probably because of what I had to do to get the reds down to a sensible level. To balance them I had to use Selective Colour and it also darkened them a little bit, making them stick out here and there but there's no other or better way to do it without messing them up a lot.

That said, I know enough of this stuff to be 100% sure it's not in the source. The color correction on this one is done over several months and I've watched it so many times over and over and made small changes and corrected things. I'm working on a colorimeter-calibrated monitor as well as have a TV that's also calibrated with colorimeter for watching.

Here's how that shot looks on the BD:

If I brighten it to look like in your photo it looks like this: (Which isn't how it should look since it's a pretty dark shot)

I'm watching the SE version and I have to agree with Hairy Hen about how good it looks. Perhaps it's because the image isn't as sharp as the Blu Rays or Harmy's Respecialized but the CG effects blend in a lot, lot better.

(No offence, Harmy.)