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Help Wanted: Requesting a big favour from a French speaker

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This auction:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6473935976
has a scan of a magazine review of the PAL THX French laserdiscs, as used as my video capture source.

Now I haven’t done much French since school, and it doesn’t help that the scan is a low-res JPG, but there are bits in there that I’d be interested to read. I think there’s something there about ANH not being in Dolby surround, something about line drops in the laserdisc video, and something about the first French release being poor quality.

Does anyone want to take a stab at translating this for me?

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Hi Moth3R, I will do my best. I speak both languages but when it comes to translation it is another story.

Here is my stab to translate what I see on that auction:

In the middle of the article.

dolby Stereo is only available in English, not in French for A New Hope

Now, the bottom left of the scan:
For Star Wars
Images: The image quality is uneven (or invariable) with nice sequences and there are grainy scenes (deserts) . According to the critics, he says the colors are great but it could have been more present ( I don't know what it means by that, however there could be a better translation for that). The image is well defined in general and well presented. It mentions that there are stars added in the black bars, I don't know if that makes sense. For the time , it says that version was better than the previous one. The sound is excellent but it is in stereo not dolby stereo only for Star Wars though

For Empire Strikes Back
Images: It says it is a good master copy with precise images. There are drops here and there of certain close-ups or zooms. To mention that indoor scenes are playing smoothly (???) but the snowy scenes are grainy.

Sound: great sound. It is dynamic. It is Dolby Surround for Empire Strikes Back

For Return of the Jedi:
Images: Very Good definition but sometimes there are drops. The colors are very nice However, there is a great cut not welcome at the end of the first side of the disc, I don't know what he (the critic) means by that.


as for sound: Very Clear, well defined Nice Dymanic, Dolby Surround.

that is the best I could do for now, I am not a master translater. I think you got most of it the first time.
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Thanks for your help dubmaster, it's interesting trying to make sense of this.
Si les second et dernier volets de la Trilogie ont eu le privilège d’un encodage en Dolby stéréo pour la bande son française, la guerre des étoiles n’en a malheureusement jamais bénéficie. Seule la version originale en anglais fut, en 1977, encodée en Dolby stéréo. Voila pourquoi, aujourd’hui, seules les versions originales de star wars peuvent bénéficier du Dolby surround en laserdisc.
While the second and last parts of the Trilogy had the privilege of Dolby Stereo encoding for the French soundtrack, A New Hope unfortunately never had this benefit. Only the original English version, in 1977, was encoded in Dolby Stereo. This is why today only the English version of A New Hope can benefit from Dolby Surround on laserdisc.

http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=4067

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Hi Yoda is Your Father,


The Translator tool you suggested is not credible at all. It translates word for word the text and does not take consideration of the context. Because when it comes to translation, a translator has to be creative.

I read Edgar Allan Poe both in english and french, and believe me there is big difference. It is Beaudelaire who did the french translation for Poe's work, he did an awesome job but... it is very different, the meaning and all, but still great nonetheless


Just to go back on the translator topic, I tried the translator tool, I laughed my brains out when I saw the results. But I am pretty sure it is good tool to translate words but not to translate a full text.
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Do you need anymore help, from a french guy, in this, or it's done?
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Basically the very long paragraph that Moth3r refers to means that Star Wars (aka A New Hope) is not in dolby surround. It is just that the critic loves to write very long article that could be shortened in a few sentences.
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Moth3r, if you need more sentences to be translated, let me know
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Hi Kaal-Jhyy,

I would like to know what you think of my translation, I can always use some constructive criticism. You send me your pms in french. I noticed you are from France, I am French Canadian.
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Ideally I'd like it all translating; I think it's a very useful record of the pros and cons of the French LDs as a an OT capture source. I can understand the general jist of the text, and with the help of online tanslation tools I can do a fairly good translation (see LES ÉTOILES STÉRÉOPHONIQUES section in my above post), but it just takes me a long time.

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So, I've tried to translate all the important parts (not the story descriptions of each film). Here it is:

"Three at a time, et none the less! The THX label arrives on the french PAL LD market with, as first titles, the 3 episodes of Star Wars on 3 CAV LD, with 4 sides for each film. It's logical: George Lucas is at the origine of the trilogy and the THX label. For the event, the director-business man has verified himself the samples, that we've had the pleasure to watch. So, we haven't had the occasion to test the commercial copies, which will be out only november 2nd, due to the late approbation of George Lucas. Anyway, the commercial copies should be the same as the ones we watched.


Star Wars:

> Image: variable quality, with beautiful sequences and "granulous" scenes (desert). Pretty light colors, which could have been more present. The image, globaly, has a good definition and a good quality.
Unfortunately, some unwelcomed "drops" (I don't know exactly what he means by that) add some stars (I think he means some "white parasites"), even in the cinemascope (widescreen) black bars. The 1st disc being more touched than the 2nd one, but this whole edition is largely better than previous releases.
> Sound: Excellent stereo, clear voices. Good dynamic.
> Technical note: 4 (of 5 I guess)
> USA - 1977 - Color - 122' - Fox Vidéo/PFC Vidéo - THX label - 2 discs - 4 sides - 2.35 Cinémascope format - Stereo - French Version - CAV - Chaptered - Manufactured by MPO.


The Empire Strikes Back:

> Image: A good mastering with sequences with very precise image. Some "drops" (again) in some shots. The interiors scenes are pretty nice, but the snow sequences are very granulous.
> Sound: Brilliant, a good general rendering in the action sequences. It's dynamic. Dolby Surround with very distinct effects (starships flying by from behind to above).
> Technical Note: 4
> USA - 1980 - Color - 124' - Fox Vidéo/PFC Vidéo - THX label - 2 discs - 4 sides - 2.35 Cinémascope format - Dolby Surround Stereo - French - CAV - Chaptered - Manufactured by MPO.


Return of the Jedi:

> Image: Very nice definition, unfortunately parasited by some "drops" (I hope you know what he's talking about!). Very well respected colors. Note: a sudden and unwelcomed cut at the end of the 1st side (I think he's just saying that the cut has surely been made during a scene, instead of between two scenes).
> Sound: Very clear, nice dynamic.
> Technical Note: 4
> USA - 1983 - Color - 132' - Fox Vidéo/PFC Vidéo - THX label - 2 discs - 4 sides - 2.35 Cinémascope format - Dolby Surround Stereo - French - CAV - Chaptered - Manufactured by MPO.

Note: all the durations are those mentioned on the LD covers, but aren't the real durations of the LDs (I guess it's the duration without the manufacturers logos and legal disclaimer)."


In "La Trilogie Déclinée" part, the author is just talking about the previous releases, and tells us that all the CAV editions (including this one) have not the special features present in THX VHS tapes.

In "Parfaitement Compatibles !", the author talks about the THX mastering, perfectly compatible with any LD installation...


I hope it will help you, and sorry for my english, it's far from perfect, but I hope that is understandable.
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Kaal-Jhyy,

I have to admit you did a better job than I did, me I translated what I grasped in general. You put more details.
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Thanks to both of you for your help.

Basically there's nothing there that had not already been discovered - picture quality is well defined, colours are not as vivid as they might be, some exterior scenes are grainy, and the presence of video "drops". But it's great to see it all confirmed by someone who reviewed the set when it first came out.

However, the statement that says that the orignal French dub was not encoded in Dolby Stereo is still confusing me. If it was mixed from the original music and effects, with only the dialogue replaced with the French voice actors, then surely the surround encoding must still be present in the track?

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I find it very weird he gives all three the same ranking. I'm working on TESB now, and I think it really is not as good as ANH. The latter is only undersaturated, and too dark. On TESB the temporal smoothing is much worse, it is oversaturated at some points, undersaturated at others: saturation, brightness and contrast fluctuate as hell.

EDIT: And a lot more line drops.

What do you think?

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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Originally posted by: Grinder
I find it very weird he gives all three the same ranking. I'm working on TESB now, and I think it really is not as good as ANH. The latter is only undersaturated, and too dark. On TESB the temporal smoothing is much worse, it is oversaturated at some points, undersaturated at others: saturation, brightness and contrast fluctuate as hell.

EDIT: And a lot more line drops.

What do you think?


I just think that, at this time, there were no better versions (considering it's a CAV version).
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I don't think TESB is notably worse than ANH. The same amount of temporal smoothing is present in both, but it's just more noticeable in the Hoth scenes because of the white background. I did notice side 3 had a low saturation, but it was constantly low, and didn't vary though the side. Line drops were not a problem by then because I'd effectively filtered them out.

When the reviewer mentions "stars" in the black bars, I think he's referring to "specks" caused by small video dropouts.

And his complaint about the cut at the end of side one of ROTJ; it occurs just before Luke jumps off the sail barge plank. No missing frames though (unlike the end of side 1 of ANH) so not a problem when joined to make a DVD.

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Originally posted by: Moth3r
And his complaint about the cut at the end of side one of ROTJ; it occurs just before Luke jumps off the sail barge plank. No missing frames though (unlike the end of side 1 of ANH) so not a problem when joined to make a DVD.


Yes, it's a well-known problem about LDs, and especially on Star Wars: the film has to be cut (due to the duration available on a LD), and sometimes the transition effect between two scenes disapears... I've noticed that many years ago, with movies with fading effect between two scenes which is not present on the LD version. But the quality available on a LD worth the buy IMO.
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I just got the french 1994 coffret collector set.

Does anyone know what the quality of this set is?

I know there supposedly letterbox with french subtitle in english and of course pal format.

Does anyone know of a laserdisc player that plays both the ntsc and pal standards that I could get at
a fair price and still get good quality watching in of my discs? thanks!

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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Those discs are practically the same as the normal French THX discs, but there are differences. On the normal French set the shot of Luke's speeder in front of Ben's house is a low res still, on your set it's ok (the wipe is still missing though). Arnie.d can tell you more about it.
Try to get a (Pioneer) 2950, 925, 909 or 919. The 2950 is considered the best PAL player, but it is a twelve year old machine. The 925 is supposed to be nearly as good, but is two years younger. The 909 and 919 are the youngest two high-end Pioneer models for the PAL market, from '98 and '99 respectively (they also play DVD). They're technically identical, except the 919 can play DTS sound from DVD's, and the 909 can't. They both read DTS from LD. If your main goal is to transfer some stuff I'd get a 2950, but when you get one nowadays it usually needs some professional cleaning at least. If you want a player for regular use, I'd get a young player: a 909 or 919. I have both a 909 and a 2950, if you want to see what the quality difference is like I can send you a clip. It isn't much.

EDIT: You should be able to get each of these players for about 200 euros.

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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About the saturation fluctuations:

http://www.student.kun.nl/tomdriessen/luke.JPG

There's just 1 second between the shots: first you see Luke (first pic), then Yoda, then Luke again (second pic), Yoda again, and Luke again (third pic).

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.