spoRv

Here you are a clip with a new saturation setting:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8to3nq

let me know what do you think, and which darker shot I should use for the next clip.

Hard disk speed and cache amount are valuable data, too, more than size, to know if you could capture without "stuttering" or frame loss; though, looking at your PC spec, I think it's quite safe to tell it's powerful enough to capture analog audio and video without problems. I use VirtualDub to capture, but I'm not sure if it works under Windows 8.1...

CPU and hard disk type and speed is the most important, but if you write all the PC specs it will be better to understand which could be the best capture card for your hardware.

Agree with CapableMetal: if you can find out a S-VHS recorder is even better! JVC and Panasonic are the best brand for VHS/S-VHS decks; the best are the professional ones, that you could obtain now for a fraction of their cost as new, but be aware that probably the latter could have the head very (ab)used and so give a worst result than a low usage consumer model.

NOOO!!! (^^,) Seriosly, any used 10$ PCI video capture card that could capture uncompressed AVI is better than any DVD recorder!

What you need first is a video capture card; best are internal one, even if latest USB are not that bad. If you are lucky you can get an older model, still very good for VHS capture, at a really low price.

Sound card inside your PC could be good enough; but an aftermarket sound card will do quite surely a better work; again, it's possible to find it too at a very low price used.

Macrovision is usually present in almost all pre-recorded VHS, but I had not problem to capture some of them... maybe you could defeat it passing through a DVD recorder, but frankly I'm not messing about macrovision things from a very very long time, so first get a video capture card, then IF the issue will arise, you will surely find someone here who could help you!

Great news: just won an auction of the Sweespot capture card!

When I will receive it - hoping it will work, as the seller stated that "it should work" - I'll test it immediately and post a brief review; don't hold your breath, because it will be here in not less than two or three weeks...

I'm pretty happy as it is the first one I found on the bay in about a year, 'cause I didn't want to spend 149£ + VAT for a ten years old product... even if it's an old capture card, it should do pretty well its job, plus it could be used in conjuction with Dscaler to improve and upscale analog video signals like laserdisc - it exist a special custom version of the software to work with it!

Following your suggestions, I updated and modified the list in this thread to include only BD (and few DVD); a new thread is started here to include media with different versions from BD (for preservation purpose).

So from now on, this list will include ONLY Blu-rays with altered aspect ratios (DVDs will be added only as notable exceptions); any other aspect ratio issue related to different media, along with color grading, extended and theatrical cuts, missing shots/scenes discussions should be posted in the thread mentioned above.Thanks to everyone!

Please post in this thread following this simple rule:

title 1 (in bold) - comment

title 2 (in bold) - comment

etc.

so it will be easiear to update the thread; thanks in advance!

reserved for future use

List of media with different versions from BD (last update: 2014/03/10)

Notes:

Latest additions in bold. All titles are US broadcasting unless noted otherwise; may be also worldwide valid.

List of Blu-ray with altered aspect ratios could be found here.

List of fan restorations present in this forum could be found here.

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

Purpose of this list it to gather in a single thread the titles which could be restored by someone of us, and the ones which are restored in HD.

Anyone has the extended cut DVD?

MeGUI gives me problems; that's why I searched for another GUI - not NET based if possible - and tx264 seems a good one; AFAIK using it (as other GUIs) it's the same than using x264 command line, right?

But, if I should use the command line to avoid any problem, I'll do it; which x264 version do you suggest? The latest found on the vlc site - x264-r2389-956c8d8.exe - or other modified build?

What about the last x264 settings I posted? Should I use them?

doubleofive said:

Well done!

Thanks!

If you have That 70's Show Season 1, you should include the Blu-rays of Friends and Cheers which do the same.

Please be more specific...

Enchanted has a variable AR? I never noticed...

 Dunno, entries are taken mainly from other lists...

Space Hunter M said:

You can include just about every '50s Academy picture (at least U.S. releases), cause they were all matted to 1.85:1 in theaters.

About these releases: as the 1.37:1 was the OAR (original A/R), but the 1.85:1 was the IAR (intended A/R), unless the BD has the OAR they will be not listed here; you are welcome to add the latter titles!

dvdmike said:

The recruit on DVD was 1.85:1 the BD and Cinema release were 2.35:1

Thanks, I will add this, but... is it cropped or open matte?

mumbles3k (from this thread) said:

Including all movies that have been shown open matte is basically the HD equivalent of including movies that have been panned and scanned. It's standard operating procedure to make a 1.78 master of 2.39 movies that were shot in Super 35 or HD. It would be a really long and kind of pointless list, because most times, they're only shown on TV, and not even the filmmakers themselves have watched them.

I don't think so...we are in a preservation forum, and it will be interesting for us to know if there are open matte version of our preferred movie; even if 1.78:1 open matte is not the intended aspect ratio, sometimes "more is more"... (^^,)

Also, if there are some P&S BD versions they MUST be listed here!

Plus, it could be useful if someone wants to make a project using the open matte "as is", or a variable aspect ratio a la Dark Knight...

I second that!

Please make a new thread under the technical forum; it will be useful for everyone.

merged this list with that one; so this will be not updated anymore.

List of Blu-ray with altered aspect ratios (last update: 2014/03/11)

Notes:

om = open matte
cr = cropped
DA = Director Approved

Latest additions in bold. DVD will be added only as "exception that proves the rule". NO 1.85:1 to 1.78:1 will be listed. All titles are US releases unless noted otherwise; may be also worldwide valid.

List of media with different versions from BD could be found here.

I use one Sony Vaio VGX-XL from around 2007! Sure, it's not the fastest PC nowadays, but it's still capable of 1080p playback; find one at a good price, replace the video card, add RAM up to 8GB, and possibly upgrade the old dual core CPU with a faster quad core - up to 300% faster - and you got a reliable and very good looking HTPC!

thegroovologist said:

I didn't like the version that much where you lowered the saturation. It's lowered too much in my opinion.

So, what do you suggest? Half way between first clip and desaturated one? More toward desaturated version? Let's say that first clip is 100 and desaturated one is 0, let's state what do you think could be the right one, and I'll encode it to watch it in motion.

Any feedbacks from other users?

Thanks for the help!

Frankly, I made so many tests and encoding that I can't remember any thing; add to this that I was forced to reinstall the OS, and maybe (almost surely) I forgot something in the process...

Well, as I'd like to use multiAVCHD (now that I understood how to use it), I think EasyBD should not be used anymore, right? Yes, multiAVHCD accepts elementary streams, and I used this feature for the final project IIRC...

For encoding, I used... please don't shoot me... VirtualDub, with default settings; maybe the problem arised because I didn't tick the "VirtualDub hack" into x264vfw settings... don't know if x264vfw could cause the problem, but I don't think so; probably it's due only to wrong settings; I like its simple 3 pages configuration.

Also, I found I had THREE installation files into my old HD, but can't remember which one I used after the OS reinstall... they are (from newer to older):

• x264vfw.2273kMod.x86.exe
• x264vfw_38_2274bm_36885.exe
• x264vfw_37_2200bm_33968.exe

maybe one is faulty? Is there one "problem free" between them?

Lately, I tried several other x264 GUIs, and found that x264 Simple Launcher v2 and tx264 are between my favourite, and I like them as they could be fed with the avs file directly; sadly, I discovered them after EFNY "debacle"... (**/)

I did my homework, and according to many sources, I compiled these x264 settings that *seems to be needed* to make a BD compliant encoding:

x264 --profile high --level 4.1 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --vbv-maxrate 40000 --partitions all --slices 4 --bframes 3 --ref 4 --min-keyint 2 --keyint 24 --no-b-pyramid --thread-input --bluray-compat --aud --nal-hrd

still not sure which --preset and --tune settings to use - I think veryslow and grain should be used as we want to obtain the best quality and preserve as much grain as possible.

But, according to http://www.x264bluray.com, these are the settings to use for a 1920x1080/24fps (23.976):

x264 --bitrate XXXXX --preset veryslow --tune film --bluray-compat --vbv-maxrate 40000 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --level 4.1 --keyint 24 --open-gop --slices 4 --colorprim "bt709" --transfer "bt709" --colormatrix "bt709" --sar 1:1 --pass 1 -o out.264 input.file

apart the colorprim, transfer, colormatrix and sar values that are implicit in the source, I'm a bit confused on the open-gop setting...

So, *maybe* a good setup for a 1920x1080/23.976fps at 26mbps could be:

x264 --bitrate 26000 --preset veryslow --tune grain --bluray-compat --vbv-maxrate 40000 --vbv-bufsize 30000 --level 4.1 --profile high --min-keyint 2 --keyint 24 --slices 4 --partitions all --bframes 3 --ref 4  --b-pyramid none --thread-input  --aud --nal-hrd cbr --colorprim "bt709" --transfer "bt709" --colormatrix "bt709" --sar 1:1 --pass 1 --stats file.stats -o out.264 input.file

(plus pass 2 after that, or course)

what do you think?

I have Apollo 13 on HD-DVD, and on AC3 and DTS laserdiscs too; but I have not found (yet) a free software to rip the HD-DVD to hard disk...

Also, I'm thinking about, as someone suggested - bigrob, IIRC - to make a variable aspect ratio version using IMAX footage...

Thanks, your help is more than welcome!

Mad Max 2 is on my future project list - don't know if the other two chapters need a color retiming.

Dracula: I was aware of its color problems; it does need further investigations...

Any other suggestion is appreciated, though!

Happy someone recognized this is a good project, even if it has its compatibility problems... in a near future, I hope to solve those problems, and I'll also improve those three short shots with residual logos!

It is a side effect of BD correction... I could always leave the BD "as is", even when using 50/50 mix; it will regain some details lost in the shadow, but the contrast will be overall not correct IMHO...

Here you are the difference:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/64629

in my calibrated TV, the increased contrast outweight the tiny shadow details lost; what do you think?

You have stolen my project... (^^,)

New clip:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/di20cy (60MB, 20mbps, no sound)

this time saturation is lowered; at first sight it seems more similar to the BD, but comparing it side by side reveals the differences - note the green of the forest, and the ancient palace color on the right side in one of the last shots.

I prefer this version; need further feedback.

EDIT: take a look at this comparison

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/64539

Can you see the pink halos in the sky on the BD?