Zombie67

I popped Disc one of the "All In The Family - Season 4" set into my DVD player and sat down to watch it.

I was shocked at the horrible video quality of the disc.
It looked like a an old video tape transfer. Very washed out.
I know that this season was shot 32 years-ago, but seasons 1-3 looked really good.

I tried it on two different players and it looks the same. No scratches or cloudy marks on the disc itself either.
Am I the only one having this problem?

Please write and post the quality you have on your set.

Thanks!

JAA

Rest assurred that you're not the only one. It certainly must be the source tape. I believe it was episode #3 that had this particularly disturbing yellow-green haze across the actors faces. It bugs me and it is unfortunate, however, I still cherish these season releases of my all-time favorite show.

ernestrp

I think it was filmed on video tape, probably why it looks that way. I have the first season and there was alot of talk about it then when that was released.

Falc04

I remember feeling the same way about season 1, when I first sat down to watch it. Got thru the first few episodes, before deciding to trade it in.

paulringodaman

Wow...this may stop me from buying the entire sets...that is really sad...I've seen 1-3 seasons and they were OK, but wow, you say 4 is that bad...wow.

DVDFreaker

I would really like to see the screenshots compared to Season 4 to Seasons 1 to 3 to see if Season 4 quality is worse than Seasons 1 to 3

Admiral7

To begin with, Seasons 1-3 do not look really good. They are horrendous. The clarity isn't bad, but every episode looks as though you're watching it through a screen door, very similar to the first season of Doogie Howser, M.D. I also realize the show is old, but if "I Love Lucy" can look beautiful, then All in the Family really has no excuse, aside from the company not wanting to put any time, money or care into the shows, which is a real shame.

Cocopugg

You're right. They didn't take any time to restore the quality. Also, I don't want to hear that the show was shot on videotape and as a result nothing can be done to restore the picture quality, unlike shows done on film. If anyone has bought the Elvis Presley 1968 Comeback TV special, the quality of the picture will blow you away. It's obvious the entire show was digitally restored, and the video looks like it was shot today! The reason they didn't restore All In The Family is obvious. It would've sent the price for the set way up, and no one would've come back to buy seasons 2 on up...It's sad that we have to live with the show looking this way, but I agree with others who say, it's better to have it look mediocre, than not to have it at all.

Admiral7

Unfortunately studios realize that too many people think that way, and therefore, don't put forth the extra effort and money necessary to restore beloved shows. They realize people would rather have it mediocre than not at all, so they don't even revisit the other option. A Real Shame! Because I would not rather have it mediocre than not at all. I have the first three seasons but with the word about the fourth season getting worse in video quality, I have probably bought my last set and doubt seriously I will spend much time watching the poor quality sets that I do have.

Zombie67

OK...after reviewing seasons 1-3...You're correct, they don't look that great after all.
So, am I safe to to assume that sending back for another copy would be a waste of time then? I have those same yellow lines in many of the episodes.
Shame on Sony for not taking the time to at least sort of restore these episodes before selling them to us.

The swear the Sanford and Son and Good Times episodes don't look this bad.

Thank for the responses.