TPM LD mini-review
04-19-00 | 01:33 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
DVDer, please move this to the Other forum if it doesn't meet the guidelines for reviews here. I just thought it'd be some interest to members here.
My TPM LD mini-review:
I think I blew up my sub! I got to play the AC-3 track from the Star Wars: TPM LD last night, and at not really loud volume levels (around 3 on a volume dial that goes from 0-10), the LFE produced a few loud pops out of the subwoofer. It scared the hell out of me! I'm convinced it's an issue of clipping (I do need a more powerful amp just for the subwoofer). I'm going to try to "slow" down my sub driver (by hooking it up differently internally) to preserve it so it can thump another day.
This TPM LD has some of the wickedest LFE I've ever heard/felt from an AC-3/Dolby Digital audio track. After listening to this and the Matrix, I do think the Academy snubbed Lucas of at least one Oscar. You should see the "faces" your sub makes when playing the LFE from TPM LD.
The rest of the 5.1 sound track is just plain awesome. It does justice to the audio I heard in the theaters for me last year (I watched TPM in a new theater with the most current sound equipment at the time).
Just from the opening scene after the famous scrolling prologue, as the little space craft carrying the 2 Jedi's flies into your living room from left front to right rear, the audio just explodes in your HT. All the panning/surround sound effects kicked butt, and the rumbling all around is just plain cool (minus the pops, of course). Ah, and I almost forgot to mention the Duel of the Fates light saber battle at the end, the audio is simply a great way to re-experience that battle between the Jedi's and Darth Maul.
The video is very good, but not outstanding, the daylight scenes are good, the darker scenes get a little "lost" in the transition to NTSC video. And as previously mentioned in other TPM LD threads, the video is a bit darker than the usual LD video transfer. The credits at the end are a little tough to make out, but still legible.
I finally made mattes to block out the Japanese subtitles for this LD, and it made a remarkable improvement in the overall video presentation, and I do plan to use them to watch my other 2.35 OAR DVD/LDs. I did have a problem with the subtitles "bleeding" into the bottom part of the video. Whenever someone spoke, I would get this white-ish haze on the bottom of the screen as the white subtitles would bleed into the video. That was a bummer for me (maybe if I had a better TV, the subtitles wouldn't bleed so much and my mattes would be more effective). I enjoyed the movie more when no subtitles were on the screen.
All in all, a very nice presentation of TPM. If I get a more powerful amp for the sub, I know it'll increase my enjoyment that much more.
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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs
My TPM LD mini-review:
I think I blew up my sub! I got to play the AC-3 track from the Star Wars: TPM LD last night, and at not really loud volume levels (around 3 on a volume dial that goes from 0-10), the LFE produced a few loud pops out of the subwoofer. It scared the hell out of me! I'm convinced it's an issue of clipping (I do need a more powerful amp just for the subwoofer). I'm going to try to "slow" down my sub driver (by hooking it up differently internally) to preserve it so it can thump another day.
This TPM LD has some of the wickedest LFE I've ever heard/felt from an AC-3/Dolby Digital audio track. After listening to this and the Matrix, I do think the Academy snubbed Lucas of at least one Oscar. You should see the "faces" your sub makes when playing the LFE from TPM LD.
The rest of the 5.1 sound track is just plain awesome. It does justice to the audio I heard in the theaters for me last year (I watched TPM in a new theater with the most current sound equipment at the time).
Just from the opening scene after the famous scrolling prologue, as the little space craft carrying the 2 Jedi's flies into your living room from left front to right rear, the audio just explodes in your HT. All the panning/surround sound effects kicked butt, and the rumbling all around is just plain cool (minus the pops, of course). Ah, and I almost forgot to mention the Duel of the Fates light saber battle at the end, the audio is simply a great way to re-experience that battle between the Jedi's and Darth Maul.
The video is very good, but not outstanding, the daylight scenes are good, the darker scenes get a little "lost" in the transition to NTSC video. And as previously mentioned in other TPM LD threads, the video is a bit darker than the usual LD video transfer. The credits at the end are a little tough to make out, but still legible.
I finally made mattes to block out the Japanese subtitles for this LD, and it made a remarkable improvement in the overall video presentation, and I do plan to use them to watch my other 2.35 OAR DVD/LDs. I did have a problem with the subtitles "bleeding" into the bottom part of the video. Whenever someone spoke, I would get this white-ish haze on the bottom of the screen as the white subtitles would bleed into the video. That was a bummer for me (maybe if I had a better TV, the subtitles wouldn't bleed so much and my mattes would be more effective). I enjoyed the movie more when no subtitles were on the screen.
All in all, a very nice presentation of TPM. If I get a more powerful amp for the sub, I know it'll increase my enjoyment that much more.
------------------
PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs
