Quality of the sound, transfer etc.....

quote:<HR>Originally posted by danner:
Quality of the sound, transfer etc.....<HR>

Has anyone actually gotten this yet?

I got my Cosmos set in this week and watched the first episode, The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean. The episode starts with a brief introduction by Ann Druyan as she talks about how well Cosmos has held up over the years. Then the episode starts and the sound quality is overall very good. The music and some effects are in full surround mode while Carl's voice is firmly planted in the front center channel. The video quality, on the other hand, was a little disappointing - it at times looked good and at other times looked rather grainy. Its still a good transfer overall but don't expect picture quality on the level of a lot of recent DVD movie releases.

I also thought the way the episodes were divided on the disc was a bit unusual because it was the reverse of what I'm used to. Disc One is only Episode One, nothing else while Discs Two through Seven each have two episodes each. Usually, releases like this will pack two episodes per disc and then on the final disc, put the last episode and some extras. Not in this release.

Finally, I liked the case its in which looks almost exactly like the cases used for the X-Files Season Sets as it rolls out precisely the same way. Some people may not like it because it is cardboard - but I've gotten used to the X-Files cases so this was familar and easy-to-use for me.

I've watched three episodes so far, and I'm very happy. Sagan does hold up well. Of course, I'm talking content here. I'm very happy with the storage case, which I thought was well designed, except that Amazon damaged a corner of the case due to their shipping method (a tightly wrapped piece of plastic holding it to cardboard on one side--but not enough damage to warrant returning it, in my mind). I'm surprised there were really no extras. Some updates at the end of the second (and I'm sure other) episodes. The graphics look a lot better than I was expecting they would, being twenty years old and all. They did a very good job on Cosmos. Sagan was a very thoughtful man. I'm happy I got the set.

Got it yesterday for xmas. I love the packaging - better than Sopranos because that one can be hard to get out if you forgot to place the pull-out cord in behind the discs.

Just popped it in briefly. The video quality is a little grainy, but it is ok. The sound and music are very good. I like the feature where it shows any scientific updates (in graphics at the bottom of the screen) if applicable (there are apparently few of these).

I wasn't really expecting extras considering it is 13 hours to begin with. Also, if you know any non-English speaking people, it has subtitles in 7 languages!

I love Cosmos. I don't need a review of the material because I know it's great. I'm wondering how the video and audio quality is. The publisher says its been remastered. Anyone who has this, let me know how it is. I'd like to get it.

In case no one here has seen it, here's a review from the Bits:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/cosmos.html

...yup! the Digital Bits review tells it exactly like it is!

A great series!

. . .

This show was da Bomb! I remember watching this in the 80's as a kid - Carl Segan was a science god. Of course when I found out just yesterday that the show had been released on DVD - I instantly started warming up my pocket book.

However, before I drop a hundred bucks - I'd like to know what the set is like. Does anyone have the skinny on how the DVD's are? What sort of extras - you know, that sort of thing.

Thoughts.

The discs come in a seven disc digipack inside a cardboard slipcase. The video is very good for the most part considereing the age of the material. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 with a 5.1 music & effects track. The subtitles offered are Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and English for the hearing impaired. But one of the cooler subtitle choices is the Science Fact Update where from time to time, updates in subtitle form appear during the episode.

These contain some enhanced special effects, new afterwards by either Carls Sagan or Anne Druyan. There is no documentary or biography unfortanately. Where did you see it for $100?

the set is the bomb.. wish i had it

Picked up this set used for $42.95. I couldn't believe it!! Packaging was a bit damaged, but for that price I can't really complain.

where????

FYI, I merged El-Kabong's thread and Soybean's thread with danner's original thread. I figured some of you might be interested in past reviews as well as thinking it would be better to keep everything in a single thread.

This is a link to a thread comparing Cosmos to the Planets as well.

I found it in a Coconuts in upstate NY. I was thrilled but unfortunately they taped the packaging closed with some sort of packing tape which damaged the packaging. They had some other box sets which they destroyed in the same manner. The discs seem to be ok, though I haven't watched them all yet. I think the list is like $170 or something, so even with the damaged packaging I couldn't pass it up!!

I saw it at a local used store - but I was too slow, and it was gone when I got back. Ah well - I'll just have to go pick up a new copy (I think the best price I've found so far is DVD planet at 125$)

Its too bad that they didnt load it with extras - but no big deal really. As far as video goes, I'm certanly willing to cut it some slack. I mean I buy Doctor Who DVD's and don't expect all that much from them. Same thing with my Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or 3 Stooges discs.

No, in this case - content is king.

Dvdpricesearch has it listed for $97.25 now from CD Universe, but with a street date of September 24, 2002? The MSRP is listed as $129.98. Does anyone know if the list price is being reduced on this set? I'm not sure whether to try out CD Universe (any thoughts anyone) or wait for the price drop and see how low the other vendors go.