Captain Pike

I disagree with Savant. I've looked at the disc now on four unique platforms and I see the over-compression on all of them. The transfer is deeply flawed IMO. Even discounting the compression artifacts (which is hard to do since they're so noticeable) the over applied edge enhancement blows the experience in and of itself. This is far from a reference transfer.

FilmFanSea

This comment strikes me as hyperbole (see my comments above). I own over 700 DVDs. Over a third of these are black & white films. I watch DVDs with a critical eye (and, in fact reviewed them at one time). Koch Lorber's efforts here may not be "reference quality," but they are far from "deeply flawed."

I think all but the most hyper-critical viewers will be greatly pleased with the pictire quality of this release.

Captain Pike

My collection is about the same size. I currently have just under 600 DVDs, have owned or rented several hundred more and a fair number of them are B&W. I think your comment is fair enough. Perhaps deeply flawed goes too far. However, flawed does describe the transfer. I can see the compression artifacts and edge sharpening on all the platforms I've tried the disc on with no trouble at all. To me that's a bad transfer.

markdclark43016

I think the transfer is very good, although not reference quality. Schickel's audio commentary is entertaining as well. However, I found the other supplements on this disc mostly worthless.

Josh Z

I enjoy Savant's movie reviews, but he has never been very knowledgable about the technical aspects of DVD video. I still shudder to think of the high marks he gave the atrocious ADV disc for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, one of the worst-looking DVDs I've ever seen.

Captain Pike

Agreed. I hate to say it but I believe that there are times when Savant doesn't look at the DVD at all but bases his review on his memory of the film from other viewings.

FilmFanSea

From the review at digitallyOBSESSED!:

Captain Pike

Well, I've looked at it over and over again. The image suffers from blatant compression artifacting. I can see it clear as a bell on my DLP. This set is very unforgiving of bad data. Garbage in, garbage out. I stand by my original position which is that the transfer is heavily over compressed.

marty888

At times like this, I'm really pleased that I'm not rich enough to buy all the high-end technology that would display all the horrors some are attributing to this DVD.

On my 27" flat screen Panasonic, using a Philips 727 - it looks GREAT.

FilmFanSea

And what I'm saying is that you appear to be exquisitely sensitive in detecting these flaws, and I worry that your negative comments will dissuade fans of this film from buying this fine set. If the flaws are so "blatant," why haven't they been mentioned in the following reviews?

DVD Talk
DVD Beaver
Box Office Magazine
DVD Journal
digitallyOBSESSED
Reel.com
The New York Times

Again, I'm not saying that the set is flawless (e.g. Richard Schickel's commentary is really dreadful--lacking in context, preparation, enthusiasm, anecdotes, and insights), but I think the picture quality will please all but the most hyper-critical viewers.

RevKarl

Sorry, Captain Pike, but here's another "Thumbs Up" vote for this DVD.

If I had to choose between this and the PAL conversions Warner Bros. did for their Chaplin Collection DVDs in R1, Koch Loeber wins hands down!

Captain Pike

Hardly. Like I said, I have nearly 600 DVDs and I'm not aware of very many of them that have this sort of compression problem.

baracine

Where did I read that DLP (Digital Light Processing) is changing its logo to LLC (Looks like Crap)?

ctyankee

All,

Look, I decided to give Koch-Lorber my business after they adjusted on the fly and did away with the PAL speed-up.

Having just watched the DVD - a few comments before I hit the hay.

Video

This is not a great video image nor is it a poor one. Night time scenes were pretty good, in my view. Scenes in smaller rooms with limited lighting and bland walls suffer. Also landscape scenes such as the opening scene and the closing scene (in particular). Naturally, some of this might be due to time and wear and tear to the beginning and end of reels - but can be clearly observed by looking at the sky above the beach. I watched on my 40" glass tube. Note: I think Fellini would have been better off going 1.85:1 versus the 2.35:1 ratio as not too many shots benefit from it (except the beginning and perhaps the end - in some ways the same could be said for the beginning and the end of 8 1/2, yet Fellini chosed 1.85:1 for that film and others after it (Amarcord comes to mind).

Clearly the banding that has been discussed is present and can be seen in real-time viewing. But, for many more scenes (than not) it is a non-issue. Here is the same banding that someone else found. Note: if it shows easily on a small computer monitor it will even be easier to see on a much larger screen. Just trying to be fair about all of this.

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EDIT: hmm, don't know why this is not working ... sorry about that.

Overall regarding video, nothing to get excited about one way or the other.

Audio

To my mind, Nino Rota's score is terrific and the reason that the audio is so important to me. Audio is quite pleasing but takes a little setup work. The 5.1 mix may need to be tweaked on your set-up/receiver. A 5.1 enhanced mix sounds too much like your in a tin cave. Going to un-enhanced mode sounds much better yet primary speakers still are routed to the rear speakers - even when the conditions do not call for it. However, mono and 2.0 mono are available so everyone should find something they are happy with.

And I am happy. I'd suggest listening to the lone trumpet performer in the club - the sound is wonderful as well as being a flat-out terrific scene.

I haven't watched any of the supplements.

Regarding the film alone, this seems like a good offering from Koch-Lorber. I'm sure that if they could have gotten access to a better print or the negative they would have jumped at the chance. It is, what it is, and I see this DVD glass as more than half-full and an encouraging consumer signal for other Koch-Lober offerings.

EDIT:

One thing I forgot to mention, I grabbed some screen captures using PowerDVD. PowerDVD has a great scroll bar on the top that allows you to quickly get to any point in any DVD ... except this one ... and I've used it for many hundreds of DVDs

Koch-Lorber,

Please check into why your DVD is the only one (that I've seen) not compatible with PowerDVD. Many use the product.

Captain Pike

My DLP looks fantastic when the source is good.

baracine

Maybe it's just the Luddite in me but the very idea of a digital technology that relies on literally millions of moving mechanical parts gives me the pneumonia shivers. It sounds like a throwback to a Jules Verne-inspired invention, something out of The Wild Wild West. Does it run on charcoal?

But seriously, any technology that exposes so crudely the limitations of the material and can't be a little forgiving when it's called upon to do so is bound to limit your pleasure in enjoying a film like La Dolce Vita and this very acceptable transfer.

P.S.: I was a little bothered by the intermitently "flashing" morning sky in the last scene on the beach, now that you mention it. But how do we know it's not a result of the digital cleanup or even present in the original negative?

Captain Pike

1) I assure you that my TV isn't the problem.

2) It looks like digital artifacting to me. I've seen a lot of poor MPEG compression over the years and this matches it exactly.

Note that DVD Beaver seems to have appended their review and pointed out the compression artifacts.