dvd/vcd

Chat about collectables, videos
AndyThomas
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Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2001 12:42 am
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dvd/vcd

Post by AndyThomas »

Hello there. Welcome to the site (good B5 ref BTW!). As I've never seen the VCDs I can't comment directly on quality, but you are right in that they come from US NTSC videos.VCD resolution is roughly equivalent to VHS resolution so in terms of screen size they wouldn't be an improvement technically, although you could reprocess the original material slightly which could help the general quality. As I say, not having seen them, it's not something I can comment on from first hand experience.The Japanese DVD material is full DVD quality, roughly twice VHS resolution, but is a different edit to the US version so no VCDs out there are likely to be conversions from that version, language issue aside.The use of English language in Japanese shows is not uncommon, and if you look at labels in the show you'll see they're in English not Japanese, partly because the Japanese just like to do that sometimes and it may help sell shows abroad of course. So certain elements are consistent across the language barrier. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong on this.
Andy Thomas - SFXB Webmaster and Forum Moderator
AndyThomas
Posts: 1706
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2001 12:42 am
Contact:

dvd/vcd

Post by AndyThomas »

First up - beware the DVD claim. Just because they're stored ON a DVD, does not mean they are DVD quality. Far more likely is that because a DVD can store more, it's probably 4 VCDs crammed onto each DVD. I don't know if a DVD player will actually "understand" VCDs on a DVD. Again, not speaking first hand, so...Your summary is quite accurate - it was X Bomber in Japan with 25 episodes. Bomber X in France, 24 episodes in French, and then Star Fleet as broadcast in the UK 24 episodes in English. The US then took our 24 episodes and edited them into 8 hour-long episodes, leaving out both some footage and opening/closing sequences.Space Quest and the Thalian Space Wars are UK made compilation tapes of the series, running for around 1 hour 30 each and dealing with slightly different storylines in the series. They just about hang together from an editing point of view, but it's a little strained. Plus, there's one other tape which is a straight run through episodes 4 and 5 which is a nice to have but quite rare.Space Quest seems to have more standing than Thalian Space Wars - I say that because strangely the BBFC don't have any record of Thalian Space Wars being classified. Also, Space Quest, in its English version, actually appears in the Japanese DVD box set (and in the earlier laserdisc set) so it seems to have been "adopted" by the Japanese as an English movie for the series.If you have a look at Phil Ayres' site, linked to from SFXB, you'll find a full break down of exactly how the compilation tapes are constructed from various chunks of the episodes.
Andy Thomas - SFXB Webmaster and Forum Moderator
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