DVD Disc Stats

Studio
WHV

Year
1996

Length
113 minutes

Orig. Aspect Ratio
2.35:1

DVD Aspect Ratio
2:35:1

Version(s)
PS/LBX

Soundtrack
5.1 (Eng 5.1, Fre 5.1)

Subtitles
Eng,Fre,Spa

Released
Mar 24, 1997

Price
$24.99

Age Rating
PG 13

Layers
1

Twister

PlayerConnectionScreenAuthor
Toshiba SD 2006S-VideoPioneer 46"Adam Hendershot

With my first DVD discs, I wanted to feel as if I was getting something new, so I deliberately chose movies that I did _not_ have on Laserdisc. Aside from that Tropical Rainforest disaster, the discs I have are fabulous. However, I couldn't let the opportunity to compare just one disc slip away, so I reluctantly postponed getting Eraser and included Twister in my purchases. I chose this movie simpy because the demo clips of it have caused so much controversey (I have _not_ seen these demos), so not only would a direct comparison to laserdisc give me a good idea of the "state of the format," but possibly put to rest the claim that "the demo disc is carefully crafted to show DVD at its best..."

The system: I have a Pioneer 4683 RPTV, "calibrated" with Video Essentials (including my screwing around with the grey-scale tracking with nothing more than a 6500K light from Radio Shack and some Kodak 15% grey cards as a reference). The two video players were a Pioneer CLD-505 for LD and a Toshiba SD-2006 for DVD. Both were routed via s-video (the LD provides a sharper image through s-video than composite with my monitor) through a Marantz AV-500 preamp. The LD player uses a MonsterVideo2 cable, and the DVD player the cable that came with it. I did not compare audio, since my Marantz DP-870 Dolby Digital decoder would have required me to get up and physically press a button on the unit to change between the two inputs. I elected instead to sync up the laserdisc about 15 seconds behind the DVD and switch between the video via remote from my usual viewing seat.

Before I get into actual quality comparisons, let me say the first thing I noticed is that there seems to be an after-effect of the 16:9 to 4:3 conversion. Sometimes you can see where it looks like scan-lines have been removed. A slightly diagonal, horizontal line traveling vertically will appear to slip "in-between" scan-lines, making for a jagged look. I realize this happens anyway (scan-lines are a fact of life), but the effect was more pronounced on the DVD than the LD (I assume because scan lines are dropped in the conversion). Playing the DVD back "squeezed," which results in everything being tall, eliminated the effect to the extent that it appeared the same as the LD. Anyway, it isn't necessarily distracting unless you look for it, but I'll be happier when my 16:9 HDTV arrives. :)

How does the DVD compare? The two are very close to being indistinguishable. The LD had a slightly redder cast to it (flesh tones seemed more accurate on the DVD), but aside from that (which might be chalked up to differences in the video circuitry) if you showed the DVD to a hard-core laserphile and told them it was the laserdisc, they'd probably believe you (conversely if you then flipped to the LD and told them it was the DVD, they'd probably find fault in it!). After flipping back and forth for the better part of an hour, I decided that the DVD version was slightly sharper, whereas the LD was a little "fuzzier" (to use my girlfriend's word). And that's about all I can say about the comparison. They're very, very close to each other in terms of quality.

Do you want to talk about digital artifacts? I don't. I saw absolutely _no_ motion-related artifacts, which are the really distracting ones. That doesn't mean that there might not be any artifacting on the disc, but details didn't appear and disappear, nobody waved their hand leaving behind a shimmering trail of pixels, and I tried to concentrate on backround activity as much if not more than the main action.
The best comparison, which unfortunately I cannot do, would be to compare the LD and DVD to the D1 master to see which one more closely resembles the original. Comparing the two formats directly is a little more subjective (since the assumption is that the LD is "perfect," the standard by which all else is measured).

Something that is handily dismissed by some LD owners as irrelevant is the fact that most movies on DVD will fit on a single side. In a way, it's true; when side changes and, even worse, disc changes are a fact of life you get used to it. It's the price you pay for the quality image and Dolby Digital audio. Unfortunately, now that there's a comparable medium that _doesn't_ have changes, the side changes on LD have become annoying, and disc changes have become downright irritating. A classic, but not the worst, example of the fact that, whether you need to go to the bathroom or not, breaks in the movie are not supposed to be there, is at the end of side 1, where Alan Ruck's "Bob's road" joke is ruined by the abruptness of the side change on the LD.

All the above aside, I have to state that, personally, I feel that Twister isn't the best DVD I've seen. The color isn't spectacular compared to something like "The Mask," and while they're different styles of movies, I can't help but wonder if the master that Twister was taken from was made with the limitations of the LD in mind; Twister on laserdisc has absolutely no color noise in it that I can detect, and no "rainbowing" on small image details, both of which suggest some sort of pre-processing to eliminate those artifacts that laserdisc is susceptible to. This is just speculation on my part; I'm not an expert on video transfers.

There you have my completely biased opinion (as all opinions are). Your milage may vary, of course.

PlayerConnectionScreenAuthor
Panasonic A300S-VideoPanasonic 35"Cory Johnson

I do not live any where near the test markets for DVD, however, the local electronics store I work part time at has, like everyone else, DVD players for sale without software. So, being a big video fanatic, I decided to order a DVD just to see if a DVD player was worth all the cash. I ordered the disc on-line and two days later I was holding Twister DVD in my hand. So a female friend and myself head to the store to check out how cool it really was. They had a A300 hooked to a THX technics pro-logic reciever w/ corresponding THX speakers all the way around. I enjoy letter box so we decided to try that first. We took out the cheesy demo disc and (a couple employees now watching) and inserted the disc. The 35inch panasonic TV echoed "reading" on the screen and in a few seconds, the disc started playing. Twister is a THX disc so before the movie started, the THX trailer ran followed by the WB logo and the movie. It started playing and here is what I saw:

  1. The sound is great. It was down mixed to pro-logic, but it was crystal clear and sounded awesome.
  2. The picture was flat out stunning. I have never seen such detail on a normal TV set. At first somethings looked almost 'pixiated' or 'grainy' so I grabbed the TV remote and turned the sharpness to 0 and wow....Dusty actually has freckels and Cameran (from ferris beuhler's day off) has a few gray hairs. I was so engrossed watching the movie seeing all of these things I have never seen (or even been able to see) before in a movie I have watched dozens of times.
  3. What artifacts? I watch DSS (and a love it)almost daily and DVD is a far cry from DSS. DSS has artifacts fairly comon, even on the noticably better picture channels (movie preview channel and ESPN). As I sat and watched it, I looked and looked for even flaws in scene changes but could not notice any what so ever.
  4. You've never seen color like this before. It is tremendous.
  5. If the great movie quality wasnt enough, the menu features was one of the greatest things about the disc. We were watching it in french with spanish sutitles at the same time. I hit the menu button, changed it back to english and the movie picked right up where it had left off and played in english. The biographies on the actors/director were great. one click of a button and you have the bio and a list of films they have been in. Even Speed II is listed for jan debont. (director).
  6. Can't decide which one? put the disc in and click on the trailer. in two minutes the customer can decide if it is something he/she would like rather than trying to explain a movie to them(this is going to be great from a rental store perspective)
  7. the pick a scene-straight to the movie section is great. you can watch your favorite scenes over and over again. its like choosing your favorite song off of your CD.
DVD blew me away. As I sat and watched, all I could think about was 'gosh vcr tapes are really crappy'. From what i've watched of laser discs, DVD is even better. and if people in this news groups are whining about the average quality of twister, wow, i would hate to see something you consider a 'great' DVD

The reaction from my female friend (also full-time student): hey, this thing is only $30 a month so my roomates and I could have one for only $10 a month each. She was most impressed by the sound and the menu features, but also commented on the quality of the picture. I think this says a lot for the average customer and DVD. Now I wish my entire collection was on DVD. And as for the packaging, everyone who say the box commented on what a neat case this is. The box works great, but I dont think rental stores will use the box as it probably wouldnt stand up the the abuse to well. They will probably go with an enlarge jewel case or a paded case. Tomorrow's task: trying the disc on the 2006 at the local Electric Ave

PlayerConnectionScreenAuthor
Toshiba SD-3006S-VideoMitsubishi 35"Kevin Gillespie

Electronics: Rotel

As a laserdisc enthisiast for over 4 years, I have been collected over 150 discs and enjoy discussing/dissecting them with my brother and collegues. Having looked forward to DVD for over a year (and hearing very negative reviews from various sources) it was with great trepidation that I unpacked my new Toshiba SD-3006 last week and headed up to Phillipsburg, N.J to purchase several titles to view.

The day before I viewed Tropical Rainforest and although the Dolby Digital sound was far superior to the RF-modulated version, the picture was fuzzy in spots, and didn't seem to live up to DVD's potential.

My brother and I chose to view Twister, not just because we were familar with the movie, but it was one of the few titles to be THX certified. We synched up the DVD player and the CAV Laserdisc version and did freeze-frame and A-B picture comparisons between the two. And the results ....

WHAT THE HELL WERE THE REVIEWERS WATCHING!!! THE PICTURE WAS FANTASTIC!!! Now that I've calmed down, lets discuss what we saw.

  1. There is more detail in the DVD picture. This could have been expected with the supposed 500-525 lines of resolution, but it was obvious. In an early scene after the 1969 sequence, when the satellitle in shown orbiting the earth, in the DVD picture you could see 3 distinct halos surrounding the earth, the LD picture showed only one. There were many more examples like this throughout the movie. In some explosion scenes you could make out individual licks of flame in the DVD picture and on and on ...
  2. The color is more vivid and accurate. This is especially true for reds. Do a freeze frame of the red truck in the movie and compare.
  3. There is virtaully no noise in the DVD picture. Until I saw the DVD version of Twister, I never realized how much noise there was in a LD picture. This is especially true in darker scenes.
  4. The Dolby Digital soundtrack was even more dynamic than the LD version. Although this hasn't been mentioned in any review that I have seen, the non-RF modulated Dolby Digital soundtracks on DVD have a wider dynmaic range and more sonic "character: than the RF-modulated LD version.
  5. After watching DVD for over a week, I have yet to see my FIRST digital artifact.
In Short: don't walk, RUN to your nearest dealer and pick up one these babies. I should also note, that similar results were obtained viewing other movies such as The Fugitive, Batman, Eraser, etc. Every DVD that I have watched is at least slightly better than the LD version, and some (Batman) are much better. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Laserdiscs. But it's obvious that DVD is here to stay and will live up to it's potential.

Final Notes: I recommend using the new Video Essentials LD to properly calibrate your TV. After doing that I would turn down the sharpness control down further, with so much sharpness and detail in the DVD picture, a "softer"

More as they arrive...