Most DVDs aren't excellent. That's partly understandable due to the limitations of the format. You can't always, for example, fit a film onto a dual-layer disc without some compromise (at least not without softening the picture a little, to reduce compression complexity). Unfortunately, most companies don't make full use of the space provided to them, or go overboard with excessive digital tampering. All of the discs on this page are from companies large enough to be able to produce better.

Remember that the problems you see here might not look awful on a small-ish computer screen (many speculate that this is why examples such as tehse can pass through the studios in the first place). But on the average-sized TV, these discs can look truly naff.

NOTE: These files are large. They were saved in Photoshop as JPGs with a compression level of 9 in order to minimize detail loss.

Asterix in Amerika (Germany, PAL)

Kinowelt
1.78:1, non-anamorphic/letterbox

All but one of the Asterix animated films (don't get me started on those live-action embarassments) have been man-handled on home video, LaserDisc, and DVD in one way or another. This series is CURSED when it comes to video presentation. This German DVD of "Asterix Conquers America" is particularly offensive. The master originates from Composite video (I can accept that a better one might not have been available), but somewhere along the line, a botched "enhancement" job has gone on. The result is temporal noise reduction (which causes motion blur effects so bad that entire shots sometimes overlap into each other - see Picture 1) and edge enhancement, which only makes the Composite dot crawl artefacts even more defined. Yech.

The funny thing about this DVD is that the producers have actually hired two German rappers called Erkan and Stefan to re-do the voices, presumably to give this comparatively obscure animated film some more exposure. I think they should have spent the money on a better video transfer. Just because it's a "family" movie doesn't mean it shouldn't be treated well.

Castle in the Sky (USA, NTSC)

Buena Vista
1.85:1, anamorphic

This is a weird disc. It's been de-interlaced somehow and shows what looks like occasional 3-2 pulldown reversal artefacts - stuttering, and oddly, details from previous frames being retained on later ones (see the mustache in Picture 2).

The unacceptable, avoidable and unnecessary part though, is the edge enhancement which is a real distraction. It completely crushes any depth out of the image which makes it hard for your eyes to "read". Look at the first picture for example - details that should be softer and in the background - like the door - are brought into the foreground by the sharpening. Fortunately, the British Buena Vista version (now out of print) is far, far better.

Enemy of the State (UK, PAL)

Buena Vista
2.35:1, anamorphic

Although it's far from unwatchable and does have an acceptably detailed image without any serious compression issues, Enemy of the State is really let down by the amount of edge enhancement on display, which obscures real detail with ugly ringy outlines. There's just no need for this at all. Fortunately, the more recent "Unrated Extended Edition" is softer, but less edge enhanced.

The curse has continued, and Buena Vista actually released this film on Blu-ray Disc - again, with its fair share of edge enhancement. Arrrgh.

The Hills Have Eyes (2005) (USA, NTSC)

Fox
2.35:1, anamorphic

The Hills Have Eyes is included here as an example of your average DVD. Like most, there's none of the filmic features that many would consider flaws - dirt, scratches, telecine wobble, grain (which is inherent to film, and best left alone). That is usually enough to gain such discs high scores in many reviews. However, there's one thing that this disc also doesn't have much of, which most reviewers just don't seem to pick up on - yep, the disc almost entirely lacks fine detail.

So much of the detail has been lost in the filtering process, meaning that the results of which are fairly distracting on even a modestly sized HDTV, no matter how good your video equipment. It's especially annoying on the film's desert scenes, which to me look like they're supposed to put across a feeling of vastness to the viewer - here, they just look two-dimensional, fake, and flat.

Home Alone (UK, PAL)

Fox
1.78:1, anamorphic

Fox have re-released this beloved Yuletide film in a much better looking DVD recently, but the fact that they dared to put a disc that looked like this out at all in the first place must be chronicled for future generations.

The source for this one could well have been an old LaserDisc master, but somewhere along the line, a pretty hideous amount of processing has been done to suck out any redeeming qualities the picture might have stood a chance of having. There is temporal noise reduction which leaves smears (see the first picture), almost no detail (see the bricks in the second picture), and edge enhancement so sharp that you could probably dice up your retinas only by looking at it. At the risk of sounding overly sensationalist, this is grade-A crap that shouldn't have been released, let alone at a full RRP - even in the earlier days of DVD.

Kill Bill Vol 1 (Japan, NTSC)

Universal (yep, they distribute it in Japan)
2.35:1, anamorphic

This one has a similar look to "The Hills Have Eyes". There's just no fine texture left in the picture, and there's moderate ringing around everything as well as at the top and bottom of the active picture area (where the picture starts under the black letterbox bars). A real pain when you consider that this is the only uncut release of the film. The edited R2 PAL version doesn't look much better.

Mercifully, Kill Bill Vol.2 looks a little better (at least the PAL version does)...

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