How we score the reviews.

[Phil Hinton]

Review Scoring.

Below are the areas where we score DVD’s and what we use as considerations for those scores. We also explain what the score rates mean in real terms.

Movie.

This area looks at the movie presented on the DVD and gives an indication as to whether it is any good. Obviously the points raised and opinions given are those of the individual reviewer, but we look at script, acting, direction, cinematography and visual effects to come to an overall evaluation of the film. Remember that the opinions given are just that – someone’s opinion, but hopefully the arguments for or against any one movie are well explained and evidenced for you the reader.

Picture.

All our reviewers use mid to high end display devices which are properly calibrated to the standards laid down by ISF. This allows each reviewer to properly evaluate the transfer to disc for colour accuracy, black level accuracy and digital compression. Artefacts such as edge enhancement, poor compression, colour bleed, haloing, detail and grain will be assessed throughout the length of the film to give a general over view of the transfer process to disc. By using the same laid down standards and having reviewers who know how to properly evaluate picture quality will mean you receive accurate details of each disc reviewed.

Sound.

Again our reviewers use properly calibrated 5.1 sound systems each featuring the capability of replaying all formats available at reference volumes. Evaluation will be made to the actual sound mix on the disc and cover areas such as, dynamics, dialogue, effects placing, stereo steering and panning as well as LFE usage. Comparison will also be made between DTS and Dolby Digital if both are available on a given review disc.

Extras.

Great care is taken to watch and assess each special feature on a given DVD release, from audio commentaries to featurettes, each will be scored on their value, content and relevance to the release in question. Some DVD productions go into great detail with expansive featurettes and documentaries which add great detail to the viewing experience. As you would expect these will be scored highly as a DVD with just one documentary which is greatly detailed and not just an electronic press kit, will be more valuable than a disc full of two minute videos on how great the director, actor etc are.
Special features on a DVD in our opinion do not include subtitles, menus or scene access. These should be standard features on all DVD’s and will not be assessed as such.

Verdict.

The verdict part of the review covers the overall package, including all of the above areas as one DVD. This is not just an averaging of the above, as some DVD’s may not have extras yet offer the best in terms of picture and sound quality, rather it’s a quick glance at whether the sum of the parts make a good DVD purchase. Like wise an older movie might struggle to attain the picture and sound score due to the source material available, yet it may offer stunning extra content which means it has real collector’s appeal and an essential part of any collection.

Scores

0-2 Don’t go there!
3-4 Below Average
5 -6 Average
7-8 Recommended
9-10 Reference Quality