Coppola's "Dracula" in Superbit

[Dr.Rock]

I recently bought "Bram Stoker's Drakula" DVD in Superbit. I understand the reason for why Superbit gives a far superior picture and sound. But when I put the disk on, the picture was quite the same as a regular DVD. Is there something I'm doing wrong, or perhaps some subtle thing I didn't notice? I'm watching on a 32-inch TV so I thought this would've been big enough to notice any picture improvement.

Thanks.

[mcmullanbrush]

I have Dracula superbit and although the quality isnt fantastic, it is better than the previous standard version of the film.

A superbit DVD uses most of the available space on the disc for sound and picture information. If the original source material is poor, then the DVD version will be.

[Dr.Rock]

Thanks, Mcmullanbrush.

What Superbit DVD can anyone recommend, so I can demonstrate the noticeable advantage of Superbit?

[caylem]

I don't think you will notice the "improved" picture quality on a standard 32inch, only on something like a plasma or projector.

But you would benfit from the DTS sound which wasn't on the standard Dracula.

Superbits that are worth checking out are Fifth Element (R1) and Desperado

[Lex]

This is one of my all time favourite films... I wish they would do a proper special edition releases with good quality sound & vision and all the extras. Haven't even heard any rumours about this one coming though

[mcmullanbrush]

Originally posted by Dr.Rock
Thanks, Mcmullanbrush.

What Superbit DVD can anyone recommend, so I can demonstrate the noticeable advantage of Superbit?

The best way to demonstrate the advantage is to comapre standard and superbit versions of the same film. I think you would notice on a 32 inch screen but would need to look closely.

As caylem has mentioned, The Fifth Element is regarded as a cracking example of what superbit is capable of.

I have the Dracula Superbit and the problem is that like all Columbia Superbit titles they use the same print as the old one which means if the print has any damage or noticeable problems then the increased detail you can get from the higher bitrate means these problems become more noticeable, the sound quality on this title is superb and the picture is good but because they didnt master a new print there are more noticeable problems.

All Superbit titles should use newly struck masters otherwise you just won't see huge improvements on all discs, the idea behind Superbit is sound but the implementation isn't always correct, Charlies Angels Superbit region 1 has almost 3 gigabytes of unused disc space which could have been used for a Full Bitrate DTS track without compromising picture quality.

[rosemanbridge]

Checkout the new Lawrence Of Arabia release. You can see the grains of sand!!

[dejongj]

It said befor and I will say it again, you will not see the difference in Superbit picture quality on a 32inch television unless you are prepared to pause regularly and look upclose at the subtle difference....
But you will enjoy the sonic qualities which should be enough on its own to justify superbit, beside the fact that most discs are cheaper than their normal counterparts.......that is if you use a decent surround setup....

[Mr.D]

Originally posted by FoxyMulder

All Superbit titles should use newly struck masters otherwise you just won't see huge improvements on all discs,

They normally telecine the master neg these days not a print..

[themoron]

My opinion is,

If you haven't got the film already get superbit if it's available. I hate all of those extras on normal discs, I think they just spoil your enjoyment of the film. If you know how the special effects are done then why find out, the reason they are there is to make you believe they are real. If you know, it defeats the object.

Superbits are great if not for improving the quality but removing the extras that people are so tempted to watch.

themoron :@)

[Smurfin]

Originally posted by dejongj
But you will enjoy the sonic qualities which should be enough on its own to justify superbit, beside the fact that most discs are cheaper than their normal counterparts.......that is if you use a decent surround setup....

Rubbish, most of the time they're no different sonically than the standard editions.

Originally posted by Smurfin
Rubbish, most of the time they're no different sonically than the standard editions.

The standard version was £1 more than the Superbit, and the Superbit version includes DTS mix as well. The standard release has no extra features, doco's, etc- so not exactly a con.

I've tried it on a CRT FP projector- it has lots of detail with no mpeg artifacts (apart from the sub quality film quality)

[Smurfin]

I wasn't necessarily talking about Dracula, just in general. To say they are all "sonically superior" is not - imho - correct.