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B5 DVD - first impressions mini review..
Ok...i'm watching it on my 19" trinitron flat display monitor..I've watched one ep all the way through, haven't really checked on the special features yet.
And what follows describes things that some people might want to discover for themselves, so read at your own risk!
First of all- sound. The soundtrack is Dolby Digtal 5.1, and not bad..the bass is a little weak, but a slight adjustment to my reciever and my 120watt 15" sub makes up for it easily...of course, the battle sound effects were much better in later seasons..
Video..the scenes with people are good quality, what you would expect from TV quality film (and S1 had cheaper film than later seasons).. Now on to the CGI. Yes, it has artifacts from a quicky resize job. It looks kinda like a video game with 2x FSAA on..you get some of that "line shimmer" on diagonal lines.. It's not HORRIBLE, however, and as a gamer, I can ignore them easily..others might be more distracted.
Packaging- the packaging is great...super high gloss "prismatic" cover, the discs are in a "book" with clear acrylic "pages", one DVD to each side of a "page". Also has a little stapled booklet with an awesome graphic on on the inside cover. The book has a little letter of intro, then goes on to tell you what eps are on each disc, a brief synopsis, and the chapter breakdown per episode. Only minor complaint- 2 of the discs were loose when I opened it from shipping, one of them sliding halfway out of the box once pressure was relased..no damage to the loose discs, but you might want to open it horizontally to prevent one from falling to the floor (I was sitting, and it didn't fall out all of the way anyway). All in all tho, a very nice and attractive package.
So, so far, I am very happy with it..the CGI could have been handled better, but I'm just glad to own some of the greatest sci-fi EVER on DVD.
And what follows describes things that some people might want to discover for themselves, so read at your own risk!
First of all- sound. The soundtrack is Dolby Digtal 5.1, and not bad..the bass is a little weak, but a slight adjustment to my reciever and my 120watt 15" sub makes up for it easily...of course, the battle sound effects were much better in later seasons..
Video..the scenes with people are good quality, what you would expect from TV quality film (and S1 had cheaper film than later seasons).. Now on to the CGI. Yes, it has artifacts from a quicky resize job. It looks kinda like a video game with 2x FSAA on..you get some of that "line shimmer" on diagonal lines.. It's not HORRIBLE, however, and as a gamer, I can ignore them easily..others might be more distracted.
Packaging- the packaging is great...super high gloss "prismatic" cover, the discs are in a "book" with clear acrylic "pages", one DVD to each side of a "page". Also has a little stapled booklet with an awesome graphic on on the inside cover. The book has a little letter of intro, then goes on to tell you what eps are on each disc, a brief synopsis, and the chapter breakdown per episode. Only minor complaint- 2 of the discs were loose when I opened it from shipping, one of them sliding halfway out of the box once pressure was relased..no damage to the loose discs, but you might want to open it horizontally to prevent one from falling to the floor (I was sitting, and it didn't fall out all of the way anyway). All in all tho, a very nice and attractive package.
So, so far, I am very happy with it..the CGI could have been handled better, but I'm just glad to own some of the greatest sci-fi EVER on DVD.
Comments
[b]Ok...i'm watching it on my 19" trinitron flat display monitor..I've watched one ep all the way through, haven't really checked on the special features yet.
And what follows describes things that some people might want to discover for themselves, so read at your own risk!
First of all- sound. The soundtrack is Dolby Digtal 5.1, and not bad..the bass is a little weak, but a slight adjustment to my reciever and my 120watt 15" sub makes up for it easily...of course, the battle sound effects were much better in later seasons..
Video..the scenes with people are good quality, what you would expect from TV quality film (and S1 had cheaper film than later seasons).. Now on to the CGI. Yes, it has artifacts from a quicky resize job. It looks kinda like a video game with 2x FSAA on..you get some of that "line shimmer" on diagonal lines.. It's not HORRIBLE, however, and as a gamer, I can ignore them easily..others might be more distracted.
Packaging- the packaging is great...super high gloss "prismatic" cover, the discs are in a "book" with clear acrylic "pages", one DVD to each side of a "page". Also has a little stapled booklet with an awesome graphic on on the inside cover. The book has a little letter of intro, then goes on to tell you what eps are on each disc, a brief synopsis, and the chapter breakdown per episode. Only minor complaint- 2 of the discs were loose when I opened it from shipping, one of them sliding halfway out of the box once pressure was relased..no damage to the loose discs, but you might want to open it horizontally to prevent one from falling to the floor (I was sitting, and it didn't fall out all of the way anyway). All in all tho, a very nice and attractive package.
So, so far, I am very happy with it..the CGI could have been handled better, but I'm just glad to own some of the greatest sci-fi EVER on DVD.
[/b][/quote]
Ok, i just got my S1 set at Costco ($69.99 USD)
I've only watched Ep 1 (103) so far, But i loved it,
I have the whole 5 year run on video tape, But for me, the main attraction of the DVD is Dolby Digital 5.1.
I agree that the Bass was a little weak, but i just upped the bass on my subwoofer and that made up for it very well.
I watched it on my JVC 27 inch non digital TV, and it looked very nice, I'd like to see it on a High Def widescreen, but since i don't have one...
I would really like to watch all 22 eps in a row now, but my wife says that if i do that and don't come to bed tonite, she'll not speak to me for a week, So, i guess that idea is right out.
Course if i had my way, i'd watch all 110 episodes back to back, Who needs sleep!
Despite any visual artifacts, and the bass not being as crisp as it could be, The box set is Great, The packaging is great, Now, Please to be giving me season 2...
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..And so it Begins
http://www.firefoot.com
On the sound, I find sometimes that the conversation volume is a bit low, so I have to crank it up to hear most of the time... then when the big bass bits come I'm left scrabbling for the controller so that the neighbours house doesn't collapse from the vibration. Works great for the battle scenes though, esp in Signs & Portents.
Other wise a great purchase, bring on Season 2! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
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'The future is all around us' G'kar
'I have no surviving enemies! None what so ever!' Galen
Visit my B5 site at: [url="http://www.nialb5.com"]www.NialB5.com[/url].
[b]I've been working my way through the set and am now on disc 4. Overall impressions, excellent. On the case I had the same problem as Keyan, mine nearly fell out aswell when I opened it the first time, luckly it didn't as I too was sitting down. What I have noticed is that the artwork is wearing a bit on the dvd case, due to taking it out and putting it back in again. Not a huge problem, but still noticeable.
On the sound, I find sometimes that the conversation volume is a bit low, so I have to crank it up to hear most of the time... then when the big bass bits come I'm left scrabbling for the controller so that the neighbours house doesn't collapse from the vibration. Works great for the battle scenes though, esp in Signs & Portents.
Other wise a great purchase, bring on Season 2! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]
I dunno if you can do this on yours, but with Dolby Digital 5.1 the speech is usually concentrated in the center channel, so if your reciever allows it you can amp up the level of just that channel, I usually have my center channel set higher than the others so that speech is louder.
------------------
..And so it Begins
http://www.firefoot.com