I've just ordered series 4 from cavalcade. Best series of telly ever! Only £22! So glad it's back on the market after being sold out for several weeks.
Could someone remind me of what I need to check to see if it is the corrected version. Does it say something like V2 on the discs? Also which discs were affected? Hopefully these will be ok though if they've only just been manufactured. Many thanks, Rich.
cyberrich wrote:Could someone remind me of what I need to check to see if it is the corrected version. Does it say something like V2 on the discs? Also which discs were affected?
"Check the shiny side of the disc near the centre hole for the code number. If the number contains 'V2' you do not need to return your disc as it is already the corrected version."
"The first pressing of this release had problems affecting Discs 3 and 7. Corrected replacements for Discs 3 (picture freeze at 43:20 in The Gravediggers) and 7 (digital drop-out in The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse) were made available from Optimum Releasing."
Dissolute, I checked out your scene on both my disc, and the new version is indeed zoomed in for no apparent reason on the remaster
A&E
Optimum
I have no clue why it is that way. However if you apply the 35mm viewfinder on the A&E frame, you realise that the Optimum is closer to the "correct" intended framing, so it's not really a problem, assuming the old A&E was a scan of the entire "exposed" frame.
seventeen wrote:Dissolute, I checked out your scene on both my disc, and the new version is indeed zoomed in for no apparent reason on the remaster
I have no clue why it is that way. However if you apply the 35mm viewfinder on the A&E frame, you realise that the Optimum is closer to the "correct" intended framing, so it's not really a problem, assuming the old A&E was a scan of the entire "exposed" frame.
But wasn't a big selling point of the new Optimum disks that (in most cases) more of the full film frame is visible - with some delighted viewers even saying how you could see stunt assistant's hands ready to catch Emma Peel, edges of sets, microphone booms, etc? Is this just one rogue episode that has been "correctly" framed i.e. zoomed in?
I will check out the others episodes see if this happens.
Actually, more of the full film frame should not be visible - and viewers should never see stunt assistant's hands ready to catch Emma Peel, edges of sets, microphone booms, etc.
If you have examples, please thanks if you can indicate the episodes and timings.
My feeling for now, having lived with the BW box set and seen the HD color Riggs, is that most, if all the episodes do not represent the intended frame and they need to be rectified to correct framing ratio. More isn't good. Those shows were shot with precision and parts of the frame not intended to be seen should not be exposed, especially in 4/3 format.
I have a feeling most of the episodes are framed too wide, and then adjusted from shot to shot on those new transfert. It doesn't work because the "common top" (edge of head, which is usually kept at the same place within the frame by the director of photography) moves up and down from shots to shots, and it totally ruins the compositions.
Hopefully, the transferts were made capturing the whole frame on the negatives, so fixing the framing should only be a matter of electronics reframing, not going back to the transfert board.
seventeen wrote:I will check out the others episodes see if this happens.
Actually, more of the full film frame should not be visible - and viewers should never see stunt assistant's hands ready to catch Emma Peel, edges of sets, microphone booms, etc.
If you have examples, please thanks if you can indicate the episodes and timings.
Well, jaz mentioned in this thread that "In the new masters of The Murder Market you can see the technicians hands waiting to catch Diana Rigg when she is hanging on half way up the wall in the marriage bureau office during her fight with Suzanne Lloyd."
Someone posted a screengrab - possibly on another forum - of a cameraman's foot in shot when a high-level (roof) camera angle was following a car in a street.
Then again, "What the Butler Saw" seemed to go the other way, with huge chunks of shot framed out. I'm glad you mention that many episodes have framing all over the place. It's almost as if all the film elements were restored separately and then re-edited with no regard to the original framing!
Updated the page for this British DVD box on site Steedumbrella:
posted the original scans of discs and covers from individual boxes, posted the original screenshots of DVD menus, and for first time, presented the scans of booklet (just click on the images).
I'm rewatching the season 4 Optimum dvd box set (I still haven't got round to bluray yet!). On The Murder Market, during the scene where Steed visits the photographer and places a bowler on the model's head, the picture breaks up and pixelates. It's not for long, just for a few seconds. Does this happen on anyone else's disc
So glad it's back on the market after being sold out for several weeks. 
