MSCL.com News Archive

"My So-Called Life" on DVD!

Hiya folks.

I got impatient when DVD Planet put my order on TBA status, so I got one from DVD Empire overnight.

I hate to say it, but I'm a little disappointed. I don't have a huge collection or anything, but this is one of the worst DVD transfers I've come across. I just finished doing an A-B comparison between the BMG VHS and DVD versions running simultaneously, and the DVD picture is better in some ways and worse in others. The overall picture noise is lower on the DVD, and the color & sharpness are slightly better, but there are frequent, noticeable MPEG artifacts which cause problems such as 'blooming' around the opening credits, and a general 'splotchy' look which crops up in certain scenes.

MSCL was obviously shot on film, but it's now evident that it was edited on video. The frame rate on the DVD is 30 fps, not 24, meaning that it was made from a videotape master, as opposed to the better-quality film transfer process used with movies on DVD. This also means that we get to see the occasional videotape glitch, such as wandering horizontal lines in the picture. Oh well - I guess I was naive to hope for a direct-film-transfer from a TV show.

Last but not least, my disc has a problem with the fast-forward and rewind modes! They are really jerky & ghosty on my player, and sometimes there's a LOUD burst of noise when returning to play mode. Is anyone else having this problem? It could be my player, but this is the first disc I've had any real trouble with. It's also making me wonder if this has anything to do with the shipping dates being moved back at Amazon & elsewhere - maybe BMG is fixing a bug or two before they resume shipments? I left my order open at DVD Planet - I can always give the extra disc to a friend - but I'll definitely check it when it finally arrives to see if the FF/REW problem is still there.

But hey, at least it's real! I was starting to think this was gonna be the DVD version of Tino's cat, or something...

Cap'n Fooldiscuss in our forum