TSTRS bluray & DVD

[selection7]

I got the DVD version back when it was released. Now I'm considering the bluray since I have a player now. I imagine the concert was filmed, not taped, so the source material should be able to support HD, but does the bluray version bear this out? How apparent is the extra resolution?

From my past A:B comparisons between formats, if the DVD is well-encoded, the difference won't be large, but it won't be hard to see the difference either. But then when the DVD is poorly encoded, the difference between it and its bluray counterpart can be huge.

[NobodysFaultButJimmys]

The Blu Ray can hold more storage therefore the disc can obtain a higher resolution better quality of video and audio compared to th dvd which could only take a certain amount, honestly the Blu Ray disc makes it seem like The Madison Square Garden was shot in 2010.

[selection7]

...the Blu Ray disc makes it seem like The Madison Square Garden was shot in 2010.

Well that's good to hear! The concert footage is the important part. The only decent review of its video quality I've found already stated the fantasy sequences looked poor compared to the concert footage.

...Still wouldn't mind hearing if there's anyone with both formats though too. Usually when I have both versions of a vid, just out of curiosity I'll use my bluray and a dvd-only player to compare pictures. Or if no one replies I'll probably get it anyway and I'll try to remember to report back here what I find.

[Dandu]

I have both, but the non blu-ray DVD version I have is NOT the 2007 version - it is one that was released in the late 90's or early 2000's (has a picture of a guitar on the cover).

Haven't watched the old DVD in a while, but I recall being surprised when I first watched the blu-ray how good the blu-ray looked compared with my memory of the old one. I didn't think it would make that much of a differenece. It was highly noticeable - to my eye anyway.

[andyk]

Hi,

I confess I haven't seen the blu-ray version, but early reviews I read indicated that the quality was no better than the DVD version. I have the original DVD (also the VHS somewhere) and the recent remastered version which is pretty good (better than the original), especially on a decent upscaling DVD player.

Reading what you say I am now tempted to buy the blu-ray.

Andy

[NobodysFaultButJimmys]

Well that's good to hear! The concert footage is the important part. The only decent review of its video quality I've found already stated the fantasy sequences looked poor compared to the concert footage.

...Still wouldn't mind hearing if there's anyone with both formats though too. Usually when I have both versions of a vid, just out of curiosity I'll use my bluray and a dvd-only player to compare pictures. Or if no one replies I'll probably get it anyway and I'll try to remember to report back here what I find.

Yes I did notice that and the only conclusion I could come to reguarding that is that the Sequences were shot with a camera or video they couldnt enhance it, or they lost the original video tapes and had to go with what they already had.

[EzyEric]

I have the Blu-ray and I imagine (as with probably many films) it probably hard to tell between up-converted DVD picture and blu-ray. If you already have the DVD I dont think its worth upgrading unless you have a very very good system as It also has Dolby Digital HD and DTS-HD and if you have a stereo like I do then thats also desirable.

[The Rover]

I have the Blu-ray and I imagine (as with probably many films) it probably hard to tell between up-converted DVD picture and blu-ray. If you already have the DVD I dont think its worth upgrading unless you have a very very good system as It also has Dolby Digital HD and DTS-HD and if you have a stereo like I do then thats also desirable.

Yes, I find the DTS sound on the Blu-ray most satisfying.

[selection7]

I'm the OP. I eventually got the Bluray and did an A-B comparison. Note that my TV's upscaling could be different from yours, but I also have done this comparision with other DVDs/Blurays so my conclusions should still be sound in a relative sense.

The difference is significant, but not large. However, and this is part of the reason I started thinking about the Bluray when I already owned the DVD in the first place, even though the DVD may look better than the VHS, it doesn't look good for a DVD. Because of this, the medium jump in quality going from DVD to Bluray makes it definitely worth it for any real Zep fan...and my TV is only 32".

My Bourne Supremacy DVD, for example, looks very similar to my Bluray version of it, and it is fairly sharp for just a DVD. It's almost like they gimped the TSRTS DVD version on purpose to make the Bluray look better in comparison because they realised the Bluray doesn't quite match up to standards of Bluray concerts that were filmed more recently. I'm mostly referring to compression. On the DVD, large areas of blacks have blocky-ness to them that the Bluray doensn't have. Obviously the DVD will be lower-res, but there's no reason for it to have blocky artifacts. Also, apparently because the original film was filmed at or near 25fps (bluray standard), you don't get those trasition frames on the bluray like you do on the dvd (29.97fps in the US)...that is, where an extra frame is created by blending two side-by-side frames together. Maybe that's not a big deal since it's just an extra frame.

Here's a specific example, in TSRTS (song) there's a part with Robert walking though something like a wheat field. On the DVD large patches of this wheatfield are just one swath of blurry tan color, and without seeing it within context of what's around it, you wouldn't even know it's supposed to be a mass of individual blades. But on the Bluray you can easily make out vertical line-like textures that make it clear it's a mass of some sort of field growth. You can't make out individual blades or anything (again, I wouldn't say the Bluray looks good for a modern release), but to go from blurry mass of abstract colors to vertical line-like textures is significant.

Another example, on the Bluray when Bonzo is being fastened in his drag racer and the cameraman is right at the front of his dragster, the last few frames as Bonzo blinks...just before it switches to a closeup of him playing his kit, there's an oval sticker to each side of the main/centered sticker that I believe says something like Drag Racing Championship (if that's wrong, it's only because I forgot since yesterday). On the DVD you can't even tell for sure that's it's words, much less make out what it says.

So there you go. I recommend the Bluray to fans over the DVD for visual quality. Though my DVD has the Cameron Crowe interview and a proper main menu, while the Bluray only has a pop-over menu for song selection and an extras menu (the Bluray autostarts right to the movie since there is not main menu).

[selection7]

Also, and I guess I'll make a proper post in the master forum if no one here knows, but...can anyone that gets Guitar World magazine tell me what that "block" chord was that Jimmy refers to in that Dec.?2010 issue where he is talking about the Immigrant Song outro? I read that on the newsstands but forgot what the chord was by the time I thought about it again at home. The online article doesn't feature the tab.

http://www.guitarworld.com/article/jimmy_page_discusses_led_zeppelin_iii?page=0%2C1

"PAGE: Its a block chord that people never get right. It pulls the whole tension of the piece into another area or another dimension just for that moment. And a bit of backward echo makes it a bit more complete. "