HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (Two days and a wake-up...)
Subject: Re: Brazil (WS) LD
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: rec.video
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 16:27:47 GMT

In article <BOV.92Aug27102116@essex.x.co.uk>, bov@x.co.uk (Andy Bovingdon) writes...

} A recent posting asked if the Wall and Brazil were about on LD. The replies
} were only about the Wall, does this mean that Brazil does not exist on LD.

No, it doesn't mean that.

} This film has to be one of my all time favorites, so does a version,
} preferably widescreen, actually exist???

MCA Home Video has released BRAZIL on LD. In fact, it was one of the first
discs I bought after buying a player four and a half years ago. As far as
I know, it's still in print.

However, two caveats:

(1) No, it's not in widescreen. Since the film was most likely a 1.66:1
ratio matted film (it definitely wasn't anamorphic), only about 20% of
the image is lost by cropping (yes, I cringe, too, when I see myself
using "only" up there, but when you consider that an anamorphic film
loses almost half of its image by cropping...)  I don't find the cropping
to affect the film all that much.

(2) It's the American theatrical release version of the film, so it's
about 12 minutes shorter than what you're used to.

-- 

	"She's my radiation baby.
	 She's my teenage fallout girl."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)

    boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com
From: guyc@RIVERSIDE.SCRC.SYMBOLICS.COM (Guy A Caruthers)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: VIDEOTECH Digest V92 #728
Date: 3 Sep 92 15:43:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet


	Date: 31 Aug 92 23:03:17 GMT
	From: pa.dec.com!engage.pko.dec.com!kau100!patoine@decwrl.dec.com  (Luc Patoine)
	Subject: Minolta 8-808 camcorder..
	Message-ID: <1992Aug31.230317.607@engage.pko.dec.com>

	Minolta 8-808..

	Any opinions on the Minolta 8-808 Hi8 camcorder.. I understand that it's
	the RCA PRO 880 equivalent. I want to purchase a camcorder in the next week or
	so. This Minolta, the Sony TR81 and even the FX510 from Sony (non Hi8) are in
	the running..
	The TR81 has a size advantage but the 8-808 probably has better optics and
	a better transport (ie. freeze frame that is glitch free).

	Price quoted from mailorder:

	Minolta 8-808      $799 + $30 shipping (Genesis Camera (Pa.))
	Sony TR81          $870 + $30 shipping (Camera World of Oregon)
	Sony FX510         $745 + $30 shipping (Camera World of Oregon)

	Any comments would be appreciated..

I purchased the Minolta 8-808 in June and have taken it on a two
week sailing trip, and a business trip to San Francisco.  Works 
great, great picture, easy to operate.  The reason I chose this
instead of the Sony or Cannon is the time lapse feature, but I
suspect you would be satisfied with any of these.

On a side note, Minolta sells accessories for twice as much as RCA
and Hitachi, so I got the model number of those brands and purchased
accessories from them (ie: av dubbing cable, car 12v adapter, etc...).
I paid $749.00 from smile photo and it arrived in three days.  I also 
bought the $99.00 five year service policy so I wouldn't be afraid to 
take it with me on a trip.  If it breaks, they fix it,....I hope :-).	
Newsgroups: rec.video,rec.arts.movies
From: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Subject: Re: Explain this effect?
Organization: Columbia U., New York City
Reply-To: es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita)
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 22:06:01 GMT
X-Posted-From: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1992Sep2.212017.6778@ncar.ucar.edu> gary@colossus.cgd.ucar.edu (Gary Strand) writes:
>
>  What's the explanation for it, and why don't I see it (for example) during
>  episodes of the Star Trek:The Next Generation? Does it have something to do
>  with the transfer from the original film to videotape? An inquiring mind
>  wants to know!
>
	The main explanation is that Star Wars was made in 1977,
Star Trek in the late 60s. ST:TNG is late 80s/early 90s, 1.5+
million per episode, and the techniques are much better.

	As I understand it, the technical reason is that the
images of the ships moving around were each on a plastic strip,
and so what you see is discoloration from the square piece of
plastic.

	(BTW, people -- please correct that if it is wrong)
	-- Ethan


purgamentum init, exit purgamentum
From: nyang@Bonnie.ICS.UCI.EDU
Subject: Help w/ buying an Hi8 camcorder
Newsgroups: rec.video
Date: 31 Aug 92 15:40:36 GMT

Hi!
   I am about to buy an Hi8 camcorder.  I am making my decision between
Sony TR-101 and Canon A1 Digital.  I am considering the TR-101 fot its
compactness and the Image stablization feature.  I like the A1 Digital for
the high quality (I guess,) and the "digitalness."  I would prefer the A1,
but I heard that the Image stablization in the TR-101 is co-developed by
both Sony and Canon.  So, may there be an A1 Digital in the future with
the Image stablization built-in?  I would hate to see my new camcorder be
outdated soon.  Any other info, experience, or recommendation is greatly
appreciated.  Thank you very much in advance.

   Nick Yang    nyang@bonnie.ics.uci.edu
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: michael1@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (michael.k.pula)
Subject: TV Tuner Questions
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 22:23:49 GMT
Followup-To: att!ihlpe!michael1
Summary: Cable ready 
Keywords:  Zenith
                                HELP!

  I have an older Zenith Console TV whose tuner went on the Fritz.
  The only thing we use this set for is to watch cable and so the TV
  is always fixed on channel 3!

  Does anyone know of a simple way to replace the existing tuner with
  something that is harcoded to channel 3?  All I want to do is run
  the output of my cable box into this set.  I don't care about "tuning"
  in any other channels.  Is there such a beast? 

Any help or pointers would be appreciated.

Thanx,
Mike  
 ______   _______   _____   _______     -------      Michael K. Pula
/  __  \ <__   __> /  __ \ <__   __>  -====------    AT&T Bell Laboratories
| (__) |    | |    \  \ \_\   | |    -======------   P.O. Box 3050 Rm.2A-112
|  __  |    | |    /  _) __   | |    --====-------   Naperville, Il. 60566-7050
| |  | |    | |   (  (__/ /   | |     -----------    (708) 713-7584
|_|  |_|    |_|    \_____/    |_|       -------      att!ihlpe!michael1  
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu (Dr. Barnhart)
Subject: Re: Video Tape Encoding Signal
Followup-To: rec.video,misc.consumers
Organization: U of Mn Propoganda Ministry
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 16:49:59 GMT

In article <1992Aug26.153919.14150@twisto.eng.hou.compaq.com>,
parikh@sirocco.eng.hou.compaq.com (Vijay Parikh) wrote:
> 
> The movie tapes that one generally rents from video stores have
> some kind of signal encoded on the tape so it can't be recorded
> perfectly.  One would always get video and audio loss on the
> tape recorded from the rented one.
> 
> The above is totally understandable but why it does not happen
> when the same movie is recorded from TV broadcast programs
> (either from network channels or premium channels such as HBO/
> Cinemax/Showtime ,etc.).  One does not get any loss of either
> video/audio signals in the recorded tape using this approach.
> 
> Do the TV channels play special tape w/o signal encoded?
> Does the signal not get transferred thru' air/cable?
> 

I think what you're dealing with there is the infamous MacroVision
copy protection system.  My understanding is that what they do is
"mess with" part of the video signal.  Your teevee *usually* has
no problem syncing with it, but the VCR goes apeshit trying to
record it.

Problem is, some teevees have a problem with it.  My old, small
color set used to have two or three lines cutting diagonally across
the top-left of the screen.  I've seen this on other older color
teevees.  This problem went away when I moved up to the big leagues
and got a decent Trinitron.

When you tape off of a broadcast (cable/tv) signal, the copy of the
thing they're playing doesn't have MacroVision, hence the ability
to tape it.

Perhaps some techie will be able to explain exactly what Macrovision
does to the video signal.


Shawn Barnhart ! sbarnhar@mailbox.mail.umn.edu
I'm not selling out, I'm buying in.
From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Re: Coming out of the closet...
Date: 26 Aug 92 16:09:55 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

In article <1992Aug26.144827.13591@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>, jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke) writes:
> 
> Not really.  A 16:9 ratio is not wide enough for any of the wider films
> like Blade Runner that are 2.35:1 (you still lose about 1/3 of the picture.)

Oops, I mean about 1/4 of the picture is lost.  Of course there are some
films that are even wider that would approach 1/3 lost.

Incidentally, 16:9 is the same as 1.77:1. So for a 1.85:1 ratio film,
you're only losing about 4% of the image.  Obviously this is not a big deal,
but I'm a purist and there's no way you can truly get the full width even
if your TV does not overscan at all (unless letterboxing is still employed.)

The question I have is why did they not choose 1.85:1 as the ratio for HDTV?
Then, 2.35:1 films have a relatively mild letterbox, 1.85:1 transfers exactly
and Academy ratio films and NTSC TV broadcasts have reasonable side boxing
(for lack of a better name!) Because of the latter, making HDTV 2.35:1 would
be a mistake.

Steve
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Re: Brazil (WS) LD
From: claudius@zeus.calpoly.edu (King_Claudius (Chris Knight))
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 15:01:37 GMT
Distribution: rec.video
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

bov@x.co.uk (Andy Bovingdon) says:
>A recent posting asked if the Wall and Brazil were about on LD. The replies
>were only about the Wall, does this mean that Brazil does not exist on LD.
>This film has to be one of my all time favorites, so does a version,
>preferably widescreen, actually exist???

Yes it still exists and I assume is still being printed, but not letterboxed.
-- 
---King Claudius---                                   claudius@zeus.calpoly.edu
Newsgroups: rec.video,misc.consumers
From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: Warped Video Tape Edges
Organization: Gordon Burditt
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 04:02:14 GMT

>I think I still did not do a good job and ended up misaligning the video
>heads (I think :-().  Every now & then, I get a lot of noise (video and audio)
>from the tape I rent.  I pop up the lid and see the edge being warped.
>The surprising thing is that it does not happen to all cassettes.  Some
>tapes are already warped prior to my playing them in my VCR so the problem
>must be happening to other folks also.

My experience with crinkled video tape edges:

(1) If you take the tape out without rewinding it, you start crinkling
    the tape.  This may be misadjustment or may be simply abuse of
    a video tape, I'm not sure.
(2) Crinkling spreads along the tape with use, even if you quit taking
    the tape out without rewinding it, once you've goofed once.  A 
    "scratch tape" used heavily for time-shifting can have large useless 
    sections in a few weeks of use.

					Gordon L. Burditt
					sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: find@cs.UAlberta.CA (Piotr Findeisen)
Subject: Re: VHS tape speeds
Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 15:37:50 GMT

mfolivo@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark Newton-John) writes:

>A T-120 2 hour tape does not last two hours in a PAL machine. 

No, this is wrong.
A T-120 2 hour tape will last almost three hours in a PAL machine (at SP speed).
Two hours and 55 minutes to be exact.

Piotr Findeisen
find@cs.ualberta.ca
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: wave@media.mit.edu (Michael B. Johnson)
Subject: Re: Brazil (WS) LD
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory
Distribution: rec.video
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 23:31:48 GMT

It's definitely in print - I just bought one a few weeks ago from 
Columbia House (to finish off my club obgligation).


-- 

-->  Michael B. Johnson
-->  MIT Media Lab      --  Computer Graphics & Animation Group
-->  (617) 253-0663     --  wave@media-lab.media.mit.edu
From: cantrell@seqp4.sequoia.com (Paul Cantrell)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Re: Interlocking two LD players
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:45:14 GMT
Organization: Sequoia Computer Systems

In article <1522@seqp4.sequoia.com>, cantrell@seqp4.sequoia.com (Paul Cantrell) writes:
> I've wondered why the two sided issue hasn't been addressed better. It
> seems to me that having two laser assemblies would solve the two sided
> problem. Only the head assembly would need to be duplicate. The rest of
> the electronics could be shared.

As several people have pointed out to me via email, the "other" side is
being spun backward, so my simple solution wouldn't work. You either need
to stop and reverse the spin, or be able to read the disk backward and
electronically shuffle the data into the correct order.

Neither one sounds cheap and easy, so I guess we understand why nobody
has done this :-(

				Paul
-- 
cantrell@sequoia.com
From: zaveri@apple.com (Ameet Zaveri)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Advice on Sony tr-81 vs Canon UC1
Date: 21 Aug 92 01:23:21 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer

I am trying to decide between buying the Sony TR-81 (or clone) or the Canon
UC1 camcorder. Any advice on which is better and why?
If I get enough responses, I will post a summary. Thanks in advance,

--- ameet
Xref: sparky rec.video:10773 rec.video.releases:2639 pdx.movies:61
From: bill@thd.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden)
Newsgroups: rec.video,rec.video.releases,pdx.movies
Subject: Laserdisc rental stores in Portland area
Date: 1 Sep 92 07:13:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: tvnews.1992Sep1.071309.20213
Distribution: pdx
Organization: Tektronix TV Measurement Systems, Beaverton, OR

[Last modified 3-Aug-92]

Please e-mail additions/corrections to me.  All stores charge $3 for a
two day rental.  Data supplied by stores, may not be accurate.


Store			Phone		Address				 Titles

Captain Video		635-7100	3970 SW Mercantile Dr, Lake Os.	   2000
Captain Video II	671-9329	14767 SW Teal Blvd, Beaverton	    500
First Stop Video	232-0164	3720 SE Hawthorne Blvd		     50
First Stop Video	244-8393	9045 SW Barbur Blvd.		      ?
First Stop Video	629-5191	2341 NW 185th, Hillsboro	    200
First Stop Video	656-7447	19129 S Beavercreek Rd, Or. City    200
Home Video Library	760-6488	16544 SE Division		    500
Neptune Video		591-9898	16300 SW Hart Rd, Beaverton	    200
Progressive Laser Video	635-4900	333 S State, Suite U, Lake Os.	    450
Royal Video		234-7523	8237 SE 17th			    600
Top Hit Video		635-1502	15630 SW Boones Fy, Lake Oswego	    200
Trilogy			229-1884	2484 NW Thurman			    200

-- 
Bill McFadden    Tektronix, Inc.  P.O. Box 500  MS 58-639  Beaverton, OR  97077
bill@tv.tv.tek.com, ...!tektronix!tv.tv.tek.com!bill      Phone: (503) 627-6920
How can I prove I am not crazy to people who are?
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: wlrc@uhura.neoucom.edu (William R. Cruce)
Subject: Re: VHS VCR to play SVHS - Panasonic PV-4250 Review
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 18:09:23 GMT


In July I purchased a Panasonic VHS VCR, model PV-4250 from
Camera World of Oregon for a family member.  I didn't have time
to do extensive testing of it but did spend some time checking to
see that it was functional.

Reasons for purchase: 
1) Panasonic's reliability (both Consumer Reports and my previous
   experience with one of their VCRs).
2) Hi-Fi sound.
3) Low price because it has few fancy frills.  $320 including 2 day
   FedEx delivery.

Other features:
181 channel cable reception. MTS stereo: though there is no indication
that it is a DBX system, the surround sound is comparable to several
other tuner units which are. Full function remote (which has a very
nice layout, IMO).  4 video heads, so slow motion and pause are
free of artifacts.  Real time counter.  Easy to use on screen menu.
Automatic setup of active TV channels.  Compact and light weight.

*******
Added Bonus:  It will play back S-VHS tapes with standard VHS resolution
- I tested this and it really works!  The picture may actually look
a little better than standard VHS recordings but that is only a
subjective impression.
********

Missing Features:  
No level indicators for sound.  No manual setting of sound level.
No flying erase head.  No jog shuttle dial.  No alphanumeric displays
on front of the machine -only onscreen.  I believe the 4264 model
for about $50-70 more has most of these features.

Test results:
The sound is fine, though real deep bass from some of the synthesizer
tracks on LD-101 (Grand Canyon sequence) came through a little "boomy."
The image and sound on playback of tapes recorded on two Mitsubishi
machines (U-51, U-71) are fine.  Image from playback of tape recorded
on the 4250  is good tho just a tad noisier than from my Mitsubishi
U-51 (but the Panasonic is about $200 cheaper than a comparable current
Mitsu model).  Tapes used were JVC-XR, JVC-EHG, and (for S-VHS playback)
Maxell XR-S.  Recordings were made for cable sources and from laser
disc (LD-101, A Video Standard from Reference Recordings).

Summary:  This appears to be a fine VHS VCR for basic recording and
playback with Hi-Fi sound.  This is about the lowest priced Hi-Fi
VCR with a track record for reliability.  Magnavox has some
comparable models for similar prices with similar reliability, but
I did not see any of them.  Goldstar, Sharp and Samsung have some
models in the $300-400 range but their reliability is questionable.
And I think Panasonic is the only manufacturer including S-VHS playback
on many of its 'ordinary' VHS decks.

-- 
                 "So many windows, So little time"

Bill Cruce, N.E. Ohio Univ. Coll. of Medicine, Box 95, Rootstown, OH 44272
VOICE: 216-325-2511,  FAX: 216-325-0522,  INTERNET: wlrc@uhura.neoucom.edu
From: risque@cs.uow.edu.au (Peter Castle)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Jackie Chan LDs
Summary: Any sources of Jackie Chan LDs ?
Keywords: Hong Kong, Jackie Chan, Laser
Date: 29 Aug 92 23:24:06 GMT
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia

A video shop in Sydney rents LDs of many Hnog Kong films including
those of Jackie Chan (such as the Police Story films) - and they're
letterboxed - the only way to see a Jackie Chan film.  But he won't
say where he gets them.

I want to buy some.  Does anyone know the location of a source -
possibly in Hong Kong - of chinese LDs ?

Peter Castle
Uni of Wollongong
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: chrisp@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Chris Pelkie)
Subject: Pioneer 3090 "haze"
Keywords: Laserdisc problem
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 12:17:27 GMT

I've occasionally noticed a problem that no one else has recently reported, when
watching some discs on my 3090. I'm pretty sure it's NOT the standard
black line problem, which was described as black scan lines (1 or 2 thick).

It's more like a gray haze that wiggles erratically over the video image. If
I freeze-field, the haze continues to wiggle, and sometimes goes away.
So I figured it was maybe crud on the laser or on the disc at that spot and it
magically blew away.

Until this weekend. Normally, I buy discs, cause there's only one rental place
in  this town and it's far enough away to be a hassle, but I went and rented
some discs. The first side of Naked Gun 2.5 played flawlessly, but the first
10 minutes of side 2 showed the haze problem. I stopped the disc, and
took it out, dusted it again, same problem. Tried putting side 2 in facing up
(the 3090 is a two-sided player), but no change. Side 1 still was OK. (I
realize it's the same laser head, but thought maybe the flipping process
either might knock the crud off, or maybe there's a wire that is bent
during the flipover. Apparently not.)

When I took the discs back to the store, I tried this disc in their Philips
player and it looked fine. I've seen this problem occasionally before,
most notably, all the Thin Man discs seemed plagued with it, but
I have many other discs which show no sign of this.

Any ideas? Thanks.
-- 
Chris Pelkie
Scientific Visualization Producer
Cornell Theory Center
Ithaca, NY 14853-3801
chrisp@tc.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.graphics,rec.video
From: yeidel@tomar.accs.wsu.edu (Joshua Yeidel)
Subject: Antenna Boosting
Reply-To: yeidel@tomar.accs.wsu.edu (Joshua Yeidel)
Organization: Academic Computing Services, Washington State University
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 19:22:23 GMT


A few weeks ago, my wife saw an ad in TV Guide for one of those
"make your whole house wiring a TV antenna" gizmos.  She was
interested because we live in a very marginal reception area for most
channels.

All I could tell her about them was that I remembered seeing a note on
this list that said those devices add all the noise in the
house circuits to the signal your TV gets.  This only slowed her 
down a little, so I said I'd ask the net for more advice.

What do people think of (1) the house-wiring gizmos and (2) other
indoor methods of improving reception?  E-mail if you can, I will
summarize to the net.

Responses from satisfied customers are especially invited.
--
Joshua Yeidel               | yeidel@tomar.accs.wsu.edu
Academic Computing Services | All standard disclaimers apply
Washington State University |   "Believe it if you need it, 
Pullman, WA 99164-1226      |     or leave it if you dare..."
509/335-0441                |         -- Robert Hunter
From: EDGLOWE%ECUVM1@NCSUVM.CC.NCSU.EDU ("Gregg F. Lowe")
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Philips CD-I recorder
Date: 1 Sep 92 13:15:20 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet


I had a chance to get up to the Comtech Conference this past week and got
a good look at the new Philips CD-I recorder (sorry, I don't have the model
number handy).  According to the Philips rep I was talking to, this device
will record 72 minutes of full screen, full motion video per CD, in NTSC or
PAL (or 650 megabytes of data for you computer buffs).  The price was around
$5,000 for the recorder (software extra) and the blank disks were around $40
a pop.

We are a small video production facility and are thinking about purchasing
one of these in order to back up our edit masters on a longer-life medium
(as opposed to tape) and create interactive (video based) educational disks.
Has anyone out there had any experience/info/thoughts on/with this creature?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.


 Gregg F. Lowe

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