Oh dear - they've
completely missed the point! ](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
The problem is NOT that they are using lossy screen captures. It seems that Gary thinks that my beef with those screen grabs is the fact that they're compressed. This just shows a total misunderstanding of what's going on behind the scenes.
Compressing a screen grab from a DVD at 90% quality JPEG is basically going to do little or no damage to the quality of the image, especially if it's from a P-Frame or B-Frame in the video stream. The degradation which is visible on some, but not all of DVDBeavers' comparison pages, is
mostly not related to compression. It's entirely understandable that DVDBeaver compresses its screen captures (it would be uneconomical otherwise).
But this is not the cause of the softening.
Next, the screen grab on his "Open Response" is one that he's taken himself on his own system. Both of the Mondo Vision comparisons were done by another person, presumably on another computer.
Further, my complaint was not that any one release had been singled out specifically - as I said, I don't believe that any malice was intended here. But, ALL of the captures from those discs look softer than the stored contents, not just the Mondo Vision version.
Anyone with mastering knowledge of video will see the ramifications of this. If the screen grabs are blurred, then that means that an already blurry DVD is still going to look blurry, whereas one with a lot of high frequency detail will be shown in an unfairly softened, unrepresentative image. In other words, there's a glass ceiling imposed: discs that were already soft look soft, but discs with a lot of detail also look soft.
Why did I bother spending cash on the best MPEG-2 encoder on the planet and hand-tweaking each scene to look its best, when I could just have done a quick one-hour soft encode and be done with it? It would have looked the same in DVDBeaver's images!
To address Gary's other points:
We don't alter this method to improve the appearance of certain DVD productions and never will no matter how vehemently DVD producers may encourage this - attacking us in both private email, blogs and public Forums.
DVDBeaver prides itself on the consistent method we have of obtaining DVD screen captures.
I'm sure that DVDBeaver don't knowingly alter their process, but it's clear that screen grabs from some discs get through unscathed whereas others show softening.
Secondly, the language here is incredibly disingenuous. "Vehemently", "attacking", these words suggest that DVDBeaver is the victim here. In reality, as a frequently visited site and trusted resource (although I imagine this incident is going to lessen that slightly), they have a responsibility to correctly represent video.
I think people here will agree with me that my dismay at the proven misrepresentation has been civil at all times. Any correspondence with Gary has been the same.
The method is clearly not consistent. Some comparisons are accurate, whereas others (those taken by Eric Cotenas, perhaps?) show visible blurring.
Now, this is not the first time we've had DVD producers insist that our screen captures are not a viable representation of their product.
Funny, that...
But, strangely, in every case they were - including the LA FEMME PUBLIQUE and THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: LOVE DVDs - recommended by us as the best edition available for purchase!
This is irrelevant. I have already stated many times that I am grateful for them recommending the disc I worked on (although just to make this clear, this has no financial benefits for me). I am sure that Mondo Vision are grateful for the business that DVDBeaver has gathered for them, but we're discussing a totally different issue here - one of accuracy.
The producer I dealt with was unsatisfied with our result and I had no ethical way of placating him. I wasn't about to improve the quality of his release's captures and invalidate all 80,000 other images on the site. I still insist to him that this would not be ethical.
Gary seems to think that I want him to artifically and falsely improve the quality of the disc that I worked on specifically. That's not the case, and that WOULD be unethical. What would "placate" me (I guess I'm frothing at the mouth here, is that it?) would be to see accurate screen grabs from ALL of the discs, including the ones that compete against what I worked on. They would *all* look better - not just Mondo's.
His language suggests that my request was unethical. What's unethical is misrepresenting other people's work - that goes for mine, and all of the other discs that have gone through this process.
Gary does make some valid points. Even in the screen grabs which have been unintentionally degraded by their faulty process, differences between the discs are still visible. Unfortunately, the difference that I worked so hard on retaining - the higher effective resolution and faithful representation of film grain (NOT an easy job with MPEG-2, let me assure you!) - has been masked.
DVDBeaver is a valuable resource, but they have a responsibility to accurately represent the contents of the disc.
Lastly, I take exception to the language used here, which I find unnecessarily sensationalist. I am unsure what part of a politely worded e-mail would require "placating"!
My open response to their response:
have the same person use the same system used to take the comparison images for "D'aimer" and "Femme" screen grab the Resolution test pattern and the Belle Nuite testchart from the "L'important c'est d'aimer" DVD, and share the results with us (perhaps on your response page?) This way, visitors can see for themselves the limitations imposed by your screen grabbing process by comparing the patterns to what they see on their own display. Denying the faults with some of the screen shots on your site is only going to further damage the credibility of the other comparisons which ARE representative.
Highlight "Setup" on the menu and press UP to access these patterns.
Lastly, I would like to make a point here. I am a freelance DVD producer. My complaints here are not Mondo Vision's (although they share my feeling about the images). That also means that I have no direct financial interest in the sales of these discs (although I am glad that they're doing well).
