DVD/TV-Vergleich: Die ARTE-3D Enttäuschung

Es hätte ein tolles Fernseh-Ereignis sein können, aber es war nur eine große Enttäuschung: die Ankündigung von ARTE, Alfred Hitckcocks Dial M for Murder und Jack Arnolds Creature of the Black Lagoon in anaglyphischem 3D zu zeigen, hatte große Erwartungen geweckt. Wurden neue dreidimensionale HD-Master der Filme erstellt? Weit gefehlt, denn ARTE hat nur steinalte analoge Master mit enttäuschender Bildqualität gesendet, die wegen dauernden Verschiebungen der Bildpaare den 3D-Effekt nur sehr schlecht wiedergeben. ARTE hat es sicher gut gemeint, aber so war das 3D-Event nur ein Schatten von dem, was es eigentlich hätte sein können. Besonders im direkten Vergleich mit den DVDs der beiden Filme wird deutlich, wie schlecht die von ARTE gesendeten Master aussehen.

Weiter zum Dial M for Murder Vergleich »
Weiter zum Creature of the Black Lagoon Vergleich »

[English version after the fold…]

It could have been an amazing television event, but it only turned to be a huge disappointment: the announcement of ARTE to show Alfred Hitckcock’s Dial M for Murder and Jack Arnold’s Creature of the Black Lagoon in anaglyphic 3D raised high expectations. Were new three-dimensional high-definition masters made? Not by a long shot, because ARTE had broadcast ages-old analogue masters with disappointing quality, reproducing the 3D effect only very badly because of constant shifting between the image pairs. ARTE surely meant well, but this way the 3D event was only a shadow of what it could have been. The direct comparisons with the DVDs of the two movies clearly show how poor ARTEs broadcast masters really look.

Continue to the Dial M for Murder comparison »
Continue to the Creature of the Black Lagoon comparison »

3 Comments

  1. Something interesting to note in the Dial M for Murder comparison: the 3D version actually shows a lot more picture information at the top of the frame than the DVD (and as such, the DVD shows more of the bottom). The newspaper shot reveals almost an entire line of text hidden on the DVD! It makes me wonder how WB prepared its DVD master.

    I wonder if the studios even have good-quality 3D copies of their films, or if they junked them when it seemed like 3D was just another failed fad.

  2. I suspect that the DVD has lowered the frame to hide splices or damages at the top – but maybe the framing of the 3D transfer was not correct.

    I hope that the 3D source materials are still in good condition, but Dial M For Murder should be okay, since there were some 3D showings in the 1980s – these are comparatively high-profile movies!

  3. I can assure you that DIAL M FOR MURDER is in perfect condition for both the right-eye and left-eye elements. The same is true of most of Universal’s stereoscopic films, and definitely for the Jack Arnold ‘flagship’ titles. In theory they could be screened any day (in polarized form) but in practice they are trotted out on special occasions only (usually closed showings).

    There’s no official word on the studio politics behind this reticence but since Uni are taking great strides in the HD digitization of their holdings including the 3D titles, the general buzz is that the Jack Arnold 3D films are slated for Blu and expected to make a killing… provided the customer base for 3D Home Entertainment in the US keeps growing the way it does at the moment, which I dare doubt. I tend to think that it’ll ebb off a little slower than the 3D attendances in the cinema, which might once more spell the end for quality presentations (for a while, as usual). A shame since it is all there.