I am actually quite fed up with this squash business. First it was Eros and now DEi. When will they actually get a hint that we want a perfect disc? I mean count on your fingers how many good dvds there are out of hundreds released so far. very very little . I consider the DEi dvds all flawed since they squash the pic vertically. It especially annoys me when there is a wide angle shot on screen, and squashing reduces the effect drastically :vangry: As for Eros dvds until you stop buying, you are part of the problem.

Here are some of the DEi dvds that have spoiled my viewing pleasure and some that have been previewed on zulm. I am sure there are more.

Astitva
Abhay
Ali Baba
Baazi
Fiza
Giraftaar
Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai
Rangeela
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Hum Saath Saath Hain
Roja
Ek Rishta
Ganga Jamuna Saraswathi
Tarkieb

That can't be complete list of DEI's poor work. Whether it's squashed, poor print, sound; can everyone contribute to this thread make it a COMPLETE listing of defective DEI DVDs.

Or the url to any thread that is if there is a thread that already exists in New Forum on this issue. Thanks.

Myself, i only seen Amitabh's Khuddar to be squashed.
I do have the following DVDs, but most likely i didn't pay complete attention to the squashism if there is any.

Ali Baba Aur 40 Chor
Rangeela
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam


:music:

Kudrat
Nasik
Deewana
Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke
Khuddar
Pukar
...hmmm actually it might just better listing the corrected ones! I know these are correct;

Kaho Na…Pyar Hai-DVD
Jung
..hmm which others ???

Also worth pointing out is some of this squashed problem is more evident on some DVD than others - depends on what extent DEI got their guessing right :rolleyes:

Ali



Edited By ali on Dec. 30 2001 at 22:59

Well, what percentages are we talking here? I did not see
any distracting squash in "Fiza", for example. I'm not
particularly sensitive in this area but when you have a
2.35 film and show it at 2.4, for example, while keeping
all of the picture the squash is minimal. Lens distortion
at the edges might be bigger than this.
Michel Hafner

Fiza correct AR is 2.40, Spark/DEI DVD is 2.55:1 - distortion is visible when you look for it or maybe a comparison might be useful

Fiza image 1 from main feature

Fiza image 2 from trailer

..compare them side by side.



Anything between 5% to 12% (I’m sure Rana has done the maths couple of times :where: ) - depending on DVD film – as I said it depends on how well DEI on the day at their guess work! :bored:

Ali :alien:

Hm. How do you decide what's right? Without a perfect circle
it's not so obvious. The trailer picture looks wrong to me
(head too egg-like) and the feature as well (too flat) in
comparison.
Also, how would DEI manage to squash the picture anyway?
Do telecines have free rescaling capabilities to any
degree you want?
Michel Hafner

You’re absolutely right Michel, neither of shots are really correct – I purposely picked them to show different framing of the same video makes on the AR and this squashed video problem. I don’t know the details of how telecines are done but they must be able to specify how the video is framed at some point or the other.

But that a side – the simple point is if people can notice the incorrect AR just be viewing the video on DEI DVDs (cos mostly if feels annoyingly wrong), it begs the question why can’t DEI the see the same problem ??? (and god forbid, make amends :doze: )

Ali



Edited By ali on Dec. 31 2001 at 20:11

I think that Rana did some calculations a while back using a shot of the full moon from Ek Rishta. His conclusion was that the picture was squashed.

I must admit that the squash problem isn't that evident in Fiza - it's much worse in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Kudrat, Rangeela and a few others. I have both the DEi and MDE versions of Rangeela on DVD and despite the different aspect ratios on these discs (MDE version is cropped) a distinct squash is noticable on the DEI version.

First of all not all the squashed dvds look obvious until someone's round head comes in full frame like in Tabu's in Astitva and Karishma's in Fiza and Aish's in HDDCS. The shot from Fiza by Ali can't determine that.

First of all not all the squashed dvds look obvious until someone's round head comes in full frame like in Tabu's in Astitva and Karishma's in Fiza and Aish's in HDDCS. The shot from Fiza by Ali can't determine that and I agree that Fiza has the least noticeable squash but its there nevertheless.

I ALWAYS USED CIRCLES FOR SQUASHED PICTURE DETECTION.
Except for ALIBABA AND 40 CHOR, JIGAR, and may be 2 or 3 other (KNPH, KROADH), all other DEI anamorphic DVDs have squashed picture.

Yes, HDDCS, RANGEELA and HSSH all ,have squashed picture.
FIZA----------It is clear from the WIDESCREEN REVIEW that FIZA too is vertically squashed. As Ali remarked, “the original theatrical scope of Fiza is 2.39:1 according to the review – so how the video on the DVD is 2.55:1 (adding that they did notice the splice so hence it’s not over matted at all!)”
I have seen FIZA songs in Mission Bollywood and they are vertically squashed. Look for “Maahi Maahi Re” song. Notice same arms when stretched horizontally or when upright, and you will see what I mean.

Note that the main (perhaps the only) reason for Anamorphic format is to get 33% extra resolution on wide-screen monitors. If anamorphic picture is 13% squashed, we get only 18% improvement (If you don’t agree with the numbers, see note below), instead of the required 33%. This 18% improvement over non_anamorphic comes with a penalty of watching a DISTORTED picture in 98% of the consumer displays.


2.66:1 instead of 2.35:1 implies a 13% vertical squash, whereas in most of my geometric comparisons, only 8-10% squash is mentioned. This is because I always used the measurement uncertainty to favour correct geometry. Quite likely, when I said 8% squashed, it really is 13%. Also If the original AR was 2.55:1 and 1.33:1 pixel doubled to 2.66:1 results in only 4% vertical squash, which is impossible to detect with any certainty. I think, 3 or 4 of DEI’s supposedly correct anamorphic DVDs are these 2.55:1 movies which may actually still be 4% squashed.

As Ali said in one of his postings, “even a monkey can fix it”, then why is it that the best Indian DVD maker has not fixed this problem for over one year now? May be it is deliberate. Deliberate, that is where my stated ratio ‘ 2.66:1 ’ has some significance which nobody has picked. I think, DEI is plainly shooting an uncorrected 1.33:1 picture and then just pixel doubling in the horizontal direction, giving a 2.66:1 aspect ratio (or may be, they have a 2:1 expansion lens only). Add a bit vertically and/ or crop a little from sides and you have a 2.5:1 aspect ratio, vertically squashed picture. This way they don’t need to buy the stretching lenses for cinemascope movies. If DEI uses this process, squashed picture problem will never be fixed.


P.S.
CALC. NOTE:
2.35:1 letterboxed picture = 272 lines
2.35:1 anamorphic = 363 lines (33% improvement over 272 lines)
2.35:1 squashed 13% (2.66:1)** = 321 lines (only 18% improvement over 272 lines)
2.35:1 stretched 13% = 410 lines (51% improvement over 272 lines)

RANGEELA and HDDCS, both are squashed. Ali Baba aur 40 Chor and JIGAR are not squashed (I compared these with old VHS copies as well as looked for circles).

In the first post, Congress mentioned Ali Baba (Ali Baba aur 40 Chor) having squashed picture which I am sure is not.

In another post, Ali mentioned JUNG to be O.K. I am not sure about that. Look for "Child blood vommiting scene". Compare when he is lying in the bed and when he gets up. Difference in proportions is obvious.


My main objection to squashed picture is that we get lower resolution.

Rana

my main objection to squashed picture is that we get to see fat people on screen! :doze: all the fit women look fat and unfit

I too have observed the squash-ness of HDDCS and Kudrat.
But in my system, I watch HDDCS (BE) in Movie Expand mode, in which, everything appears comparatively stretched and the actors appear fit...
And as Predator's mum said that the fit actresses appear unfit, in that setting everything appears comparatively normal.

DEI , BEI no longer in business or maybe they moved to india and opertating under another name, Same here on zulm the DEI , BEI thread is resurrected as new but what about the praise they got on this forum in the earlier days.