image problem on case o/t scorpion's tail dvd

[h. simon kittay]

i just saw the case of the scorpion's tale (which is a so-so giallo btw) and there is a serious mastering problem. (dvd released by x-rated kult dvd)

my english isn't too good, but i'll try to explane...

the film starts in a aspect ratio of 1:2.35, but directly after the credits the black bars become a bit smaller and the image seems to be stretched horizontaly (!). so faces, cars etc aren't longer, but wider. and to such an extend that it is rather irritating. and it stays this way all thru the film.

somewhere on the net i read a dvd review, but they didn't mention it, so i don't know where the problem lies...

the movie was released with two different cover, but i guess the dvd's are the same...

does anyone else have this problem?

[wizzer]

it kinda sounds like its stretching the picture towards the top and towards the bottom. is this correct? if so, and the disc is anamorphic, the player may not be converting the image correctly. if you have a different player or a dvd drive on your computer, try it there.

[h. simon kittay]

i tried it on both my dvd players, one connected to a ws tv, the other to an "normal" tv, but it didn't make a difference...

but even so, that doesn't explain that the problem occurs after the opening credits and not before...

[Crystal Plumage]

Well here I found some screenshots,it looks like you're right here:









But then there's this one:

Furthermore, when watching the film on my PC, I spotted occasional instances of a very bizarre compression artefact that I had never seen before, whereby rapid movement would cause large coloured blocks to appear on the screen - most noticeable in the scene around 14 minutes into the film, in the restaurant with the Greek dancers. An example is provided below:




When watching the film on my stand-alone DVD player (Pioneer DV-668AV), and indeed when I tested the DVD on another computer, these oddities did not appear. Therefore, this seems to simply be an problem with my video card rather than a specific fault on the disc itself. I still feel that this is worth mentioning, however, since I have no way of knowing whether or not it will manifest itself on any other setups.

Find the full review here: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=12034

[Dorian Gray]

I'm glad I didn't pick this one...

[Crystal Plumage]

I'll still pick it up.It's probably the only dvd of it available in a long time.