The Matrix Open Matte / Original Colour?

[zoidberg]

What bitrate was the original DVD, 384 or 448kb/s?

[Farstarbuck]

Check my screenshots on page 1, its there.

Possible since the origin of this whole file pre dates blu ray and hd dvd.

[zoidberg]

Sorry to clarify I meant to ask what was the audio bitrate of the original WB widescreen 'snapper' case DVD.

[spoRv]

LD was 384kbps for sure; my DVD (first edition, plastic+cardboard case) is 384kbps as well; most HDTV/DVB audio tracks are also 384kbps...

[SilverWook]

That version is still in print. (Or Warners has warehouses full of them still?) I saw it in a regular DVD case paired up with The Matrix Revisited at my local Target late last year.

[SilverWook]

So, did someone here buy the Laserdisc?

[captainsolo]

The snapper 1999 DVD is 384 kbp/s DD 5.1. That's why I've always felt it was very likely identical to the LD 5.1 as at that time, all WB DVDs were ports of their LD masters or derived from the same master derived for prior video formats, ex: The Wild Bunch and every other early snapper release. Only a very few select tiles had newer work done or remixed audio into 5.1 and these were usually only titles they knew would be bigger sellers, like the snapper DC release of Blade Runner.

Also, I got a free copy of the letterbox VHS tape which I plan to check out and see what it looks like. I bet it's simply a VHS edition of the LD master. Not to mention IIRC it's also the way I first saw the film from the rental store before seeing the sequels in theaters.

[Chewtobacca]

The snapper 1999 DVD is 384 kbp/s DD 5.1. That's why I've always felt it was very likely identical to the LD 5.1 as at that time, all WB DVDs were ports of their LD masters or derived from the same master derived for prior video formats...

That's useful to know.  I often wondered why the full 448kbps wasn't used on many early DVDs and assumed (probably wrongly) that the audio wouldn't be as good. Despite the lower bitrate, AC-3 on LD often sounds better than it does on DVD.

[spoRv]

captainsolo, please check the VHS and see if colors are different from DVD; if so, it will be not a good color reference as LD, but better than nothing!

[captainsolo]

Well....it seems the VHS is identical to the DVD save only for the color saturation is a bit less and the resolution is non-existent. I don't have the best VCR nor does it have hifi, but toggling back and forth shows they look virtually identical on the same monitor with correct calibration. The DVD has deeper color saturation and no analog noise. The VHS is contrasty and has far less color but more as in you merely did a professional VHS dub of the DVD-not as if it were a different master. I also ran it in my Sony's wide mode which preserves the framing while fitting it to the 16:9 screen, and for a VHS it looks damn impressive for something less than 220i.

if I can get a better VCR with hifi stereo I can at least check out the matrixed audio and compare it against the 5.1 discrete, since the LD is still unobtainable and I've long wondered if it's PCM matrix sounds different to the 5.1.

You know, I'm really thinking that the LD may not be very different at all. Since the VHS is clearly the same master as the DVD and given WB's practices at the time...it may only be that whomever mastered the title for LD tweaked some things for composite video separate from what the studio gave them.