The Little Mermaid - help needed with LD PCM...

[jerryshadoe]

I was wondering if anyone possibly has and could share the laserdisc PCM stereo track for Disney's The Little Mermaid. I have also heard rumors of a cinema track and would be interested too, if it's available.

I absolutely hate the new DEHT mix on the newer DVDs and the 7.1 track on the new blu-ray sounds very different too. The "best" older audio was found on the 1999 NTSC DVD that had a decent sounding 5.1 mix but the odd thing about it is that all of the sfx are in the front center channel.

Thanx

[spoRv]

...and what's about video?

Let's wait nirbateman, he's a Disney expert!

[titanic]

I have this and this is what I will watch from now on when I want to see The Little Mermaid. It's the only error-free version I know in HD.
I'm not sure though what's the audio like (if it resembles old DVD or newer one)
[link removed - please read the forum rules! ]

[spoRv]

There is a 1080p(i) version floating around that *should* be better, at around 8GB...

[titanic]

You mean of an HDTV?
yes, I found one but it has a large logo that's why I don't prefer it.

(I read the forum rules and I assume it's ok to post a screenshot)
[Image: 2c34c2ed3c3f.png]

[jerryshadoe]

@ titanic - thanx for trying to share link but in forum that's a "no-no." in the future please just reference the name of release (i.e. LD, VHS, DVD, BD, HDTV, WEB-DL) and the resolution. as far as the comment you made about the audio, there is a huge difference between the older and newer dvd releases - the older being much better but it's still not the LD PCM Original Stereo audio track.

@ Andrea - well... hmmm... I guess you are spoiling the "surprise" I have, LOL... I am aware that there are two different HDTV rips, both struck from the same master but one (an NTSC copy) is a 1080p AVC @ 13mbps .ts file (~8gb), that doesn't contain a logo, and the other is a 1080i (PAL copy) AVC @10.8mbps .mkv(~6.5gb) with a nasty disney cinemagic logo in the lower bottom corner. Both are decent copies by themselves but they also both contain a certain amount of macroblocking, lack detail in different areas of the frame (which can be fixed by way of layering) and have occasional softness issues that can be slightly fixed. the copy with the logo (although of lower bitrate) still has a little bit of grain left in-tact. the master that both of these HDTV copies was struck from is identical (has exact same "flaws" on same frames and is framed the same way, which makes layering the sources really easy) but I have to de-interlace and slow down the PAL 1080i copy first. The color palette of this copy is different from any commercially released DVD or BD and has a striking resemblance to the VHS/LD colors and, therefore, closer to the theatrical version.

While I am still working on my other projects, recently my wife found my old 1999 NTSC DVD of the movie and let my kids watch it which got me thinking about this as a project that my daughters could enjoy. I'm sure there are others that would enjoy it too and I wanted to include the LD PCM audio for the "full experience." As far as the video is concerned, I am now doing some extensive research, including looking at my 1990 original release VHS tape, and comparing it to the color palette on the HDTV copy. Most of it is really close or needs just a minor color-grading adjustment. I know a lot of people might say that the new BD release is decent for the video, and although I would agree that's it's the best we've seen so far, it's still not accurate. For those interested, I am happy to share links to some of the comparisons that I have found (some of which show the VHS, old DVD, new DVD, and the BD) It's amazing to see how much Disney has botched ALL of the digital releases. The new one is closest, but it still has it's flaws. These flaws are not really present in the HDTV broadcasts which makes me wonder where the hell they got the master for it. There is a certain "natural" vibrancy to the picture of the HDTV that looks "artificial" on the BD. Unfortunately, the audio of the HDTV broadcast for the 1080i copy is a crappy DEHT re-mix which was by far the worst remix for this movie. The panning of all of the dialog (including during musical sequences) very strongly on ALL front channels completely ruining the experience. Interestingly, the 1080p NSTC broadcast comes with a stereo audio track. I will be testing it against the audio from the VHS tape and see if it sounds similar or if it's just a crappy downmix of the 5.1 (also easy to confirm by just downmixing the 5.1 audio tracks I already have for this movie) I would love it if it was the original mix, but don't want to get my hopes up

[spoRv]

Jerry, go for it!

[jerryshadoe]

@ titanic - I am still curious which version you were talking about before your link got removed. would you mind listing the source (i.e LD, web-dl, dvd, etc...)?

[titanic]

@ titanic - I am still curious which version you were talking about before your link got removed. would you mind listing the source (i.e LD, web-dl, dvd, etc...)?

It's the DON HDTV 720p.
It doesn't have a logo, but I don't remember if it appears for a few seconds..
Oh, forgot to mention that the End credits are ruined for 1,5 minute, since the film screen minimizes inside another screen which shows TV schedule and videos from other films.

here's some screenshots:

[Image: 3.png]

[Image: 2.png]

[Image: 1.png]

[jerryshadoe]

I have that one too... It's decent but only 720p and low bitrate

I'm wondering if there are any other sources.