Ringu R1 vs R2uk CE (Tartan)

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 01 May 2009, 01:05

Top: r1us
Bottom: r2uk CE

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2009, 04:32

Ain't the Tartan CE NTSC-PAL?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 01 May 2009, 09:31

This was on TV and had a very gray look, which I though was quite fantastic.

I wonder how the R2J looks like.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 May 2009, 09:54

HungFist wrote:This was on TV and had a very gray look, which I though was quite fantastic.

I wonder how the R2J looks like.

I seem to recall a Tartan Ringu trilogy boxset, which had A Nakata directed TV series (not one based off Ringu) as bonus. ALL of the transfers in that set were NTSC-PAL converted, IIRC.

Bradavon owned it at one stage, I'm pretty sure.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 May 2009, 12:11

It was a Mini Movie but Eva is otherwise right. I still do own it. Ringu has always looked rough but Shing's caps above show the R1 is best. There is also Ringu 2 and I think 0 on R1 now too. The UK Tartan Remaster has DTS and more extras. I'm happy enough with it.

p.s - Does anyone have the original Tartan DVD? It would be interesting to add that one. Boy it was hideous.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 01 May 2009, 12:27

I own the trilogy set as well btw, tis where I sourced the grabs above.

HungFist wrote:I wonder how the R2J looks like.

I'm not 100% certain about this, but I think the Tartan CE used the same masters as the Japanese remastered release. Hence the NTSC>PAL issue.

What we really need are shots from the R1 Ringu Anthology now, see if that's the same transfer as the original Ringu release from Dreamworks (which is the one I have).

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 01 May 2009, 13:34

What color are the R1 subs?

Shingster wrote:What we really need are shots from the R1 Ringu Anthology now, see if that's the same transfer as the original Ringu release from Dreamworks (which is the one I have).

Is there any reason to suspect it would be different?

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 01 May 2009, 17:19

Well not too long after the US release of Ringu they released a special Ringu Complete Box Set in Japan that featured new Hi-Bit remasters of Ringu, Ringu 2, Ringu 0, and Rasen. I think it was these new masters that led to the release of a new Tartan Ring Trilogy box set, and they may have been the source for Dreamworks' similar Ringu Anthology box set.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 01 May 2009, 17:38

Good point.

But why on earth are you linking to Sazuma? I mean, aren't they terrorists?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 May 2009, 17:56

Couldn't the single disc Ringu be based on the High Bitrate Remasters? I seriously doubt they'd go to the expense of a new Remaster, especially when this is foreign language.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 01 May 2009, 18:10

Dvdpacific is listing the exact same tech specs and chapter stops for both R1 editions (see ”scenes”). And apparently no DTS that is found on the R2J.

http://www.dvdpacific.com/item.asp?ID=674731
http://www.dvdpacific.com/item.asp?ID=50310

Judging from specs the out of print KR release is probably a R2J remaster port.

There’s a HK box set too, released in 2006. Apparently a part of IVL’s Kadokawa series, and the dvds from that series that I’ve tested have been below par in terms of quality (extremely poor compression and badly timed subs).

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 02 May 2009, 01:52

bradavon wrote:Couldn't the single disc Ringu be based on the High Bitrate Remasters? I seriously doubt they'd go to the expense of a new Remaster, especially when this is foreign language.

No, it came about before the Hi-bit remasters, and Dreamworks wouldn't be remastering the titles again, they would just use the Japanese Hibit sources, which are already remastered.

HungFist wrote:But why on earth are you linking to Sazuma? I mean, aren't they terrorists?

It was the first result in google that listed the boxset specs in English.

HungFist wrote:There’s a HK box set too, released in 2006. Apparently a part of IVL’s Kadokawa series, and the dvds from that series that I’ve tested have been below par in terms of quality (extremely poor compression and badly timed subs).

There's a decent chance they are proper ports, IIRC the Ringu set was part of the release batch as Shall We Dance? Which was a proper DVD-9 transfer, I seem to recall the releases of that batch were all good quality.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 May 2009, 10:45

Shingster wrote:No, it came about before the Hi-bit remasters, and Dreamworks wouldn't be remastering the titles again, they would just use the Japanese Hibit sources, which are already remastered.

Are you saying Ringu R1 is based on the Japanese Remasters or not? Confused. I'm sure the R1 Box set has the same R1 DVD, as the single disc one.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 03 May 2009, 12:48

The Ringu DVD on R1 that I have posted grabs from in the first post came out before the Japanese HiBit remasters. So no, it is not based on those masters. What I've been saying in this thread is that I think the Tartan Ring Trilogy boxset is based on the HiBit remasters, and it's possible the newer R1 Ringu Anthology Boxset may be based on the HiBit masters as well.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 03 May 2009, 13:52

Possible but I'd say unlikely. It seems that the new edition features exactly the same audio options, extras, and, if dvdpacific is correct, even the same chapter stops as the old release.

btw, some retailer listed the box set as discontinued, although most still have it.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 04 May 2009, 10:39

Yeah it's unlikely given the specs, it's kinda strange though as I'm sure they would have used the r2j masters for the other films and usually the Japanese distributors would make Dreamworks purchase the masters as a set rather than individually, so it's actually possible they had the new master of Ringu and decided not to use it!