Cereal: No, it doesn't look like there's new Buffy or Angel on the 9th.

It says (and there aren't any spoilers):

Sky 1

8pm Best of Buffy
A selected episode from the drama about the teen vampire-killer.
9pm Angel
Holtz insists that Connor rejoin Angel, while Groosalugg is heartbroken.

t moans. graons. whinges. whines.

Does anyone know if the Region 1 versions of the Buffy DVDs have better picture transfers than the Region 4 versions?

I notice Joss does a commentary for both "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" and I was wondering if it was worth grabbing a copy -- even though I already own season 1.

I don't know about picture transfer, but any set that is NTSC, rather than PAL, will at least be at the correct speed.

If you didn't know, PAL is 25 frames per second, while film is 24 frames per second. When doing the transfer, this needs to be resolved somehow. The common solution is to map them 1 to 1, which means the footage runs 4% faster. They could then run the audio through a filter that adjusts for the faster speed, but more often they leave the voices slightly higher pitched. This is what they did they did with the Buffy DVDs. I notice it mostly with the male voices, especially Xander, but others have told me they didn't notice it at all. I'm fairly sensitive to pitch (theremin playing and all) so maybe I'm unusual.

NTSC is 30 frames per second, so they use an algorithm to map them down to 24. No speeding up or slowing down takes place.

That said, I've always heard that PAL looks better than NTSC because, while there are fewer frames per second, there are more lines in each frame.

I haven't noticed the difference in the voices but the transfer quality of some of the episodes, particularly in the Season 2 Part 1 set, is fucking awful. Absolutely atrocious.

Someone should sue Fox for releasing something so blatantly sub-standard.

If you didn't know, PAL is 25 frames per second, while film is 24 frames per second. When doing the transfer, this needs to be resolved somehow. The common solution is to map them 1 to 1, which means the footage runs 4% faster. They could then run the audio through a filter that adjusts for the faster speed, but more often they leave the voices slightly higher pitched. This is what they did they did with the Buffy DVDs. I notice it mostly with the male voices, especially Xander, but others have told me they didn't notice it at all. I'm fairly sensitive to pitch (theremin playing and all) so maybe I'm unusual.

(Jon is so smart.) There was something on the discovery channel today on Leon Theremin-- did you know he did important work for the NKVD/KGB? Among other things, he invented an ingenious type of sound recording device that was behind Averill Harriman's desk for 7 years.

Jimi - Yes, I forgot about the defect in the first couple of S2 episodes. I'd be curious to know if that was fixed in the R1 version.

Shawn - I saw that show. They've broadcast that one several times over the last year. I knew about Theremin's bug work before that though (sorry I'm so smart!). There's an excellent biography available, written by one of the guys interviewed on the show. Here's the Amazon link. Highly recommended.

Well, I thought of you. Did you play the same song at the F2F as they kept showing Theremin playing? I can't remember, don't have the tape handy.

Did you play the same song at the F2F as they kept showing Theremin playing?

No, at the F2F, I played "Danny Boy", "Those Were the Days" and, or course, the Buffy stuff.

I have watched Buffy in both PAL and NTSC and haven't noticed any difference in voice pitch. PAL has the reputation of being generally of better quality than "Never The Same Color", and, let's face it, you're talking DVD - the quality is so good generally, the differences between a PAL and an NTSC disc are probably going to be indistinguishable to a normal eye.

AFAIK, the Buffy Region 1 and Region 2 editions are identical.

Edited to add: I forgot about the problems with the S2 discs. I assume they cleared that up for the NTSC edition.

This is what they did they did with the Buffy DVDs. I notice it mostly with the male voices, especially Xander, but others have told me they didn't notice it at all. I'm fairly sensitive to pitch (theremin playing and all) so maybe I'm unusual.

I noticed it, too, but I remember reading your post about it before my S2 set arrived, so I was expecting it. Don't know whether I would have if I hadn't known.