Emma (TV) (1996) (DVD) - Both U.S. Releases ADDED

[Paul_Rudoff]

Emma (TV) (1996) (DVD)
http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=62776

I noticed that there's a request at the bottom for the information for both U.S. DVD releases: A&E and Acorn/RLJ Entertainment/ITV. I just picked both of them up in a thrift store (because I didn't know which one was better/worse), so I can give you the info.

It needs to be noted that both are VASTLY DIFFERENT in two regards: (1) A&E is 4:3 fullscreen, while Acorn is 16:9 Widescreen. (2) A&E runs 3 minutes 38 seconds shorter than Acorn (see runtimes below). I don't have time right now to watch and compare the two movies, in order to figure out if the time difference is because of edits or if one is a PAL-to-NTSC conversion.

As for other differences, I can tell you that there are different logos at the start and end of the movie, but that wouldn't account for a nearly 4-minute difference. I did a few quick screenshot comparisons to compare the framing. Of course, the original 1996 TV broadcast aspect ratio is 4:3, but it seems that the movie was shot on film with widescreen in mind. During the opening credits, the 4:3 has extra picture at the top and bottom, while 16:9 adds extra on the sides but loses the top and bottom. Note that the font used for opening credits is different in each. However, once the credits are done, the 16:9 has *almost* the same vertical picture as the 4:3, but adds MUCH more on the sides! Picture quality is better on the Acorn DVD, too. Right now, I'm leaning towards that as the better of the two DVDs.

* Opening Credits:
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs07a.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs07b.jpg

* Emma Inside
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs08a.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs08b.jpg

* Emma Outside
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs09a.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs09b.jpg

* End Logo:
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs10a.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... VDs10b.jpg

I photographed the two cases for reference. The A&E DVD came out in 1999, while the Acorn DVD came out in 2014. A&E had a hand in producing the movie, as per the end credits, so I would assume the A&E DVD is truer to the original broadcast, but that doesn't mean that it's the better one :-)
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs01.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs02.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs03.jpg
https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs04.jpg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[A&E DVD]

FOR DVD:
* Title: Jane Austen's Emma (1996) (TV)
* Country: America
* Region: ALL (confirmed with Nero InfoTool - https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs05.jpg)
* Releasing Studio: A&E
* Case Type: Keepcase
* Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
* Anamorphic?: No
* PAL or NTSC?: NTSC
* Soundtracks (LANGUAGE, 2.0 MONO/STEREO/SURROUND): English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
* Subtitles (optional?): English
* Cuts/Runtime: 106:30 (1:46:30)
* Commentaries: None
* Extras: About Jane Austen (2 screens of biographical text)
* Notes: Single-layer disc. No logo at start of movie, United logo on blue at end. Dashed line at top of frame.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ACORN DVD]

FOR DVD:
* Title: Jane Austen's Emma (1996) (TV)
* Country: America
* Region: 1 (confirmed with Nero InfoTool - https://www.spookcentral.tk/temp/4DVDCo ... DVDs06.jpg)
* Releasing Studio: Acorn/RLJ Entertainment/ITV
* Case Type: Keepcase
* Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
* Anamorphic?: Yes
* PAL or NTSC?: NTSC
* Soundtracks (LANGUAGE, 2.0 MONO/STEREO/SURROUND): English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
* Subtitles (optional?): English
* Cuts/Runtime: 111:08 (1:51:08)
* Commentaries: None
* Extras: None
* Notes: Dual-layer disc. New ITV logo on white at start and end. First 2:26 of movie (entire duration of credits) is windowboxed.
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END

[Eric_Cotenas]

Jane Eyre from the same period is another with an older A&E fullscreen and later Acorn 16:9 progressive DVD. I believe ITV did new masters of these a few years ago.

Acorn has also created progressive 24p DVDs of shows finished in PAL SD or 1080i50 like their reissues of older seasons Midsomer Murders and their Blu-rays of the more recent seasons (I believe Vera and other newer series are also converted to 24p for the US releases rather than the conversions they used to do).

[Eric_Cotenas]

The American streaming version is the HD master but unlike the Acorn DVD, the opening is 1.78:1 and the sequence is obviously upscaled compared to the rest of the master, presumably because they decided not to redo the credits while transferring the film materials. Because the widescreen version reveals more side info and only loses a sliver off of the bottom of the frame, it is possible that the original version was finished at 4:3 but matted to 14:9 like some other British letterboxed nineties productions and then further cropped to 1.33:1 for export. It would be interesting to check out a British DVD edition predating the remaster.

JANE EYRE did not have this issue because the credits played over black intercut with the first scene so the credits on black were newly-created.