I wanted to share a couple photos from Marcee's birthday present - a Panasonic LX-600 LaserDisc player and stack of movies. Included in the mix were the two Tim Burton Batman movies (yay), and the two Joel Schumacher Batman movies (boo).
I'm still trying to find the optimal video settings on our 24" Sony KV-24FS100, a solid standard-def CRT from 2002. Sony completely fubar'd the color and bright/contrast settings on their sets, which makes calibration a real pain. We had the set dialed nicely for broadcast and DVD/Blu-Ray, and now we'll have to calibrate again for LaserDisc. Right now, my main concerns are the lighting (too harsh at times) and the color (too washed out and brownish). Without a Video Essentials disc, I pretty much have to use the Schwartz to get the video settings right.
When Marcee and I watched Batman '89, the picture looked terrific by the end of side two. The fiery destruction of the Axis Chemical factory was especially glorious and colorful, with not a pixel or digital artifact in sight. And the climactic battle in the belltower felt magical; it somehow felt analog, like film. I can't quite explain why or how, but I did perceive a difference in the way Jack Nicholson's Joker danced around. Skipping around Elizabeth ('98) also yielded excellent results, and Looney Tunes: Curtain Calls was a revelation for animation. Ace Ventura 2 and Robin Hood: Men in Tights looked very washed out and flat, however. So the LD experiments continue.
Update (8-27): Changed photos to reflect more balanced TV calibration. I also snapped the photos in motion, instead of using the CAV freeze-frame option. This enables a cleaner picture and better represents the LD as it looks on my Sony CRT television.
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