Writings > DVD Image Comparisons > Angel: Season 4

Angel: Season 4

Region 1 (USA) - 20th Century Fox
vs. Region 2 (UK) - 20th Century Fox

Details

Screen Captures

Example 1

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US | UK

Example 2

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US | UK

Example 3

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US | UK

Example 4

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US | UK

Example 5

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US | UK

Example 6

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US | UK

Detail samples

The shots below have been contrast boosted to highlight compression artefacts.

Comments

Because so much of Angel: Season 4 takes place in the dark, I have slightly boosted the brightness and contrast of the shots so people can actually see what I'm talking about. The difference it not immediately noticeable, but the R1 DVD is significantly sharper and better encoded than its R2 counterpart. Both look a bit soft, but the R1 has better definition overall and shows more of the natural film grain (see especially the detail samples above). Flesh tones on the R2 transfer also look a bit too magenta at times, although this seems to vary on an episode-by-episode basis.

I'm going to call the audio a draw because both feature the same English Dolby Surround 2.0 mix and English subs. However, if your native language is not English, the R1 has French and Spanish dubs whereas the R2 has the French dub and multitude of subtitles in different languages. For most viewers, however, this aspect will be irrelevant.

One thing to bear in mind is that the "Previously on Angel" recaps that appear at the beginning of each episode, while present on the UK disc, are missing from the US version. For all intents and purposes, this makes little difference as they have little impact on the flow of the show, but it's a shame they weren't included in the US set for the sake of completeness. This also affects the commentary on the final episode, which on the UK set begins during the recap. On the US disc, the recap is not present, so some editing has been carried out during the first couple of minutes.

Overall, I'm giving the lead to the US set for the improved transfer and the fact that under most circumstances it costs less than half the price of the UK version, but it's a close call.

Summary