Do Raaste

Starcast : Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Balraj Sahni, Prem Chopra, Bindu & Kamini Kaushal

DVD FILM source :- Progressive

Progressive or Interlaced :- Interlaced

DVD Video Aspect Ratio :- 1.33:1 (4:3)

Format :- NTSC (PAL to NTSC converted)

DVD Audio :- Pseudo Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles :- English

DVD Rights Holder :- Shemaroo Entertainment Infinite

DVD Authored by :- Shemaroo Entertainment Infinite



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Notes : -

• PAL to NTSC Field Averaged video <--- An abhorrent practice
• Single Layered Disc with a low range bitrate varying from 1 mbps to 4 mbps, resulting in pixelation in fast motion scenes <--- Totally obnoxious
• SHEMAROO watermark throughout the movie <--- Something that needs to be stopped
• Pseudo 5.1 track wherein only the central speaker is active and the subwoofer channel too. However , all the channels are active during the songs <--- This is a standard for Shemaroo. However, it leads to atrocious distortion
• Subtitles are ON by default <---
• 'Play All' option is present in the song menu <---

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Review


This movie is a classic family drama, no doubt. But this DVD is below average.
Overall, the sharpness level is semi-decent but falls down in a few instances. Colors are pretty decent but at some place make the skin tones appear grey. Contrast and brightness levels are pretty good and, as far as I know, don't fail. Debris like scratches, spots and cracks keep appearing respecting the age and how badly the source was handled in the labs.

The usage of PAL telecinés and converting the PAL master to NTSC is a stupid and space - wasting practice. Results are mixed frames, combing artifacts and quality loss. The DVD would have looked better in the PAL format (i.e., PAL - default progressive) But, unfortunately, the DVD market is NTSC. Ignorant consumers prefer NTSC DVDs only. If that's the case, companies please use NTSC telecinés only.

The worst part is pixelation. This DVD is compressed in a DVD5 (Single Layered disc) with extremely low ranges of bit-rate. The distortion is worse on upconverting DVD players or Blu Ray players.

The audio is pretty much disorted and there are major dropouts. Crackles, hisses and squelching is prominent respecting the age and how badly the source was handled in the labs. However, the dialogs and voices are pretty clear in spite of the distortion. The nonsensical practice of mono to 5.1 'enhancement' add more to the troubles.

The huge, ugly and obnoxious watermark is totally unacceptable & annoying. I hope they do away with this abhorrent practice.

Subtitles are not translated well and are just literal translations with no enrichment in the grammar
Menus are okay, typical Shemaroo standards.


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My final verdict : -

Movie : 4.5

DVD Video : 1
DVD Audio : 2
Other (subtitles, menus & packaging) : 2

Overall : 1.7

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Legend

Red = Common practices by well known companies to be avoided and done away with
Green = Practices that are recommended for all companies
Light Red =Special mentions which need to be looked into (points in the review)

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P.S. Sanjay Bhai, sorry for aping your reviewing style. I'd only thought that this style would become the standard for DVD / Blu Ray reviewing here.

Keep em coming buddy. You won't hear me complaining.

That's cool! Thanks! I have more plans and other DVDs for reviewing.
I know, it's high time I upgraded to Blu, but we can't arrange for a Blu Ray player at the present moment.

I'm very excited to enter the HD world
HD means true HD and NOT DVD upscale

I kept thinking of adding this screenshot, and finally, I got the chance.

This is something totally obnoxious seen regularly on the DVD