Close To You: Remembering The Carpenters (Video)

Harry

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Some will recall that the video program CLOSE TO YOU: REMEMBERING THE CARPENTERS first appeared on PBS in the late 90s and then showed up in a longer version on DVD (also in the late 90s). It was one of the first DVDs I bought and it was released by MPI Home Video.

TJ Lubinsky gave the show a re-release back in 2015 when he was packaging the program on PBS with the Complete Singles CD. The actual program on the DVD is identical with most of the same bonus materials, except TJL added one more TV video - I think it's "For All We Know".

I was just comparing the two while looking for something and was rather surprised to find that the older video actually looked better on my TV - it was less interlaced and looked brighter. The newer TJL video looked poorly interlaced and had a duller image.

Here are two sample images:

MPI:
CTYRTC_MPI.png

TJL:
CTYRTC_TJL.png

Anyone else notice this?
 
Interesting comparison. I saw the dvd for sale on Amazon today for $24.98. The Treasury edition. TJL Productions
 
At least in those comparison images, MPI is clearly a bit brighter and seems to have a bit better resolution - notice the detail on several of the dark orange "sun flares" from image to image. Not only brighter, but a bit more detail.
 
Some will recall that the video program CLOSE TO YOU: REMEMBERING THE CARPENTERS first appeared on PBS in the late 90s and then showed up in a longer version on DVD (also in the late 90s). It was one of the first DVDs I bought and it was released by MPI Home Video.

TJ Lubinsky gave the show a re-release back in 2015 when he was packaging the program on PBS with the Complete Singles CD. The actual program on the DVD is identical with most of the same bonus materials, except TJL added one more TV video - I think it's "For All We Know".

I was just comparing the two while looking for something and was rather surprised to find that the older video actually looked better on my TV - it was less interlaced and looked brighter. The newer TJL video looked poorly interlaced and had a duller image.

Here are two sample images:

MPI:
CTYRTC_MPI.png

TJL:
CTYRTC_TJL.png

Anyone else notice this?
Judging by your screen caps, the MPI one is sharper and has better color saturation. Try tinkering with the picture settings on your TV and see if it improves the TJL picture quality.
 
Looks like they desaturated the colors in 2015 for some reason. I remember asking TJL on these boards back in 2015 what type of tape the program master was on and he had no idea (I was curious if the program had been mastered to a Digital format in the 90’s like Digital Betacam or an analog format like Betacam SP). He said that would be a question for Jim Pierson.
But with interlacing, just remember the majority of the program is from 480i or 576i interlace analog and digital videotapes ranging from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, and the ultimate program master would be in 480i. And in the 90’s, any film sources would’ve been converted to 480i or 576i, they would not have been, especially for a TV documentary, telecined at 480p or 576p. So there will always be combing artifacts in the video on modern, progressive-scan TV’s and monitors. How much you see depends on how good your DVD/Blu-Ray player or TV de-interlaces interlaced-content. All the DVD’s are in 480i.
 
Blimey I remember buying this on dvd in 2005 in Woolworths! I wore the dvd out watching it so many times. I hadn’t been a carpenters fan very long when this finally came out - my local Woolworths didn’t have it on stock on the actual release date for some reason but I found it in there a few months later. I brought another on eBay to replace my copy that wore out. To me it’s the definitive carpenters documentary. Shame it doesn’t have the complete music videos but I read somewhere that one copy does? Anyone have any thoughts on this ?
 
I remember that back in 1999 the VHS/Laserdisc/DVD hit #19 on Billboard’s Top 20 Music Video chart. And I got the NTSC VHS. I played that VHS quite a bit. I also loved the bonuses that were on the tape including the Soda Pop commercials and the Hi-Crown Chocolate commercial (which I thought was a cigarette advertisement because the chocolate box looked like a carton of cigarettes and I never saw any actual chocolates in the commercial). Grant Guerrero’s website incorrectly stated that the commercials were only on the Laserdisc & DVD release, but they were on the VHS (and I’ve still got the VHS and I can confirm it). Also the Morton’s Chip commercial was a nice bonus as well.

I remember around the same time period (1999-2002) VHS releases of some movies came with a few bonuses from the DVD release. I have the 2000 X-Men movie and someone recreated the Season 1 ending for the 90’s X-Men cartoon by clicking on an actual DVD menu and launching the bonuses and recording them to tape. So this was specific to the CTY Documentary.


 
Thank you for posting this, Harry. I feel a bit embarrassed to say that I had not yet added this DVD to my collection. However, this discussion was perfect timing, because I was just looking at the PBS version of the DVD this week on the Treasury Collection website. I was considering purchasing it but was not sure if it was any better or different from the original release. You answered my question and I went ahead and ordered the original DVD tonight. :)
 
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