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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Roy Orbison-Live at Austin City Limits August 5, 1982 (1983)

Roy Orbison-Live at Austin City Limits August 5, 1982 (1983)

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Released 17-Mar-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Main Menu Introduction
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Gallery-Photo
Featurette-Roy Orbison: The Wink Years
DVD Credits
Discography
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production 1983
Running Time 63:43 (Case: 72)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (49:44) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Gary Menotti
Studio
Distributor

Warner Vision
Starring Roy Orbison
Bucky Barrett
Jim Kirby
Terry Elam
Jim Johnson
Marshall Pearson
Susan Bennett
Barbara South
Richard Law
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $34.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes, Display of album covers

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    There's no doubt that Roy Orbison's untimely death at a relatively young age in 1988 has robbed the world of many years of enjoyment of his talents as both a musician and song writer. However, fans can at least continue to enjoy his August 1984 Austin, Texas performance, captured here on Roy Orbison Live At Austin City Limits which features remastered audio in both dts and Dolby Digital 5.1 formats, both of which have faithfully captured the silky smooth voice for which Roy was renowned.

    As my music collection doesn't include a single Roy Orbison title I can't exactly call myself a "fan" of  "The Big O". Nonetheless, there's also no doubt that I am familiar with his distinctive music, which is just as recognisable and identifiable with the man himself as are his thick rimmed dark glasses. Roy Orbison is someone whose music we can't fail to both recognise and enjoy and this disc, musically at least, doesn't disappoint, featuring many titles that are certain to be well-known to many of us including Ooby Dooby, Only The Lonely, Crying and Oh, Pretty Woman, which are all songs that have left a lasting impression.

    If you are a fan or perhaps just want to capture a little piece of music history, this may be just the DVD to add to your collection.

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Track Listing

1. Only The Lonely
2. Leah
3. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
4. In Dreams
5. Maen Woman Blues
6. Blue Angel
7. Lana
8. Candy Man
9. Crying
10. Crying (Reprise)
11. Ooby Dooby
12. Hound Dog Man
13. Working For The Man
14. That Lovin' You Feelin' Again
15. (Go, Go, Go) Down The Line
16. It's Over
17. Oh, Pretty Woman
18. Running Scared
19. Running Scared (Reprise)

Transfer Quality

Video

    This transfer has been presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and it is not 16x9 enhanced. I wasn't able to find any information regarding the original aspect ratio, however given that this performance appears to have to have been sourced from a television production this is most likely the correct original aspect ratio. Note that there is an error on the back of the packaging which indicates that the "screen format" is 16:9.

    The picture, while not perfectly sharp, is acceptably sharp given the age and nature of the source material. Unfortunately, the picture is full of subtle chroma noise. There are a couple of instances of minor edge enhancement to be seen if you look closely. There are no problems with shadow detail.

    In general, the colour has a dated and lifeless appearance. An interesting artefact, in which green and red halos appear in the image is most likely the result of a chroma delay problem. This occurs a number of times, most noticeably between 6:45 and 6:50, 18:06 and 18:14 and again between 18:30 and 18:35. This always seems to be associated with pictures from one particular camera.

    The image is often affected by compression artefacts in the form of macro blocking, most noticeably in the backgrounds, possibly as a result of the significant amount of chroma noise. Film to video artefacts are limited to very minor aliasing which is visible on just a couple of occasions. The source material for this transfer appears to the videotape and as expected film artefacts are totally absent.

   No subtitles are provided. The packaging indicates that there are subtitles but this is incorrect.

    This is an RSDL disc, with the layer change placed between Chapters 16 and 17, at 49:44. It is noticeable due to a momentary freeze but this is short and therefore only minimally disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three audio tracks on this disc, these being dts 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded and Dolby Digital 5.1, which is the default track. I listened primarily to the dts track and sampled the other two tracks. To my ears there was no discernible difference between the two 5.1 tracks, although since the disc prevented changing tracks on the fly this made a direct comparison difficult. As you would expect, both the 5.1 tracks exhibit superior fidelity, presence and frequency response to the 2.0 option.

    There was virtually no dialogue, however as you might expect from Roy Orbison the lyrics of the songs were perfectly clear and understandable. I didn't note any problems with the audio sync.

    Roy Orbison performs seventeen of his songs in this concert, including many well known and favourite tracks such as Only The Lonely, Blue Bayou, Crying, and Working For The Man.

    While the surrounds are very active, the mix is a bit unnatural with, for example, backing vocals and percussion biased more towards the rear channels. Unfortunately, this isn't aligned to the actual position of the musicians and instruments on the stage and therefore doesn't feel quite right.

    The subwoofer is used only subtly and never calls particular attention to itself.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    There are several nice extras, but the song lyrics mentioned on the slick are nowhere to be found.

Menu

    The menu features animation, including an animated introduction sequence, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and is displayed in an aspect ratio is 1.33:1 without 16x9 enhancement.

Gallery-Photo

    This comprises about 100 photos, both colour and black and white, and captures Roy's life both as private person and entertainer between 1930 and the late 1980s.

Featurette-Roy Orbison: The Wink Years (7:13)

    Various people who knew Roy Orbison during his teenage years in the small town of Wink, Texas and were part of the Wink Westerners with him reminisce and recount anecdotes of their life in the town and the early days of Roy's music career. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 and the aspect ratio is 1.33:1.

DVD Credits

    Nothing exciting here, just three pages listing the musicians, those responsible for the concert and those who produced the DVD.

Discography

    Lists some of Roy Orbison's CD, videos and DVDs as well as the postal address of his fan club and his website at www.orbison.com.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 4 and Region 1 releases of this title are identical. The Region 1 DVD is also listed as including song lyrics but I am unable to verify that these are actually present on the disc.

Summary

    Roy Orbison Live At Austin City Limits was, at least for me, an enjoyable and nostalgic excursion into the past.

    The video quality is pretty poor.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The extras are quite satisfactory.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Peter Cole (Surely you've got something better to do than read my bio)
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-515, using S-Video output
DisplaySony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationYamaha RXV-995
SpeakersFront L&R - B&W DM603, Centre - B&W LCR6, Rear L&R - B&W DM602, Sub - Yamaha YST-SW300

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