Paul Simon-You're the One: In Concert (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio & Animation Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	159:41 (Case: 120)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (64:21)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Gary Halvorson
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Paul Simon Jay Ashby Tony Cedras Steve Gadd Jamey Haddad Bakithi Kumalo Alain Mallet Vincent Nguini Steve Shehan Andy Snitzer Mark Stewart Evan Ziporyn
Case	Click
RPI	$39.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Paul Simon is one of those artists that never does things by half. In fact, he does quite the opposite. Here in Paul Simon: You're The One, we have a classic example of the level of dedication he devotes to his craft. The DVD covers a concert that took place in October 2000 at the Paris Theatre De l'Olympia. Rather than focusing on just one night, the DVD covers songs that were recorded on the nights of the 30th and 31st and is the same content that has been airing on PBS stations in the USA recently.

    Overall, this is a magnificent collection of Paul's work and one that will provide any fan with many repeat performances. It should be noted that there is also a DVD-Audio version of this disc available but it only includes a subset of the songs available on this disc (as well as a few different ones). For those interested, the tracks on the DVD-Audio disc are; That’s Where I Belong, Darling Lorraine, Old, You’re The One, The Teacher, Look At That; Senorita With A Necklace Of Tears; Love; Pigs, Sheep And Wolves; Hurricane Eye and Quiet.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Thankfully, the transfer of this title is quite clear and sharp, all too uncommon when live performances are involved. The stage lighting and limited space would have made the capturing of this live concert challenging to all involved. Shadow detail is handled well, with an enormous amount of detail revealed in the dim backlighting of this production. A good clean example can be seen at 6:57. There is mild low level noise.

    The colours were strong and bold. The bright stage lighting primarily consisted of spotlights with varying colours, but predominantly a deep blue was utilized. The effect can be seen early at 3:20 where the band performers are draped in these soft tones of colour. At 16:14 there is a good example of the soft background colours and the crisper foreground definition shown on Paul's face and body.

    There were no MPEG artefacts seen. Aliasing is quite common but mild when it does occur. Initially, I thought the transfer suffered from an enormous amount of aliasing, but on closer inspection it is actually the lighting reflecting off the band's instruments in most cases. The worst aliasing starts almost straight away at 0:19 until 0:31 on the neon sign outside the Theatre. Once the performance itself starts, future occurrences are thankfully a lot milder. Film artefacts are very rare and not distracting at all.

    The only subtitles on the disc are in English and are true to the actual words spoken. Now I know how to spell Ta-na-na-na-na during Diamonds On the Soles Of Her Shoes...

    This disc is an RSDL disc, with the layer change occurring between the titles Old and The Boy In The Bubble at 64:21. It was not disruptive to the flow of the programming and was placed in the most logical position possible for a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    This disc contains some excellent audio tracks along with one annoyance which I will explain anon.

    There are a total of 3 audio tracks on this DVD with the default being a Linear PCM 2.0 soundtrack. There are also Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 tracks. I listened to the DTS track in its entirety and then for some select songs I listened to all 3 track options in succession for comparative purposes. As mentioned, PCM is the default track, and you need to go to the menu to choose either of the other track options. I found the PCM track to be quite nicely done, but soon wanted more and switched to the Dolby Digital track. Again, this was very well done and enjoyable to listen to. Then I changed tracks to DTS and this left me with the feeling that the Dolby Digital track contained a slight echo that I didn't notice up until this point. The drum jam session from 37:59 to 39:39 is superb in PCM and Dolby Digital but out of this world in DTS with the volume cranked up!

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times and there was no hiss apparent. Audio sync was not a problem at all with this transfer, and was completely spot on.

    The music was superb and a pleasure to listen to, but there was one problem that personally I found annoying. If you pick up the DVD case and flip it over to the back, take a look at the layout of the stage and where all of the band members are positioned. When you play back the disc, regardless of where the camera cuts to or pans across from, the sound from each instrument remains in exactly the same position as they are positioned on stage and does not flow with the camera. Normally, I might ignore this for some scenes, but when the camera sits on a close-up of a band member and places him smack bang in the centre of the screen, then I don't want to hear a non-existent guitar strumming a solo out of the front left speaker. Classic examples of where this is annoying can be seen and heard at 21:27, 22:58, 24:06 and 37:59. It would have been preferable to place at least the one instrument that is the focus of the camera's attention in the centre of the soundfield and leave the others in their existing positions.

    The surround channels were used mainly for subtle ambience both in the Dolby Digital and DTS tracks. The crowd clapping and cheering between songs was present in all speakers giving you the impression of sitting in a virtual seat positioned several rows back from the stage, surrounded by other fans.

    The subwoofer was used to provide assistance to heavy bass when required. Overall, I found the disc to be a little heavy in bass content regardless of the audio track listened to. As the volume increased, I found that I needed to reduce the bass in order to provide a more palatable experience.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Web Link

DVD-ROM

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

• Nothing

    Overall, this was another fine DVD from Paul Simon.

    The video quality is quite good with a mixture of soft tones and clean, fine definition when required.

    The audio quality is superb. Just don't expect the sound from the solo performances to match the on-screen presentation.

    The extras are very limited, and the DVD-ROM content consists only of 2 separate graphical backgrounds in BMP format.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall