Eric Clapton-Live in Hyde Park (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio & Animation Listing-Cast & Crew DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	88:07
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Julia Knowles
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Eric Clapton
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Eric Clapton

    As a kid, I can remember listening to Eric playing his guitar, and enjoying the passion and emotion that goes along with his writing and playing style. This was about the same time that Clapton rebounded back into public life with "I Shot the Sheriff" from the album 461 Ocean Boulevard, both of which zoomed up the charts in 1974. And who can forget "Lay Down Sally" not long after? Since then he has gone on to an incredible string of hits and awards that continue to this day.

    This collection of hits written by Clapton, as well as a few remakes, was a complete pleasure to listen to, and I can't speak highly enough of the audio track in particular. You will be immensely pleased right up until the last track that features "Holy Mother", backed by the East London Gospel Choir.

Video

    The video transfer of the concert is well done and there are very few problems with the disc.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and therefore not 16x9 enhanced.

    This transfer is extremely clear considering the technical issues that are associated with a large open air stage. During the concert, the sky was overcast and would have cast a lot of shadows and provided poor natural lighting. The large spotlights high on the stage kept the band members well lit and crystal clear at all times. From Track 10 onwards, we progress through dusk and hit night time by Track 13 and at all times the shadow detail is handled well.

    At 20:26 and 21:06 there are good examples of the poorer sections of the video. They were always from shots taken up high looking back at the stage. A combination of a camera shot taken from such a long distance away and overcast sky give these shots a very grainy appearance. They are seen throughout the concert, but are always brief and do break up the close-up camera work done on stage. You see glimpses of a blimp during the concert, most noticeably at 58:01 and also at 47:52 and 49:09 and the footage is taken from high up there. It too is very grainy to look at, but it is brief.

    The colours were clear and well defined. The timbers of Eric's guitars are beautiful and rich, and the reflections from the drum kit are bright and natural to look at. The stage is of mammoth proportions and the light show is portrayed well by the transfer. The different coloured stage lights also provided some nice backdrop glow, and at times tints on the band members' faces.

    There were no MPEG artefacts to be seen. Aliasing is very rare and very mild when it does occur. I did not notice any film artefacts.

    The subtitles are exact to the word, and make an ideal lyric track if you are rusty on some of the songs. The only track selectable on the disc is in English.

    This disc is an Dual Layered disc. I did not note a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Ah, this is where the disc really shines.

    This disc contains three soundtracks: dts, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Linear PCM Stereo. The dts soundtrack is a magnificent audio transfer, and is of reference quality. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM tracks sounded rather flat in comparison and definitely lacked the "feel" and surround atmosphere of the crowd. Listening to the dts track I felt the concert was live in the room, but without the pushing and the occasional beer being spilt on my shoe. You cannot hot switch between tracks and need to select them from the menu.

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    Audio sync was not a problem at all with the transfer, and was completely spot on.

    The dts soundtrack superbly used the surround channels for ambience and music. There were good directional effects placing the singers correctly within the soundfield, which puts you right in the midst of the concert at all times.

    The subwoofer provided a nice bottom end on the music and really helps the bass guitar reach to a beautiful depth.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no extras on the disc.

Menu

    The Region 1 of this DVD contains a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The Region 4 version has replaced this with a PCM track.

    I have always been a fan of Eric's work. He is one of those rare artists who keeps getting better with age.

    The video quality would be the best I have seen for a music video.

    The audio quality, most notably the dts track is superb, and is of reference quality. The Dolby Digital track, while good just left my ears wanting more after hearing the clarity and detail of the dts format.

    The extras are non-existent but I was so rapt with the concert that I did not miss them.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall