If you are reading this article, you are likely a framerate purist. We prefer to consume our media at the original intended framerate—or an even multiple cadence of it. You have probably read my prior articles, including Choosing multiregion DVD/Blu-ray players for framerate purists in the US and ex-NTSC countries in the Americas and Review: modified multiregion Panasonic DP-UB150 4K Blu-ray/DVD player for framerate purists. You probably already own a multiregion player and a multirate monitor/TV set/projector or are planning to get them. This article is about the «software», i.e. the discs, because there is more to it than you might have thought, especially because some of the documentaries, movies or TV series are not (or not yet) available on Blu-ray. In those cases, picking the best DVD can help get the best experience. The best choice might not be obvious before understanding the history behind it. I picked and used five different discs for the recent review. Here, I’ll explain why I picked certain ones.

Hospital Central

Hospital Central is a multiple award-winning Spanish TV series that follows the professional and personal lives of the staff of the fictitious Hospital Central in the capital city of Madrid. It is often said to be a Spanish version of ER. It was produced in PAL 50i (interlaced) so that’s the version I wanted to get to watch it in its original cadence. It was produced by Videomedia S.A. beginning in 2000 and ending in December 2012 after its 20th season. The production budget varied between €500,000 and €600,000 per episode, which—at today’s exchange rate—is between US$560,200 and US$672,240 per episode. Apparently, the Spanish Videomedia company never had any relationship with its namesake, the linear video editing systems that were made in San José, California, US. I met several members of the Videomedia (California) team personally and configured several of their editing systems in multiple States of the US and several Latin American countries too. Unlike most motion picture shot on celluloid covered ahead, if you have the equipment I’ve described and want to get a disc of a European TV series shot in PAL, you want to get the DVD or Blu-ray in the matching cadence: either the PAL-derived DVD or the Blu-ray at 50 fps. When played on the player I recently reviewed, it is displayed at 50 Hz or 100 Hz if played on a 120 Hz display.

Los amantes del circulo polar (Lovers of the Artic Circle)

This is a multiple award-winning 1998 film from Spain. Because of my love of palindromes and the fact that I host CapicúaFM, someone from México told me about this film, since the two protagonists (Anna and Otto) have palindromic names and even mention it aloud during their very first conversation as children. As a result, we have mentioned it and played the clip of that short conversation on CapicúaFM at least twice so far. In addition to having two protagonists with palindromic names, the director—Julio Medem—even has a palindromic last name too. The film was shot on 35mm film at 24 fps The DVD for Europe came out in 2003. For the reason I’m about to explain ahead, it only made sense to release the DVD for Europe in PAL format, which was done by speeding it up about 4.166%. People complained because of this PAL speedup since it affected the audio pitch. You can understand why I didn’t want a PAL sped-up version. Since the Blu-ray exists at 23.976 fps, that’s the one I bought. When played on the player I recently reviewed, it is displayed at 47.952 Hz or a higher multiple, i.e. 119.88 Hz if played on a 120 Hz display.

Understanding history explains why they did it this way, at that time in Europe

In 2003, most people in Europe had CRT (tube) TV sets. It wasn’t until three years later in 2006 when LCD flat panels began to be sold in massive quantities in Europe. Most or all CRT (tube) TVs sold in Europe were limited to 50 Hz, i.e for 50i interlaced video. So now you understand why many 24 fps theatrical films were pushed to 25 fps (and 50i) for PAL DVDs for 50 Hz CRT TV sets at that time in history. Nowadays, theatrical films made in Europe at 24 fps are made into Blu-ray discs at 23.976 fps (or very rarely at exact 24 fps) and most (if not all) flat screen TV sets sold in Europe are fortunately multirate.

La historia oficial/The Official Story/The Official Version

Although this 1985 award-winning Argentinean film is all in Castilian and its original title is La historia oficial, The Cohen Media Group decided to use a translated version on the Blu-ray cover. In the version I purchased, the cover says The Official Story, while in the UK they released it as The Official Version. Like Los amantes del círculo polar covered above, La historia oficial was also shot on 35mm film at 24 fps. I purchased the 23.976 Blu-ray version for the same reasons as I did with Amantes del círculo polar. When played on the player I recently reviewed, it is displayed at 47.952 Hz or a higher multiple, like 119.88 Hz if played on a 120 Hz display.

Bananas

The 1971 comedy film Bananas was shot on 35 mm at 24 fps. I specifically wanted to use the 23.976 fps 16:9 DVD in order to test the EIA-608 line 21 Closed Captions from a progressive DVD, due to conflicting information that appears in the original Panasonic manual about that player I was reviewing and its CC capabilities with that type of DVD. Fortunately, the EIA-608 line 21 Closed Captions worked fine (as covered in detail in that article), so either the manual was incorrect or it was fixed with a later firmware update. The Subtitles also worked fine. If you already own this exact DVD, the quality is fine with the scaler used in the player I reviewed. If you don’t own it and want it, you might consider getting the 23.976 fps Blu-ray version, depending upon price and availability.

Perry Mason Seasons 3-6

Based upon books, radio series and films of the same name, I definitely wanted to use the NTSC-derived 59.94i 4:3 DVD disk of this TV series, specifically to test the performance of EIA-608 line 21 Closed Captions from an interlaced DVD which originally has them placed on different parts of the screen, depending upon who is speaking. Details are in that review article. To my knowledge, this original TV series is only available on DVD (not Blu-ray). The modern HBO Perry Mason (2020) is indeed available on Blu-ray. So if you are interested in the original TV series on disc, this is the DVD to get, at least for seasons 3-6.

Summary and conclusions

If you are a framerate purist and already have the proper devices, you should use the following criteria:

1. If the production was shot and released at 24 fps, you want a disc that is at 23.976 fps (or exact 24 fps in rare cases). If it’s only available on DVD, that’s okay, since modern scalers like the one in the player I recently reviewed are great. If it’s available both on DVD and Blu-ray at 23.976 fps, compare price, availability and whether the DVD is 4:3 or widescreen compared with the Blu-ray version to help you decide.
2. If it’s a TV series shot digitally at 23.976p but never released natively (i.e. Boston Legal and The Practice), you should get the DVD at 59.94i. My research indicates that there has never been any official release of The Practice or Boston Legal for Blu-ray. The Practice DVDs are 4:3 and the Boston Legal DVDs are 16:9.
3. If its a TV series shot in PAL or HD 25 fps or 50 fps, you’ll want a disc at the same cadence. If it’s only available on DVD, that’s okay, since modern scalers are great. If it’s available both on DVD and Blu-ray at 25/50, check price, availability and whether the DVD is 4:3 or widescreen compared with the Blu-ray version to help you decide.
4. If it’s a TV series shot at 59.94i (i.e. All in the Family) then you should get the disc at the same rate. Since there are no Blu-rays of All in the Family, that means the NTSC-derived DVD.
5. On the other hand, if it’s an old TV series shot on 35 mm film at 24 fps (like Hogan’s Heroe’s) but later re-transferred for Blu-ray, you should choose the 23.976 fps Blu-ray, which are 1080p even though they have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Lee este artículo en buen castellano

¿Cómo elegir los mejores discos DVD y Blu-ray para puristas de frecuencias de fotogramas por segundo?

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FTC disclosure

None of the listed individuals or companies mentioned above has paid for this article. Allan Tépper purchased the five discs and the reviewed unit with his own funds. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.