Series 4 Blu-ray UK/German release (February 2015)

Lando · Post by **Lando** » Sat Apr 11, 2015 6:16 pm

I have the UK 50th anniversary DVD set and recently picked up the U.S. Season 5 blu Ray set. The season 5 U.S. Blu Ray has some audio issues in terms of the sound getting my very quiet then much louder. Do all seasons including the series 4 UK blu Ray set have this issue?

Strange Young Man · Post by **Strange Young Man** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 11:28 am

The series 4 UK audio seems fine to me. Very happy with this set.

The only thing I've noticed, and this may not be a specific blu ray issue, is that some episodes seemto have the music on the opening titles slightly out of step with the imagery. No actual syncing problems with the episodes themselves though.

Strange Young Man · Post by **Strange Young Man** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:41 pm

The cover art is up at Amazon for Series 5:

JohnSteedFr · Post by **JohnSteedFr** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:17 am

The Optimum DVDs were quite an improvement, a magical experience to see the whole series in stunning quality but the Blurays are even more exceptional. I received the first set at the beginning of the month and I'll play the last disc sometime this week. It's not just the picture that looks crystal-clear but the sound as well, take a look at Dial a Deadly Number, the scene when Steed is invited for dinner. Just hearing the Laurie Johnson theme in the background makes me melt. This is absolute quality!

Verdict: Let's wait for the next set in June!

timlamb · Post by **timlamb** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:05 am

7 discs for 24 episodes, that does surprise me. I thought 6 would be fine at 4 episodes per disc. The series 4 set is exceptional. Episodes seem to run on average about 22 mbps which is a great bitrate for such quality masters. Comparing episodes on hulu and syncing the sound the streamed episodes look like dvd's and don't show near the detail as the series 4 set.

I really wish the American opening would have been restored in HD and available to play before the episodes. Even more I would have loved for The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse to be have been restored in HD as it is a great mini episode!

supersimon · Post by **supersimon** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 8:04 am

That is a very good observation and idea! Roll on June anyway

JohnSteedFr · Post by **JohnSteedFr** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 7:39 pm

timlamb wrote:7 discs for 24 episodes, that does surprise me. I thought 6 would be fine at 4 episodes per disc. The series 4 set is exceptional. Episodes seem to run on average about 22 mbps which is a great bitrate for such quality masters. Comparing episodes on hulu and syncing the sound the streamed episodes look like dvd's and don't show near the detail as the series 4 set.

I really wish the American opening would have been restored in HD and available to play before the episodes. Even more I would have loved for The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse to be have been restored in HD as it is a great mini episode!

The prints Hulu use are cut. I checked them. Alan I think it is (mastermind behind the 'Avengers Declassified' website) told me those cut copies got their HD version as well.
I tested 'girl from auntie' and some lines of dialogue are missing, shots included etc.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:49 am

Worth mentioning that the episodes on Blu-ray are NOT cut.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:52 am

timlamb wrote:I really wish the American opening would have been restored in HD and available to play before the episodes.

Fine for the American market, but not really appropriate for the UK and Europe, where those sequences were not included. My opinion is that the sequence is an interesting and fun novelty but for the European versions it has been placed where it belongs, as a bonus in the special features.

timlamb · Post by **timlamb** » Fri May 01, 2015 5:07 am

JohnSteedFr wrote:The prints Hulu use are cut. I checked them. Alan I think it is (mastermind behind the 'Avengers Declassified' website) told me those cut copies got their HD version as well.
I tested 'girl from auntie' and some lines of dialogue are missing, shots included etc.

The hulu prints seem to be about a minute shorter per episode. In a Touch of Brimstone the whipping scene was cut far shorter in the hulu version.