MovieChat Forums > Midnight (1939) Discussion > TCM Print Vs. DVD Print

TCM Print Vs. DVD Print

posted 16 years ago by HarlowMGM
4 replies | jump to latest

I missed the TCM airing of the movie MIDNIGHT so I had to cough up and buy the movie on DVD (probably would have anyway since I love Claudette) and I noticed the DVD is a "grainy" print - Universal seems to love "fine grain" prints of the vintage classics and thinks they give a sharper image but I personally prefer a clearer grain-free image and often finding the grainy-ness distracting. TCM almost NEVER shows grainy films, maybe they don't consider them up to their standards. So I was wondering if the print shown on TCM was grainy or a clear print?

[–] roguegenius 16 years ago

clear to me

[–] HarlowMGM 16 years ago

Thanks hopefully they will re-air it so I can compare them. Incidentally, I made my post before I had a chance to fully watch the DVD - I just scanned it for samples of various scenes at the time - it's not as grainy as I feared although it still is not as sharp and clear as I like old movies but some people - especially at Universal it seems - seem to think a grainy print shows contrasts and the like better. Maybe so but the grain can cancel out those virtues.

[–] whiskeyTango-06 10 years ago

the TCM print is a beauty!

[–] JackBluegrass 9 years ago

The Universal DVD from Netflix does not appear to be grainy. Maybe because I watched it at aspect ratio of 4:3. That was the way it was projected in 1939.

That ratio also compresses the sides of the image on a TV screen, which may reduce image graininess.

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