One note about the MUSE-E system. Actually, a note first about the name... MUSE-E stood for Muse-Eight which meant "8-MHz", the final bandwidth of the compressed signal - NHK also sometimes said it stood for MUSE-Emission - the names were kinda like the early days of DVD - Digital VERSATILE Disc VS Digital VIDEO Disc. There was also a MUSE-T system - the "T" stood for "Transmission" and was a 16.2-MHz system to be used for high-quality transmissions from, say a remote truck to the studio. It didn't use any form of motion compensation, so it didn't suffer from motion artifacts and it could be re-encoded to MUSE-E without compromise. In addition, there was Narrow-MUSE, which fit within a 6-MHz American broadcast channel, NTSC Compatible MUSE-6, which hid additional detail in the letterbox bars and NTSC Compatible MUSE-9, which used one 6-MHz channel + one 3-MHz extension channel to add additional detail and extra channels of sound. MUSE-6 was submitted to the FCC as a single-channel, backwards compatible HDTV system, but really should be considered an EDTV system. The Japanese wouldn't apply the High Definition name to them, instead calling MUSE-6, MUSE-9 and Narrow MUSE "ATV" Advanced Television Systems.
Anyway, back to my first 'note' - MUSE-E's final decoded quality was very much dependent on the decoder - how much memory it had, etc... and decoders on the market in Japan varied quite a bit in quality. Also, around 1993 or so, the NHK came up with a major improvement to MUSE encoding - it added quite a bit of additional color resolution to moving areas of the image and greatly reduced aliasing in highly detailed parts of the image - this reduced aliasing allowed greater bandwidth to be broadcast - the signals were backwards compatible and existing decoders produced an image with fewer artifacts, but the additional resolution and color required a new decoder. Only one Hi-Vision LaserDisc was encoded using the improved MUSE-E system - that title was "A River Runs Through It". Here's a quote from a review of the MUSE LD of that title.
The Hi-Vision LaserDisc's, as a rule, look poor because the companies were not using Flying Spot Scanners then - they were using 'film-chains', which was a High-Definition camera pointed at a screen. The DVD of "Jurassic Park" uses the same tranfer as the MUSE LD, and boy-oh-boy, can you tell - it looks quite 'analog' and nothing like a good telecine transfer should. Yet, it has pretty much the same amount of detail as the Hi-Vision LaserDisc! Universal really dropped the ball on that DVD - and the audio, even the DTS DVD, didn't use the original theatrical master like the DTS LaserDisc did. It was a very disappointing release! And some DVD's, like "Close Encounters" actually look BETTER than their Hi-Vision counterparts, with more visible detail!
Anyway, back to my first 'note' - MUSE-E's final decoded quality was very much dependent on the decoder - how much memory it had, etc... and decoders on the market in Japan varied quite a bit in quality. Also, around 1993 or so, the NHK came up with a major improvement to MUSE encoding - it added quite a bit of additional color resolution to moving areas of the image and greatly reduced aliasing in highly detailed parts of the image - this reduced aliasing allowed greater bandwidth to be broadcast - the signals were backwards compatible and existing decoders produced an image with fewer artifacts, but the additional resolution and color required a new decoder. Only one Hi-Vision LaserDisc was encoded using the improved MUSE-E system - that title was "A River Runs Through It". Here's a quote from a review of the MUSE LD of that title.
Quote:
Amazing, simply amazing! This is one disc I had the lowest expectations for and so far is the best looking MUSE Hi-Vision laserdisc I have seen to date. The picture is very bright and vivid, while catching all the little details one would expect out of High Definition video. The scenes featuring the stunning Montana Mountains and rivers as a backdrop is so jaw dropping you feel you are there. Colors are bold and vibrant while not appearing over saturated. There is a lot of picture detail in each scene including dark scenes.
I found this disc surpasses the DVD version in both picture detail and color space. MUSE compression artifacts are basically absent, and only the slightest amount of film grain is present. It amazes me and disappoints me other film titles aren’t like this. This wasn’t the last film transfer to be released in the MUSE Hi-Vision format, but it certainly is the best.
One thing that stands out with this film transfer over many of the other movie transfers is the flesh tones of the actors. Most of the MUSE Hi-Vision laserdiscs, the actors flesh tones always had a slight green tinge or hue to them. Not in this film, which clearly shows MUSE Hi-Vision laserdisc movies can look outstanding. This is the bench mark for the movie category of this format, and it’s rather sad to see other film transfers fall short.
Amazing, simply amazing! This is one disc I had the lowest expectations for and so far is the best looking MUSE Hi-Vision laserdisc I have seen to date. The picture is very bright and vivid, while catching all the little details one would expect out of High Definition video. The scenes featuring the stunning Montana Mountains and rivers as a backdrop is so jaw dropping you feel you are there. Colors are bold and vibrant while not appearing over saturated. There is a lot of picture detail in each scene including dark scenes.
I found this disc surpasses the DVD version in both picture detail and color space. MUSE compression artifacts are basically absent, and only the slightest amount of film grain is present. It amazes me and disappoints me other film titles aren’t like this. This wasn’t the last film transfer to be released in the MUSE Hi-Vision format, but it certainly is the best.
One thing that stands out with this film transfer over many of the other movie transfers is the flesh tones of the actors. Most of the MUSE Hi-Vision laserdiscs, the actors flesh tones always had a slight green tinge or hue to them. Not in this film, which clearly shows MUSE Hi-Vision laserdisc movies can look outstanding. This is the bench mark for the movie category of this format, and it’s rather sad to see other film transfers fall short.
The Hi-Vision LaserDisc's, as a rule, look poor because the companies were not using Flying Spot Scanners then - they were using 'film-chains', which was a High-Definition camera pointed at a screen. The DVD of "Jurassic Park" uses the same tranfer as the MUSE LD, and boy-oh-boy, can you tell - it looks quite 'analog' and nothing like a good telecine transfer should. Yet, it has pretty much the same amount of detail as the Hi-Vision LaserDisc! Universal really dropped the ball on that DVD - and the audio, even the DTS DVD, didn't use the original theatrical master like the DTS LaserDisc did. It was a very disappointing release! And some DVD's, like "Close Encounters" actually look BETTER than their Hi-Vision counterparts, with more visible detail!
). They are a hybrid CD/LD format that contain about 20 minutes of music plus 1 video.
