Prince / “Sign ‘O’ The Times” Japanese blu-ray box set video review

OK I got it!!! Soooo cool. Got it from CD Japan

$17 bucks fedex international and it will be in your hands in 48h hours. Perfect condition and so cool looking. The blu ray looks amazing, cool lobby cards, a book that’s unfortunately in japanese. The picture book is great. A prized possession!

Thanks for the review, Simon!

My copy landed this morning, and I was admittedly a little anxious at first after the dreadful DVD version caused such disappointment (why oh why do so many concert DVD have Dolby Digital audio on them?) but I am very happy to say that this time I was not disappointed.
Video first – the transfer is definitely a serious improvement on the DVD, and I would agree that it’s about as good as it can be.
The audio is where I hear the real difference though (shame there is no LPCM surround stream – it’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 at 24/48KHz with all the potential issues that implies) but it is streets ahead of the previous version. The surround mix seems very centre channel heavy for some reason and it’s a “typical” concert mix with just ambience in the rears, utilising the “you are there” approach instead of my preferred “they are here” immersive mix that Steven Wilson gets so right but that is a mere detail – at long last we get a much better idea of the power of a Prince live show.
My disc is Region A (why do they still do this sort of thing? Do the labels & authoring houses not understand the concept of a global release?) but as my Oppo has the region/zone free board added this is not an issue.
Highly recommended.

Will it play on Region B (Europe, Middle East)?
Thanks.

I’m considering purchasing this set, but I hesitate because of the price and because all the “deluxe” items included with it are not in English so is it worth the money? At the same time, Amazon Canada currently has the Deluxe Edition listed CHEAPER than the Regular Edition. What to do???

“Blu-ray DVD” — no no no. It’s “Blu-ray Disc” (hence “BD” being the abbreviation). DVD is something different.

Mike,

The bluray is region a which plays on us players. The transfer looks great to me and its everything i expected it to be. Which is an 80s concert shot on film, so natural grain will be present especially in darker scenes and this concert is pretty dark at times. There doesnt seem to be any excessive digital sharpening everything looks natural. In fact i heard even back then it was kind of grainy which called for reshooting. The 5.1 sounds good to me, it has a spacious sound and everything sounds clear. But not as good as some other 5.1 audio ive heard such as peter gabriel live in athens. The 2.0 packs more power and punch and sounds just as clear it was my preferred setting. Its a tough blind buy for some bc not a lot is known about how much went into restoring it. Buy Im sure you wouldnt be disappointed with video/audio quality, its something you can just pop in and enjoy. The brigher lit scenes really stand out and all the neon still has plenty of pop on the screen. Everything looks clear to me i can even see sheila e’s nipples on its gonna be a beautiful night. Hope this helps for anyone worried about quality

Thanks for the review Simon. I don’t know if it was just my computer but the video became scrambled about the time you put the box up to the screen. Audio was fine. I was mainly interested in the transfer which you seem to think it about as good as we’re going to get. I’ve read different things on this issue but I’m not sure if the UK or Japanese blu rays will play in the States. I saw this in the theater in ’87–only person at the showing! I still have the VHS (never play it) and that crappy South American transfer one from years back. I’m really looking for a single blu ray edition at a decent price (that will play Region 1). I’m not surprised the release and its info are screwed up. I really want the remasters to be great with awesome material but after following the Purple Yoda from Minnesota for 30 plus years I’m trying to keep my expectations low.

Thanks, Simon

Could be an interesting feature… fan video reviews/unboxings.