Rebecca: Dreams on 1990119 4K UHD (1990) - Blu-ray Forum

McCrutchy · 07-08-2024, 12:43 PM

Sony Music Japan will release a remastered version of J-Rock band Rebecca's concert video Dreams on 1990119 (1990) on July 10th, 2024.

McCrutchy · 07-08-2024, 01:13 PM

I just stumbled on this release and am intrigued. As far as I know, the only other 4K UHD release or Japanese music was Universal Music Japan's Boøwy: 1224 -THE ORIGINAL- , which came out in 2017 and eventually went out-of-print:

As I recall, that concert had been shot on film and completely remastered with HDR. Unfortunately, this Rebecca concert is video. I doubt it was captured in analog HD and Sony Music's press materials seem to imply that they have simply upscaled the concert to 4K. Here is what is posted on the website for the release:

Quote:

[Show spoiler]

Rebecca's last live performance before their hiatus on January 19, 1990, will be reborn in 4K with the latest technology.

Rebecca will celebrate their 40th anniversary of their debut on April 21st and announce "Rebecca Nostargic New World Tour 2024". With many anecdotes including their "Oxygen Deprivation Live", this tour, their first in seven years, will be an opportunity for fans who miss the old days, as well as those who never saw them live in real time, to learn just how much of a monster band Rebecca was.

Rebecca broke up in February 1991, but their last live performance was the final show of "Rebecca Live Tour '89-'90 Return of Blond Saurus" held at Nippon Budokan on January 19, 1990. This live performance has now been re-edited and will be released as Rebecca's first UHD-BD. The live performance was released on DVD in 2001, but this time the footage has been re-edited, up-converted with the latest technology, and noise removed to improve image quality, and the audio has been remixed from multi-tape, so it will be released in three formats: UHD-Blu-ray, which can record 4K video, Blu-ray Disc, and DVD. A comparison video between the 2001 DVD footage and the up-converted footage has also been released. A one-night premium screening has been scheduled for July 7th, prior to the release, at 24 cinemas in 20 cities across Japan.

Recorded Music

OLIVE
WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN
VANITY ANGEL
MOON
LONELY BUTTERFLY
NERVOUS BUT GLAMOROUS
LITTLE ROCK
COTTON LOVE
LITTLE DARLING
ONE MORE KISS
CHEAP HIPPIES
LOVE PASSION
MONOTONE BOY
PRIVATE HEROINE
RASPBERRY DREAM
FRIENDS
MAYBE TOMORROW

https://www.110107.com/s/oto/page/rebecca_dreamson

One piece of good news is that, assuming the promo videos are accurate, the original 4:3 aspect ratio has been retained:

The other bit of interesting news is that there is both an LPCM 2.0 track and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, which is said to be 96/24. The 5.1 audio is new for this release.

McCrutchy · 07-11-2024, 10:08 PM

I'm watching this now, it's pretty fun! The camera is almost always on Nokko, the lead singer, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was one of her performances as a solo artist. Her voice is pretty great and she's definitely the star of the show. She wears surprisingly revealing Western-style outfits compared to J-Pop singers, who often seem to dress in everyday clothing or, in the case of Enka singers, gowns. Despite the songs all having written English titles, virtually all of the lyrics are in Japanese.

Apparently, this version of the concert has been re-edited in addition to being re-mixed, so that might explain the difference in run times. The LD and original DVD claim to run 105 minutes, but this "Reborn" version runs 1:48:34. Having said that, the concert itself ends just after the 105-minute mark, before an obviously new end credits roll (in English) which also has credits for the remastering and 4K conversion. This version also received a limited theatrical release in Japan with the new 5.1 sound, but on the 4K UHD disc, the default audio is the stereo track.

According to the back cover of the new Blu-ray, the audio there is 96/24 LPCM 2.0 and 48/24 DTS-HD MA 5.1, but on the 4K UHD, audio is 96/24 for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, too (I can't actually verify that it's 24-bit, but my Oppo shows the track is regularly between 7-8 Mbps). I watched the concert with the 5.1 track and was pretty impressed. Of course, I'm not familiar with the music, but it sounds great, though obviously patched for home video. Sometimes instruments like a headless tambourine seem too prominent to be from the actual live audio, but it's no matter. The guitars, keyboards and drums are all prominent, as are Nokko's vocals. I did notice that her vocals could sometimes get very slightly distorted, perhaps due to her handheld microphone, but this is never a distraction and most of the time the vocals are perfectly clear.

I'm watching again now with the stereo mix and I also like this track a lot. It's definitely narrower than the 5.1, but also sounds more natural in terms of the mix itself. Obviously, the concert was originally recorded in stereo, but I don't see anything that tells me this 4K UHD stereo track is original, and given the re-editing and re-mixing, I assume the stereo track here is also new for this release.

The image is 4K SDR and is very smooth throughout, probably having had noise reduction applied (I believe I read something in the translation about Sony applying some sort of AI-enhanced upscaling technology), giving the image a slightly unsettling feel, especially in backgrounds, which are eerily clean. That said, the camera setups here, as with most concert recordings, are highly variable. Most of the best angles are the ones on Nokko, where detail in her close-ups can look acceptable, even very good when she is under bright light. But other angles, such as those on the audience, behind the drummer or on the keyboardist, and especially in wide shots, can look less sharp and sport some blurriness and heavy haloing. Overall, however, the image seems to have been remastered from the source video (as opposed to say, upscaling the LD master) and probably looks as good as it can. The encode is regularly in in the 80-90 Mbps range.

There are no extras on the disc (as with many domestic Japanese releases, the main program--here, the concert--begins immediately after the copyright notice), but you do get a leaflet with the video and disc credits, as well as a separate, full-color matte booklet with photos and tour credits.

07-08-2024, 12:43 PM	#1
McCrutchy Contributor Top contributor Member since:Dec 2008 Location:East Coast, USA Home Theater Gallery:2 4K collection:1263 Blu-ray collection:6773 DVD collection:253 Blu-ray reviews: 5 Trading Score:17	Rebecca: Dreams on 1990119 4K UHD (1990) Sony Music Japan will release a remastered version of J-Rock band Rebecca's concert video *Dreams on 1990119* (1990) on July 10th, 2024.

07-11-2024, 10:08 PM	#3
McCrutchy Contributor Top contributor Member since:Dec 2008 Location:East Coast, USA Home Theater Gallery:2 4K collection:1263 Blu-ray collection:6773 DVD collection:253 Blu-ray reviews: 5 Trading Score:17	I'm watching this now, it's pretty fun! The camera is almost always on Nokko, the lead singer, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was one of her performances as a solo artist. Her voice is pretty great and she's definitely the star of the show. She wears surprisingly revealing Western-style outfits compared to J-Pop singers, who often seem to dress in everyday clothing or, in the case of Enka singers, gowns. Despite the songs all having written English titles, virtually all of the lyrics are in Japanese. Apparently, this version of the concert has been re-edited in addition to being re-mixed, so that might explain the difference in run times. The LD and original DVD claim to run 105 minutes, but this "Reborn" version runs 1:48:34. Having said that, the concert itself ends just after the 105-minute mark, before an obviously new end credits roll (in English) which also has credits for the remastering and 4K conversion. This version also received a limited theatrical release in Japan with the new 5.1 sound, but on the 4K UHD disc, the default audio is the stereo track. According to the back cover of the new Blu-ray, the audio there is 96/24 LPCM 2.0 and 48/24 DTS-HD MA 5.1, but on the 4K UHD, audio is 96/24 for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, too (I can't actually verify that it's 24-bit, but my Oppo shows the track is regularly between 7-8 Mbps). I watched the concert with the 5.1 track and was pretty impressed. Of course, I'm not familiar with the music, but it sounds great, though obviously patched for home video. Sometimes instruments like a headless tambourine seem too prominent to be from the actual live audio, but it's no matter. The guitars, keyboards and drums are all prominent, as are Nokko's vocals. I did notice that her vocals could sometimes get very slightly distorted, perhaps due to her handheld microphone, but this is never a distraction and most of the time the vocals are perfectly clear. I'm watching again now with the stereo mix and I also like this track a lot. It's definitely narrower than the 5.1, but also sounds more natural in terms of the mix itself. Obviously, the concert was originally recorded in stereo, but I don't see anything that tells me this 4K UHD stereo track is original, and given the re-editing and re-mixing, I assume the stereo track here is also new for this release. The image is 4K SDR and is very smooth throughout, probably having had noise reduction applied (I believe I read something in the translation about Sony applying some sort of AI-enhanced upscaling technology), giving the image a slightly unsettling feel, especially in backgrounds, which are eerily clean. That said, the camera setups here, as with most concert recordings, are highly variable. Most of the best angles are the ones on Nokko, where detail in her close-ups can look acceptable, even very good when she is under bright light. But other angles, such as those on the audience, behind the drummer or on the keyboardist, and especially in wide shots, can look less sharp and sport some blurriness and heavy haloing. Overall, however, the image seems to have been remastered from the source video (as opposed to say, upscaling the LD master) and probably looks as good as it can. The encode is regularly in in the 80-90 Mbps range. There are no extras on the disc (as with many domestic Japanese releases, the main program--here, the concert--begins immediately after the copyright notice), but you do get a leaflet with the video and disc credits, as well as a separate, full-color matte booklet with photos and tour credits.

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