The Night Manager (Unrated) (Blu-ray/UV) (Pre-order)

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by minister_x

Thank you so much for putting me out of my misery - it looks like I was entirely wrong and you are right, as the theme music from the soundtrack is perfectly in sync with the UK versions. I guess the episodes must be slowed down for US release since 1080i/50 content is probably never released in North America?

Correct, standard 60Hz (e.g., Japan, North America) equipment does not display 50Hz video signals, although the opposite is true, which is why live releases shot in Europe/Australia, like music concerts, or opera/theatre discs, are often in NTSC format on DVD, or 1080i29.97 (which is 1080/30i, often referred to as simply 1080i) on Blu-ray. Particularly on Blu-ray. It's rarer to see live material on disc that is 1080/50i unless it's country-specific, like a TV special, or the subject is only really known in Europe, or a North American release is coming from a different company.

For example, a Eurovision Song Contest Blu-ray might well be sold only in Europe, and be native 1080/50i, since that isn't well-known over here. But an Eric Clapton concert filmed in the UK, or a Madonna concert filmed in France, would be either 1080/30i, or 1080p, unless there was a separate, local release through a European label, and that is really down to costs, because for many of these programs, you only want to author one disc depending on the intended audience, and 50Hz video is usually always converted, because the 60Hz video formats work everywhere, and particularly in the US and Japan, the world's two largest home video markets.

That's sort of what happened with The Night Manager. Sony rightly took advantage of their relationship to Blu-ray to produce the native 1080/50i version, which went on sale months ago in the UK and Australia. Incidentally, that version is also region-locked to B, though they erred in showing that on some of the UK packaging. Now, due, no doubt, to the long delay between the two editions, Sony can re-encode the program for 60Hz territories exclusively, which they would have always had to do, anyway. But, if you can play it, obviously it's better to have the native 1080/50i release, since it runs the correct time, and at the proper speed, without the need for 4% slowdown and (hopefully) pitch correction.