Over the past year and a half, Sitcoms
Online has strived to bring you the best DVD reviews
available online. In response to "Final Numbers" in
the reviews that may have been artificially inflated
and the fact that the numbers may have seemed
arbitrary, we have started to use a special algorithm
to calculate final numbers. Therefore, the numbers will likely be lower,
and thus more accurate, than numbers presented in past
reviews.
The point system as of May 21st, 2005:
AUDIO QUALITY: (start with 5)
Muffled sound at various points? -.5 or -1 depending upon severity
Low volume? -1 or -1.5 depending upon severity
No closed-captioning or English subtitles? -.5
Too heavily compressed? -.5 or -1 depending upon severity
VIDEO QUALITY: (start with 5)
Fuzzy? -.5 or -1
Colors not sharp? -.5 or-1 (color programs ONLY)
Grain on picture? -.5 or -1
Jumping around? -.5 or -1
Overly edge-corrected? -.5 or -1
Too heavily compressed? -.5 or -1 depending upon severity
SPECIAL FEATURES: (start with 0, and if a set has NO special features, give it a 0/5 rather than the N/A designation that was previously used)
Commentaries or interviews on set? +1.5
Commentaries on over 20% of the episodes? +1
Bloopers/outtakes? +1
Promotional material? +1
Unique features/featurettes? +1, +1.5, or +2 depending upon quantity/quality
MENU DESIGN/NAVIGATION: (start with 3.5)
Sluggish menus? -.5
Bad organization? -.5
Menus difficult to read at a reasonable distance (consider colors and size)? -.5
Professional-looking menus? +.5
Music in background? +.5
Something "unique" in the menus? +.5
Scene selection menus? +.5
OVERALL SCORE: (start with 4)
Edited episodes? -.5 if it is on less than 20% of the episodes, -1 if it is on more
Different theme song or edited music? -.5 for edited theme and/or limited replacements (such as in a show that does not contain a lot of music or a show that contains a lot of music and has just a few replacements), -1 for music replaced in a show that contains several replacements and contains a lot of music, -1.5 for a replaced theme and many replaced songs in a program that contains a lot of music
Audio, video, or menu navigation, score 3 or below? -.5 for EACH equal to or less than 3, -1 for each equal to or under 2
Special features at 2.5 or above? +.5 if >=2.5, +1 if above >=4
No chapter stops or very poorly placed ones? -.5
Is the packaging "unacceptable?" -.5
Would you buy this set if you weren't a fan of the show? If not -1
Reviewers may use their own judgment and "adjust" scores by +/-.5 (maybe even +/-1 in some circumstances) based upon components that may not even be included here
