Digital Restoration to HD. Does it go far enough? - Blu-ray Forum

ElthorLandstander · 06-13-2023, 08:47 PM

While I'm not a fan of the idea of 2k DI's being upscaled for 4k UHD releases, I'm starting to dislike some standard Blu-ray restorations of older titles.

More and more I'm noticing on Blu-rays of older films that whenever there is a dissolve between scenes, no matter how brief, the picture usually degrades and the colors shift.

I assume this is because an intermediate from the final edit of the film is cut in between new high quality scans from earlier print stages.

If you told me a new transfer from camera negatives was used to digitally reconstructed edit points in order to maintain the quality throughout, my first opinion would be disgust. I'm not sure I feel that way anymore.

One of the worst examples I've ever seen is 'Damn Yankees'. Whenever there is a scene change or special effect, the picture looks like someone upscaled a VHS tape. It makes the older DVD transfer look better because the quality is fairly consistent and doesn't draw your attention.

LucasFilm has done some of the worst examples of digital reconstruction by corrupting the original appearance of their films.

I think what we need is something in between. Restraint but not the use of a lower grade clip unless it was extremely necessary.

I'm curious what other people think of this?

06-13-2023, 08:47 PM	#1
ElthorLandstander Member Member since:Mar 2021	Digital Restoration to HD. Does it go far enough? While I'm not a fan of the idea of 2k DI's being upscaled for 4k UHD releases, I'm starting to dislike some standard Blu-ray restorations of older titles. More and more I'm noticing on Blu-rays of older films that whenever there is a dissolve between scenes, no matter how brief, the picture usually degrades and the colors shift. I assume this is because an intermediate from the final edit of the film is cut in between new high quality scans from earlier print stages. If you told me a new transfer from camera negatives was used to digitally reconstructed edit points in order to maintain the quality throughout, my first opinion would be disgust. I'm not sure I feel that way anymore. One of the worst examples I've ever seen is 'Damn Yankees'. Whenever there is a scene change or special effect, the picture looks like someone upscaled a VHS tape. It makes the older DVD transfer look better because the quality is fairly consistent and doesn't draw your attention. LucasFilm has done some of the worst examples of digital reconstruction by corrupting the original appearance of their films. I think what we need is something in between. Restraint but not the use of a lower grade clip unless it was extremely necessary. I'm curious what other people think of this?

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals