What are the studios using to upscale 2K DI's to 4K UHD?

[JEArgumedo]

Hey everyone,

I've tried my hardest to find out what the major studios like Warner and Sony use to upconvert 2K DI's to 4K. I imagine they're not just slapping the whole film into an 4K Avid timeline and hitting render.

I also kinda doubt they're going in After Effects or something and sharpening and bluring shot-by-shot for the entire film.

Does anyone know what the studios use for this process? Thanks in advanced.

[fighthefutureofhd]

I think they use a expensive and complicated piece of equipment called an Etch A Sketch. At least that's what Disney and Studio Canal uses.

[professorwho]

They use this program called waifu2x- they set it to 2x (to double the resolution), crank up the noise reduction, and poof! That's how James Cameron's going to work on Avatar Part 69 in post production, so he can get to 8K while on the cheap (because he totally doesn't want to save money, am i rite?).

[cynatnite]

I'd think Paint would be easier. There's a little button at the top you click that says "resize".

[Bernardo A.]

I really don't see the point in mocking him.

Maybe it's a question that didn't deserve its own thread, I give you that.

As an old professor of mine used to say, there are no dumb questions. There are impatient and unkind people.

[professorwho]

I'm joking because it's fun. In all honesty, I have no clue what they use. I've never even seen any article address this, so I too would be curious.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by professorwho

I'm joking because it's fun. In all honesty, I have no clue what they use. I've never even seen any article address this, so I too would be curious.

There's no mystery about the actual encode... But I am also very curious to know how they actually handle the DI to get the most out of it, considering DVD/BD/UHD limitations.

[Brahmzy]

And there’s a wide degree of variation on the quality of the upscales.
Some are really well done, some a utter crap (Oblivion being crap.)

[nick4Knight]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

There's no mystery about the actual encode... But I am also very curious to know how they actually handle the DI to get the most out of it, considering DVD/BD/UHD limitations.

Cool. Then put it in the "questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread. This stuff isn't hard

[nick4Knight]

Originally Posted by Brahmzy

And there’s a wide degree of variation on the quality of the upscales.
Some are really well done, some a utter crap (Oblivion being crap.)

I'll grant you a fraction are garbage but it's such a low number I think saying "wide variation" paints an incorrect picture. Of the 2K upscales at least a majority compete with the most lauded 4K DI on the format. The balance is so much more on the scale for 2K DI being great than some mixed bag...

[LMFAObros]

Same transfer as reg bluray plus better compression and some "wider color range". That pretty much sums it up

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by nick4Knight

Cool. Then put it in the "questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread. This stuff isn't hard

Oh I totally would ask there, if it was me

If you haven't noticed, it wasn't I who started this thread.

Originally Posted by LMFAObros

Same transfer as reg bluray plus better compression and some "wider color range". That pretty much sums it up

Hmm, ok. But how is it done? That is the question.

[formula_nebula]

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

I think they use a expensive and complicated piece of equipment called an Etch A Sketch. At least that's what Disney and Studio Canal uses.

Ha! lol! I just saw this thread, and was gonna post a pick of an Etch A Sketch.

[Agent Kay]

I have no issue with the thread, but should it not be in the other 4k part of the forum?
Or the thread 4k questions that don't need their own thread?

[Blu Cider]

OP asks interesting question... is mocked by anime nerds and backseat moderators.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by Blu Cider

OP asks interesting question... is mocked by anime nerds and backseat moderators.

Well done for answering the question

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by LMFAObros

Same transfer as reg bluray plus better compression and some "wider color range". That pretty much sums it up

Not really, no. In most cases they appear to be going back to the original 10-bit (and up) DI files and starting over from there, sometimes resulting in materially different framing, different levels of dirt/damage clean-up etc than the 8-bit Blu-ray master.

While they are doing HDR colour grading using whatever suite they prefer (Resolve, Baselight, whatever) I have no idea what they use for upscaling as this is a part of the process that seems to be a dirty little secret. In any case, even this has its benefits for UHD because a 2K upscale will have 4x the chroma resolution of the Blu-ray, even if it doesn't have 4x the spatial resolution (though I've lost count of the amount of upscales that present a genuine improvement in spatial resolution too, again by bypassing the Blu-ray master and whatever filtering it contains).

[CrazyEightyNine]

Can someone explain to me why so many recent 4K films are upscaled and not native 4K? If they already have a 4K master to put into theaters, why can't that simply be compressed and put on to a UHD disc? Thanks!

[tcripe]

Here we go again......

[Zoland2020]

The question is pretty simple. Either most filmmakers out there are too cheap to film/shoot in 4K or if it's a CGI-heavy film like Alita Battle Angel or majority of the Marvel movies, it'll take way too long to render those CGI effects to 4K resolution so it's easier for them to stick to 2K.