1080p vs. Film: The Difference

[J_UNTITLED]

So, I know that even though 1080p can look flat-out-amazing, film stills holds the crown for the best picture quality, correct? So, with that in mind, what is the exact difference between the resolution of 1080p versus, say, 32mm film or something similar? With something actually shot in HD, one would think that would be of higher quality but it is not actually, right?

[Bobby Henderson]

Electronic video cameras are still inferior to 35mm film cameras for the purposes of movie production. 35mm retains higher image quality in terms of color control and image resolution.

Movies on Blu-Ray typically look a lot better when the material was shot on film and then scanned into the digital realm. It turns out really good when the film material is scanned and processed at higher resolutions like 4K or 6K.

The only advantage for shooting a movie with HD video cameras is level of convenience. Some movie productions are willing to sacrifice image quality for that level of convenience.

Video cameras are getting better, but they still have quite a way to go before they can match PQ capability of 4-perf 35mm photography and a much longer way to go to get anywhere near 65mm/70mm capability.

[Blubaru]

Apocalypto was shot with digital right? That looked pretty darn good.

Doesn’t Michael mann also use some sort of digital on his films? I’m pretty sure he did on Miami Vice.

[J_UNTITLED]

The HD Thomson VIPER FilmStream Camera that was used to shoot such films as "Collateral" and "Zodiac" (especially on "Zodiac") produced extremely beautiful images and picture quality that in many cases I probably couldn't even tell a difference between it and 32mm film.


It seems to me since digital or HD is slowly but surely taking hold of the business that if it truly is so behind in terms of quality that movies will have to settle for having lesser image quality for quite a while to come.

[Blubaru]

Yeah that’s it. Mann uses the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera. I know in his films it always seems to give off that cool gritty grain affect. I’m not sure if that’s his effect or if that’s just what recording looks like.

from wiki:
"The Viper, another three-sensor camera design, captures a 1920 × 1080 pixel image. In addition to uncompressed RGB output, the Viper is also capable of outputting RAW sensor data, which allows for more control in post-production.

The camera has a unique feature known as Dynamic Pixel Management, which allows the camera to change its aspect ratio by vertically ganging pixels. This allows the cinematographer to shoot at different aspect ratios without cropping the image (thus losing resolution) or using anamorphic lenses.

The Viper was first used on Rudolf B.'s short movie Indoor Fireworks, though the first feature shot entirely with the Viper was the British independent Production Silence Becomes You by director Stephanie Sinclaire.[1] The first Viper camera in the UK was acquired by Arri Media who loaned the camera for free to the National Film & Television School to test it on director Derek Boyes' award winning graduation short The Happiness Thief. The first major motion picture shot using the Viper was Michael Mann's Collateral, which was followed by Miami Vice (cinematographer for both: Dion Beebe), which was shot with the Viper to HDCAM. The first feature film to be shot entirely in the Viper's uncompressed digital data format is Zodiac.

One of the Viper's strengths is its ability to shoot with extremely low light levels, which allowed much of Collateral to be shot on the streets of Los Angeles, CA at night without the need for substantial supplemental lighting equipment.

While the Viper is designed to produce full resolution raw images in 4:4:4 log data, it can also produce 4:4:4 RGB video images; Michael Mann has used it this way. Tom Burstyn, CSC, using the Viper in the 4:2:2 HDStream mode, was nominated for an Emmy in Cinematography for the first season of the USA Network show The 4400. The camera lacks on-board recording. The signals from the Viper may be recorded to either a tape format or a disk array, depending on what mode the camera is used in.

The Viper is also used to tape popular children's show LazyTown and Flash Gordon."

[J_UNTITLED]

The Viper also has been used yet again by David Fincher for his latest upcoming film, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."


James Cameron's next two projects, "Avatar" and "Battle Angel," are both using the Fusion HD Camera which is obviously 3-D as well. Steven Soderbergh has chosen the Red One 4K Camera for his upcoming movies' "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla."

[J_UNTITLED]

... So, does anyone have the exact difference in resolution, numbers-wise?

[ranma]

An unscientific comparision is to compare planet earth, which shoot on 720P and 1080p digital HD camcorder, with march of penguin, which shoot on films, and IMAX:Alaska, which is shoot on 65mm films. PE beats them hands down.

I'd say, film does have resolution advantages, it also has disadvantages like film grains, which destories fine details too. If you transfer film to higher resolution, like 4000p, I believe you will see plenty of details than 1080p digital cams. However, if you are only watch 1080p, you didn't get much more details from higher resolution on film, but you get grains, either you keep them or digitally remove them will destory quite some details.

[Clark Kent]

35mm film shot in a regular way(no weird filters or odd film stocks) is somewhere around 4000 to 6000 lines of resolution, so nicely shot film should have significantly more detail than 1080P. Obviously things shot on 65mm would have even more resolution though I've never really heard an estimate.