Were the old HD-DVDs coming from 2K scans?

[UniSol GR77]

Hello,

It seems to me the "old" HD-DVDs were coming from 2k scans, they looked very good if not great. Said that, I'm sure all companies scan AT LEAST at 2k and then downgrade the picture quality to HD. What do you think about it?

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Depends on the HD-DVD. 2K scans were as "low" as they went but many of the ones with newer masters received 4K scans. Blade Runner was scanned at 8K I believe.

All releases on BD releases were scanned at at least 2K. The issue tends to be when a given film was scanned and its master was created.... as technology has improved hugely in the last several years. Many films that were scanned in 2K and had masters struck many years ago really show their age.... had they been scanned and had a new master created more recently they would look much better. There are many other factors as welll - such as how much DNR is apllied when it is transferred to BD (EE doesn't seem to be much of a factor anymore but it sure as hell was in the days od DVD), and how much they tinker with the image.

[UniSol GR77]

Wondering if the early UNIVERSAL films to get an HD treatment for HD-DVD release like Darkman, Flash Gordon, etc, were scanned at least at 2K.....

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

Hello,

It seems to me the "old" HD-DVDs were coming from 2k scans, they looked very good if not great. Said that, I'm sure all companies scan AT LEAST at 2k and then downgrade the picture quality to HD. What do you think about it?

HD DVD has essentially the same resolution capacity as BD.

You have to downgrade 2k for BD and HD DVD, so I think it is essential.

[42041]

I think those old transfers were usually done on an HD telecine...

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

Wondering if the early UNIVERSAL films to get an HD treatment for HD-DVD release like Darkman, Flash Gordon, etc, were scanned at least at 2K.....

Yes, 99.9 percent of HD-DVD and BD taken from film are scanned at at least 2k.

[Dragun]

The films that went through a digital intermediate process (almost any film from the past 8-10 years) would have come from a 2K master.

[Stinky-Dinkins]

The issue with those movies you mentioned is not necessarily the resolution at which they were scanned but a combination of how they were shot and when exactly their masters were struck.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

HD DVD has essentially the same resolution capacity as BD.

You have to downgrade 2k for BD and HD DVD, so I think it is essential.

I'm asking this because you can even do a "straight" HD scan and not a 2k scan... or so I know !!!!!!

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

I'm asking this because you can even do a "straight" HD scan and not a 2k scan... or so I know !!!!!!

Even if it is possible to scan film at 1080p nobody does it.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

when exactly their masters were struck.

What do you mean?

[42041]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Even if it is possible to scan film at 1080p nobody does it.

That's not true. Even the current Star Wars masters were done at HD, I believe that was the norm for video transfers before DI.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by 42041

That's not true. Even the current Star Wars masters were done at HD, I believe that was the norm for video transfers before DI.

I don't know what Star Wars was scanned at, but I (and OP in his question) am differentiating between 2k and 1080p.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by 42041

That's not true. Even the current Star Wars masters were done at HD, I believe that was the norm for video transfers before DI.

DI?

I hope UNIVERSAL did that on 2k anyway... at least 2K... then downgraded to HD.

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

What do you mean?

I mean when exactly, as in what date, these films were scanned and then their masters were created. Technology in film mastering has hugely improved in the last several years, so if you use an old-ass master created years and years ago in the days of DVD and use that to create a BD transfer it's not going to look nearly as good as it could when prodcucing a transfer from a master created recently.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

I mean when exactly, as in what date, these films were scanned and then their masters were created. Technology in film mastering has hugely improved in the last several years, so if you use an old-ass master created years and years ago in the days of DVD and use that to create a BD transfer it's not going to look nearly as good as it could with a master created recently.

That's because digitally-scanned masters are treated with many post-production techniques today (DNR and so on). But for preservation purposes, 2k is good, 4k is the best. No matter the year!

If Universal scanned Darkman on 2k in 2006, some time before the HD-DVD release, that master is still excellent for preservation purpose. It's a sort of "basis" for future post-production.

[UniSol GR77]

Mmmm anyway, nobody ever confirmed the 2010 Darkman BD was a simple "port" of the old 2007 HD-DVD................

[42041]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

DI?

I hope UNIVERSAL did that on 2k anyway... at least 2K... then downgraded to HD.

Digital intermediate, where the movie's master format is digital data scanned from the negative; as opposed to a bunch of reels of film. Since the film's master format is digital, it can be directly converted to home video. Films before 2004 or so are unlikely to use a DI, and high-quality film scanning was not used for video transfers in those days, as it was slow and expensive.

Whichever way you slice it, almost every pre-DI Universal transfer is woefully antiquated these days.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

Depends on the HD-DVD. 2K scans were as "low" as they went but many of the ones with newer masters received 4K scans. Blade Runner was scanned at 8K I believe.

Some of the classics that had already come out on Ultra-Restoration DVD a couple years before--Unforgiven, The Searchers, Casablanca, Robin Hood--were scanned at at least 4K for their first big studio-vault restoration and just used as the same source for disk.
By the time Warner ran out of their existing movies and had to decide how new catalog movies should be mastered for hi-def...there was only one format to worry about.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by 42041

Digital intermediate, where the movie's master format is digital data scanned from the negative; as opposed to a bunch of reels of film. Since the film's master format is digital, it can be directly converted to home video. Films before 2004 or so are unlikely to use a DI, and high-quality film scanning was not used for video transfers in those days, as it was slow and expensive.

Whichever way you slice it, almost every pre-DI Universal transfer is woefully antiquated these days.

HD-DVDS were released in 2007.