Sony "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray Titles May 14 and July 16

[BozQ]

Originally Posted by Mizu_Ger

Is there a list anywhere of films that have used 4k all the way though their post productions? I thnk I read somewhere that "The Social Network" was the first.

Indeed, there are.

This one lists all the films that were scanned in 4K or higher. So they benefited from the higher resolution scan when it's finally presented in 1080p HDTV Blu-ray.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=218262

This thread lists all the digital shot movies in 4K or higher and maintained a 4K DI throughout. Not a huge list, but if you pay closer attention, most of them are distributed by Sony or its subsidiaries.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=220755

You can bet Sony will be actively pushing for more 4K productions from now on, as they want to stay in the lead for 4K/UHDTV sales and with a possible 4K Blu-ray production in the near future.

I mean...even After Earth has a 4K DI. Sheesh.

[HeroicWaffles]

I hope 4k isnt the replacement for blurays

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

New Pre-orders for July 16:



Godzilla Blu-ray

Men in Black Blu-ray

Moneyball Blu-ray

Pineapple Express Blu-ray

Spider-Man 2 Blu-ray









Pro-B

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by MikeyLikesMovies

I hope 4k isnt the replacement for blurays

As it's been said before, they're still 1080p Blu-Rays sourced from new 4K scans. They're not replacing anything.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by RyanPom

I hope we get some 4k releases of The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises and or Tron Legacy some time. They would look amazing.

Anything to fix the current disaster of a transfer would be most welcome.

[The Fallen Deity]

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...less=1#auswahl

Godzilla M4K caps.

Not a huge improvement but it definitely looks better than the old transfer.

It's more detailed & the colour timing, contrast and brightness are better too.

[42041]

Originally Posted by Mizu_Ger

Is there a list anywhere of films that have used 4k all the way though their post productions? I thnk I read somewhere that "The Social Network" was the first.

Social Network was a 2K master.

Originally Posted by RyanPom

I hope we get some 4k releases of The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises and or Tron Legacy some time. They would look amazing.

The live action footage in Tron Legacy was shot in native 1080p.

[TheShape31]

I just received the Pineapple Express Mi4K disc in the mail, and did some quick head-to-head testing. There were a few minor visual differences that I noticed

The framing is just barely different, I almost didn't notice it until I did a few screenshot comparisons.

During the black and white opening, the original transfer has a slightly blu-ish tint. Meanwhile, the Mi4K version shows zero color inaccuracies, maintaining a genuine grayscale throughout. Not a big difference, though.

Certain scenes in the original version seemed to be a bit oversharpened, which was never the case on the Mi4K transfer. These instances are very minor, and few and far between.

Finally, all of the obvious compression artifacts found on the original disc are completely gone on the Mi4K version. I always especially noticed some noise during the opening credits surrounding every big yellow letter. That's all 100% gone now thanks to the significantly higher bit rate. In general, the entire presentation has a bit more of a 'theatrical' feel to it, a bit easier on the eyes from start to finish. No compression artifacting anywhere, and the film grain couldn't look any more natural than this. These differences, again, are still minor. The original release also from a 4K transfer, so there is essentially no gain in detail since there was no jump in resolution.

Size of original blu-ray transfer: ~19GB
Size of Mi4K blu-ray transfer: ~31GB

My advice... The Mastered in 4k release is a 5-star presentation. if you don't own this movie yet, the Mi4K version is the one to get (plus it comes with Ultraviolet). Unless, though, extras mean too much. And if you own the previous disc and none of the aforementioned issues bother you at all, I would assume that most people would be happy with what they have. I'm just not sure that such minor differences would warrant an upgrade, unless you are a hardcore videophile like myself. These two transfers look quite similar.

Screenshot comparison...

Original 2009 transfer:
http://i1.minus.com/imeyNhbPeEhzl.png
Mi4K 2013 transfer:
http://i7.minus.com/ifJJa5hQivIWQ.png

[lolwut]

Thanks for the review of Pineapple Express. I take it there are no extras, which is a deal-breaker for me. I'll take all of those extras over a minor upgrade since it's not worth double dipping for me.

[tj5921]

Considering getting the 3D version of The Amazing Spiderman. I don't have a 3D setup but it's currently $15 the same price as the standard blu release. Anyways my question is would I be better off getting the 3D version now because of the price (even though I can't utilize 3D), or should I hold out and wait for the 4K version to fall to $14.99? I definitely don't mind waiting it out but I've read many contradicting posts on here regarding the difference in PQ. Any suggestions are appreciated (especially from those with the 4K version). And I don't care about the special features.

[BozQ]

There is very minimal difference between the regular 2D and MI4K versions. And the 3D is not that great too. I would settle for just the regular 2D version when the price is right.

[tj5921]

Originally Posted by BozQ

There is very minimal difference between the regular 2D and MI4K versions. And the 3D is not that great too. I would settle for just the regular 2D version when the price is right.

Well I was just gona get the 3D cause I like the packaging more and would be more valuable than the normal release. They're both $15 now, lowest they've been yet. Thought about waiting for the 4K version to hit that price. Saw screencaps and it looked more detailed and somewhat clearer.

[BozQ]

I wonder if Sony is ever crazy enough to sell a five disc combo set.

Mi4K + 3D + 2D + DVD + Special Features + Digital Copy + Ultraviolet.

Sony can charge top dollar for that.

[RyanPom]

Originally Posted by BozQ

I wonder if Sony is ever crazy enough to sell a five disc combo set.

Mi4K + 3D + 2D + DVD + Special Features + Digital Copy + Ultraviolet.

Sony can charge top dollar for that.

Disney and Paramount do all the time.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by BozQ

I wonder if Sony is ever crazy enough to sell a five disc combo set.

Mi4K + 3D + 2D + DVD + Special Features + Digital Copy + Ultraviolet.

Sony can charge top dollar for that.

That would actually be not too bad, though realistically, that would mean the whole thing costs about $49.99.

[BozQ]

Originally Posted by RyanPom

Disney and Paramount do all the time.

No. I mean with Mi4K BDs.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

These 4K masters are simply 4K downscaled to 2K (1080p) for the BD so it doesn't really matter as long as your display is 1080p and you are sitting close enough. For example, someone with a 50" display should be sitting about 6.5-7' away.

Not quite. Sitting closer to a 50" tv, any 50" tv, still isn't going to allow you to see detail that is on the disc but is incapable of being distinguished at that size. There's detail even on 480i dvd that is completely imperceptable at even 70" screen sizes, and flat panel tech itself is somewhat deleterious compared to projection as well. It doesn't matter how close you sit, you're not going to see detail the display tech can't or doesn't resolve, because you'd never see it at that size. I've demoed several 4k displays as well and as great as they look, it's all because of screen resolution, not their ability to resolve 4k. The 4k demo material I viewed on all still looked less detailed than 1080p 100" or larger projection.

Any difference noticed between the original and the remastered BD at smaller screen sizes will result more from changes/alterations of a more fundamental nature, like color, contrast, framing, etc. The master used for the original BD would have to have been seriously dated, if not utterly inadequate for a 1080p format to show a distinct difference in resolution at that screen size. Unfortunately that happens to be the case with many, if not most films mastered earlier than 2007, and some that are still being mastered today.

I'm not sold on any benefit from a 4k downconverted to 2k presentation vs direct 2k to 2k, when both are optimally created and rendered. The problem is that most 2k masters were not optimally created. But, adding processing never comes without a cost and Sony has even stated that DNR is necessary for 4k to 2k conversion. Whether it's offset by any gain that might come from mastering a higher resolution source at a resolution that's closer to it's capable fidelity, for a 2k format is unclear, and deserving of skepticism.

For newer films like The Amazing Spider-man, if there is any appreciable difference with these "superbit" BDs, it should be from compression only, which the most overcompressed BD I've ever seen was virtually trivial compared to typical dvd compression levels. And despite what some reviewers - using 60" or smaller displays in their evaluations no doubt - seem to think, compression at it's worst on BD can have an extremely minor stranglehold on the actual detail one can see even at front projection viewing sizes - at flat panel sizes it will have no impact whatsoever, and the studios know this, just as they know how much visual information (high frequency detail, grain) can be dnr'd out before it becomes objectionable/noticable at the most common screens sizes the majority consumer is likely to be viewing on.

I don't plan on buying the newer titles, like Amazing Spiderman, as compression alone doesn't justify it, unless the original BD was severely overcompressed, which it wasn't. Sony would have had to deliberately botched the original BD to make the newer 2ksuperbit worthwhile even for FP owners, subjectively speaking of course. But, as soon as Amazon or someone has a sale on these for ten bucks or less each, I'll be jumping on a lot of the older ones, like Ghostbusters and Godzilla, which stand to benefit much more due to the age of their masters and Sony's dvd-biased mastering practices prior to 2007, even if they are just gimmicks, rather insulting gimmicks at that, that could have included all the extras with little to no compromise to presentation quality.

[TheShape31]

The official review is up for Pineapple Express Mi4K:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pinea.../74578/#Review

By the way, has anyone else heard of any upcoming Mi4K releases? As of right now it looks like every title that's been announced is out.

[jamesdevil]

Spiderman: 4.5/4.5

Spiderman 2: 5.0/5.0

[David M]

I'm not sold on any benefit from a 4k downconverted to 2k presentation vs direct 2k to 2k,

There's definitely a benefit to scanning at higher res and downscaling. The difference between an oversampled image and one that isn't is very real.

Sony has even stated that DNR is necessary for 4k to 2k conversion.

That's interesting, do you have a source? I don't agree with them on that, but Sony have some great people so I'd be interested in hearing any additional context.

[PopPunkNerd182]

So, far out question.

Do you think there is any chance Breaking Bad may the M4K treatment? It is done by Sony and shot on 35mm.