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

[double_l4488]

So is this consensus?

Clearly better
Ghostubusters
Spider-man
Glory
Godzilla
MIB

Slightly better
Angels and Demons
Spider-man 2
Moneyball
The Amazing Spider-man
Pineapple Express


No real improvement
Battle Los Angeles
Taxi Driver
The Karate Kid
Total Recall
The Other Guys

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by double_l4488

So is this consensus?

Clearly better
Ghostubusters
Spider-man
Glory
Godzilla
MIB

Slightly better
Angels and Demons
Spider-man 2
Moneyball
The Amazing Spider-man
Pineapple Express


No real improvement
Battle Los Angeles
Taxi Driver
The Karate Kid
Total Recall
The Other Guys

Yeah pretty much although I'd personally put Spider-Man 2 into clearly improved and The Amazing Spider-Man into no real improvement.

[reanimator]

Originally Posted by marine92104

The biggest thing I like about these is the way they handle the grain with the higher bitrate. That is a huge thing to me.

Agreed.

Here's the thing. Screencaps are useful to evaluate certain aspects of BD mastering -- edge enhancement, halos, overzealous DNR, etc. None of those things will change when being watched in motion.

But there are many factors of picture quality that CAN ONLY be perceived in motion. The higher bitrate that these discs are mastered in is one of those factors.

If you look at the screencaps for ANGELS & DEMONS for example, you might well see no real difference. But the MI4K version looks unquestionably better in motion -- particularly in action sequences, or any shot with high frequency detail (cobblestone streets, tile rooftops, etc.)

That is not imagined, that is A/V science.

[double_l4488]

Originally Posted by Nick666

Is it just me or did they squeeze in some sharpening ? Is that real extra detail I wonder ?



Here's another 4k screen, something doesnt look right.

[IMG]http://thumbnai

The 4k bd is sharper. Whether its too sharp is debatable. The first release was not soft at all, being shot on red, but they made it even more so.

[marine92104]

Originally Posted by reanimator

Agreed.

Here's the thing. Screencaps are useful to evaluate certain aspects of BD mastering -- edge enhancement, halos, overzealous DNR, etc. None of those things will change when being watched in motion.

But there are many factors of picture quality that CAN ONLY be perceived in motion. The higher bitrate that these discs are mastered in is one of those factors.

If you look at the screencaps for ANGELS & DEMONS for example, you might well see no real difference. But the MI4K version looks unquestionable better in motion -- particularly in action sequences, or any shot with high frequency detail (cobblestone streets, tile rooftops, etc.)

That is not imagined, that is A/V science.

Thanks for the advice. Just ordered ANGELS & DEMONS.

And I totally agree with what you said about the screencaps.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

Yeah pretty much although I'd personally put Spider-Man 2 into clearly improved and The Amazing Spider-Man into no real improvement.

+1

Spidey 2 is a contender for 'clearly better'. IMO.

Just watched The Amazing Spider-Man Mi4K. The sharpening that I can see in the caps isn't apparent in motion and generally it looks very nice indeed. Is it better than the existing version? Again, very debatable, though as with Battle LA it does seem superficially sharper without adding any overt artifacts. Worth a purchase if you have a version of it already? Nope.

I've seen Total Recall Mi4K as well. I don't have an existing version to compare it to, but it seems that the movie has quite a soft look in general. There is still a tremendous amount of detail on close-ups and the CG exteriors though.

[Sky_Captain]

Total Recall isn't helped by the completely ridiculous lens-flare, destroying any image depth in various scenes. I thought it was a defect at one point. I say that as someone that gets pissed off at lens-flare whiners.

[marine92104]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

Yeah pretty much although I'd personally put Spider-Man 2 into clearly improved and The Amazing Spider-Man into no real improvement.

I agree about Spider-Man 2.

New transfer & clearly better. I own both of them & it's easily noticeable.

Having the 2 & comparing the framing of the two is not that big of a deal. I have overseas imports that the framing is so different it is a night & day difference.

SM2 is a minute difference. The PQ makes it a no brainer.

The only arguments you're getting in this thread is from non-owners &
people that hate Sony.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Total Recall isn't helped by the completely ridiculous lens-flare, destroying any image depth in various scenes. I thought it was a defect at one point. I say that as someone that gets pissed off at lens-flare whiners.

It is kinda hardcore, isn't it? There's this one shot with a bank of LED lights that sends a slatted flare across the screen, I've never seen anything like it. And the DP actually asked Panavision (for it was their lenses used) to add extra mirrors to the glass to increase the lens flare.

The method of acquisition doesn't help, either. They were all set to shoot anamorphic on film, then Sony pulled the rug and insisted that they shot it on the Red Epic. They went ahead with the anamorphic lensing using regular 2:1 glass, but the difference in sensor size vs 35mm caused a lot of problems with wide angle shots, which is probably why the aforementioned close-ups and synthetic backgrounds are so much sharper than everything in between.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by marine92104

I agree about Spider-Man 2.

New transfer & clearly better. I own both of them & it's easily noticeable.

Having the 2 & comparing the framing of the two is not that big of a deal. I have overseas imports that the framing is so different it is a night & day difference.

SM2 is a minute difference. The PQ makes it a no brainer.

The only arguments you're getting in this thread is from non-owners &
people that hate Sony.

Newer transfers always tend to have slightly different framing compared to older transfers. It's usually because of how the film master was scanned.

It's not like huge chunks of picture information is missing.

[HDMan72]

I'm currently selling my Spider-Man 2 to upgrade to the Mastered in 4K version. That is my favorite one in the Raimi trilogy.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by HDMan72

I'm currently selling my Spider-Man 2 to upgrade to the Mastered in 4K version. That is my favorite one in the Raimi trilogy.

On a related note, have you or anyone else had luck selling used BDs anymore? It seems price points have gone so low on many of these brand new that I cannot even break even selling some titles as a I recently attempted on eBay with MIB, Moneyball, and some others. It seems I have no choice but just to give them away versus selling them.

[jblank]

Agreed. I have a few BD's here for sale and even at absolute bottom dollar prices, nobody is biting. Ebay is the same way, unless it is season sets or nearly new releases, you're not gonna get close to what you were getting say, a year or two ago.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by reanimator

Agreed.

Here's the thing. Screencaps are useful to evaluate certain aspects of BD mastering -- edge enhancement, halos, overzealous DNR, etc. None of those things will change when being watched in motion.

But there are many factors of picture quality that CAN ONLY be perceived in motion. The higher bitrate that these discs are mastered in is one of those factors.

If you look at the screencaps for ANGELS & DEMONS for example, you might well see no real difference. But the MI4K version looks unquestionably better in motion -- particularly in action sequences, or any shot with high frequency detail (cobblestone streets, tile rooftops, etc.)

That is not imagined, that is A/V science.

I would say that it is knowledgeable opinion based upon experience, as is the link to the post regarding screenshots in the 1st paragraph here…https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ot#post7505078

I would call the following ‘A/V science’ , and, as an aside, it can become quite complicated when comparing spatial and temporal characteristics of different codecs. In short, read the caption for Fig.4 (below the horses)…. https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~z70wang/pu...ons/vpqm13.pdf

[marine92104]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I would say that it is knowledgeable opinion based upon experience, as is the link to the post regarding screenshots in the 1st paragraph here…https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ot#post7505078

I would call the following ‘A/V science’ , and, as an aside, it can become quite complicated when comparing spatial and temporal characteristics of different codecs. In short, read the caption for Fig.4 (below the horses)…. https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~z70wang/pu...ons/vpqm13.pdf

Excellent!

Thanks for coming in the thread & adding a dose of reality.

[GP Legend]

Spider-Man 2 a clear improvement? No, not even close. It may be a little improved, but it certainly isn't a "clear improvement."

The exaggeration in here is ridiculous.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by GP Legend

Spider-Man 2 a clear improvement? No, not even close. It may be a little improved, but it certainly a "clear improvement."

The exaggeration in here is ridiculous.

Have you actually seen the two discs, and aren't just gawking at the caps? SM2 is an excellent upgrade.

[HDMan72]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

On a related note, have you or anyone else had luck selling used BDs anymore? It seems price points have gone so low on many of these brand new that I cannot even break even selling some titles as a I recently attempted on eBay with MIB, Moneyball, and some others. It seems I have no choice but just to give them away versus selling them.

It is a pain selling. Amazon gives from 1 penny to maybe $1 on used blu-rays for trade-in. I sold some on Ebay last month and did okay, I got $11 for Battleship, which was surprising. I have an FYE near me but I haven't traded with them in awhile. I'm sure there prices decreased.

[marine92104]

Originally Posted by GP Legend

Spider-Man 2 a clear improvement? No, not even close. It may be a little improved, but it certainly isn't a "clear improvement."

The exaggeration in here is ridiculous.

I actually own both & it is a clear improvement. It is a brand new transfer.

I have to agree with the other poster are you going off of screenshots? The screenshots don't do it justice.

I haven't heard anyone that has owned SM2 say it isn't a clear improvement.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Have you actually seen the two discs, and aren't just gawking at the caps? SM2 is an excellent upgrade.

It's ain't excellent. It's an improvement, but the framing is wrong. I know it's been *****ed about constantly, but it's true and distracting to me.