List of 4K film transfers on Blu-ray shot on film (non-digitally shot)

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by James78

This Happy Breed: http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49462

Blithe Spirit
Oliver Twist (1948)
Great Expectations (1946):

http://www.davidleanfoundation.org/s.../pressrelease1

The Happy Breed article mentions 32 scenes @4K

There is no mention of the latter 3 getting a 4K transfer.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by James78

£1,000,000 was spent to restore ten films and two have explicitly been described as having complete 4K restorations (Brief Encounter and In Which we Serve) and one partial (This Happy Breed). It is likely that the other seven had similar treatment, but obviously it's up to you whether you include them in the list.

Well it's not certain that all the films got a 4K transfer even if they splurred million pounds on them

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by Canada

"Keep in mind, these are NOT actual 4K Blu-rays. They’re essentially the BD equivalent of Sony’s Superbit DVDs from a few years back – simply mastered from 4K source material with high video data rates, but still just 1080p. My personal response to these is similar to my reaction to the Superbit DVDs back in the day: If you can master Blu-rays in better quality, why haven’t you been doing it all along?"

by Bill Hunt

So these are basically going to be like Criterions in a sense? Their video bit rates are always 15-20 Mbps higher than regular studio releases.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

So these are basically going to be like Criterions in a sense? Their video bit rates are always 15-20 Mbps higher than regular studio releases.

Well...like i said in another post the feeling i get is Sony "milking" titles to no end like they did in the early days of DVD.
Does anyone remember The Big Hit???? (a title that was strange to say the least) on DVD, Superbit and a first wave of Sony's BD's!!!!

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

Well...like i said in another post the feeling i get is Sony "milking" titles to no end like they did early in the DVD's.

What Sony is doing is scanning or cloning (if from a digital source) the film in 4K, then mastering it at 4K, then placing a 2K version of that 4K master onto a Blu-ray. As a result, the video is slightly higher quality, but still a 2K picture in the end.

I've read about the whole SuperBit DVD a while ago. From what I understand, they were very expensive and didn't really catch on. Will these new "SuperBit" Blu-rays be more expensive than their regular counterparts as well?


I think they want to appeal to consumers who are more into higher quality video. The one guy was right though: why are they doing these "Mastered at 4K" Blu-rays now when that's what they should have been doing in the first place? You're obviously right though, they are trying to milk the cow. Maybe in the end, this will backfire?


Then maybe it will stay afloat? Because a film is shot and scanned in 4K or higher, that doesn't mean that the Blu-ray contains a 4K-mastered print. Some Criterion titles say the film was scanned in 4K or 8K, then mastered at 2K (1080p). Major studios do that a lot with their releases, as opposed to Criterion who sometimes takes the time to master their releases at 4K.

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by brian9229

I thought wizard of oz was a 4k transfer. Thats what it showed on the restoration clip thats on the extras.

As mentioned, the restoration clip was from the 2004 DVD. The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were both scanned at 4K and finished at 2K. Warner decided it wasn't good enough for the Blu-rays a few years later and they rescanned both in 8K and finished at 4K for the 2009 Blu-rays. Here's a podcast with Warner's George Feltenstein. http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3NNOWD7UW2V2R

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

What Sony is doing is scanning or cloning (if from a digital source) the film in 4K, then mastering it at 4K, then placing a 2K version of that 4K master onto a Blu-ray. As a result, the video is slightly higher quality, but still a 2K picture in the end.

I've read about the whole SuperBit DVD a while ago. From what I understand, they were very expensive and didn't really catch on. Will these new "SuperBit" Blu-rays be more expensive than their regular counterparts as well?

I think they want to appeal to consumers who are more into higher quality video. The one guy was right though: why are they doing these "Mastered at 4K" Blu-rays now when that's what they should have been doing in the first place? You're obviously right though, they are trying to milk the cow. Maybe in the end, this will backfire?

Then maybe it will stay afloat? Because a film is shot and scanned in 4K or higher, that doesn't mean that the Blu-ray contains a 4K-mastered print. Some Criterion titles say the film was scanned in 4K or 8K, then mastered at 2K (1080p). Major studios do that a lot with their releases, as opposed to Criterion who sometimes takes the time to master their releases at 4K.

The new "Mastered in 4K" titles are priced relatively inexpensively with SRPs of $19.99 each. Most of these titles are using the same masters from their first Blu-ray releases. They're just re-encoding at higher bitrates. Unless you have a really high end system, I think the most utility anyone will get out of the Taxi Driver, Total Recall (2012), or Angels & Demons releases will be for screenshot comparisons. Spider-Man can be a good improvement because the Blu-rays have been using a now decade-old master. Maybe they redid Ghostbusters?

As for Criterion, I think they typically scan their own restorations at 2K. Most of their 4K scans come from other studios or restorations (namely Sony and Fox, or the Film Foundation restorations).

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

Some Criterion titles say the film was scanned in 4K or 8K, then mastered at 2K (1080p). Major studios do that a lot with their releases, as opposed to Criterion who sometimes takes the time to master their releases at 4K.

Most majors scan now at 4K and have done for some time.
When they have a sure seller (Sound of Music, Ben Hur etc.) they go to 8K to have a master for the future.

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

Most majors scan now at 4K and have done for some time.
When they have a sure seller (Sound of Music, Ben Hur etc.) they go to 8K to have a master for the future.

That's what I said. Major studios scan at 4K, but they do the Blu-ray mastering at 2K.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by James78

£1,000,000 was spent to restore ten films and two have explicitly been described as having complete 4K restorations (Brief Encounter and In Which we Serve) and one partial (This Happy Breed). It is likely that the other seven had similar treatment, but obviously it's up to you whether you include them in the list.

and let me tout 'In Which We Serve' - the black contrast and levels are deep and inky - wow! one of the best underrated transfers (of a black and white film) of last year.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

That's what I said. Major studios scan at 4K, but they do the Blu-ray mastering at 2K.

That's given.
How could they master Blu in any other way
Now let's get back on track and find more film to put on that list

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

That's given.
How could they master Blu in any other way
Now let's get back on track and find more film to put on that list

Well, they master the print that will be on the Blu-ray at 2K. Or rather, they finish it at 2K.

And agreed- back on track!

[The Rider]

What is with the Terminator ?
Some rumors speach from a 4K Lowry restoration.

And what is with the new transfer for the Top Gun 3D Blu-ray ?

[The Rider]

And what is with 2001 ?

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

Most majors scan now at 4K and have done for some time.
When they have a sure seller (Sound of Music, Ben Hur etc.) they go to 8K to have a master for the future.

Most films scanned at 8K are done so more because they were shot on larger format film than for being sure sellers.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by Rizor

Most films scanned at 8K are done so more because they were shot on larger format film than for being sure sellers.

Yes indeed, but also for the future for the likes of Gone & Wizard...don't you think if they could get away with 6K they would let the investment stop there?? they get those 3 strip films once and for all

[42041]

I'm pretty sure these "8K" and "6K" 35mm scans don't actually produce 8K or 6K's worth of data, and it's another way to say they scanned it on Northlight or Arriscan machines, which oversample their 4K output at 8K and 6K, respectively.

[brian9229]

Originally Posted by Rizor

As mentioned, the restoration clip was from the 2004 DVD. The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were both scanned at 4K and finished at 2K. Warner decided it wasn't good enough for the Blu-rays a few years later and they rescanned both in 8K and finished at 4K for the 2009 Blu-rays. Here's a podcast with Warner's George Feltenstein. http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3NNOWD7UW2V2R

The new "Mastered in 4K" titles are priced relatively inexpensively with SRPs of $19.99 each. Most of these titles are using the same masters from their first Blu-ray releases. They're just re-encoding at higher bitrates. Unless you have a really high end system, I think the most utility anyone will get out of the Taxi Driver, Total Recall (2012), or Angels & Demons releases will be for screenshot comparisons. Spider-Man can be a good improvement because the Blu-rays have been using a now decade-old master. Maybe they redid Ghostbusters?

As for Criterion, I think they typically scan their own restorations at 2K. Most of their 4K scans come from other studios or restorations (namely Sony and Fox, or the Film Foundation restorations).

ahh i knew it was a clip from dvd but i had no idea it was way back in 04. Good info though thanks.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

That's what I said. Major studios scan at 4K, but they do the Blu-ray mastering at 2K.

In general, a ‘4K scan’ produces ‘4K’ 10-bit or16-bit log DPX/Cineon files.

From that source is produced the ‘master’ for Blu-ray home media which is of HD resolution (1920×1080 sampling structure), not 2K. One reason to do a 2K transfer from the ‘4K’ files would be if you wanted a dedicated 2K DCP deliverable as well as a 4K DCP’…which some filmmakers have actually desired and done.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by 42041

I'm pretty sure these "8K" and "6K" 35mm scans don't actually produce 8K or 6K's worth of data, and it's another way to say they scanned it on Northlight or Arriscan machines, which oversample their 4K output at 8K and 6K, respectively.

Correct.

With regards to the Northlight2, its 8K CCD line arrays produce true 4K resolution data files.

With regards to the Arriscan -
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...el#post3586236

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by Rizor

Maybe they redid Ghostbusters?

I thought Ghostbusters originally was a 2K. I think they would have had to redone it to have 4K