4K BD: Are the grain haters right after all?

[Fjodor2000]

Hello,

There's a general discussion regarding whether pronounced grain is a problem on 4K UHD BD (especially for older movies with more / coarser grain).

The argument is often that it's not a problem, because it is present in the original film negative. So having the grain visible is also closer to what the movie originally would have look like when shown in movie theaters.

However there is another aspect to this: The difference between 4K BD and movie theater is that the former often has much higher brightness due to HDR. This also means higher contrast, and more noticeable grain.

So if 4K BD should aim for having the grain as visible as when the movie was originally shown in the movie theater, then there are two options:

1. Use same brightness level as when shown in movie theater. This means do not make full use of the HDR capabilities available on 4K BD.

2. Use DNR.

Which of those options should be preferred? Or is this the option to select:

3. Accept that grain will be be more noticeable on 4K BD than when the movie was originally shown in the movie theater.

But if we go with 3), then the we have to give up the aim of having the grain on the 4K BD match how it originally looked like in the movie theater. I.e. we'll accept that the grain will be more pronounced on the 4K BD. Is that what we want, and if so why?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.