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

[Pieter V]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I just find it interesting that they only branded them in Japan, despite continuing to brand other titles (like My Girl, Troop Beverley Hills, 1776, Bram Stoker's Dracula, etc.) worldwide. I know the branding confused some, but it was always perfectly clear to me.

And here is a Japanese back cover of The Age of Innocence, seemingly confirming it is part of the lineup (again, not surprising, considering it sports a new 4K master):

It makes me wonder if they have also included the two Capra titles, since they are from 4K masters, too. I wonder how if and how the "Mastered in 4K" tech would work with black and white films.

Here's The Equalizer. The marketing machine does his job.

[McCrutchy]

And to deepen the mystery, here is a Sony title, taken from a 4K master and released internationally in 2014, that is apparently not part of the "Mastered in 4K" line, (ironically coming out in Japan on the same day as The Age of Innocence, November 5th, 2014):





Like Age of Innocence, the disc should be the same everywhere, including the one Sony just released in the U.S. last week.

[Pieter V]

I have no answers. At least we can inform each other over the forums.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

I have no answers. At least we can inform each other over the forums.

Indeed. I know Sony also has a couple of Japanese BDs that are in this line, too, and I will definitely be getting their new Bram Soker's Dracula BD if it looks like it will be a Japan-only release, (that is, if Japanese options don't pop up on, say, an Eastern Europe BD, since they won't be on the North American or the other European one), since it's also part of the "Mastered in 4K" series.

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

Here's The Equalizer. The marketing machine does his job.

The Equalizer was finished at 2K....

[Pieter V]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

The Equalizer was finished at 2K....

Originally Posted by Pieter V

I contacted Sony Japan about The Equalizer, when I saw that info earlier. (I know which Japanese website you use. ).
The Equalizer only did get an additional xvYCC color treatment. Other then that, there is nothing special. No 4K DI and the DCP was 2K as well. First hand info.

The Age of Innocence is indeed 4K. See also cap-a-holic for the caps. 4K look.

Previous page.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

And to deepen the mystery, here is a Sony title, taken from a 4K master and released internationally in 2014, that is apparently not part of the "Mastered in 4K" line, (ironically coming out in Japan on the same day as The Age of Innocence, November 5th, 2014):

[Show spoiler]

Like Age of Innocence, the disc should be the same everywhere, including the one Sony just released in the U.S. last week.

According to Sony's own 4K scan list Christine was scanned at 4K and finished at 2K (and probably from an IP at that). It's not really a "mystery", it probably wasn't mastered with xvYCC colour so it doesn't qualify for that specific line.

[Nightopian]

So have Sony stopped doing the Mastered in 4K thing? I haven't seen any new titles in a long time. Or are they releasing movies and not advertising them? If so, is there some sort of list of movies which are from a 4K master?

[Geoff D]

And just to add to my post above, it could well be that a title must be transferred from the negative to qualify for the officially branded 'Mi4K' label. The 2K thing clearly isn't much of a barrier to inclusion, e.g. the Total Recall remake has been part of the Mi4K line since the beginning and that was also finished at 2K and scanned at 4K (again, according to Sony's own 4K list). So as long as the initial scan itself is at 4K or higher from the negative and the movie is then graded for xvYCC during the video trim pass then it gets branded as Mi4K by those Sony rascals.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

So have Sony stopped doing the Mastered in 4K thing? I haven't seen any new titles in a long time. Or are they releasing movies and not advertising them? If so, is there some sort of list of movies which are from a 4K master?

Most new releases from Sony do have the Mi4K labelling but they've seemingly stopped doing it as a barebones 'superbit' style brand unto itself, which is a good thing IMO because it means they don't skimp on the extras.

[tama]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

So have Sony stopped doing the Mastered in 4K thing? I haven't seen any new titles in a long time. Or are they releasing movies and not advertising them? If so, is there some sort of list of movies which are from a 4K master?

1776 and My Best Friends Wedding have the Mastered in 4K advertising on the back of the covers. Just not advertised on the front. It could be they just dropped the marketing somewhat.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Most new releases from Sony do have the Mi4K labelling but they've seemingly stopped doing it as a barebones 'superbit' style brand unto itself, which is a good thing IMO because it means they don't skimp on the extras.

And they removed Mastered in 4K from the front cover (it's just on the back) and as most people don't even look at back covers, we don't have the usual questions to go with new releases.

Luckily Sony don't make Supreme Cinema Series TVs and BD players otherwise we'd get people asking if that range only worked on Sony gear.

I've probably jinxed it now ... cue Sony and their new Supreme Cinema range of AV gizmos ...

[Geoff D]

Maybe that's what they'll call their inevitable line of Dolby Vision TVs, the 'Supreme Cinema' series??

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

According to Sony's own 4K scan list Christine was scanned at 4K and finished at 2K (and probably from an IP at that). It's not really a "mystery", it probably wasn't mastered with xvYCC colour so it doesn't qualify for that specific line.

What was the reason for 2K finishing a movie like Christine?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

What was the reason for 2K finishing a movie like Christine?

Cost, probably. It's cheaper to scan high and finish low than scan high and finish high, then downscale.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Maybe that's what they'll call their inevitable line of Dolby Vision TVs, the 'Supreme Cinema' series??

New for 2017: Sony GOSCS-75P Dolby Vision 4K UHDTV (75" diagonal) for a limited time, comes with all six of the GARY OLDMAN SUPREME CINEMA SERIES UltraHD Blu-ray Discs:

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) starring actor Gary Oldman
Léon: The Professional (1994) starring actor Gary Oldman
Immortal Beloved (1994) starring actor Gary Oldman
The Fifth Element (1997) starring actor Gary Oldman
Air Force One (1997) starring actor Gary Oldman
Nil by Mouth (1997) written and directed by writer/director Gary Oldman

Includes a new visual essay: No, Gary Goldman is Someone Else, You've Got Your Wires Crossed There presented by and starring film enthusiast Gary Oldman

Watch as legendary English star Gary Oldman utilizes the latest in Sony 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Vision technology to prove that he and American animator Gary Goldman are not, in fact, the same person*.

*Warning: Contains violence and bloody images, as well as pervasive strong language. Families with small children, as well as persons sensitive to the sight of a large, heavy object being used to beat a man, may not wish to indulge.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

What was the reason for 2K finishing a movie like Christine?

Sony did the same for Fright Night, Fisher King and plenty of others which were initially licensed out for Blu-ray a few years ago: 4K scan off an IP for a 2K master. If they were going to be releasing it themselves in their biggest single market (NA) then they'd probably have done what they're doing with the 'Supreme Cinema' series, but for these lower level catalogues what they did was still fine IMO. However, with this big 2016 push for 4K coming up I think Sony want to underline their 4K credentials so they're making a big thing of these new 4K 'restorations'.

McC: that's brilliant. Perhaps if the TV comes with a Siri style interface in future they can do one with Gary Oldman's voice in his true South London lilt: "You want what fackin' channel? You trying to mug me off?".

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Sony did the same for Fright Night, Fisher King and plenty of others which were initially licensed out for Blu-ray a few years ago: 4K scan off an IP for a 2K master. If they were going to be releasing it themselves in their biggest single market (NA) then they'd probably have done what they're doing with the 'Supreme Cinema' series, but for these lower level catalogues what they did was still fine IMO. However, with this big 2016 push for 4K coming up I think Sony want to underline their 4K credentials so they're making a big thing of these new 4K 'restorations'.

McC: that's brilliant. Perhaps if the TV comes with a Siri style interface in future they can do one with Gary Oldman's voice in his true South London lilt: "You want what fackin' channel? You trying to mug me off?".

Down sampling ftw

[Rob89]

Just picked up Spider-man. Was going to get Spider-man 2 but comparing the screenshots, the contrast looks overblown.

Plus Spidey 2 was already a great transfer to begin with, and is not much of an upgrade, and actually prefer the look of the first transfer, colours look more natural.

[Show spoiler]Original Blu-ray

Mastered in 4K Blu-ray

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

I contacted Sony Japan about The Equalizer, when I saw that info earlier. (I know which Japanese website you use. ).
The Equalizer only did get an additional xvYCC color treatment. Other then that, there is nothing special. No 4K DI and the DCP was 2K as well. First hand info.

The Age of Innocence is indeed 4K. See also cap-a-holic for the caps. 4K look.

Thread necro I know, but the heck of it is that the actual 4K disc of Equaliser wipes the floor with the (US) BD when it comes to resolving fine detail, e.g. https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=2&x...&l=0&i=10&go=1

And Sony wouldn't put the actual Mi4K banner on anything unless it had a genuine 4K rebuild, shirley? Just adding in xvYCC takes the piss. I know that Total Recall (2012) was also part of this Mi4K line of discs and that it was also finished at 2K, but as this internal document from Sony (via wikileaks) shows they were rebuilding digitally-shot material in 4K as well as stuff shot on film:

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Apropos of nothing, I just found a pdf on the wikihacks page (having been reminded of it in the Bill Hunt "the sky is falling!" thead) that shows what Sony do/did in order to rebuild their content in 4K, given that some of their 4K remasters started out as 2K DI's e.g. Bad Boys II or Total Recall.

It's from several years ago (September 2012) and doesn't reference HDR, only their short-lived fascination with xvYCC, but the basic logistics remain: for a movie shot on film but finished out to 2K then they will rescan the OG negative (which Sony insist upon a conformed neg cut for) and upscale any titles & VFX from the existing 2K digital master files on LTO tape.

Same applies for anything shot digitally, they return to the "DOCN" ("digital" negative of the raw camera files) for any first generation material and titles & VFX are taken from the 2K master and upscaled. Each method costs about a hundred grand per title while a complete 4K workup of a movie finished on film with a cut negative is about half that.



(top two relate to turning an existing 4K master into a home video deliverable, the fourth one down read "2K but captured on Film" just like the third one when it was supposed to say "2K but captured digitally" so I've altered it for the sake of clarity)