Titanic 4K UHD (1997)

[spanky87]

(4K disc. Source matches the BDinfo on the previous page.)

[jerclay]

Gee, some people on here are always hard to please... To me it looks perfect, considering how everyone was scared after watching the restored film in cinemas or keeping in mind T2 disaster.

[Mierzwiak]

I wonder what this shot will look like on UHD; it's the worst one on Blu-ray, I believe it's from the reshoots and Kate shot it on a green screen.

[DigitalDeluge24]

This reminds me of HD-era masters, where they had to lay on contrast and sharpening to give the illusion of detail that simply wasn't there. But with 4K there is no need for this, so it's baffling that they chose to do it now. Perhaps it's because the master was prepared for a theatrical re-release. Projectors are naturally softer, so maybe they were compensating for that.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by jerclay

Gee, some people on here are always hard to please... To me it looks perfect, considering how everyone was scared after watching the restored film in cinemas or keeping in mind T2 disaster.

It just comes down to how sensitive you are to image processing, personally I don't care about Titanic enough to let this look really bother me, but if it was a movie that I love I would want the best possible presentation for it and I don't think this is quite there. It's a good compromise tho, considering how much worse it could've been.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by DigitalDeluge24

But with 4K there is no need for this, so it's baffling that they chose to do it now.

I don't think we will ever see Cameron's movie in 4K looking like fully organic, unprocessed scan. It is what it is with him *shrugs*

[webbo254]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

I wonder what this shot will look like on UHD; it's the worst one on Blu-ray, I believe it's from the reshoots and Kate shot it on a green screen.

I always thought it was because that room was a minature (if i'm remembering the behind the scenes correctly) so the actors are superimposed.

[matbezlima]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

It likely looks great in motion but it's definitely been tampered with. Sharpening, DNR, I would say even a little bit of fake grain, are quite evident from the caps.

After one user (who I will name) kept accusing the amazing 4K transfers of Cinderella and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs of fake grain, even though they look so perfectly organic, I just can't take seriously the expression "fake grain" anymore.

But yes, this was tinkered with more DNR than it should, and a touch of sharpening. But I don't think that means fake grain. No transfer has grain that is 100% authentic, not even close.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Screenshots (borrowed from elsewhere):

[Show spoiler]

Looking pretty good so far.
*Crossed fingers

[Medality]

It has more details that the Blu-ray (as it's a new 4K scan), and is obviously processed to please Jimmy, but at least it seems to be somewhat of a middle ground.
I don't know who we should thank for that, but I'm glad this ends up being quite an upgrade over the Blu-ray. Can't wait for True Lies, honestly.

[cybersoga]

It's a _new_ 4k scan?

looks to me they took the old 4K scan and put it through some digital processing

[wright96d]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

It's a _new_ 4k scan?

looks to me they took the old 4K scan and put it through some digital processing

I’m not even a positive it’s a 4K scan. But I simply can’t fathom Cameron allowing that. I know the foreign Disney disc will be the same master, but I’m curious what the better encoding will look like.

[jerclay]

It's actually upscaled LD, I'm telling ya!

[starmike]

Originally Posted by jerclay

It's actually upscaled LD, I'm telling ya!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1BORWrexXg

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by cybersoga

It's a _new_ 4k scan?

looks to me they took the old 4K scan and put it through some digital processing

Bingo. Hence the Lowry credit remaining at the end of the film along with the new Park Road Post credits, they took the extant 4K master (which was verr naice) and applied some extra juju to it. I think PRP worked more on the 3D version tho, as that got uprezzed to 4K (the 3D having been finished out to 2K originally) and variable frame rate for the most recent theatrical re-release.

[starmike]

Still no word on the details of the CE?

[Riddhi2011]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Screenshots (borrowed from elsewhere):

I think the pictures shared at Highdefwatch look a lot better than the bland, monotone images shown above. The colours on the YHD on that site simply look stunning, to say the least.
(https://www.highdefwatch.com/post/ca...ter-yes-it-can)

However, I think much of the grain is fake and has been put on top of a previously scrubbed clean, DNR'd image. It doesn't feel like organic film grain, especially when compared to the 35mm print. I guess they are using the 2012 scan which was DNR'd for the 3D release and just added fake grain over the image to ensure that the film grain lovers don't complain. Or, at least, they hoped we wouldn't notice.

Left 4K UHD screencap (highdefwatch), right - 35mm scan

Titanic Rose 3rd Class dance 4K UHD Vs 35mm Grain structure.jpg

You can see how organic the grain looks on the 35mm print, while the UHD looks somewhat synthetic, with a false layer of grain over it. The 35mm one looks like a handmade renaissance oil painting on canvas, while the right one looks like a digital painting trying to approximate the oil canvas look. The 35mm looks like an old Kodak or Fuji print photograph, which is how it should look - a product of its time. The strands of hair on the UHD look artificially smoothened and shows a smeared texture exposing the loss of detail. The fake grain is applied to hide the smeared look, it seems.

[starmike]

The 35mm scan wasn't made professionally.

[Geoff D]

The print also looks soft as balls. Go with what you like.

[wright96d]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Bingo. Hence the Lowry credit remaining at the end of the film along with the new Park Road Post credits, they took the extant 4K master (which was verr naice) and applied some extra juju to it. I think PRP worked more on the 3D version tho, as that got uprezzed to 4K (the 3D having been finished out to 2K originally) and variable frame rate for the most recent theatrical re-release.

And the Lowry restoration was indeed 4K for those(me) wondering.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...nic-3d-207316/

"The Reliance process is typically accomplished in 2K resolution–the most common resolution used today in digital cinema — but Cameron took it a step further on Titanic with a complete 4K pipeline, which involves four times more data. The restoration of Titanic was completed earlier this year in roughly 10 weeks."

Really hoping the Disney encode is able to pull out more detail.

Originally Posted by Riddhi2011

However, I think much of the grain is fake and has been put on top of a previously scrubbed clean, DNR'd image. It doesn't feel like organic film grain, especially when compared to the 35mm print. I guess they are using the 2012 scan which was DNR'd for the 3D release and just added fake grain over the image to ensure that the film grain lovers don't complain. Or, at least, they hoped we wouldn't notice.

You can see how organic the grain looks on the 35mm print, while the UHD looks somewhat synthetic, with a false layer of grain over it. The 35mm one looks like a handmade renaissance oil painting on canvas, while the right one looks like a digital painting trying to approximate the oil canvas look. The 35mm looks like an old Kodak or Fuji print photograph, which is how it should look - a product of its time. The strands of hair on the UHD look artificially smoothened and shows a smeared texture exposing the loss of detail. The fake grain is applied to hide the smeared look, it seems.

It's a mother****ing release print. If you want to make claims of fake grain, compare to the BD. So many people make claims of fake grain, even the great RAH himself, when it's simply the original grain structure with every molecule of chroma grain obliterated, giving the remaining luma grain a strange appearance.