the good the bad and the upconverted

[buckshot]

I didn't consider that the heavy grain may have been part of the artistry of the film. control of grain in still photography is very important, whether to let more grain come through to give it a gritty harsh look, or let minimal grain show giving it a smoother more realistic look. maybe in this case since I find the particular grain so distracting I should adjust my normal settings and change them back for the other movies. in light of this; what are some other movies where I may have to adjust my setting because of the low resolution, harsh grain, etc etc.

I liked the way x-3 looked.

[Knight-Errant]

James Cameron says on the DVD commentary for Aliens that there were a lot of grainy films about at the time because of the film stock being used - specifically new emulsions being tried out so that's a few films which SHOULD look grainy when displayed at optimum resolution.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by buckshot

in light of this; what are some other movies where I may have to adjust my setting because of the low resolution, harsh grain, etc etc.

U2: Rattle and Hum is the first one came into my mind.

[Dave Mack]

also, 1/2 of Rattle and Hum was shot on 16mm which was then blown up to 35 and cropped.
Even the 35mm concert sequences had to use a VERY fast film stock so you could see details in the dark scenes. Very fast film stock = much more grain.

[Chad Varnadore]

Funny you mention U2. Paramount used AVC for the HD DVD, because VC1 didn't support the degree of noise reduction they wanted for the title.

Probably the worst example I've yet seen of a grain-like artifact that is a result of compression rather than random noise native to the source, is the VC1 encoded Smallville Season 5. Warner really pushed HD DVD on this set, encoding 5, 45 min episodes on several discs. The DD+ audio appears to have paid the price too. It sounds about like 384kbps most of the time and the video is very inconsistent.

The inconsistency of noise is a good indicator that it's not innate. Scenes shot in low light naturally tend to be more grainy than brighter scenes, or dark scenes that where shot lighted, and darkened during post-production to better preserve detail, enhance contrast, and reduce grain. But when grain is inconsistent in a bright sequence, especially inconsistent within the same frame, that's a good indicator that what you're seeing isn't natural. In portions of episode 14 of Smallville Season 5, you can clearly make out a dense, crawling noise in highlights. Looking at Lana and Cloe's eyes, infected with noise (not in their faces or anywhere else, just the whites of their eyes), reminded me of the Goaulds in Stargate SG-1.