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

[srinivas1015]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Probably (or by Disney in the future), but do you honestly think Fox or Disney will spend the money to remaster them in 4K?

Maybe..I reckon there's a 50/50 chance of it happening, especially if they think there's money to be made. This is actually a perfect opportunity to release the unaltered editions.

Originally Posted by L'armée des ombres

Isn't Disney's turn now....or does Fox still have the rights
This press release from Sony actually made me laugh out loud.....really Sony

I think Fox still has the distribution rights until 2020.

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by YodasFootPowder

The problem is, and my point being, there are many resolutions above 1080p. Case in point, 4k. So 1080p is not and has never been Full HD. Movies are shown in theaters in about 4k. You could go higher than 4k. Basically, resolutions can go as high as they want, assuming they have the capable equipment. Full HD suggests that you're getting the highest possible resolution that exists. So it just always looked stupid, to me, to see Full HD on their products. And then, of course, every company jumped on the retard wagon and started printing it on their boxes.

I always used to laugh at the old titles claiming to be "Beyond High Definition". How the **** can you be beyond hi-def on a hi-def format? Of course "the perfect hi-def experience" from Universal is almost as stupid, esp. when few of their offerings are even close to perfect for the format.

I think Lucas made a pact with the devil and anyone he works with that the original SW will never see daylight again. It's probably line one of the new contract, 'SW can only be released in whatever current form it is in at the time'. Keep on wishing, originals ain't gonna happen legally.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Probably (or by Disney in the future), but do you honestly think Fox or Disney will spend the money to remaster them in 4K?

Hard to say, but they have spent the money to do 4k scans for other movies.

[YodasFootPowder]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

The vast majority of digital projecters in cinemas are 2K. There are 4K projectors out there but they are the specialized exception, not the norm.

I know. I was just saying, 4k is available Someone just had to try and get me on a minor technicality. LOL!

[bookcase]

Just so I'm clear, they're going to release new BD highlighting the 4K scan, but they'll be no different than what's already out there?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Launching this 'mastered in 4K' drive with movies that were recently released on Blu is a huge mistake IMO because the differences - should they actually be new encodes and not just repacks - will be tiny, whereas if they redid some older HD/2K catalogue titles then there could be noticeable improvements by virtue of the new transfer alone.

My worry is that we'll have two-tier quality levels when it comes to releases instead of having Blu-ray's mastered from 4K sources which they should be (when they can be), Superbit was just an excuse to charge more for something we should have had in the first place.

I'd hate it that new releases from SONY start getting re-released a few months down the line because they've given us less than we deserved with the initial release.

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by bookcase

Just so I'm clear, they're going to release new BD highlighting the 4K scan, but they'll be no different than what's already out there?

The discs themselves would still be 1080P, but would be mastered from a 4K source.

[YodasFootPowder]

Originally Posted by zbinks

The discs themselves would still be 1080P, but would be mastered from a 4K source.

Yup, basically, minimal improvement, if even that. So, basically, they'll push this "Mastered in 4k" crap for a while. Then, if true 4k displays and discs ever catch on, they'll introduce, yet, another format and expect people to re-buy all of their movies for the twentieth time. I really hope they don't get a good response from this "Mastered in 4k" stuff. Otherwise, it will just encourage Sony and other companies to keep on with these silly marketing gimmicks that really don't offer anything substantial.

[mlabonte21]

Yeah- this whole thing has me confused..

So how would these new blu's be any different from say, 'Taxi Driver', which was produced from a 4K master?

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by mlabonte21

Yeah- this whole thing has me confused..

So how would these new blu's be any different from say, 'Taxi Driver', which was produced from a 4K master?

They won't be different in any meaningful way.

Literally the only POSSIBLE difference is that they'll re-encode with a higher bitrate, but it's not like there are compression issues on Sony BDs so that would have little to no effect. And we don't even know if they're doing that.

[Spicoli]

The bottom line is that affordable technology is not moving at the same pace that the media distributors sell and make their profit from.

They are forcing the double dip between technologies.

Trust me, there will be nothing different in what you see until you can afford a 4K TV, player and media. So to squeeze us out of a few more bucks while we drool and wait, they will put out this crap to sustain their existence.

Carryy on

[octagon]

Originally Posted by chip75

My worry is that we'll have two-tier quality levels when it comes to releases instead of having Blu-ray's mastered from 4K sources which they should be (when they can be), Superbit was just an excuse to charge more for something we should have had in the first place.

I'd hate it that new releases from SONY start getting re-released a few months down the line because they've given us less than we deserved with the initial release.

See, I think this is exactly backwards.

We already have (at least) two levels of quality and Sony (all their other faults aside) has consistently given us top-tier initial releases.

I think this 4k tag is at least in part an attempt to try and get a little credit for that.

Which is fine with me particularly if it nudges other studios to match their level of quality.

[L'armée des ombres]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

They won't be different in any meaningful way.

Literally the only POSSIBLE difference is that they'll re-encode with a higher bitrate, but it's not like there are compression issues on Sony BDs so that would have little to no effect. And we don't even know if they're doing that.

What i read in to this is a re-encode at best with no extras.....Superbit II
This is the worst case scenario because it will confuse the hell out of people.
Many in this thread are already speaking like this is somekind of a 4K release
They (Sony) will bombard the public with "the best" available etc, etc.
Like i have said in other threads, i have a hard time believing that the studios will release movies in almost master quality to the public in 4K on a format such as Ultra Blu or whatever.
They (Studios) will stall this as long as they can....until they can sell u this as some kind of a download or upload or whatever (i mean stalling till they get the technology right)
Then they will charge u each time u watch.
Just my 2 cents

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by chip75

I'd hate it that new releases from SONY start getting re-released a few months down the line because they've given us less than we deserved with the initial release.

But that's the thing: Sony have been one of the most consistent studios for top-quality titles (new or back catalogue) first time of asking, which is what's baking my noodle, them thinking that this 'mastered in 4K' gimmick is a good idea.

Originally Posted by octagon

See, I think this is exactly backwards.

We already have (at least) two levels of quality and Sony (all their other faults aside) has consistently given us top-tier initial releases.

I think this 4k tag is at least in part an attempt to try and get a little credit for that.

Which is fine with me particularly if it nudges other studios to match their level of quality.

That's a charitable way of looking at it, but at the end of the day Sony are trying to squeeze more money out of joe public for mastering movies in the exact same way as they have been doing them for several years now. It would be great if bringing 4K to the forefront pushed other studios to keep up - Universal and Paramount in particular, who both have a ton of wretched catalogue titles - but in the short term it will only cause a lot of confusion.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Buddy Ackerman

The vast majority of digital projecters in cinemas are 2K. There are 4K projectors out there but they are the specialized exception, not the norm.

and the fact that movies encoded at 4K on the DCP themselves are also far and few between.


I thought Sony LCoS projectors were all 4K

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But that's the thing: Sony have been one of the most consistent studios for top-quality titles (new or back catalogue) first time of asking, which is what's baking my noodle, them thinking that this 'mastered in 4K' gimmick is a good idea.

I'm just a little worried that to see an improvement in the 4K releases they'd have to short-change us and dial back the quality with the normal ones, which at the moment they certainly are not doing. I'll have to wait and see how they market them, if all they're new releases are pushed as 'from state-of-the-art 4K masters' then it won't be a bad thing as other studios will follow suit.

[Drooch]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...7&postcount=96

What more "encouragement" is needed? Others are already exceeding 4K, with or without Sony slapping stickers on Blu-rays gathering dust in their warehouses.

Good to see those 8K's, but what I mean is that when 'Sony 4K' becomes a common advertising theme then other studios won't want to feel inferior and will be tempted to jump in with their own 'premium' quality discs. This will hopefully encourage them to correct their mistakes from the past.

The reason studios keep cranking out crappy transfers for Blu is because there is no incentive for them to bother doing otherwise. This could finally be something that forces them into putting the effort in, because now they run the risk of seeming 'non-premium'. It'll take a while but I think this could be step 1 in companies actually caring about picture quality.

[srinivas1015]

Most of the general public won't know the difference between using a 4k master for a 1080p BD and a native 4K film on disc. They might simply think that 4k looks the same as 1080p and may end up getting turned away when the format actually hits.
This is what happened with 3D with those initial crappy conversions. I thought studios had learnt their lesson that this type of milking hurts them in the long run.

[Tony208]

It's all a pipe dream until prices come way down.

[tenebre6]

Originally Posted by srinivas1015

Most of the general public won't know the difference between using a 4k master for a 1080p BD and a native 4K film on disc. They might simply think that 4k looks the same as 1080p and may end up getting turned away when the format actually hits.
This is what happened with 3D with those initial crappy conversions. I thought studios had learnt their lesson that this type of milking hurts them in the long run.

SAdly from my expereince the average consumer cant tell 4K from DVD :-(

Knew a guy who bought a new 1080p hdtv... then a converter so he could hook it to his DVD player with RCA cables....... :-(

Funny ... 3 people asked me about this new Mastered in 4k crap yesterday. i am going to release VHS mastered in 4K just to mess with people