Sony "Mastered in 4K" -- Done?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

I would not be surprised if the Mi4K BD were supervised by the Communist Party.

I wouldn't either actually.

[balboarules]

Sony

Do one more run..

Bad Boys
Bad Boys 2
Charlies angels 1 and 2
The Fifth Element

These would be fantastic

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by balboarules

Sony

Do one more run..

Bad Boys
Bad Boys 2
Charlies angels 1 and 2
The Fifth Element

These would be fantastic

approve

Was also expecting Groundhog Day, although that's one I could see them just doing a new anniversary edition of some sort and putting it out that way.

[Iamspartacus]

Dr. Strangelove

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

Dr. Strangelove

The existing disc comes from a 4K restoration

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

Dr. Strangelove

Wasn't a new 2K scan struck for the original BD release? If so, Sony can hold off until 4K discs hit the market in a year or so.

[MifuneFan]

Restoring Dr. Strangelove at 4K

Through over-printing and damage created at the time of initial release, the negative of Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War black comedy DR. STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB was destroyed at the laboratory over forty years ago. This presentation will detail the history of the preservation aspects of the film, including the decision to digitally restore the film at Cineric, Inc., a New York laboratory that specializes in film restoration.

Chemical stains, scratches and dirt were either printed into, or physically embedded into, all existing film elements. After examination and testing, it was determined the best elements for the restoration were a 35mm fine-grain master positive, a 35mm duplicate negative and a 35mm print. Each element represented a different manufacturing generation from the original camera negative, resulting in wide variations in density and contrast. It was felt that the only way to restore the film correctly, given the many different elements, their poor condition, and the need to maintain the filmmakers’ aesthetic intentions, was to use a complete 4K digital workflow.

Somewhat emulating the digital intermediate workflow, the selected film was prepared for scanning and processing. Cineric used a specially adapted Oxberry film scanner to convert the various elements into data files in 10-bit log DPX, and Dan DeVincent, the lab’s Director of Digital Restoration, created look-up tables (LUTs) designed to optimize the scanner for each element and achieve the dynamic range of 35mm film. A LUT could be applied on the scanner, for example, to bring a shot from the print much closer to the fine-grain, and bridge it even further using density and contrast correction.

Cineric engineers also developed a wet-gate scanning technique that eliminated many flaws. Although most of the flaws in the surviving film elements were manually removed, Da Vinci’s Revival– automated image-restoration software–was also used to find and fix other imperfections. During later passes, the Cineric team corrected other anomalies such as flicker and unsteadiness, and density fluctuations were addressed in a final color-correction pass. At each phase of the restoration there was careful examination of the results to check for introduced artifacts or for anomalies that may have been left in the image.

A Lasergraphics Producer 2 Motion Picture Film Recording System was used to record out to film. Because the recorder had been designed for use with color intermediate film, the film-out process had to be adapted for the black and white DR. STRANGELOVE. Cineric used other proprietary LUTs to ensure that any future version of the film for exhibition, whether through 35mm projection or digital cinema projection or home-video editions of the picture, would retain the exact look of the restored film master.

http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/fi...ed/strangelove

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/fi...ed/strangelove

That sounds like the 1.66:1 aspect ratio is essentially "fixed" unless they rescan everything again.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/fi...ed/strangelove

If the negative was destroyed over 40 years ago, what have they been using to produce the plethora of home video releases over the years?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

If the negative was destroyed over 40 years ago, what have they been using to produce the plethora of home video releases over the years?

Duplicates

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

That sounds like the 1.66:1 aspect ratio is essentially "fixed" unless they rescan everything again.

I shouldn't think so. It would've been scanned in fullap like everything else, so while the resultant masters are at 1.66 the scans are not.

[I KEEL YOU]

You can tell that the transfer of Strangelove isn't from the original negative even though it's 4K. It doesn't have that sharpness that proper ON 4K scans have. It still looks pretty good though and I'm happy with the transfer.

[Riddler95]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Not true. The 'Mastered in 4K' releases offer significant to marginal improvements depending on the release.

is 99% of the time in lossy format. PCM can be used on DVD, but was rarely/never used.

If the source is the same, then the Blu-ray if in lossless format will sound even better than the DVD. Don't forget that tracks can be tweaked and levels boosted to make them sound 'better', which I think was more common on DVD, due to the lossy nature of the codec's used.

I almost bought the 4K Mastered Edition of Ghostbusters but I held off because I assumed they'd release a Double Feature set with both films and they did a great job with that new set.

I remember reading about the development of DVD and it said that DVD is able to utilize PCM audio but the problem was it took up an enormous amount of disc space and they were sacrificing picture quality for sound. Therefore Dolby Digital was made the standard for the audio on DVD because is still sounded quite good for a lossy format and took up little disc space. Unfortunately full bitrate DTS tracks for DVD suffered the same fate as PCM, so the studios began using the reduced bitrate (755kbps) for DTS tracks on DVD. The reduced DTS bitrate still sounded very good and was still better than Dolby Digital but the full bitrate DTS still sounded considerably better.

PCM was used on the majority of Blu-Ray releases for about the first two years of the format's life; they stopped using it in favour of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio because they offered identical sound quality and took up very little disc space.

I owned the original 2007 Blu-Ray of Casino Royale which used 5.1 PCM, then I replaced it with the 2008 2-Disc Collector's Edition which used 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and before I gave my 2007 Edition away I compared the audio between the two and I could not tell the difference.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

I almost bought the 4K Mastered Edition of Ghostbusters but I held off because I assumed they'd release a Double Feature set with both films and they did a great job with that new set.

I remember reading about the development of DVD and it said that DVD is able to utilize PCM audio but the problem was it took up an enormous amount of disc space and they were sacrificing picture quality for sound. Therefore Dolby Digital was made the standard for the audio on DVD because is still sounded quite good for a lossy format and took up little disc space. Unfortunately full bitrate DTS tracks for DVD suffered the same fate as PCM, so the studios began using the reduced bitrate (755kbps) for DTS tracks on DVD. The reduced DTS bitrate still sounded very good and was still better than Dolby Digital but the full bitrate DTS still sounded considerably better.

PCM was used on the majority of Blu-Ray releases for about the first two years of the format's life; they stopped using it in favour of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio because they offered identical sound quality and took up very little disc space.

I owned the original 2007 Blu-Ray of Casino Royale which used 5.1 PCM, then I replaced it with the 2008 2-Disc Collector's Edition which used 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and before I gave my 2007 Edition away I compared the audio between the two and I could not tell difference.

And the new CR has DTS! Collect them all, I have and I still rate the PCM personally

[Iamspartacus]

My problem with Strangelove isn't the transfer. It's that I don't own it and it's out of print. I want it in the 4K line just so I can own it without paying ebay prices.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

My problem with Strangelove isn't the transfer. It's that I don't own it and it's out of print. I want it in the 4K line just so I can own it without paying ebay prices.

Prices are fairly reasonable on Amazon now that the disc will be in print again in the Masterpiece Collection.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=any

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Prices are fairly reasonable on Amazon now that the disc will be in print again in the Masterpiece Collection.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=any

What's The Masterpiece Collection?

EDIT: Oh, it's that Kubrick box. I thought it was a line of Sony releases.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

They're going to lose the rights to that soon.

There going to loose the rights to Black Hawk Down? Why.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Canada

There going to loose the rights to Black Hawk Down? Why.

Keep reading the thread.

[Kamelot]

I'm totally in for The Fifth Element, Leon, Black Hawk Down, Mask of Zorro and Bad Boys 2. I love these movies, I double-dipped on DVD and I wouldn't mind doing it again on Blu-ray.