Sony "Mastered in 4K" -- Done?

[Riddler95]

I knew that Sony's Mastered In 4K Blu-Ray line wouldn't last. They were overpriced for barebones discs and as far as I knew the quality really wasn't that much better than the regular editions. I knew this line would suffer the same fate as Superbit DVD. Only a few Superbit titles actually offered a significant improvement over the regular editions when it came to picture quality.

I did own the Superbit DVD Editions of Spider-Man & Spider-Man 2 because based on the reviews I read the transfers were a huge improvement over the regular 2-Disc editions. I eventually replaced my Superbit Editions with the 2012 Blu-Ray Editions and the Blu-Rays offered a noticeable improvement in both picture & sound quality.

I still own my Superbit DVD of Hook; I am planning on getting the Blu-Ray but the 5.1 DTS Mix on the Superbit is one of the best 5.1 Audio Mixes I've ever heard. I also still own my Superbit Deluxe 2-Disc DVD Edition of The Mask Of Zorro; it was one of the few Superbits to have a bonus disc loaded with extras.

[I KEEL YOU]

There weren't many titles left which would truly benefit from this treatment since most of Sony's releases are great to begin with. It's just unfortunate that Dracula wasn't given a release in this line.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I don't know, but they should have come up with another way to express it, because all it does is cause confusion among neophyte (and some not-so-neophyte) consumers.

They look at such a title, think they're watching 4K and they think, "well, it's good, but I don't see that much of a difference."

What are they going to call "real" 4K? I suppose those can be labeled UHD, but the confusion will remain.

And for the record, a digitally shot movie that was shot with a 2K camera isn't going to look any better mastered in 4K.

Actually it can, their is more to image quality then just resolution.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by Riddler95

I knew that Sony's Mastered In 4K Blu-Ray line wouldn't last. They were overpriced for barebones discs and as far as I knew the quality really wasn't that much better than the regular editions. I knew this line would suffer the same fate as Superbit DVD. Only a few Superbit titles actually offered a significant improvement over the regular editions when it came to picture quality.

Not true. The 'Mastered in 4K' releases offer significant to marginal improvements depending on the release. Those that feature a significant improvement include:

Ghostbusters
Glory
Godzilla
MiB

The rest are marginal but still offer an improvement.

Originally Posted by Riddler95

I did own the Superbit DVD Editions of Spider-Man & Spider-Man 2 because based on the reviews I read the transfers were a huge improvement over the regular 2-Disc editions. I eventually replaced my Superbit Editions with the 2012 Blu-Ray Editions and the Blu-Rays offered a noticeable improvement in both picture & sound quality.

That's because you are going from DVD to Blu-ray.

Originally Posted by Riddler95

I still own my Superbit DVD of Hook; I am planning on getting the Blu-Ray but the 5.1 DTS Mix on the Superbit is one of the best 5.1 Audio Mixes I've ever heard. I also still own my Superbit Deluxe 2-Disc DVD Edition of The Mask Of Zorro; it was one of the few Superbits to have a bonus disc loaded with extras.

Audio on DVD 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.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Not true. The 'Mastered in 4K' releases offer significant to marginal improvements depending on the release. Those that feature a significant improvement include:

Ghostbusters
Glory
Godzilla
MiB

The rest are marginal but still offer an improvement.



That's because you are going from DVD to Blu-ray.



Audio on DVD 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.

Agreed. With the other titles the difference is negligible. The main problem is that you lose the extended cuts of Total Recall. The Other Guys, and Angels and Demons.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

Actually it can, their is more to image quality then just resolution.

I can agree with that.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Agreed. With the other titles the difference is negligible. The main problem is that you lose the extended cuts of Total Recall. The Other Guys, and Angels and Demons.

Battle LA was arguably worse than the regular BD.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Battle LA was arguably worse than the regular BD.

Yeah, Moneyball didn't look any better either.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Agreed. With the other titles the difference is negligible. The main problem is that you lose the extended cuts of Total Recall. The Other Guys, and Angels and Demons.

Yep.

And Pineapple Express.

For those interested I made a list with regards to the 'Mi4K' releases worth picking up. The ones that I have listed above are significantly superior. The others that I have listed offer a marginal improvement:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=2546

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Yep.

And Pineapple Express.

For those interested I made a list with regards to the 'Mi4K' releases worth picking up. The ones that I have listed above are significantly superior. the others that I have listed offer a marginal improvement (Spiderman 2 being the most):

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=2546

You thought Moneyball was worth purchasing? I mean there is a slight uptick in grain structure, but it's tough to see.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

You thought Moneyball was worth purchasing? I mean there is a slight uptick in grain structure, but it's tough to see.

Original release features slight EE.

If you look closely here, slight haloing and the grain has been aggravated.

[GenPion]

Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 offered huge improvements. You're forgetting those two. (Or haven't seen how big the difference is in motion. Huge difference. It was like going between a DVD and a Blu-ray between the two Blu-ray editions).

Granted, now that 4K Blu-ray disc as a format has been announced, I'm not even sure how big of a rush I'd be in to get more in the MI4K line (on non-4K Blu-ray). Hopefully they will announce plenty of new titles with actual 4K Blu-ray editions by end of next year for the format launch.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Original release features EE.

I edited my post with regards to Spiderman 2. I am not too sure about that one now.

Yeah, but you really have to look for that EE in Moneyball.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

You thought Moneyball was worth purchasing? I mean there is a slight uptick in grain structure, but it's tough to see.

I'm surprised that you don't support this particular title.

So, here's the consensus so far:

The Amazing Spider-Man = no
Angels and Demons = yes
Battle LA = no
Ghostbusters = yes
Glory = yes
Godzilla = yes
The Karate Kid = yes
Lawrence of Arabia (Japan) = yes (movie is split across two discs instead of crammed on one)
Men in Black = yes
Moneyball = yes
The Other Guys = no
Pineapple Express = yes
Spider-Man = yes
Spider-Man 2 = YMMV (framing is significantly different)
Taxi Driver = no
Total Recall = no

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Black Hawk Down is one of the all-time best-selling BDs (despite the MPEG2 encode), so the market is already saturated. The only people who would double dip are BD.com members.

Generally a good reason to double dip.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by #Darren

Generally a good reason to double dip.

Time has run out. By the time they get it to market, Sony's license will be close to finished.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

I'm surprised that you don't support this particular title.

So, here's the consensus so far:

The Amazing Spider-Man = no
Angels and Demons = yes
Battle LA = no
Ghostbusters = yes
Glory = yes
Godzilla = yes
The Karate Kid = no
Lawrence of Arabia (Japan) = yes (movie is split across two discs instead of crammed on one)
Men in Black = yes
Moneyball = yes
The Other Guys = no
Pineapple Express = yes
Spider-Man = yes
Spider-Man 2 = YMMV (framing is significantly different)
Taxi Driver = no
Total Recall = no

IMO, there is definitely a bigger improvement on Karate Kid than on the Japanese Lawrence of Arabia:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

IMO, there is definitely a bigger improvement on Karate Kid than on the Japanese Lawrence of Arabia:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

Wow, that's my first time looking at the screencaps. How come red looks so bad on the previous BD?

Updated the list.

[MifuneFan]

The Karate Kid: Reduced Smog edition

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

The Karate Kid: Reduced Smog edition

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