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4K Remastering

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  • 07-11-2020 8:05pm
    #1
    The White Wolf
    Registered Users Posts: 5,135 ✭✭✭


    I recently invested in a 4K/Ultra HD set up at home, partly because I wanted to have the enjoyment of experiencing old favourites I never would have had the chance to watch at the cinema.

    Amongst my first purchase was Batman 89 and Returns and having finally sat down to watch 89 today, I was disappointed. I found the whole 4K pristine application very jarring and it took my out of the film completely. I missed the grainy saturation of the original release and just to test my sanity, I then threw my old Crow blu ray on and had a much more enjoyable experience.

    So what I'm asking is, is Batman 89 a bad example of 4K Remastering or are such remasterings generally disappointing?


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    #2
    Nigzcurran
    Registered Users Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Nigzcurran


    The White Wolf wrote: »
    I recently invested in a 4K/Ultra HD set up at home, partly because I wanted to have the enjoyment of experiencing old favourites I never would have had the chance to watch at the cinema.

    Amongst my first purchase was Batman 89 and Returns and having finally sat down to watch 89 today, I was disappointed. I found the whole 4K pristine application very jarring and it took my out of the film completely. I missed the grainy saturation of the original release and just to test my sanity, I then threw my old Crow blu ray on and had a much more enjoyable experience.

    So what I'm asking is, is Batman 89 a bad example of 4K Remastering or are such remasterings generally disappointing?

    Sometimes old films are just meant to look old to be honest


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    #3
    The White Wolf
    Registered Users Posts: 5,135 ✭✭✭The White Wolf


    Ah yeah that's what I'm gathering, for more recent releases it will be good. It will save me further money anyway as I won't be buying any such remasterings unless I hear otherwise.


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    #4
    Tony EH
    Registered Users Posts: 18,910 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    I've yet to be convinced by the 4K malarkey myself, as in the benefits of the set up and all that. Regular 1080p does perfectly fine for me at the moment.

    But, I have seen some 4K remasters that have been excellent and some that I haven't been wowed by. 'Escape From New York' left me unimpressed and I thought it looked quite soft, for example. The 4K remaster of 'The Thing' however was bloody fantastic.

    There are some 4K OCN scan/1080p blu rays that have been done that have knocked my socks off too. Criterion's 'Night of the Living Dead' is like seeing the film for the first time. Although not a 4K disk, it looked and sounded excellent and I doubt there would be any real benefit in putting out a 4K disc anyway.

    I personally don't have a 4K set up and I don't see myself being that bothered to get one either. But my mate has one and we've watched a few things. But I am not seeing that much of an incentive to splash out and "upgrade" my 1080p set just yet. One thing I will say about the 4K discs that I have watched, is that they tend to leave the film in its original filmic state. In other words there's no scrubbing or DNR applied.

    As to 'Batman', seems bluray.com thought it was very good.

    https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Batman-4K-Blu-ray/230456/

    Maybe you need to fiddle a bit with the TV settings?


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    #5
    PsychoPete
    Registered Users Posts: 8,572 ✭✭✭PsychoPete


    I think it depends on the film likes of the newer superhero and sci-fi films I can see the appeal in watching those in 4k but I wouldn't bother with the likes of Shawshank Redemption in 4k. I did see LOTR is coming out in 4k uhd soon, that does tempt me


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    #6
    pixelburp
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 35,941 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    Yeah, high definition can be a funny business as those upscales can end up making things looking worse; not just in the texture or feel of the video, but stuff like set dressing can be shown up. I remember watching the HD remaster of Star Trek: The Next Generation series and while the clarity of the actual picture was fantastic (as it used the original film stock), the high definition output unfortunately revealed just how tatty and flimsy the props or sets were. Balding carpet, screws and dust that would have been hidden in the original, standard definition broadcast. Just took a shine off of the technically perfect picture.


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    #7
    sabat
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,896 ✭✭✭sabat


    Have you looked up the recommended settings for your TV? If it's a common model you'll often get videos of guys with professional calibration equipment going through all the obscure levels.


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    #8
    mikhail
    Registered Users Posts: 3,863 ✭✭✭mikhail


    PsychoPete wrote: »
    I think it depends on the film likes of the newer superhero and sci-fi films I can see the appeal in watching those in 4k but I wouldn't bother with the likes of Shawshank Redemption in 4k. I did see LOTR is coming out in 4k uhd soon, that does tempt me
    I would fear that some of the CGI in LotR might be a bit ragged in 4k.


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    #9
    Snake Plisken
    Registered Users Posts: 12,431 ✭✭✭✭Snake Plisken


    I have 65" 4K oled TV and invested in a 4K Apple TV as you can pick up cheap 4K titles I think Jaws looks fantastic in 4K as does Goonies and Beetlejuice in my opinion. The Shining looks great as well. I like to see grain.
    I would recommend checking out Spare changes channel on YouTube he reveiws the specs and picture quality
    Here is his Batman Returns review
    https://youtu.be/r00O-tkP7lI


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    #10
    Flesh Gorden
    Registered Users Posts: 1,301 ✭✭✭Flesh Gorden


    pixelburp wrote: »
    the high definition output unfortunately revealed just how tatty and flimsy the props or sets were. Balding carpet, screws and dust that would have been hidden in the original, standard definition broadcast. Just took a shine off of the technically perfect picture.

    I had that moment with Stargate.

    Practically wore out the VHS as a kid, bought it on Blu-Ray and realised the moons were photos of our own at different rotations.


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    #11
    B.A._Baracus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,171 ✭✭✭✭B.A._Baracus


    How does a conversion work anyways?
    Like I hear alot of movies were shot on 35mm. Does that give a lot of clarity when converting later to 4k?

    Or it has to be run through software that makes things sharper?


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    #12
    Snake Plisken
    Registered Users Posts: 12,431 ✭✭✭✭Snake Plisken


    B.A._Baracus wrote: »
    How does a conversion work anyways?
    Like I hear alot of movies were shot on 35mm. Does that give a lot of clarity when converting later to 4k?

    Or it has to be run through software that makes things sharper?
    Depends they messed up T2 blame Cameron for that went to smooth terrible , I prefer conversions like Jaws where you can still see the fine grain.


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    #13
    Tony EH
    Registered Users Posts: 18,910 ✭✭✭✭Tony EH


    B.A._Baracus wrote: »
    How does a conversion work anyways?
    Like I hear alot of movies were shot on 35mm. Does that give a lot of clarity when converting later to 4k?

    Or it has to be run through software that makes things sharper?

    No. Typical 35mm film is roughly equivalent to 4K. So, there's no "conversion" like there would be with DVD or Blu Ray. Blu Ray is roughly 2K, so the image has to be processed to "reduce" it, as it were. Obviously, there's still a conversion going on on 4K digital releases, because of the different media involved. But, it's more faithful to the OCN.

    As fas as "sharper" is concerned, I am unaware of any artificial sharpening in 4K releases. At least I haven't heard of any reviews say that any edge enhancement had been applied. Edge enhancement was pretty common on Blu Ray though and could be quite noticeable on bigger screens. Most people would be oblivious to it, but once you know what to look it for, it can be quite jarring.

    There's been a trend lately, though, to move away from tinkering too much with DNR and edge enhancement on Blu Rays and companies tend to leave the film as alone as they can, where film grain and such is concerned.

    This is, obviously, a good thing.


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    #14
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Hi, just checking.
    Most new TVs come with a special setting turned on. On my TV it’s called TruMotion.
    Make sure this is turned off, it makes everything look weird, especially old movies.

    It adds additional fake frames, instead of using the original frame rate (normally 24fps for cinema)

    To me it ruins the experience. But you have to turn it off on most cases.

    If you don’t believe, listen to Tom cruise explain it :-)
    https://youtu.be/UbCZpcy0eAk


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    #15
    The White Wolf
    Registered Users Posts: 5,135 ✭✭✭The White Wolf


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    Hi, just checking.
    Most new TVs come with a special setting turned on. On my TV it’s called TruMotion.
    Make sure this is turned off, it makes everything look weird, especially old movies.

    It adds additional fake frames, instead of using the original frame rate (normally 24fps for cinema)

    To me it ruins the experience. But you have to turn it off on most cases.

    If you don’t believe, listen to Tom cruise explain it :-)
    https://youtu.be/UbCZpcy0eAk

    Cool I will give that a go.


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