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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Casablanca (70th Anniversary) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

rsmithjr

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Peter Apruzzese said:
Wouldn't it have been great if the studios had settled on 4K originally, instead of making US pay for 2k machines and then a couple of years later going to 4K? Imagine if they didn't have it in their business plans to try and shut down most independent theatres (which IS part of their business plans) with costly unending upgrades (Series 1 and Series 2 mods anybody)? And then you have Sony selling their awful machines into every AMC, ensuring that all non-3D shows get a nice dim presentation since their engineering geniuses didn't figure out a way to make their 3D kit easily removable by the end user.
Properly used, the Sony 4K machines look tremendous. I understand that they have a serious design failure WRT the 3D.
Projection equipment must be totally computerized and automated, with QC built into the system. One of the things Sony does right is that they have a network control center that monitors the projection at their customer sites.
 

Peter Apruzzese

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rsmithjr said:
Properly used, the Sony 4K machines look tremendous. I understand that they have a serious design failure WRT the 3D.
Projection equipment must be totally computerized and automated, with QC built into the system. One of the things Sony does right is that they have a network control center that monitors the projection at their customer sites.
Many techs hate the Sony machines. I've haven't used one personally. They can't monitor incorrect operation, however: when I went to see Hugo, they decided to run it in scope instead of 1.85. Nothing like ruining a perfectly composed film. AMC's "guest services" desk was clueless when I told them what was wrong - they'd been running it that way for a few days.
Robert Harris said:
Business plans aside, most theatres really don't need 4k, unless they have huge screens.
There is nothing wrong with quality 2k projection of normal theatrical product.
Digital smoke and mirrors.
RAH
This is true, but since they will now be pushing 4K publicly, they are effectively telling our customers that the gear we have isn't good enough.
Chas in CT said:
Peter, how is the Lafayette equipped? Also, isn't that an exceptionally long throw? I guess the only thing I've seen there in digital so far is "Bye Bye Birdie", which looked very fine to these eyes.
Christie 2K with a Dolby server and Real-D; about a 150 foot throw, and the screen is 32 feet wide in scope. Birdie looked very nice, but the best digital show I ran was Mysterious Island - I think the added grain from the opticals made it look more 'natural'.
 

Robert Harris

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Peter Apruzzese said:
This is true, but since they will now be pushing 4K publicly, they are effectively telling our customers that the gear we have isn't good enough.
Can't wait until home theater gear gets to 4k, people purchase it, and try to figure out why.
There is nothing wrong with Blu-ray in 1920 x 1080 for home theater. 2k might be interesting, but 4k? Please...
I remember fondly when every year Detroit would make the fins larger...
and then smaller.
RAH
 

John Stockton

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Robert Harris said:
2k is worthless for a film like Ben-Hur.
 
The theatre I was in had a 35 foot wide screen so the 2K image was not that bad. In fact the picture looked nice at times. But I agree that aside from a 70MM print, the ideal way to see Ben-Hur now, is on an industrial 8K projector. Unfortunately finding a theatre that has 8k and is showing Ben-Hur is like finding a virgin in a maternity ward. :D
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by John Stockton /t/319152/a-few-words-about-casablanca-70th-anniversary-in-blu-ray/90#post_3908688
The theatre I was in had a 35 foot wide screen so the 2K image was not that bad. In fact the picture looked nice at times. But I agree that aside from a 70MM print, the ideal way to see Ben-Hur now, is on an industrial 8K projector. Unfortunately finding a theatre that has 8k and is showing Ben-Hur is like finding a virgin in a maternity ward.
2k is generally fine for a theatre with a 35 foot screen, which is not that large. Ben-Hur does not show off its attributes at 2k, at which rez one is viewing it much like a 35mm anamorphic print, ie. 1/4 rez.

RAH
 

Traveling Matt

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rsmithjr said:
It is sad that we have lost the really special presentations of the past.
I agree, Robert. I thoroughly enjoyed Ben-Hur but remain nostalgic for presentation on film. Whether 2k or 4k, neither can compare to a print.
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by Traveling Matt /t/319152/a-few-words-about-casablanca-70th-anniversary-in-blu-ray/90#post_3908775
I agree, Robert. I thoroughly enjoyed Ben-Hur but remain nostalgic for presentation on film. Whether 2k or 4k, neither can compare to a print.
You might be pleasantly surprised by a proper 4k presentation.

RAH
 

rsmithjr

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Robert Harris said:
You might be pleasantly surprised by a proper 4k presentation.
RAH
4K does look nice if done properly, I have seen it.
But part of the overall exhibition is, of course, the theatre itself: screen, sound system, curtain, seating, lobby, general care taken into things. Amenities like the organ, nice posters in the lobby, chandeliers. It all adds up.
I only know of a few theatres that come close to what we used to have routinely.
 

Colin Jacobson

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Originally Posted by Robert Crawford /t/319152/a-few-words-about-casablanca-70th-anniversary-in-blu-ray/60#post_3908233
Some of this continuing audio discussion leaves me with the feeling of WTF is going on here.
WTF is going on here? HTF is going on here!
 
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I had the unfortunate experience of seeing a John Wayne double feature during the OC Film Festival at a theater in Newport Beach. Both movies ("The Searchers" followed by "The Cowboys") were projected from the DVDs released by WHV. It was baaaaaaaaaaaad :(
The only good thing about that night was the presence of Patrick Wayne, who did a brief talk and Q&A between the movies.
 

OliverK

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Robert Harris said:
Can't wait until home theater gear gets to 4k, people purchase it, and try to figure out why.
There is nothing wrong with Blu-ray in 1920 x 1080 for home theater. 2k might be interesting, but 4k? Please...
I remember fondly when every year Detroit would make the fins larger...
and then smaller.
RAH
4k is beneficial if you sit close enough. For most people the added resolution is becoming visible at 1.5 screen widths away from a 4k picture and moving closer it is very nice to have at a viewing distance of 1 screen width. Not much to be gained from 4k for many home theaters with bigger relative viewing distances but then 4k 2D is not expected to become as widespread as regular Blu-ray from what I heard.
Will it get big enough to matter at all in the market? Not sure but I surely am going to buy once software is starting to get released and therefore do my part to make 4k in home theatres into an at least moderate success.
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by OliverK /t/319152/a-few-words-about-casablanca-70th-anniversary-in-blu-ray/90#post_3908991
4k is beneficial if you sit close enough. For most people the added resolution is becoming visible at 1.5 screen widths away from a 4k picture and moving closer it is very nice to have at a viewing distance of 1 screen width. Not much to be gained from 4k for many home theaters with bigger relative viewing distances but then 4k 2D is not expected to become as widespread as regular Blu-ray from what I heard.
Will it get big enough to matter at all in the market? Not sure but I surely am going to buy once software is starting to get released and therefore do my part to make 4k in home theatres into an at least moderate success.
Most digital intermediates are 2k.
 

OliverK

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Robert Harris said:
Most digital intermediates are 2k. 
Which is one of the reasons that 4k will have a limited selection of titles initially. Sony has a substantial 4k library though and they are predictably willing to do something with it. Most recent scans of large format films would also be usable towards a 4k disc format plus of course a growing number of newer movies shot on red and other >2k digital cameras. So while 4k still isn't the norm things are moving in the right direction.
 

Worth

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OliverK said:
4k is beneficial if you sit close enough. For most people the added resolution is becoming visible at 1.5 screen widths away from a 4k picture and moving closer it is very nice to have at a viewing distance of 1 screen width. Not much to be gained from 4k for many home theaters with bigger relative viewing distances but then 4k 2D is not expected to become as widespread as regular Blu-ray from what I heard.
Will it get big enough to matter at all in the market? Not sure but I surely am going to buy once software is starting to get released and therefore do my part to make 4k in home theatres into an at least moderate success.
I can't really see the point of 4K for home theatre. Unless you have a massive front projection setup, you're not going to see any difference. And what would you watch on it? With blu-ray rapidly becoming laserdisc Mark II, do you really see the studios bothering to invest in yet another format?
 

OliverK

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Worth said:
I can't really see the point of 4K for home theatre. Unless you have a massive front projection setup, you're not going to see any difference. And what would you watch on it? With blu-ray rapidly becoming laserdisc Mark II, do you really see the studios bothering to invest in yet another format?
Well I have a front projection setup and have tested content at 4k vs 2k and the difference was clearly visible with proper seating distances even on smaller screens, so I could certainly benefit. Of course I cannot control what the studios do (unfortunately :D) so it remains anybodys guess if and when 4k will ever really take off. The hardware is already there though and hardware manufacturers like Sony and LG push for 4k content with first releases expected next year.
Regarding the Blu-Ray vs LD comparison: I think that is misleading as prices are not nearly as high as for LD for both hard- and software and market penetration is already much bigger than it ever was for LD. Plus with many new Blu-Ray releases already being derived from 4k or higher origins the added cost to bring out a deluxe 4k edition is very small compared to a complete new master that will indeed be hard to justify from the studio beancounter perspective.
 

DVDFile says that at 09:06 there is a dropped frame. Can anyone confirm this, or is it an edit from the original production?

EDIT: Nevermind. I see it on the previous blu-ray as well. Looks more like flicker to me.
 

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