DaViD Boulet
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 1999
- Messages
- 8,826
In all fairness,
we've always *known* that our SD images were compromised. We just knew that it was the best compromise that was an affordable option for most of us.
HD at 1080p24 really touches on "transparency" at 1.25-1.5 screen-widths viewing distance if the film source is properley transfered and mastered. For the first time outside of D-VHS (which had mastering issues with filtering etc.), consumers will have a legitimate opportunity to purchase movies for home-viewing that really *do* look like the projected film-prints that the director intended you to see.
Couple that with lossless high-res audio packing on HD media and you've got a very "transparent" recording of the film... but image and sound... available to own.
The real issue with HD media will be the question of MASTERING. Was the film properly transfered to the digital domain with minimal loss? Was the mastering handled with great care so that subsequent digital processing didn't introduce artifacts not present in the film source? Did the studio avoid compromising fidelity by filtering out HF detail in an effort to reduce "grain" or other natural film-related artifacts?
But the medium itself will have the potential to be a *reasonably* transparent conduit, if fully utilized.
Closer than 1.25 screen-widths and 35mm film may still reveal increased detail and 1920 x 1080p is not able to resolve the visible detail in a large-format negative/print. So there's still a ways to go especially if you're a front-row viewer! But for most of our beloved movies, the real-deal is about to debut.
I honestly can't understand how any film enthusiast would *not* be interested in building their film library in HD as soon as they can afford to do so.
we've always *known* that our SD images were compromised. We just knew that it was the best compromise that was an affordable option for most of us.
HD at 1080p24 really touches on "transparency" at 1.25-1.5 screen-widths viewing distance if the film source is properley transfered and mastered. For the first time outside of D-VHS (which had mastering issues with filtering etc.), consumers will have a legitimate opportunity to purchase movies for home-viewing that really *do* look like the projected film-prints that the director intended you to see.
Couple that with lossless high-res audio packing on HD media and you've got a very "transparent" recording of the film... but image and sound... available to own.
The real issue with HD media will be the question of MASTERING. Was the film properly transfered to the digital domain with minimal loss? Was the mastering handled with great care so that subsequent digital processing didn't introduce artifacts not present in the film source? Did the studio avoid compromising fidelity by filtering out HF detail in an effort to reduce "grain" or other natural film-related artifacts?
But the medium itself will have the potential to be a *reasonably* transparent conduit, if fully utilized.
Closer than 1.25 screen-widths and 35mm film may still reveal increased detail and 1920 x 1080p is not able to resolve the visible detail in a large-format negative/print. So there's still a ways to go especially if you're a front-row viewer! But for most of our beloved movies, the real-deal is about to debut.
I honestly can't understand how any film enthusiast would *not* be interested in building their film library in HD as soon as they can afford to do so.