Pointless releases for HD DVD/BD (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

everything should be available in a hi def format.

"was referring to material where the original elements did not warrant an HD release."

according to who.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

If something was shot (say) on DV in 480i, the question does arise, why scale it to some other resolution and put that out on disc? After all, the HD players will scale SD video to a "target resolution", and even if that scaling is less advanced than what could be achieved in a professional setting, it's certainly not desirable to scale (say) once to 1080p and then a second time to 720p or 1080i. It would be kinder to the subject matter and a saving of disc space to just present it in its native resolution.

In fact, I think that ought to be a rule : video material always to be presented in its native resolution and framerate. You can do 1080p18 scans of your Super-8 films, but leave my 1080i30 HD videotapes alone.

 

[Stephen Brooks]

Does this mean when 4K TV's and digital cinema become the norm (in the far off future I know), it'll be pointless to release Lord of the Rings (2K digital intermediate) or the Star Wars prequels (shot in 1080p HD)?

 

[TonyD]

werent some tv shows in the 70's recorded on vhs or something equal to vhs tape?

maybe none of that should have been released on a higher resolution format.

seriously, what is the point.
there is always a going to be a higher format.

 

[Adam Barratt]

I buy HD discs for the upgraded video, but also for audio, and virtually every title listed above would benefit from the improved audio available on these new formats.

Adam

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Indeed, let me add too, every movie should be released in hi def format.

 

[JayDerek]

I'll chime in too....EXTREMELY pointless thread.

Every film would be better (some in differing degrees) to being released in HD.

Wasn't Open Water SHOT w/ hd cameras? So yeah, obviously that would make it a nice HD release.

~Jason

 

[Stephen_J_H]

No, Open Water was shot with DV cams, just like Bamboozled and 28 Days Later, not to mention the numerous Dogme 95 films shot on DV. If you want to see the difference between shot on HD and shot on DV, pick any Robert Rodriguez film shot post-Spy Kids or Star Wars Episode II or III and compare it to one of the films above. You will IMMEDIATELY see a difference, even if you put the disc in one of Toshiba's HD DVD players and upscale. There is a HUGE difference in PQ. If the studios want to take advantage of the increased storage capacity and "advanced resolution" audio on BD or HD DVD, fine with me; just don't go touting the product as HD when it isn't, and don't go to the trouble of wasting disc space by upscaling the product to 1080i. It isn't going to make it look any better than an SD DVD put through a scaler.

 

[RickER]

Star Trek: TNG looks pretty bad on my plasma, with regular DVD. The effects were shot on video i belive. Gonna need a bunch of work to make it look 1/2 good for Hi Def.

 

[BrettB]

No NRAF No Sale!

 

[Dave H]

No offense, but this is a pointless thread because these are just titles YOU don't like. We can argue all day over this - no point.

 

[MatthewA]

Not in "fake HD," but a taped show like All in the Family could theoretically fit all its episodes on 1 BD-50.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

For the record, I loved most of these films. I'm just saying it's a waste of disc space to try and create simulated HD out of them.

 

[Rolando]

I think he mentioned they were not necesarily movies he did not like but rather movies who's native resolution is less than the HD standard (720p and 1080i).

Basicaly that would make these "fake HD" or upscaled presentations rather than true HD.

I understand his point. However I am curious to see how they actually look. as someone mentioned, not all TVs, upconverting players. HD players or scalers work the same. A professional upconversion on disc might be better than a 480i DVD played on a $50 upconverting player bought at Best Buy.

EDIT: Oops, I guess I was a little slow on the reply but the other part of my post is still worth reading I guess.

 

[Chad Ferguson]

One of the only releases I can actually think apply to this almost pointless thread was the release of Full Metal Jacket. Seeing it made me never look back on the DVD puchase of it in anyway.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

The thing is, nearly all those films have already gone through the process when they were converted to 35mm film. If the HD transfers are made from that, then it is going to look a lot better than being scaled in realtime by a DVD player.

 

[Douglas Monce]

The effects on Star Trek: The Next Generation where actually shot on 35mm film, however the composting was done in an analog chroma key generator until about the 3rd or 4th season when they converted to digital compositing.

Also even though the show was shot on 35mm film, it was edited on video at a resolution of 480i. (as were most TV shows of the late 80s and into the 90s) Again this was done on an analog system until about the 3rd season. Thats why the first 3 seasons look so noisy. After that the editing was done on a D1 system.

That’s the best it’s ever going to look unless Paramount goes back and rescans 7 seasons of raw film in high def, and then re-cuts each show. Not to mention re-scanning all of the effects elements in high def and re-composite them. This would be true of all the Star Trek shows except for the Original Show (edited on film) and Enterprise (edited High Def).

Doug

 

[RickER]

Thanks Douglas. I knew i had read that before. I am sure on one of the many Trek threads. But it will be interesting to see what studios do with 70s and 80s video in the new HD era. I hope these shows dont fall away from site, like Black and White shows seem to.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Rick,

Most tv shows up until about 1985 were still being shot and edited on 35mm film. (except for the sitcoms) So ironicly a show from the 50s like Perry Mason will look fantastic on HD where as a show from the 80s like LA Law will look fairly crappy.

Actually some of the early sitcoms like I Love Lucy will look better than 80s shows because they were shot and edited on film.

I think the one interesting idea that someone here brought up is putting the shows on an HD format in standard def. You could get a whole season on 1 or 2 discs.

Doug

 

[Dave H]

Gotcha - sorry.