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A Few Words About A few words about...™ HDR -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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What part?

I believe there has not been a single film that has been moved to digital (laserdisc on) that hasn't been modified from the original 35mm,70mm, etc film in some fashion. This could be edge enhancement, sharping, colorization, blah, blah and I would bet most of them were not coordinated with the creator of the movie.
 

Michel_Hafner

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I watched the BD of "Tess" yesterday which is from a 4K restoration. This is a movie that has little to no use for HDR (except maybe one shot), little for Rec2020 but can use the 10 bit, of course. The look is almost always low contrast and often with diffusion filters as well. If there is a UHD BD there will be no HDR on it, I guess. "La reine Margot" (another 4K restoration) on the other hand with HDR and Rec2020 could be a very worthwhile exercise.
 

OliverK

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What really worries me about some of the first UHD / HDR releases is that they do not even stick with the basic color timing and instead make the whole movie look more warm, cold, green, contrasty etc. It is as if they do not trust HDR to make enough of a difference by letting it do what it is supposed to do.
 
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Robert Harris

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What really worries me about some of the first UHD / HDR releases is that they do not even stick with the basic color timing and instead make the whole movie look more warm, cold, green, contrasty etc. It is as if they do not trust HDR to make enough of a difference by letting it do what it is supposed to do.

The general concept at the moment, for many, is to create something that will be easily noticed.
 

OliverK

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The general concept at the moment, for many, is to create something that will be easily noticed.

Thanks for the confirmation. I have not looked at that many discs so far but I was not impressed with the apparent need to create something that is so different for many titles.
 

Todd H

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What really worries me about some of the first UHD / HDR releases is that they do not even stick with the basic color timing and instead make the whole movie look more warm, cold, green, contrasty etc. It is as if they do not trust HDR to make enough of a difference by letting it do what it is supposed to do.

This is what worries me as well. If it's a modern movie that was filmed with HDR then OK. But for older films is HDR enhancement giving us an accurate representation of the original film and its color timing?
 
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Robert Harris

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The important point to understand is that HDR is NOT what we are seeing.
 
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PMF

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Want to see 2001, or Lawrence, Ben-Hur, The Godfather, The Magnificent Seven, or Elvira Madigan in 4k?
No problem.

We're ready for it, and there's no reason why those films can't be released, except those which don't fit on the current sized discs.
"...except those which don't fit on the current sized discs." - RAH

Could you expand on this, a bit? I thought that all titles fit on one disc. New to 4K discs, to the point of not yet owning a player; are you saying that a 4K disc holds less information in order to gain its perfect picture?
 
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kabferls

Certainly. Depends upon the film and its surviving elements.
The important point to understand is that HDR is NOT what we are seeing.

Hi, Robert.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was just looking for a little more insight into these two comments.

How does fade on certain film stocks relate to HDR? Would you say UHD releases of catalog titles such as Unforgiven, Goodfellas and Ghostbusters are less accurate to the Blu-rays (or other SDR releases)?

I just want to know if or how it's possible to apply HDR in a way to better reveal and not "enhance" the original intent.
 

Robert Harris

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Shalashaska, post: 4492447, member: 407110"]Hi, Robert.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was just looking for a little more insight into these two comments.

How does fade on certain film stocks relate to HDR? Would you say UHD releases of catalog titles such as Unforgiven, Goodfellas and Ghostbusters are less accurate to the Blu-rays (or other SDR releases)?


Fade negates the use of HDR, as does certain restorative functions.

Blu-rays have nothing to do with HDR. Any comparison should be to APPOVED answer print.

I just want to know if or how it's possible to apply HDR in a way to better reveal and not "enhance" the original intent.
 
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Brian9229

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I have to admit, I do not care at all for HDR. I understand it's function, but to me, it does not improve. Besides the darkening, which I could almost deal with, is the total changing of original color-timing. I realize HDR provides the WCG but, in most cases I've seen, that meant nearly, completely throwing off the color. I have to wonder what some filmmakers are thinking of HDR. At least in the way it essentially reworks the entire color-timing. When I first popped in the 4K BD of Unforgiven with HDR on, my jaw dropped, and not in a good way. Fortunately, my player(OPPO 203)allows me to strip out the HDR and revert to the standard color, which I much prefer.
 

RJ992

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I have to admit, I do not care at all for HDR. I understand it's function, but to me, it does not improve. Besides the darkening, which I could almost deal with, is the total changing of original color-timing. I realize HDR provides the WCG but, in most cases I've seen, that meant nearly, completely throwing off the color. I have to wonder what some filmmakers are thinking of HDR. At least in the way it essentially reworks the entire color-timing. When I first popped in the 4K BD of Unforgiven with HDR on, my jaw dropped, and not in a good way. Fortunately, my player(OPPO 203)allows me to strip out the HDR and revert to the standard color, which I much prefer.

Boyoboy, I am with you 100%. HDR is nothing more than a gimmick to re-sell catalog titles and I don't use it. I chuckle when I think of how some complain about aspect ratios ("It's 16x9 but it should be 1.85!"), a missing second of footage, etc., and yet the HDR florescent alteration of filmmakers intent has them cheering. I guess when you drop a lot of money for something, then you're gonna tell yourself that it's supercalifragilistic, no matter what.
 

Michel_Hafner

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HDR as a system is anything but a gimmick. How you use it decides if it is a gimmick or not relative to what your source is. Anyway, HDR10 looks pretty much the same as SDR material as long as you stay in the SDR luminance range, but with considerably higher resolution. That alone makes it the opposite of a gimmick. Whether and how one uses the beyond SDR luminance range and the wide Rec2020 gamut beyond Rec 709 is the film maker's call.
End of this year most of Nolan's films come out in 4K HDR. It should be interesting to see how he, the film purist, uses the additional resolution and range to give us a closer version of his vision how his films should look. The films are not shot in SDR and Rec709 for sure. That is an artificial limitation of home video formats before HDR!
 

Brian Kidd

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End of this year most of Nolan's films come out in 4K HDR. It should be interesting to see how he, the film purist, uses the additional resolution and range to give us a closer version of his vision how his films should look. The films are not shot in SDR and Rec709 for sure. That is an artificial limitation of home video formats before HDR!

I just wonder if most filmmakers have any say in mainstream home video releases of their work. I know that boutique labels will often consult a director or a DP on the color timing but I'm not sure the same would apply to a studio like Warner Bros. I know Kubrick had a lot of control, or was at least consulted, on the releases of his films, but he was Kubrick.

I'm sure Mr. Harris among a few other film folks who frequent the HTF would know better than me.
 

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