No grain at all on 'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS' dvd, how? (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

This has got to be the cleanest looking Super 35 film I have ever seen! It looks like it was shot anamorphically actually. In what manner was this film transferred onto dvd to make it appear so clean? Did they come up with some new process or something? It's incredible looking for a film shot in Super 35!
I know one thing, before I saw what this dvd looked like, I was a little concerned about how 'LOTR' would translate to dvd, but now...

 

[Jeff Kleist]

It's called lots and lots and lots of Digital Noise Reduction
Someone will bitch soon enough about how awful it looks on their 20ft screen

 

[Jerry Gracia]

I wondered that myself.

Thanks, Jeff.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Thanks Jeff. Now my next question, why don't they do the same for every Super 35 title? If digital noise reduction can make 'The Fast and the Furious' look this good, why can't they apply the same process for every new release?

 

[Rich Malloy]

Oh my.... :frowning:

 

[Jerry Gracia]

John,

I don't know but I think adding digital noise reduction adds artifacts to the picture.

Maybe we don't know how to spot them yet, but I agree...the transfer looked good to me on my AVIA calibrated 61" RPTV.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

Al,
If there's something on your mind, please speak up!
I am very interested in knowing what digital noise reduction does to a transfer.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yes Al, please tell us what we're missing here.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Grain is inherent to film. It can be removed by jacking up the noise reduction, but in doing so you also lose fine detail.

And, even more importantly, you're making film look like television.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

Thanks, Al!

I will be a little more observant when I watch FAST AND FURIOUS again.

I knew something artificial was done to remove the grian.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

O.k., but this film didn't look like television to me, it looked damn good in fact, so wouldn't it depend on how much noise reduction you apply to the image, or can't that sort of thing be controlled?

 

[Rich Malloy]

John, see in this regard the Citizen Kane transfer debate (they actually erased rain drops during the ol' digital spruce-up and smooth-over, and who knows what other not-so-obvious fine detail).

(And also Snow White, though this title is of less significance to this debate since it wasn't "shot" on film in the traditional sense - arguably, the "pure" images are the individual cells prior to the transfer to film where grain would be introduced.)

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

So, I guess the bottom line is digital noise reduction is not really a good thing right? The transfer on 'TFATF' while having the appearance of looking great, is actually deceptive in that it's washing out the fine detail you normally would see if no DNR was added to the image?

 

[TedD]

Yes, if the grain is gone, so is the fine detail.

Ted

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

A decent modern low contrast fine grain film source can be transfered to video with almost no apparent grain at NTSC resolution -- even if it is of 2.35:1 Super 35 origination. I would not accuse the makers of F&F of DVNR'ing without viewing the transfer myself (which I have not done).

Regards,

 

[Dave H]

A simplified example of this may be on your DVD player. Some DVD players have different modes. A soft mode removes grain AND detail; whereas a fine mode shows more detail but more grain or artifacts. There's always a compromise...

 

[Luis A]

Well, regardless of what was done in the transfer, I'd have to say The Fast and the Furious is a reference DVD for video and sound, and I couldn't get over how "clear" the picture is. Almost like I could reach through the screen, and touch the cars.
L

 

[Sean Conklin]

I also can't get over how clean F&F looks! I know I'm only using a 31" DV TV, but the detail and colors are fantastic, not to mention the dts is awesome, in fact, the whole F&F DVD presentation is one of the best I have EVER seen!! Bravo Universal, Thank you so much!!
This transfer looks to be about the same as Moulin Rouge which is also an ULTRA fabulous DVD presentation.
I can't express how HAPPY I am with F&F!!
Oh yeah, F&F is also a great film, I happen to love the plot, and the action is FURIOUS, I really love Vin Diesel in this, I liked the whole cast, excellent film
A must own at all costs!
BTW, I am looking into getting a Toshiba 16:9 40" Direct View, HD, Anamorphic squeeze, etc , etc. How do you guys think a film like F&F would look? Are direct views more tolerant to artifacts and such?

 

[Kwang Suh]

Having a Toshiba SD-3750 and a Toshiba TW40X81, I can tell you that F&F looked really, really good. No obvious artifacting to speak of. Very sharp picture. Pretty well Superbit quality.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Thanks Kwang!