Sony Mastered in 4K Blu-rays Available For Preorder (1 Viewer)

[schan1269]

I have no problem with my Sony bluray player.

I meant...

View=TV

Play would have been BD player...(clarification...I meant an "improvement to 4K, would be not watching on a Sony LCD...")

 

[McCrutchy]

Nope, standard 1080p, only with a slightly higher bit rate. As mentioned previously this is Superbit all over again.

There isn't enough room on current Blu-ray discs to hold an entire feature in 4k.

Yes, it was my understanding that the original master for the 2009 release was 2K resolution, Given that, then, shouldn't the Mastered in 4K Blu-ray be a noticeable improvement, since a new 4K master had to be created for it?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I liked it and thought it was really funny.

So did I, different strokes for different folks.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

To be fair, I purchased a handful of Superbit DVD titles back in the day and, with my setup, I was able to discern a difference in quality on nearly every title. The increased bit rate was good at reducing macroblocking/artifacting. I also liked having DTS soundtracks. I will give Sony the benefit of the doubt with these 4k titles, but unless true remasters were done, I won't expect much.

 

[Number 6]

I liked it and thought it was really funny.

Ditto. And, further, it was smart. (Also, surprisingly, about something.)

Best comedy of 2010, in my humble.

 

[Ruz-El]

gee whiz you need a 4k master for a piece of crap like The Other Guys ?

I'm guessing you meant "The Karate Kid" which is the remake version no one has ever had a desire to see.So this is snake oil then, nothing to see until RAH does a review or something. I'm curious if they scrubbed all the grain out of Taxi Driver, I thought the current bluray of that one was pretty much perfect.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I'm guessing you meant "The Karate Kid" which is the remake version no one has ever had a desire to see.So this is snake oil then, nothing to see until RAH does a review or something. I'm curious if they scrubbed all the grain out of Taxi Driver, I thought the current bluray of that one was pretty much perfect.

Sony/Columbia will not scrub the grain, they have been consistently good for a number of years about leaving it in, they understand the fine detail is lost when you remove the film grain, yes, even on Lowry titles, Taxi Driver's last release was taken from a 4K film scan, i bet its identical, the only exception might be Ghostbusters perhaps they have returned the film to it's original look and removed the contrast boost, i doubt they have though as i understand it was cinematographer approved, just before they died.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Did you all miss why these are actually optimized for 4K TVs?

From Amazon:
*Expanded color requires xvYCC-compatible TV and Blu-ray player

Larger color space that is backwards compatible with existing TVs and players that don't know it (can't use it but doesn't break the old stuff). So these discs would have to be remastered if for nothing else than the new colorspace, assuming this isn't all pure hype.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

From what I read, the "expanded color" feature only has to do with the source, not playback. I believe there aren't any additional color space options in the Blu-Ray spec, so even if your TV and player are capable of it, it wouldn't matter.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Did you all miss why these are actually optimized for 4K TVs?

From Amazon:
*Expanded color requires xvYCC-compatible TV and Blu-ray player

Larger color space that is backwards compatible with existing TVs and players that don't know it (can't use it but doesn't break the old stuff). So these discs would have to be remastered if for nothing else than the new colorspace, assuming this isn't all pure hype.

That's interesting, the blu ray spec doesn't use expanded colour but many want it for any new 4K format, is this marketing BS or actually real or just a simulation of expanded colour, someone needs to buy some of these discs and compare and Sony needs to release more info.

 

[Persianimmortal]

As I understand it, the expanded color gamut of xvYCC only works if every step of the chain, from the original camera, through to the master, the blu-ray player, HDMI cable, and TV, all support(ed) the extended colors. Otherwise color accuracy is affected.

In other words, the principle seems to be that xvYCC allows for a wider palette for color reproduction, if those extended colors were originally captured on the film in the first place. We need an expert on film to tell us whether films were originally shot on cameras/film stock that were capable of capturing a wide enough color gamut to encompass xvYCC. I believe cameras usually shoot to the rec.709 standard, which does not fill out to the larger color gamut of xvYCC. So it seems like a marketing gimmick.

 

[FoxyMulder]

As I understand it, the expanded color gamut of xvYCC only works if every step of the chain, from the original camera, through to the master, the blu-ray player, HDMI cable, and TV, all support(ed) the extended colors. Otherwise color accuracy is affected.

In other words, the principle seems to be that xvYCC allows for a wider palette for color reproduction, if those extended colors were originally captured on the film in the first place. We need an expert on film to tell us whether films were originally shot on cameras/film stock that were capable of capturing a wide enough color gamut to encompass xvYCC. I believe cameras usually shoot to the rec.709 standard, which does not fill out to the larger color gamut of xvYCC. So it seems like a marketing gimmick.

The colours are on the original film, even simple HD camcorders can do xvYCC these days, my HD camcorder from four years back does xvYCC, i was getting confused between this and true 10 or 12 bit colour, the HDMI spec has had xvYCC in it for years so all players over the last few years can do it, most projectors for years have had it too.

Reading more about the benefits of it here, i think it could be potentially great, do these discs really use xvYCC, hopefully some comparisons between the old and new releases can be made soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XvYCC

 

[dpippel]

This whole "Mastered in 4K" thing smells very much like good old-fashioned BS.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I agree, there may be opportunities for some individual titles to be re-remastered for another dip into peoples' pockets but surely we have reached the end of the road for packaged media. Approximately 25% of my Blu-rays have truly impressed me and even with 4K displays, how many will want to further upgrade their collections.

 

[Doctorossi]

This whole "Mastered in 4K" thing smells very much like good old-fashioned BS.

BS or SB (SuperBit).

 

[Peter Neski]

This is just part of Sony's big 4k Push,if they could have a 4k BR they would give us one,but they can't ,They want to sell their new 4k sets(which look
great,if you ask me,and not just close up) they want to get 4k out there anyway they can,they want theaters to buy their 4k projectors too

how much a difference a 4k master looks compressed to a BR over a 2k master is hard to say till these titles are out

 

[Robert Harris]

This is just part of Sony's big 4k Push,if they could have a 4k BR they would give us one,but they can't ,They want to sell their new 4k sets(which look
great,if you ask me,and not just close up) they want to get 4k out there anyway they can,they want theaters to buy their 4k projectors too

how much a difference a 4k master looks compressed to a BR over a 2k master is hard to say till these titles are out

I don't want to be a part of their "big push..."

RAH

 

[Persianimmortal]

Purely from a practical perspective, it's a lose-lose situation from the consumer's point of view.

If the "mastered in 4K" material actually does provide any visible benefit (and the jury is still out on that one), who is really going to go out and re-buy movies they already own on blu-ray, on what is just a slightly upgraded 2K blu-ray, when the next real step is a genuine 4K video format?

If the "mastered in 4K" material doesn't provide any visible benefit on most people's equipment, then it's just a cynical cashing in on 4K hype just to peddle extremely expensive 4K hardware.

Either way, it only serves to create confusion for the consumer, further disillusions anyone who was thinking of upgrading from DVD to blu ("see, 4K is out already and blu-ray is obsolete!"), and will make things even worse when actual 4K content comes out in the next few years. It's amazing that after all these years, consumer electronics companies still haven't worked out that consumers want clearly-defined and well-spaced upgrade paths, not a mishmash of formats driven by marketing-based technical jargon.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Purely from a practical perspective, it's a lose-lose situation from the consumer's point of view.

If the "mastered in 4K" material actually does provide any visible benefit (and the jury is still out on that one), who is really going to go out and re-buy movies they already own on blu-ray, on what is just a slightly upgraded 2K blu-ray, when the next real step is a genuine 4K video format?

If the "mastered in 4K" material doesn't provide any visible benefit on most people's equipment, then it's just a cynical cashing in on 4K hype just to peddle extremely expensive 4K hardware.

Either way, it only serves to create confusion for the consumer, further disillusions anyone who was thinking of upgrading from DVD to blu ("see, 4K is out already and blu-ray is obsolete!"), and will make things even worse when actual 4K content comes out in the next few years. It's amazing that after all these years, consumer electronics companies still haven't worked out that consumers want clearly-defined and well-spaced upgrade paths, not a mishmash of formats driven by marketing-based technical jargon.

Most titles from Sony have been scanned at 4K, i believe they then make a 2K master from which the blu ray is produced, i'm more interested in the possible benefits of a wider colour gamut, more information is needed on whether these discs have that though.

 

[willyTass]

I don't want to be a part of their "big push..."

RAH

very good , LOL!