CES-2013 PR: SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES “MASTERED IN 4K” BLU-RAY TITLES TIMED WITH S

[Ilya]

SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES “MASTERED IN 4K” BLU-RAY TITLES TIMED WITH SONY 4K TVs

by Communications 01/07/2013

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (January 7, 2013) – To compliment the electronics industry’s launch of 4K Ultra HD Televisions, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is proud to leverage its growing 4K asset library to present “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray™ titles. While maintaining the studio’s commitment to the highest possible quality Blu-ray releases, the “Mastered in 4K” offering takes these efforts even further.

“Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray releases will feature titles—such as The Amazing Spider-Man™, Total Recall, The Karate Kid, Battle: Los Angeles and The Other Guys—sourced from pristine 4K masters and presented at high-bitrate 1080p resolution, with expanded color showcasing more of the wide range of rich color contained in the original source. When upscaled via the Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs, these discs serve as an ideal way for consumers to experience near-4K picture quality. SPHE also plans to utilize available high quality 4K masters for select upcoming new release Blu-ray titles. “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray Discs can be played on all existing Blu-ray Disc players.

“The electronics industry’s groundbreaking launch of 4K Ultra HD TV has given us reason to even further elevate our Blu-ray offering,” said David Bishop, President, SPHE. “This spring, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is excited to deliver a complementing lineup of ‘Mastered in 4K’ Blu-ray titles, offering consumers the best possible picture and sound quality to be experienced on the latest HDTVs.”

Leading the adoption of 4K content in cinema, home entertainment and broadcast, Sony Pictures builds on its renowned professional equipment expertise along with the company’s wealth of knowledge in both 4K acquisition and home entertainment. These “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray titles—paired with the native 4K titles for Sony’s 4K video distribution service, which is planned to be launched in summer 2013 in the US—demonstrate Sony Pictures’ holistic commitment to 4K and to the launch of this exciting new hardware into the market.

SPHE will release this initial wave of more than 10 “Mastered in 4K” titles starting in Spring 2013, with rollout to select international territories soon thereafter.

Visit Sony Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

 

[mike123abc]

Sounds like more than a fluff PR piece. 35mm film is better than 4k to start with. So, they scan the 35mm film at a better resolution and then downconvert it to HD, like it will really make a difference. Better would be to spec a new 6 layer BD with 150 GB capacity to cover true 4k resolution!

 

[Ilya]

Yeah! It's all marketing! Aren't most of HD movies mastered in 4K these days?

Well, the real news is actually hidden in the last paragraph:
"paired with the native 4K titles for Sony’s 4K video distribution service, which is planned to be launched in summer 2013 in the US"

That's big! A true 4K video distribution service coming this year! Not too many details, but based on what was mentioned in the interview after the press conference, it's not just Sony Pictures! Other studios are planning to join!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes indeed most Blu-rays today are sourced from 4K masters, down converted to 1080p.

On our Home Theater Cruise Joe Kane talked about this and why they do it that way. He also said that for 4K they would need to render it from 8K masters and not many studios are outfitted for 8K yet.

 

[Ilya]

On our Home Theater Cruise Joe Kane talked about this and why they do it that way. He also said that for 4K they would need to render it from 8K masters and not many studios are outfitted for 8K yet.

Yes, that's right! The problem that Joe Kane pointed out in his presentation is that the consumer 4K "Ultra HD" resolution is not the same as the resolution used in the professional 4K standard when scanning the 35 mm film. The "professional" 4K format has 4096 pixel horizontally, while the "consumer" 4K format (Ultra HD, or 2160p as Joe Kane calls it) has 3840 pixels horizontally. Because the two resolutions are very close to each other, it makes it very difficult to convert from one to the other without cropping or introducing some distortion. So, ideally, the film should be scanned at 8K and then down-converted to Ultra HD. "MASTERED IN 8K" - that's what would really make most sense!