Hollywood Studios Are Removing Grain For Blu-Ray Movie Reissues

[gadgtfreek]

Hollywood Studios Are Removing Grain For Blu-Ray Movie Reissues | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

If Hollywood has its way, Blu-ray releases of old movies are going to end up looking like Speed Racer: all shiny and clean. Apparently people in focus groups are complaining of excessive noise and muddy colors on high-definition reissues of classics. The reason? Grain. Like digital sensor noise today, film grain was once considered a problem, but evolved into just one more character of film that could be exploited for its gritty look. But these uninformed consumers, brought up on a diet of Toy Story and other CG 'enhanced' movies, don't like it. So what, you might ask. Well, it was these kind of morons who led to pan-and-scan renditions of wide aspect-ratio movies, and the same thing is happening again.

This is obviously becoming an issue, and has been the subject of more than one thread on other forums.

I feel they need to leave the movies alone, IMHO the whole experience of HDM is seeing and hearing the movie the way it was intended. Prime example was people complaining about 300's grain.

I really hope the studios don't head in the wrong direction here.

 

[berck]

Yeah, it can be over done, but too much filtering could also soften the image too much. I've noticed issues with older titles on DVD's and just took it for granted that the old film image was in bad shape.

 

[teachsac]

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO. Grain is part of the equation in film resolution. There's a difference between grain and noise.

S~

 

[navychop]

This is not a good thing. How much tampering with an artist's original product should be allowed? Will "Paper Moon" be colorized?

 

[teachsac]

This is not a good thing. How much tampering with an artist's original product should be allowed? Will "Paper Moon" be colorized?

Don't get me started on colorization. I refuse to watch something if it has been.

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

Well, one nof the problems is a lot of people want all movies to look like CSI Miami OTA. I just want to see it as intended. Do a good job on the encode, other than that, dont D*** with it.

 

[diogen]

There's a difference between grain and noise.

Are you sure?

Here is perhaps a more realistic simulation of what grain can do to image sharpness. I took one of Xylon images (thanks pal

), the MPEG-2 version of King Kong, and added noise to it. If you look in the original thread, the MPEG-2 version looks soft as it has lost all of its grain: [URL]http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=827529[/URL]

The Digital Bits: grain is not a defect on the disc! - Page 9 - AVS Forum

Diogen.

 

[teachsac]

Are you sure?

Yes.

 

[meStevo]

 

[BlackHitachi]

Don't be sad at least they didn't remove this from HD DVD!:up

 

[Zookster]

Yes, clean to remove any defects in PQ in the original print caused by the effects of time (like cleaning, removing dirt and grime from, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling). Doing anything else would be like repainting Michelangelo's work with more vivid colors or synthetic paints (like acrylics) that are now available thanks to modern manufacturing methods.

 

[teachsac]

Don't be sad at least they didn't remove this from HD DVD!:up

Sure they did. Just look at Face/Off.

S~

 

[BlackHitachi]

Sure they did. Just look at Face/Off.

S~

I will have too!? How do you think it looks?

 

[teachsac]

I will have too!? How do you think it looks?

Not as good as it should have looked. There was a thread at AVS that compared snapshots of the Australian BD and the HD DVD when it came out. Big difference.

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

Same thing has happened with Pans Labyrinth I think(region compared to another region)

 

[BlackHitachi]

Not as good as it should have looked. There was a thread at AVS that compared snapshots of the Australian BD and the HD DVD when it came out. Big difference.

S~

I'm going to go look it us thanks!:up

 

[BlackHitachi]

Sure they did. Just look at Face/Off.

S~

Ok i remember that thread and you are right! The Blu version is soo much better then the HD DVD version.

High Definition Media Mouseover Comparisons | Home

 

[tnsprin]

Yes, clean to remove any defects in PQ in the original print caused by the effects of time (like cleaning, removing dirt and grime from, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling). Doing anything else would be like repainting Michelangelo's work with more vivid colors or synthetic paints (like acrylics) that are now available thanks to modern manufacturing methods.

Remember Colorizing famous Black and White movies.

Changes, if made, should only be made by the original filmakers intent. An interesting example is the Blade Runner disc. But they included all the different versions in the set.

Removing grain where it is the intent of the filmakers to have grain is totally wrong.

 

[dlsnyder]

I'm sure filmmakers are against viewers watching films on newer HD displays with 120hz refresh turned on as well. Personally I prefer having the motion enhancer turned on high. I like the more natural "video like" motion, even at the expense of some artifacting in fast motion scenes. It is really getting to the point where I prefer to watch a movie at home because the presentation is better.

If my local theater used digital projection instead of old, poorly adjusted 35mm, I would still prefer to visit the theater.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I have the same issue. Moved from an area with nice, new DLP projectors to an area with older equipment, staying home is now very enjoyable. I've decided to skip Narnia and Indy and just buy them. I wont be able to wait on Dark Knight