I don't actually think much is scanned at 8k, I know Lawrence of Arabia was scanned in 8k and Baraka were scanned at 8k but those were both shot on 65mm film. I think as a consumer format it's a bit of a gimmick but as a professional tool I don't think it is.
No, you're correct that not much is scanned at 8K. "Wizard of Oz" was an 8K scan - though only shot 35mm - and I'm sure there are a few others, but not a bunch. My comments do only address the utility of 8K in homes!
Scanning at 8K doesn't mean there are restoration/editing tools that maintain the 8K resolution. It could be dropped down to 4K for the restoration work, and that information would not likely be shared with the end-consumer of the product. Just like with music, there are some elements/pieces of the workflow that are inherently not as high quality as others.
As I mentioned earlier, I view the "8K scan!!!" stuff mostly as hype. Even for those handful of projects that exist at higher than 4K, no one's going to see that resolution since there are no 8K releases - now. I do think 8K will exist as a home viewing format at some point - via streaming, though, since I can't imagine they'd waste their time with 8K discs. The issue remains that the difference in observable improvements will be zilch on home TVs!
Sales really do worry me. I don't think we will see physical media die out like some think but comapring sales between 2010 and 2020 is startling. 9 times less sales in fact.
Has anyone here played a 1080 BD on a 4K 55in. or 65in. screen? And what image artifacts can be detected at comfortable viewing distances? Any edge halos? Noise? Film grain? Softness?
They seem to be able to make money selling these limited edition sets of cult films like Dawn of the Dead or The Thing or whatever, pressed in quantities of several thousands, which serious collectors buy so don't see it dying out if they can make money like this. But it may be more of a niche market. No way is it going completely.
Or made on demand for some movies (one of Lee's Dracula movies come to mind). Even though the shift is going more towards online streaming I don't believe that physical media will be going away anytime soon. Besides I'm sure some studios know that many people living in remote areas don't have access to fast streaming options due to weak unreliable internet options unlike those who live near or in major cities. I prefer and will still buy physical media because I can control when I see it and not be at the whim of a streaming service that may yank it anytime. We have a 55" 4K TV (only because our old Samsung LCD from 2008 died) but still only watch 1080p content on it. No incentive to invest in any 4k material.
Absolutely. People like me will keep buying these imited sets as long as they releas them. I think we will see prces rise and less choice but the classics and interesting cult movies will alwsys have a physical presence.
It's really funny that a lot of folks don't realize how good a 4K scan of a pristine film negative can look. "The Shining" is my go-to disc for showing what's possible with an older film. I have a 55" 4K Sony OLED TV and sit about 6-7 feet away from it. At that distance I can definitely notice film grain and softness variations on both 4K and 1080p content. I was watching the new 4K release of The Sting last night and you could definitely tell whenever they had DNR'd the optical transition shots as all the detail suddenly goes soft. The biggest jump in quality for a lot of archive 4K UHD releases is the tightness of the film grain. The HEVC compression codec is much better at avoiding compression noise around the grain, which can be quite evident in a lot of older Blu-ray masters. But most importantly for me, these 4K releases are a new opportunity to fix some of the remastering sins done during the early Blu-Ray era. Movies like "Groundhog Day" and "The Big Lebowski" went from having a so-so, soft looking 1080p presentation to a sharp-as-a-tack reference quality 4K master. More than reason enough for me to re-buy.
I really wish they'd do a proper new release for Master and Commander. I still have the special edition DVD as the original blu-ray wasn't really an upgrade. A new 4K / blu-ray issue with all of the original special features would be amazing.
I caved and bought the 4K UHD & Blu-ray disc of Ghostbusters for the shelf at Steve’s home theater. $13 for the last go around of a classic. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DJ3YGZ4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
But not always. I have several movies on 4K UHD that were shot on 35mm film and don't look any better than the Blu-ray disc they came with. One example was Air Force One. I had my face up to the screen and could not see any evidence of the details I see on other 4K discs. That's why so many films were finished with 2K digital intermediates. That's the most resolution you could ever expect to see on a projected film in the theater, and believe me I've seen a lot of projected films that were blurrier than a DVD.
My advice is to find a review site that you trust. Not all 4K discs are worth getting, just like not all BD or DVD are worth getting.
I don’t bother with reviews. Too subjective and many reviewers unfortunately don’t know what they’re talking about. I just look on caps-a-holic and see if there’s any significant uptick in quality.
Also you can check on imdb.com in the Technical Specs to see if an film was finished with a 2K intermediate. Unless the title was remastered, a 2K film is going to have 2K resolution. Yes, I know there are also UHD and higher bit rates with 4K discs if those improvements are enough for you.
I would use reviews as toilet paper if they were still printed. Useless things. Half of these reviewers miss major issues with a transfer, are using a setup not suitable for review, and a myriad of other nonsense. caps-a-holic.com
As of January 2021, sales of players have been declining.....4k players flatlined....anyone have anything more recent? Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Sales Decline Despite Pandemic Sheltering | HD Guru
isn’t that actually a lot more to do with the expense of rendering CGI effects at 4K and the processing time?
I still buy some of the fancy blu-ray editions, but I also think I have a definite limit. Warner Archive/Kino are doing some serious deep cut releases. No frills packaging, maybe a commentary track, solid mastering and out it goes. I look forward more to their blu releases than any possible 4k, just because I'm still floored with "only" regular HD. One pet peeve is 4k exclusive content. Last Action Hero has a new/upcoming 4k with new features and I'm still not sure those still in regular HD land can still hear/see those features & fancy news restoration. Unforgiven is another one where they skipped the upgrade of movie master on blu-ray and made it 4k only.
I just bought a LG CX 65" w/ a Panasonic DP-UB9000 player and a 5.1 sound bar that sounded pretty full and powerful in the shop. We only sit about 12ft away from the TV, if that. This is my first 4K TV. I also bought the films 1917, Jaws and Joker as starter films based on reviews from blu-ray.com. This stuff will be delivered on Saturday. So, according to many in this thread I might have made a mistake? I was pretty excited about Filmmaker Mode, and yes, I'm into getting my sets calibrated. Did I go wrong? There are several films I want to buy or re-buy for the 4k presentation: The Shining, 2001, Dawn of the Dead, Susperia, the LOTR trilogy. All of which I own on BD, but reviews say that I'm upgrading in PQ. Damn. Am I? I'm coming from a 2011 LG plasma, which is still a fine TV.
