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General discussion

The quality of movies on HDTV

Feb 12, 2006 4:39AM PST

On Friday's podcast, a listener wondered if the thousands of movies already made would look any better since they were not shot on HD. I wanted to try and clear that up a bit.

Since most movies up until now have been shot on film, they are transferred to television via a process called Telecine. All that studios need do is pull the film from their vault and telecine them again at 1920 x 1080 resolution. Since film resolution is much higher than HD, going back to the film print to make the digital HD version will give you a better picture than what you are used to seeing on a standard TV.

A better question might be, will television shows made in the past look any better on HD? I think the answer would rely upon whether or not studios keep the film original. Most television content (sitcoms, dramas, mini series, MotW, etc.) are shot on film. Reality TV, talk shows, soap operas and sports are usually not. So, if say NBC still has the original film for a Friends or ER episode, they could presumably re-telecine that to HD quality - and they'd be crazy not to.

Consumers may have to get used to the fact that sometimes they will be seeing black area either on the top and bottom or left and right of their screen because there are so many different aspect ratios out there. The modern CinemaScope (Scope) format has an aspect ratio of 2.39 to 1. That means it is almost two and a half times as wide as it is tall. The HD aspect ratio is 1.77 to 1. That means a Scope movie placed on an HDTV will still have quite a bit of black space on the top and bottom. Most movies made today are 1.85 to 1 and therefore show just a little bit of black space at the top and bottom on HDTV sets.

I have my doubts that studios will continue to ''pan and scan'' movies for modern HD sets just so consumers won't whine about having black space on the top and bottom of their screen. They NEVER should have set the precedent in the first place because you miss a tremendous amount of the movie, especially on a standard TV which has a ratio of 1.33 to 1. Never rent a movie that isn't ''letterboxed.'' If it says ''fullscreen'' spit on it and walk by. Happy

As for whether or not past TV shows that were filmed, which were always meant to be on a standard TV (1.33 to 1) will show you "extra footage" to the left and right that you never saw before... I highly doubt it. Even if it was not hard-matted in the camera for 1.33 to 1, they shoot knowing that it will be unseen when telecined. So expect to see space to the left and right on your HDTV even if they re-release a TV show at HD resolution (though I must confess that I really don't know if this is true - just an educated guess).

-Kevin S.

Discussion is locked

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Film doesn't impress me in HD
Feb 12, 2006 7:30AM PST

Maybe it's the encoding process, but the film shown on HDNet Movies just doesn't look as impressive as the shows shot in high-def. The colors just aren't as rich and the details aren't as crisp. Even though it's film.

Of course part of the problem could be the films they get. They all seem to star Goldie Hawn.

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Film quality
Feb 12, 2006 7:57AM PST

Yeah, there should be no reason why the transfer from film to HD should be of any lower quality than those shot firectly in high-def. There could be a whole host of reasons for the difference you are currently perceiving. As you imply, perhaps crappy original quality. Or, maybe the process or hardware HDNet is using (if they are doing the transfer) is sub par.

Check out Apple's own High-Def movie gallery for samples of Film (in the form of trailers) transferred to HD. The process should look just as good for any film, provided the film original is in great shape.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/

Bear in mind, film had a different look to it in previous decades. So, I would expect newer content to look a lot richer. But the film to HD process should yield no lower quality than shooting straight to high-def if it is done properly. In fact some would argue it looks better.

-Kevin S.