Real or Fake 4K?

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Found this great resource as I've been slowly dipping my toe in the 4K waters. I keep seeing these 4K blu-rays popping up cheaply, and hearing that the picture quality is garbage, much like every other digital format that's come along. Anyway,

http://realorfake4k.com/


lists what the film was shot in, how it was mastered, etc. A surprising number of flicks mastered in 2K and then put out as 4K product.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

That's an excellent resource. It's UHD not 4k but whatever, I guess that's a distinction only important to the geeks. It's funny that it's going to be the new films that struggle to hit the standard. Old films, fine, scan them at 4k and you're done- although thinking about it, most of my favourites are 16mm so you can scan them at UHD but why bother? But modern films are mostly being shot on the Alexa. Not sure if they've upgraded since last time I was looking but those cameras didn't go to 4k. Reds are 4k but they mostly seem to be used for tv- my understanding is Netflix requires 4k elements. Then most movies now are basically cgi cartoons which tend to be done in 2k. Even if Nolan insists on shooting 70mm how much of his film exists outside a computer? With so many resons why you are not getting the real deal it's a good thing no one can really tell the difference.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

This is so funny...

1950's: 70mm film (equivalent of 12K) was the big thing, though most films were shot in 35mm (equivalent of 6K)

2018: 4K is the big thing, but many new films are shot in 2K.

Hooray for development!

Well, I don't really know what I'm talking about, but this reference was provided when Dunkirk came out:

[Bogart Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bogart]

Even if its only true 2k its still going to be an improvement over what we have been watching previous (1080p or 1k ) so most will be satisfied anyway

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Even if its only true 2k its still going to be an improvement over what we have been watching previous (1080p or 1k ) so most will be satisfied anyway

I thought 1080p (=1920 x 1080) and 2K were the same thing? Am I mistaken?

[Bogart Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bogart]

im no expert but i think 2k is different to 1080p

there is some info here

after reading this, it seems the standards for 2k and 1080p is very close so maybe youre right Takuma

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

One thing the studios seem to be doing is providing the discs with HDR and Dolby Vision, which gives it a different look. But, it seems that whether people can tell the difference or not, these are still basically upscaled Blus.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

One thing the studios seem to be doing is providing the discs with HDR and Dolby Vision, which gives it a different look. But, it seems that whether people can tell the difference or not, these are still basically upscaled Blus.

Some are definitely better with the HDR and Dolby Vision. Kong Skull Island is a good example, the site lists it as fake 4k because of the 2k mastering but the UHD looks a LOT better than the BD - the HDR is a big part of that but I suspect the upscaling helps there too.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Some are definitely better with the HDR and Dolby Vision. Kong Skull Island is a good example, the site lists it as fake 4k because of the 2k mastering but the UHD looks a LOT better than the BD - the HDR is a big part of that but I suspect the upscaling helps there too.

The few titles that I've watched with HDR really pop, for sure. I'm just surprised that so many studios master in 2K, especially when a few of these titles are shot in 8K.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Yeah it seems like a dumb move to me too. That said, I've no idea what the additional expense for proper 4k mastering is. You'd think they'd want to do it to future proof content for as long as possible though.

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

I think I'm more bothered by the trend in Hollywood movies to use what I call the new T & A (teal and amber color scheme), as exemplified by the shots from DUNKIRK in Takuma's post. I've noticed lately that TV commercials are even starting to use it. I know nothing about it, but I assume this filtering is done to better blend in CGI.

Okay, I'll shut up now...

[Jack J Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jack J]

So ordinary blu-ray is the crappy old format now? Man, I just upgraded from DVD and bought my first blu-ray player last week!

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Sellout, didn't you say you weren't going HD? Lies! :D

[Jack J Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jack J]

Sellout, didn't you say you weren't going HD? Lies! :D

Well, I expect you don't post about this outside of this forum. My VHS friends better not find out about this. :/

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Your secret is safe with me.