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Somewhat ironically, HD killed cinematography. Because there's enough clarity to see set errors, everything important is filmed in the dark. Examples: just ab

Somewhat ironically, HD killed cinematography. Because there's enough clarity to see set errors, everything important is filmed in the dark. Examples: just about every fight scene since 2018; Castle first season vs last. One of the reasons why Shogun was so appealing is they did something different.

mrmuagi 1y ago
And "modern" TVs have motion smoothing which make so many things look so synthetic and dizzying.
- horacemorace 1y ago
  We’ve got the minority opinion; most don’t even notice. I make a point to ask whenever around others near one.
- nunez 1y ago
  First thing I turn off when I get new TVs. It destroys old cartoons especially. Neutral color profile too. RTINGS tells you how to do it.
kjkjadksj 1y ago
On the other hand a surprising amount of modern movies are still filmed on kodak movie film then scanned for digital distribution.
drewcoo 1y ago
> Somewhat ironically, HD killed cinematography. Imagine Wild Strawberries in HD. I think it would seem bleaker. Or Blue Velvet. It would make Blue Velvet creepier. It would also make any Corman film seem classier. HD didn't ruin cinema. It only ruins beauty.
betterThanTexas 1y ago
HD is lower quality than film. Maybe this is true for home entertainment, but we take less advantage of darkness than ever from my perspective. It's the video-game CGI that kills me.
- layer8 1y ago
  There was an experiment maybe 15 years ago, where they sent film material through the whole printing and distribution process, and measured the vertical resolution that could still be resolved on an actual cinema screen using analog projection. The result was around 700p IIRC, below full HD in any case.
  - rightbyte 1y ago
    700p? Are you sure? I don't belive cinemas had about the same resolution as PAL at 576p. 720p is blurry too on big screens.
    - layer8 1y ago
      See the PDF kindly linked by the sibling (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43919991 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43919991): • “The highest resolution that the expert assessors could discern in the highest performing movie theater was about 875 L/PH. • “The horizontal resolution averaged over the six multi-burst groups measured on the screens of the six selected movie theaters was about 715 L/PH.” L/PH = lines per picture height, i.e. vertical resolution This was for 35 mm film. Also, well-mastered DVDs with anamorphic widescreen can look astonishingly good on an output device that doesn’t interpolate its lines.
  - BizarroLand 1y ago
    Yeah, I'm gonna need to see some receipts. From what I remember super35 film should approach 8k resolution under ideal conditions.
    - betterThanTexas 1y ago
      > under ideal conditions. I interpreted the claim as being under non-ideal conditions (which is fair, frankly—it's well-known that the visual and sound quality is better at the beginning of a run than at the end, and film quality doesn't matter if your local theater doesn't ensure it's preserved as best it can be). Plus, I saw a film viewing of Sinners this past weekend (quite a fun movie, highly recommend it) and some visual artifacts were very noticeable—it was regular enough I figured there was a slice of the film roll that got damaged somehow.
WalterBright 1y ago
> filmed in the dark House of Dragon was so filmed in the dark, with poor contrast, and color-corrected to be all blue and orange, is almost painful to watch. I have a hard time even seeing what is happening.

mrmuagi 1y ago

And "modern" TVs have motion smoothing which make so many things look so synthetic and dizzying.

horacemorace 1y ago
We’ve got the minority opinion; most don’t even notice. I make a point to ask whenever around others near one.
nunez 1y ago
First thing I turn off when I get new TVs. It destroys old cartoons especially. Neutral color profile too. RTINGS tells you how to do it.

kjkjadksj 1y ago

On the other hand a surprising amount of modern movies are still filmed on kodak movie film then scanned for digital distribution.

drewcoo 1y ago

> Somewhat ironically, HD killed cinematography. Imagine Wild Strawberries in HD. I think it would seem bleaker. Or Blue Velvet. It would make Blue Velvet creepier. It would also make any Corman film seem classier. HD didn't ruin cinema. It only ruins beauty.

betterThanTexas 1y ago

HD is lower quality than film. Maybe this is true for home entertainment, but we take less advantage of darkness than ever from my perspective. It's the video-game CGI that kills me.

layer8 1y ago
There was an experiment maybe 15 years ago, where they sent film material through the whole printing and distribution process, and measured the vertical resolution that could still be resolved on an actual cinema screen using analog projection. The result was around 700p IIRC, below full HD in any case.
- rightbyte 1y ago
  700p? Are you sure? I don't belive cinemas had about the same resolution as PAL at 576p. 720p is blurry too on big screens.
  - layer8 1y ago
    See the PDF kindly linked by the sibling (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43919991 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43919991): • “The highest resolution that the expert assessors could discern in the highest performing movie theater was about 875 L/PH. • “The horizontal resolution averaged over the six multi-burst groups measured on the screens of the six selected movie theaters was about 715 L/PH.” L/PH = lines per picture height, i.e. vertical resolution This was for 35 mm film. Also, well-mastered DVDs with anamorphic widescreen can look astonishingly good on an output device that doesn’t interpolate its lines.
- BizarroLand 1y ago
  Yeah, I'm gonna need to see some receipts. From what I remember super35 film should approach 8k resolution under ideal conditions.
  - betterThanTexas 1y ago
    > under ideal conditions. I interpreted the claim as being under non-ideal conditions (which is fair, frankly—it's well-known that the visual and sound quality is better at the beginning of a run than at the end, and film quality doesn't matter if your local theater doesn't ensure it's preserved as best it can be). Plus, I saw a film viewing of Sinners this past weekend (quite a fun movie, highly recommend it) and some visual artifacts were very noticeable—it was regular enough I figured there was a slice of the film roll that got damaged somehow.

WalterBright 1y ago

> filmed in the dark House of Dragon was so filmed in the dark, with poor contrast, and color-corrected to be all blue and orange, is almost painful to watch. I have a hard time even seeing what is happening.