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There was an experiment maybe 15 years ago, where they sent film material through the whole printing and distribution process, and measured the vertical resolut

by layer8 2y 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 2y 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 2y 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 2y ago
Yeah, I'm gonna need to see some receipts. From what I remember super35 film should approach 8k resolution under ideal conditions.
- betterThanTexas 2y 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.
  - BizarroLand 2y ago
    Just for a quick update, I got curious and it seems the resolution actually should be a touch over 10k for super35, as for regular 35mm it seems spot on at 9.5k resolution. https://www.filmfix.com/en/blog/35mm-film-resolution/ https://www.filmfix.com/en/blog/35mm-film-resolution/
pantalaimon 2y ago
4k remasters are done by scanning film, 35mm has plenty resolution
- layer8 2y ago
  Watching a 4K digital scan of a master copy on a 4K TV is different from what you would see in movie theaters. The roughly 700-800 lines is the apparent resolution one would experience in a real-life movie theater with analog projection. The point is that even 1080p TV is an improvement in resolution over what you used to see in cinemas with 35 mm prints.
ToValueFunfetti 2y ago
(https://journal.smpte.org/periodicals/SMPTE%20Motion%20Imaging%20Journal/113/2-3/10/ https://journal.smpte.org/periodicals/SMPTE%20Motion%20Imagi...)

by layer8 2y ago

rightbyte 2y 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 2y 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 2y ago

Yeah, I'm gonna need to see some receipts. From what I remember super35 film should approach 8k resolution under ideal conditions.

betterThanTexas 2y 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.
- BizarroLand 2y ago
  Just for a quick update, I got curious and it seems the resolution actually should be a touch over 10k for super35, as for regular 35mm it seems spot on at 9.5k resolution. https://www.filmfix.com/en/blog/35mm-film-resolution/ https://www.filmfix.com/en/blog/35mm-film-resolution/

pantalaimon 2y ago

4k remasters are done by scanning film, 35mm has plenty resolution

layer8 2y ago
Watching a 4K digital scan of a master copy on a 4K TV is different from what you would see in movie theaters. The roughly 700-800 lines is the apparent resolution one would experience in a real-life movie theater with analog projection. The point is that even 1080p TV is an improvement in resolution over what you used to see in cinemas with 35 mm prints.

ToValueFunfetti 2y ago

(https://journal.smpte.org/periodicals/SMPTE%20Motion%20Imaging%20Journal/113/2-3/10/ https://journal.smpte.org/periodicals/SMPTE%20Motion%20Imagi...)