1080p video smackdown: iTunes vs. Blu-ray | Hacker News Reader

1080p video smackdown: iTunes vs. Blu-ray

arstechnica.com

25 pointssant0sk15 comments

Summary: iTunes 1080p is surprisingly good, but discernibly different and lacking some options that BD can jam into extra space.

> According to the Internet Movie Database, this 2007 movie was filmed in the common Super 35 (film) format and then transferred to a 2k digital intermediate, in other words, it was edited in the digital domain.

Could someone with movie production domain knowledge say if this is an accepted and/or representative standard for modern films? I've never seen the movie, but for something only 5 years old, the quality (from the images posted) seems more akin to something released in the early 90s. Maybe someone who's seen the movie can explain the film's quality.

Yes, this is normal. Most movies that are shot on film, use this film. 2k is slightly low though, 4k is better, but 2k is not unusual. (1080p is 2k.)

However the industry is transitioning to shooting entirely in digital (in 4k if they can afford it, in 2k if not), so there is no 35mm film. Also 24 fps is starting to be considered poor quality.

Side note: 4k is 8 times the resolution of 2k.

Edit: Sorry, meant 4 times.

1080p is close to but not 2k and 4k is not 8 times the resolution of 2k.

  1080p = 1920 x 1080
  2K = 2048×1080 = 1.066 * 1080p
  4K = 4096×2160 = 4 times 2k = 4.266 x 1080p

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Digital_cinema_formats.svg

Yes I'm pretty sure most films are edited digitally. Editing software can automate the process of actually splicing the film to sync the digital edits, assuming the film wasn't completely shot digitally either (which is getting popular as well).

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