ELVIS IN HD?!

[TONY]

Is it possible that old films such as Elvis could be re-issued/mastered in HD in the future?! Also, who would buy these yet again to have them in this format?
TONY

[Robert]

If this is only possible for 35 mm, it's not possible for On Tour (16mm)

[Juan Luis]

16mm qualifies as HD. It will also look great because it is used with 2 or 3 camera montages and it is blown to half or close to half of 35mm. Get it?

[Juan Luis]

If I remember correctly the "full" shots still did not cover the widescreen. In the center with I would say 30-40% of space. I have worked with TV ads shot in 16mm(6 or so yrs ago) and they look wonderful and with an HD transfer you get great high definition. The OT grain was due to low light, cameras? But I love it since it has the documentary (it is lol!) effect. Imo.

[Juan Luis]

Also you have to take in consideration that the OT 16mm film was transfered to 35mm for montages and viewing in theaters. Also TTWIS was shot in a very controlled and static environment with lights, house lights etc..

[Cryogenic]

"On Tour" was only shot on 16mm filmstock? Man. How about "That's The Way It Is"? It looks like 35mm to me (although some parts, due to lowlight, have high levels of grain).

Yes: 16mm should make for high quality HD transfers if done correctly. Even 8mm footage would benefit from HD (not by much - but it would benefit).

[Juan Luis]

TTWIS was 35mm and looks great. On OT the 16mm film by itself on a smaller scale looks like 35mm, but when transfered to 35mm film, and that again is transfered to the old digital video, one should be surprised it looks as good as it does. Imo

[Cryogenic]

Don't the original 16mm negatives still exist?

Wouldn't it be technologically and financially more prudent to scan those in and convert to HD?

If you blow up to 35mm, and then go to HD, you're introducing a LOT more grain.

[Juan Luis]

I would hope the 16mm negatives exist but would be a little factor compared to$$$$ that the owners would be willing to spend. This is not Wizard OF Oz and only very valuable to the Elvis fans I would guess.

[thenexte]

Is it possible that old films such as Elvis could be re-issued/mastered in HD in the future?! Also, who would buy these yet again to have them in this format?
TONY

I guess everything is possible, it just boils down to how much more of an incremental improvement such a format would provide vs. what you really need. There is a point of diminishing return, and you'd probably need a huge screen to even make out a difference compared to anamorphic widescreen 480p picture quality. It's kind of like the whole SACD vs. CD discussion. Sure, with the right amount of money I can go out and buy a great system with good speakers and a specialized SACD player to take in these extra bits. But does this have any bearing on the other 95% of people who are entirely happy with the current digital formats and systems? Probably not.

Most high-resolution audio/video formats today are failing for one and one reason only: interoperability. Hardware manufacturers will prevent you from copying the content for your personal use and content owners will add DRM to prevent you from unlocking it from the medium. For that reason alone it will be very hard to push CD's and DVD's off of the market for decades to come, as they are simply unmatched in their ability to function with all sorts of devices. Most consumers would favor ease-of-use and convenience over technology that promises incremental sound/picture quality but comes attached with these types of personal use limitations.

[healy]

I remember NBC showed "Loving You" in HD a couple years ago.

I didn't have an HD tv then so I don't know how good it looked though.

[elvispresleyfan1935]

I've always thought that On Tour was shot with 16mm just wasn't never sure though.

[healy]

I think you're right.

[Juan Luis]

I guess everything is possible, it just boils down to how much more of an incremental improvement such a format would provide vs. what you really need. There is a point of diminishing return, and you'd probably need a huge screen to even make out a difference compared to anamorphic widescreen 480p picture quality.

Stay in sound please!!!

[ColinB]

DVD/TV visual quality is way below that of film.

So until it reaches that level, there is always room for improvement.

HDTV and its associated players and recorders are a step along the way.

It isn't over yet !

[davide]

On Tour Camera negative 16mm
Theatrical Presentation 35mm

Thats The Way It Is Camera negative 35mm
Theatrical Presentation 35mm

[Juan Luis]

DVD/TV visual quality is way below that of film.

So until it reaches that level, there is always room for improvement.

HDTV and its associated players and recorders are a step along the way.

It isn't over yet !

That is right. And contrary to thenexte's belief, HD TV has a very very noticeable improvement (any TV size) over DVD, 480p satellite,cable quality which is in many cases (because of compression) even lower quality than regular standard 480i tv you get off the air.

[Cryogenic]

The compression on some cable stations is often unbearable to me. What the hell do some of these companies use? Their MPEG-2 streams look vastly inferior to DVD transfers! Vastly. The amount of macroblocking is often appalling. I honestly prefer analogue transmissions in a lot of situations.

I have some HD clips on my PC. They're a significant improvement over SD content.

[Juan Luis]

The compression on some cable stations is often unbearable to me. What the hell do some of these companies use? Their MPEG-2 streams look vastly inferior to DVD transfers! Vastly. The amount of macroblocking is often appalling. I honestly prefer analogue transmissions in a lot of situations.

I have some HD clips on my PC. They're a significant improvement over SD content.

Apply that to compression for sound. Does not have to do with hearing per se. It has more to do with knowing how things are supposed to sound like. Especially analog instruments including human voices, male/female. This is also like vision, a "veil" that gets thicker as sound files get smaller, and to the contrary (veil thinner and more transparent) with larger files ending with source.