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[CaptainZok]

Just got some old film coming on the telly which the announced said was also availible in "sparkly High Definition". The question is how, as the film was shot before the advent of high def will it be any more than an upscaled version of the original which the media centre can do quite well on it's own?

[TheBoy]

Just got some old film coming on the telly which the announced said was also availible in "sparkly High Definition". The question is how, as the film was shot before the advent of high def will it be any more than an upscaled version of the original which the media centre can do quite well on it's own?

It will likely be an upscaled version, so likely no difference than your MCE upscaler...

[skyblue]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

[TheBoy]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

[skyblue]

My question is .... Is HD worth having as I object to paying Sky an extra tenner a month for it if there is little difference to your veiwing

The cynic in me would suggest Sky degraded the quality of their SD to make HD seem much better.

Sky HD is significantly better than Sky SD. Sky HD is noticibly better than Freeview SD. Not sure how Sky HD compares to Freeview HD, as not seen the 2 side by side...

Cheers TB .... Think its best that I keep my money in my pocket then 

[aaronjb]

Just got some old film coming on the telly which the announced said was also availible in "sparkly High Definition". The question is how, as the film was shot before the advent of high def will it be any more than an upscaled version of the original which the media centre can do quite well on it's own?

It will likely be an upscaled version, so likely no difference than your MCE upscaler...

That depends if it's been released as a proper HD release, surely?

Something that was never available as HD will 'just' be upscaled SD, but given the 'resolution' of celluloid film stock is considerably in excess of 1080p resolution it's entirely possible to have an 'old' film (at least one filmed on 'modern' 35mm film stock) in true HD.

The study indicated a 35mm negative has a resolution in excess of 2400 lines by picture height but obviously we don’t watch negatives, the film has to be processed into a stock reel. Those tested stock reels were found to have a maximum comparative line resolution of 1400 lines P/H, still considerably more resolution than 1080p’s vertical integer. (Note: the P/H formula is used because film has the same vertical and horizontal resolution, where video does not.)

From: http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/04/mailbag-hd-movies-and-the-resolution-of-film/

Which sources the ITU-R 'subgroup 6' study.


Why always so cynical, TB

[Dishevelled Den]

It was probably shot on 35mm stock so the definition produced most likely exceeds that of 'Full HD'.

Chris H is probably the man to give the answer. 

[Chris_H]

I have to agree.  Film was always a good medium and although it had its foibles (grain, colour stability over time etc.) most people grew up with it so see it as a reference and there are even a lot of professionals who would like to (and do) distort electronically-originated material to emulate it.

Apart from nitrate stock that could spontaneously combust and a load of 16mm stuff that had its own peculiarities, not least poor resolution, there is a cracking archive of better-than-SDTV stuff to be found.  There was even a 70mm format that was used over a long period.

Another little-known fact about tv is that on the old PAL colour system, if you wanted to show a black & white film, you could (and they didn't always) switch off the colour system and the bandwidth would increase dramatically giving effectively HD tv at the expense of colour.  Not as HD as today's offerings but certainly very noticeable.

[aaronjb]

There are some fantastic HD transfers of older films out there, too - Blade Runner looked spectacular - although there are of course some less than great transfers.. the original Star Trek series suffers anywhere there was use of blue-screening, for example

[Martin_1962]

I agree some old films are amazing - you have to buy Blade Runner on BluRay.

As to HD if you can manage on BBC and ITV get a Freesat HD box.

[millwall]

the hd channels on virgin are pretty good especially the sports and movie channels

[TheBoy]

Soz, when Zok said old film, I immediately got Charlie Chaplin type films in my head


Martin Imber - I considered putting up a dish for freesat, but Freeview HD is with us shortly (September here, delayed as transmitted burnt down last Spring).

[TheBoy]

Also, having MCE blurs the destinction slightly, as it is a stunningly good upscaler. Upscaling cannot put missing info in, obviously, but unless you play the same film side-by-side in HD and SD, its bloody hard to tell the difference.

Casino Royale is probably the only film I have on DVD and in HD. The opening credits are noticibly better, but the actual film is only noticible if you are looking out for it.

[CaptainZok]

Yes I was toying with the idea of sticking a dual lnb on the old sky dish and fitting a sat card, or just wait till the new crop of dtv cards are with us and go freeview HD.

[TheBoy]

Yes I was toying with the idea of sticking a dual lnb on the old sky dish and fitting a sat card, or just wait till the new crop of dtv cards are with us and go freeview HD.

Blackgold 6-in-1's are back, and I believe they are DVB-T2, so could have best of both.

Unsure of driver/firmware stability though. Not used them.