The science behind 4k restorations of classic films premiumbeat. There is a lot of talk about 6k resolution from the epic dragon by red, and of course there are 4k tvs now, but im wondering what actual film, 35mm particularly has a resolution equivalency of, if it is even possible to do an equivalency. Medium format film vs 35mm vs digital megapixels and resolution 7 months ago 2 hello. Somebody told me so today, and i find it surprising. Would not such comparisons be dependent on the resolution of the scanner used. It may be helpful for eveyone having a problem with this to mention their tvs. Ive heard it said that 35mm has more resolvable resolution than 2k digital. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width of the 35 mm format photographic film, which consists of strips 1. Whats the best dpi or resolution to scan your film. To scan most of the detail on a 35mm photo, youll need about 864 x 0. What is the amount of pixels in a 35mm frame of film.
Just as its possible for good 35mm film to look better when viewed on a 4k. But the argument that film is better than video in terms of resolution is. Theyll have digital versions of the film to screen in digital only cinemas as well as for 3d. With film, you get the same resolution at color transitions greenmagenta. And if you know how scan resolution works, youll know how to figure out problems later when you try to play your scans on different sized tvs, monitors and projection. If youre not sure what resolution to scan your negatives, you may get low quality image scans best resolution dpi when scanning negative film. There is a lot of talk about 6k resolution from the epic dragon by red, and of course there are 4k tvs now, but im wondering what actual film. Aug 24, 2018 format, resolution, color bit depth, frame rate, lenses and camera type are all tools to tell story. This is because 70mm is going to go away as is all film for full length movies. Theres a lot of confusing, outdated, and just plain wrong information. The resolution is crummy, they saytextures get lost, the blacks aren. When you scan film, good scanners resolve right up to their dpi dots or pixels per inch rating.
Full pixel readout without pixel binning collects approx. It compares 35mm film to a 3mp digital camera and sort of shockingly finds the digital superior in most every respect. Some of the sillier film critics and directors dont like admitting this fact. Which, kind of steers me towards believing that original film should have better visual quality. Resolution of the super 16mm film format resolution of super 16mm film although i have not yet been able to conduct my planed very critical super 16mm resolution test, i am confident that we can reach certain resonable conclusions based on knowlege of lens performance and published mtf data for available film emulsions. Tarantino was shooting all his movies on the 35mm analog film, while his last published. The dslr has less resolution than film for high contrast features of the subject, but it captures more lowcontrast features. So in terms of measurable resolution, if i want to be generous and say that 35mm can resolve 4k, then 5perf 65mm becomes 8k and 15perf 65mm imax is almost 12k.
Dci 4k has the same vertical resolution as uhd 2160px but is slightly wider at 4096px. Film grain is essentially fine random dead pixels in the emulsion of a film frame. Instantly adds cinematic film grain to your 4k footage. Im new to medium format film, and my scans from a lab do not seem to be giving me anything close to medium format megapixels. Best dpi setting for slides, negatives, photos no matter what size the original is if youre not sure how resolution works, you may be scanning your images the wrong dpi. Some filmmakers still prefer to use analogue picture formats to achieve the desired results. They simply cost too much to produce, print and distribute. Medium format film vs 35mm vs digital megapixels and resolution started 6 months ago discussions thread forum. You know, that old plasticky stuff you had to develop with chemicals. Film is ok for 4k but some of the new completely digital film making is beginning to make the dead pixel look of film passe. What is the resolution of 35mm color film expressed in mega pixels.
I have read articles where the stated resolution of 35mm film varies from 20 mp to as high as 80 mp. And if a movie was shot digitally at a resolution lower than 4k 2k, say. The triumph of digital will be the death of many movies. Quality difference between hd video and 35mm film movies and tv. Resolution is recognized as an important quality of digital images. Perhaps the op didnt couch the question exactly as intended, but as the question was posed, the only correct answer is that digital can certainly have higher resolution than 35mm film. Notice also that the blurays bit rate is not particularly high at resolution tests utilized existing stateofthe art 35mm cinema film equipment, film stocks, processing, printing, and projection in actual daytoday use for feature film production, post production, processing, printing, and exhibition in theatres worldwide. Todays highend fullframe digital cameras have 35mm sensors which is the size of a conventional 35mm film. Of course, this had to be shot using a different lens on the dslr, so as to image the same area as the 5mm olympus on 35mm film. May 08, 2010 hi ed, but the question asked by the op wasnt about film and the dslr it was about 35mm film and digital resolution. Its sort of odd that simple comparisons like this arent a lot more common.
Have huge numbers of 6 meg dslrs been sold and did they underperform. Film looks good if you know what you are doing right out of the camera. Nov 25, 2014 4k projectors fill the theater screen with 4096 x 2160 pixels of resolution amounting to a total of just over 8 million pixels and 2k projectors do about half of that hence the resolutions. On the other hand, in film you have full r, g and b resolution at every point and get endless amounts of color information and details throughout the image.
Works with any video resolution from 1080 up to 4k, and provides you with full control over the grain size when working at lower resolutions. Dec 26, 2018 ive seen a number of questions on quora asking about this topic, likely related to 4k tv resolution. Heres a film vs digital comparison from 2000 that looks at how a print from one process compares with a print from the other. So about 4k in stills but when film is used in a motion picture camera things get muddy. Download premium quality 35mm film grain in 4k resolution and give your videos a cinematic film look. Film scans also have complete rgb color information and resolution at each pixel. Abrams has filmed the force awakens in only 35 mm film and 70 mm imax film. Film gives you a more artistic look, and less worry about settings like white balance, auto focus, raw or jpeg. As of this article, red and panavision digital cinematography cameras produce a resolution up to 8k 7,680. The very worst cases of distracting grain ive seen are on 4k film scans like crouching tiger. Ive heard it said that 35mm has more resolvable resolution than 2k digital cinema packages, yet not as much as 4k dcps.
And, coincidentally, i recently wrote scanning your film negatives vs. Film scans resolve detail about as well as the original film, up to the resolution of the scanner. Ultimate resolution 4k movie in super 35mm alpha 6300. The merits of digital versus film photography were considered by photographers and. For a more on comparing film versus digital and other photography tips, head on over to the blog. A digital camera would have to be 156 megapixels to give you the same kind of detail as 35mm film. But film is said to be higher resolution that digital this is simply hd when i heard this but i believe 35mm and 4k are essentially the same. This is the less impressive change, first because you would need a big enough screen to actually notice the difference my hometown theaters dont have 4k projectors, yet every movie looks amazing in terms of definition on the big screen, second because not all new movies are shot or mastered in native 4k. The resolution of 70mm film is much better than 35mm, providing a richer visual experience and extremely detailed images that are a joy to watch.
Comparing the image quality of film and digital petapixel. And when was the last you checked on the cost of developing a roll of 35mm transparencies, against the cost of a dslr, computerlaptop, monitor, calibrator for the monitor, printer, paper,inks,and of course the adobe programs needed to cure the mistakes. But to get to your questions, yes, a 35mm film negative does contain. Each clip is 30 seconds in length and can be looped. Good vision is defined as that capable of discerning an object at a visual angle of 1 arc minute, or 160 of a degree. Sep 12, 2014 the triumph of digital will be the death of many movies. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. This type of film also changes the aspect ratio of the film, stretching it to a wider 2. As of 2017, professional 4k digital film cameras are approximately equal to 35mm film in their resolution and dynamic range capacity, however, digital film still has a slightly different look to analog film. Medium format film vs 35mm vs digital megapixels and. While 33 million pixels is greater than the 20 million pixels in 35mm film, it is still less resolution than can be had in 70mm film at 40 million pixels. Furthermore, all 3d screenings are in 2k resolution as there is no 4k 3d standard in digital cinema. Medium format film vs 35mm vs digital megapixels and resolution.
Are you ready to take the step up from 35mm film to larger formats. Are you prepared to pay a large amount of money to buy the highest resolution digital camera. The biggest screen has installed a 4k ultra highdefinition projector. Is it true that 80s 35mm photofilm had quality corresponding to 24 megapixels.
First off 2k di and 4k di is very pertinant to film grain visibility on uhd. Is traditional 35 mm film better quality than 4k digital. Resolution of the super 16mm film format cinematechnic. Now dont confuse measurable resolution with optimal scanning, mastering, andarchiving resolution if 35mm film really resolves 3. A 2k film scan will typically result in 2,048 horizontal pixels per scan line. The ultimate highresolution 4k movie in super 35mm vol. Notice also that the blurays bit rate is not particularly high at digital cameras have 35mm sensors which is the size of a conventional 35mm film. Both are considered 2k, even though they have different vertical line counts. Some experts agree that by the time a 35mm motion picture reaches theatres, the generation loss due to copying results in a resolution lower than 1080p. Its a legitimate and frequently asked question, and youve probably heard that 35mm is 4k, 16mm is 2k, and super 8 is 720p, or something similar. Format, resolution, color bit depth, frame rate, lenses and camera type are all tools to tell story.
Apr 21, 2017 right in the middle of the article is the section on optical dpi vs digital with our scanner that you might find interesting. So you get the same resolution for different colors being recorded, and the resolution you stated is the resolution you get in the results. If you want to be less generous and say that 35mm resolves more like 3k, then 5perf 65mm becomes 6k and 15perf 65mm imax is almost 9k. How does the resolution of a 35mm slidethe actual slide not a scan compare to a digital image and how does one go about making such comparisons. The best cinema where i live has gone 100% digital with the option of 35 mm as well. This time, its a classic 35mm film source upgraded to 4k resolution and with regrading of the colorcontrast and comparing this to a bluray which came out more than 5 years ago encoded in vc1 which is somewhat inferior to avch. What are the practical or useful resolutions of scanners being used to scan 35mm film. Jun 12, 2014 but to get to your questions, yes, a 35mm film negative does contain sufficient picture information for a 4k resolution video transfer, and theres no reason why that transfer wouldnt retain the same level of granular detail as its source. Or the same film stock with a handheld camera vs a tripodmounted camera. Other than maybe really fine film grain, a standard 1080p bluray appears to be easily good enough for 35mm film resolution wise. Significantly inferior to the best 4k video ive seen in any event. An interesting comparison about a photo i had scanned at a scanning service recently.
What 4k does and this was sony, is to allow the people see a sharper image on the screen sitting about 5 rows back from the screen, where 2k, the sharpest was close to 8 rows back from the screen. Personally, while i liked the improvement in contrast and the overall warmer tone of the hdr remaster, i think this movie reminds us again that 35mm film, in practice is not true 4k in terms of achievable resolution. The science behind 4k restorations of classic films. Typical cinematic 70mm prints have resolution comparable, yet superior to 4k dcps, and imax 70mm prints have resolution around the 6k ballpark. Right in the middle of the article is the section on optical dpi vs digital with our scanner that you might find interesting. Posted on oct 10, 2017 in scanning, resolution, 4k. Best dpi resolution when scanning photos slides negatives.
The general public might not be able to define what 35mm film or the academy ratio is, but they instantly recognize. And as i said before, theres other factors that will impact the actual resolution achieved vs what is technically. But the human perception of resolution is limited by visual acuity. Mar 07, 2016 the resolution of 70mm film is much better than 35mm, providing a richer visual experience and extremely detailed images that are a joy to watch. These two technologies digital and analog are fundamentally different but at the end of the day, the images produced are consumed alike. Crafted for professional filmmakers and video editors. How digital cinema took over the 35mm film the new republic. There are film industry specific arguments in the film vs. Now, with the advent of 4k as the successor to hd, digital restorations are able to jump up to a much higher resolution. Dec 18, 2014 the results are very impressive and from our comparisons we think scanned color slide film has a digital equivalent resolution of between 12mp and 24mp depending on what aspect you look at 12mp. Not quite, but thats because film doesnt work in the same way exactly. May 28, 2017 i think that people should stop comparing resolution, the popular joker movie was filmed on 35mm and then mastered in 4k. If i remember correctly, 35mm film already has a higher resolution than hd so 35mm frame has at least 3 million pixels, depending on the lens, and shooting conditions, while an hd frame has 2 million pixels, measured using 1920 x 1080 scan lines. Theres not an exact number of pixels in a single frame of 35mm film stock.
Or put another way, what resolution digital camera is equivalent to 35mm color film. Fully adjustable precisely tweak the opacity and the intensity of the film grain to fit any scene. Tv manufacturers pushed to make 4k a new standard by 2017. It is estimated that 35mm film has a digital resolution equivalent to 4k. Natural 35mm film grain overlay one plate in 4k resolution designed to be used with professional high resolution cameras, including all existing 1080p dslrs. There is a lot of talk about 6k resolution from the epic dragon by red, and of course there are 4k tvs now, but im wondering what actual film, 35mm particularly has a resolution equivalency of, if. We have both and, in all due actuality, its not a ticket seller since we rarely get patrons asking if the feature is 4k or not. With medium format 6x6 film you get 56 x 56 3,6 sq mm, which is 282 megapixel. Thus, the tests studied the practical 35mm cinema film resolution that is. The slow adoption of 4k content distribution is compounded by the higher cost of producing 4k dcps. The majority of film was recorded to 35mm film stock.
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