Comments on: Going against the Grain http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/ Gizmo's Filmjournal.net weblog Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:06:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 by: Paul http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-97 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:21:49 +0000 http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-97 Thanks for publishing this interesting and well-written article. The grain issue, now much more apparent thanks to the superior resolution of Blu-ray, is something I've asked myself about on many occasions. I'm generally a purist and want OARs, original languages, etc., for many films where possible, but it has to be questioned whether an abundance of 'grainy' films on Blu-ray could, at least in these still early days, do more harm than good for the format given the aforementioned public ignorance. It's worth noting that some home cinema equipment, if suitably featured, can do its own job of providing a digital noise reduction service so those inclined to feel annoyed with grainy Blu-rays might still be able to do something about it, to a small degree. However, I think this debate is something that proves that you will never please all of the people all of the time! Thanks for publishing this interesting and well-written article. The grain issue, now much more apparent thanks to the superior resolution of Blu-ray, is something I’ve asked myself about on many occasions. I’m generally a purist and want OARs, original languages, etc., for many films where possible, but it has to be questioned whether an abundance of ‘grainy’ films on Blu-ray could, at least in these still early days, do more harm than good for the format given the aforementioned public ignorance. It’s worth noting that some home cinema equipment, if suitably featured, can do its own job of providing a digital noise reduction service so those inclined to feel annoyed with grainy Blu-rays might still be able to do something about it, to a small degree. However, I think this debate is something that proves that you will never please all of the people all of the time!

]]> by: gizmo http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-88 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:30:32 +0000 http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-88 There is indeed a lot of technical jargon, I haven't been able to locate a decent plain English explanation. It's probably impossible to educate the great British public - but if it's the enthusiasts who make up the majority of the existing BD market (3.1m sales first half of 2009 v 99m sales of DVDS) then I guess we have at least have some voice with the studios - I hope it's heard! There is indeed a lot of technical jargon, I haven’t been able to locate a decent plain English explanation.
It’s probably impossible to educate the great British public - but if it’s the enthusiasts who make up the majority of the existing BD market (3.1m sales first half of 2009 v 99m sales of DVDS) then I guess we have at least have some voice with the studios - I hope it’s heard!

]]> by: primus http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-87 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:39:09 +0000 http://filmjournal.net/gizmo/2009/06/29/going-against-the-grain/#comment-87 I sympathise with the argument you make completely, but I'm afraid that the masses will by and large be ignorant of most of these issues. And that means distributors will continue to churn out transfers that are artificially "enhanced" for HD to give people the 'Wow' factor they crave, instead of remaining faithful to the director's original work. To be honest I'm not sure even I, despite being aware of the problem, really understand the complexity of how new transfers are produced, and the resultant problems. There's a lot of jargon here that baffles me (DNR, boosted constrast levels, crushed blacks, saturated colours, edge enhancement, haloing, etc.) and it would probably help the argument if some of this was explained somewhere or written in plain English. Then at least if people understood the problem, a wider public case could be made. Perhaps someone's written something already and a link could be provided...? I sympathise with the argument you make completely, but I’m afraid that the masses will by and large be ignorant of most of these issues. And that means distributors will continue to churn out transfers that are artificially “enhanced” for HD to give people the ‘Wow’ factor they crave, instead of remaining faithful to the director’s original work.

To be honest I’m not sure even I, despite being aware of the problem, really understand the complexity of how new transfers are produced, and the resultant problems. There’s a lot of jargon here that baffles me (DNR, boosted constrast levels, crushed blacks, saturated colours, edge enhancement, haloing, etc.) and it would probably help the argument if some of this was explained somewhere or written in plain English. Then at least if people understood the problem, a wider public case could be made.

Perhaps someone’s written something already and a link could be provided…?

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