HD films on SKY

[pjp]

This morning Sky were advertising bond fims to be shown in HD. As these where not made in HD how can these be shown in HD?

[Broadz]

AS they were made in a much higher resolution than HD is capable of displaying (the same as pretty much every movie that has had a cinema release since the 1960s) - dead easy. Just lower the resolution to high definition capability and you're laughing.

[Bravia]

Most movies from the 1950s onwards were shot on film which has a much higher resolution than a standard SD TV screen.

[KettyKrueger]

Originally Posted by pjp74

This morning Sky were advertising bond fims to be shown in HD. As these where not made in HD how can these be shown in HD?

They were shot using film (35mm?). Film is not digital and has infinite resolution (perhaps not infinite but far larger than 1080p).

This is true of any older film.

Trust me, they will look awesome. If they've been remastered properly, it will look like any new(er) movie.

[StevieBuck]

As the other guys said, film has a much higher resolution than HD - so when it is transferred it can easily be encoded to HD standard.

If you have ventured into Blu-ray yet, you could check out the Blu-ray versions of the Bond films which were recently released.

[Bravia]

Ironically some early TV programmes were shot on film which means, for example Star Trek from the 1960s could be now broadcast in HD, but Star Trek The Next Generation which was shot on videotape (I believe) in the 1980s can't.

[GasDad]

Originally Posted by Bravia

Most movies from the 1950s onwards were shot on film which has a much higher resolution than a standard SD TV screen.

Err what were movies filmed with before the 1950's

[NicolasB]

Originally Posted by KettyKrueger

If they've been remastered properly, it will look like any new(er) movie.

That's quite a significant "if" unfortunately. Some 1960s movies on Sky HD look stunning (The original Michael Caine version of The Italian Job, for example). Equally, some much later movies look absolutely atrocious (Body Heat springs to mind - you could easily have mistaken that for SD).

Doing a proper transfer of an old movie requires a great deal of time and effort. They need to go back to the original negatives and reconstruct it; it can take hours to construct a single frame because (for example) the different sections of the negative will have shrunk by uneven amounts. They also have to digital compensate for scratches and tears in the film. Rough and ready transfers can be done simply by scanning a cinema print, which is probably a fourth or fifth generation copy: the result is far lower in quality.

[contraste]

Originally Posted by GasDad

Err what were movies filmed with before the 1950's

Ditto!

BTW you can find some superb HD transfers of pre 50's films.

[Trollslayer]

Cimena grade film has an effective resolution of about 2,000 lines I think, good enough to conversion to 1080p.

[BrianMc]

Originally Posted by Bravia

Ironically some early TV programmes were shot on film which means, for example Star Trek from the 1960s could be now broadcast in HD, but Star Trek The Next Generation which was shot on videotape (I believe) in the 1980s can't.

Many such shows could have problems with the special effects!

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", for example, (ok - fantasy rather than SF!) was filmed but then transferred to video to add the special effects. It is doubtful, even if the film elements still exist, than anyone could make an HD version now.

[sizedoesmatter]

Originally Posted by GasDad

Err what were movies filmed with before the 1950's

So mentioning the 30's will be a real shock then.

Gone with the Wind,
Adventures of Robin Hood
Wizard of Oz

to name three

[paul_round]

Most visual efects fo movies are done at 2048 X 1556, more than enough resolution for HD (which is 1920 X 1080)

[loz]

I suspect that when the OP's first post is a question like this, he already knows the answer...

[mattk69]

Originally Posted by loz

I suspect that when the OP's first post is a question like this, he already knows the answer...

why would that be then !!