Hacker News Reader

Comment by dasil003 | Hacker News Reader

This is only strictly true if you're talking about television. The analog nature of film and its degradation along with the imperfection of human memory mean we can't really know for sure exactly how, for example, Lawrence of Arabia looked on the big screen in its contemporary transfers. But it was definitely better than anything seen on a television prior to at least 1080p if not 4k.

View on HN

The analog nature of film and its degradation along with the imperfection of human memory mean we can't really know for sure exactly how, for example, Lawrence of Arabia looked on the big screen in its contemporary transfers.

It depends on the source material.

As luck would have it, I just recently got the 4K Blu-ray of Lawrence of Arabia, and it is very very grainy. Much more so than the 4K version of Rear Window, though that has a lot of noticeable grain.

Fortunately, some theaters still occasionally show classics like these, so when Lawrence comes around, we should find out. Hopefully. Assuming it comes in on big reels of film, and not over a digital link.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky to see Lowrence of Arabia in a local cinema with a 70 mm film projector. The film was originally shot on 65mm and it looked fabulous on the big screen! I don’t remember the film grain being an issue. I usually notice it at the start of the film but then quickly get used to it. It’s also likely that the picture quality was cleaned to some degree.

I presume your Blu-Ray transfer was processed conservatively. Digital filters to remove film grain can introduce their own artifacts which degrade the image quality and make the picture look different from how it was originally intended to be seen.

A big difference is that the prints degrade and viewing conditions varied greatly. If you were watching Lawrence first run on 70mm print at large theater with the projector lamps cranked it was borderline religious experience. But if you weren’t in a big city and caught the end of the second or third run or a 35mm print with lamps at normal levels 4k on a newer tv is almost certainly better.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com