Rydog23

I know blu-rays are released with various quality transfers. How does one tell the exact quality of the transfer for each specific blu-ray? For example, how can you tell if the transfer is from a 1080p or 720p master? Thanks.

PhantomStranger

Almost no films on BD are sourced from 720P masters as you call them. There are some from very poor, faded elements in bad condition, resulting in actual visible resolution that is less than true 1080P.

Pretty much any Blu-ray listed in the highest three Tiers on this list have quality transfers which look great:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/150-bl...27-2014-a.html

hanshotfirst1138

Aren't most top end Blu masters from 2K and 4K sources?

PhantomStranger

Correct. The vast majority of normal BD releases coming out today derive from 2K scans of the film elements. That wasn't always true a few years ago.

Rydog23

Thanks for this great resource! I wish the transfer info would be listed on the back of the blu-ray covers in the same way the audio specs are listed.

hanshotfirst1138

In the case of newer films, isn't it usually from the 2K Digital Intermediates used for movies shot on film (of which there will be no more very shortly), or digital? I'd assume that even 2K scans must be fairly time-consuming and difficult, and exactly how much restoration work is done depends on the commercial viability of the title? Blu-ray is slightly less than 2K resolution, so it obviously makes a lot of sense, though of corner that opens the whole 4K can of worms (and I have seen a very small number restorations which were apparently done at 6K or 8K, especially for 70mm):

Drexl

Well, it's not as if a transfer derived from a 4K scan is automatically going to look much better than one from a 2K scan. You could miss out on some nice transfers if you were to stick to 4K only.

That said, Sony has a line of discs that emphasize on the packaging that they were mastered in 4K. But again, this is true of quite a few discs and they don't say it.

PhantomStranger

Yes, virtually every theatrical film made today is derived from a 2K Digital Intermediate. That is usually the source for almost all home video masters.

Film itself is dying and everything is being natively shot by digital, which makes the process much easier.