UFO in HD - again! :-}

Hi,


Please could someone clarify whether 'UFO' has been remastered from
the original film into HD for a future DVD release? I've searched
the archives on this and despite all the talk of 'UFO' in HD it seems
this is nothing more than viewing the current SD versions via HD
upscaling, which isn't really the same thing, is it...?

The recent HD21 event claimed to be showing both 'UFO' and 'Space
1999' in HD. I believe the latter has been remastered from original
film into HD on DVD, but if 'UFO' hasn't - what was being shown?

I remember someone saying that viewing the original film offers the
best definition. Is HD on DVD as good as watching the original film,
or is the definition reduced, by comparison?  

Sorry to start this old chestnut up again.... :-}


Many thanks :-)


Sarah

> Please could someone clarify whether 'UFO' has been remastered from
> the original film into HD for a future DVD release?

Yes, UFO *has* been remastered from film to HDTV. However, so far
I can only find evidence that it has been remastered in widescreen --
that is, significant portions of the top and bottom of the original
image have been chopped off (or the image has been stretched/widened
to fit the screen). Also, so far I have only seen evidence that the
image is not as pleasing to the eye as the DVD's are -- that is, the
colors are not as vibrant, and the contrast is not as strong. This
is because the new HDTV transfers were done by different people
(the HDTV transfers were done at Technicolor, while the DVD transfers
were done at BBC Resources).

Ideally, UFO would have been transfered to HDTV in the same way
that SPACE:1999 was -- both in widescreen and pillarboxed
(all of the original image with black bars on the side).

And UFO is currently being shown in HDTV in the USA on Family Room HD
-- however, this channel is not full HDTV (1080 x 1920), but rather
"HD Lite" (1080 x 1280). This is not a problem with the original source
material, but rather the satellite company which is broadcasting
the channel at a reduced resolution.

> I remember someone saying that viewing the original film offers the
> best definition. Is HD on DVD as good as watching the original film,
> or is the definition reduced, by comparison?

Well, that is a debatable subject. I have seen the claim that when
you see a film in the theater, the resolution is probably no better than
768 x 1024, because of the quality of the film stock used in release prints
and the fact that what is shown in the theater is a few generations
removed from the original negative. If this claim is true, then
watching it on film in a theater would be no better than watching
something in full HDTV (1080 x 1920). Especially when you consider
that HDTV versions are usually made from the original negatives
or interpositives, which are higher resolution / better quality
than what is shown in theaters. In the case of UFO, the HDTV
versions were made from the original negatives, so in theory
the HDTV versions could be better than what you would see in
a theater, as long as there is not too much detail lost through
MPEG compression.

Marc

I have never heard of the term "HD Lite" - I suspect you are referring
to interlaced scan 1080i, as opposed to full progressive scan 1080p.

The video format world is baffling enough as it it without introducing
more confusion and buzzwords.

I can certainly confirm that both 1080i and 1080p are considerably
better quality than standard DVD, and I have seen UFO on a cinema
screen and I don't remember it being of noticeably marked improvement.
I have a special DVD player that upscales to my 1080p 46" TV. and I
can assure you, even then, HD doesn't help a lot. This is UFO, not
Torchwood.

Let's be honest here, this is 1970's technology on a limited budget. I
haven't seen any TV show (Particularly ITC/ATV ones), that have great
quality. They were only designed to run on grotty little sub-28"
televisions. Anderson himself said he never thought any of his stuff
would be known this long, and that even repeat showings were a rather
cheapskate idea. I think if the master film were to be cleaned up of
scratches and dirt, and colour processed to get the blacks back, it
would be good enough. Blowing it up to massive size can sometimes make
things look a whole lot worse if it was never designed to be seen that
big. A case in point is compare Thunderbirds TV show to the movies.
The big screen stuff uses better cameras and stock, and it shows.

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know what UFO shot on? I am
guessing it was 35mm Arri cameras, and Kodak film, but would love to
know if anyone knows more.

Regards,
Rob


-snip-> -- however, this channel is not full HDTV (1080 x 1920), but
rather "HD Lite" (1080 x 1280). This is not a problem with the
original source material, but rather the satellite company which is
broadcasting the channel at a reduced resolution.

I am telling you again!
UFO, upscaled to 1080p with Playstation 3 on 52 inch TV looks great, much better then any movie on standard DVD and even better then some on Blu-ray (definitely much better then "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on Blu - ray. People inBBC did excellent restoration job, and compression is great, especially on3 episode discs. I will repeat: Even if "UFO" is never published on Hi Defdiscs, I will be happy with upscaled version and I am very critical, believe me...
All the best,
Branko


To: [hidden email]: [hidden email]: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:31:32 +0000Subject: [SHADO] Re: UFO in HD - again! :-}




I have never heard of the term "HD Lite" - I suspect you are referringto interlaced scan 1080i, as opposed to full progressive scan 1080p.The video format world is baffling enough as it it without introducingmore confusion and buzzwords.I can certainly confirm that both 1080i and 1080p are considerablybetter quality than standard DVD, and I have seen UFO on a cinemascreen and I don't remember it being of noticeably marked improvement. I have a special DVD player that upscales to my 1080p 46" TV. and Ican assure you, even then, HD doesn't help a lot. This is UFO, notTorchwood.Let's be honest here, this is 1970's technology on a limited budget. Ihaven't seen any TV show (Particularly ITC/ATV ones), that have greatquality. They were only designed to run on grotty little sub-28"televisions. Anderson himself said he never thought any of his stuffwould be known this long, and that even repeat showings were a rathercheapskate idea. I think if the master film were to be cleaned up ofscratches and dirt, and colour processed to get the blacks back, itwould be good enough. Blowing it up to massive size can sometimes makethings look a whole lot worse if it was never designed to be seen thatbig. A case in point is compare Thunderbirds TV show to the movies.The big screen stuff uses better cameras and stock, and it shows.Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know what UFO shot on? I amguessing it was 35mm Arri cameras, and Kodak film, but would love toknow if anyone knows more.Regards,Rob-snip-> -- however, this channel is not full HDTV (1080 x 1920), butrather "HD Lite" (1080 x 1280). This is not a problem with theoriginal source material, but rather the satellite company which isbroadcasting the channel at a reduced resolution.






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Rob Neal wrote:
> I have never heard of the term "HD Lite" - I suspect you are referring
> to interlaced scan 1080i, as opposed to full progressive scan 1080p.
>
> The video format world is baffling enough as it it without introducing
> more confusion and buzzwords.

I didn't invent the term "HD Lite" -- it is frequently used on satellite
and audio/video forums, and is used to refer to what Dish Network and
DirectTV are broadcasting on many HDTV stations, which is neither 1080i
or 720p, but rather 1080 x 1280i. This is done to save bandwidth.

Marc

Derek Meddings stated (at Uforia 1 or II) that they used a Mitchell
for all the special effects shots in UFO and I think most SFX shots
for the other series. It was the camera of choice for the SFX unit.

However, I do not know whether it was also used for live action. I did
post a picture of Brandon Stafford (using his camera) in a Control
Sphere scene. I do not know about movie cameras, but you may be able
to tell from the photo.

Best,

Griff