Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[TMDaines]

Annoyingly despite some StudioCanal/Arthaus titles being the exact same discs published in the UK, Germany and France, some aren't. I've just found this out with two Becker films: Le trou and Touchez pas au Grisbi whose German discs don't have English subtitles and vice versa. This goes for both the standalone releases and the German boxset.

[tenia]

Usually, if they're not released close together in time, they're likely to be tailored solely for their domestic market. For instance, while Canal has Le trou also in France, it will only be released now in a completely different release than the UK one.

[TMDaines]

Isn't the UK already a great 4k restoration?

[L.A.]

The Ladykillers (1955) 4K UHD coming November 9th.

[bluesforyou]

Really encouraging signs for the format. The threshold for a film to be considered financially viable for a UHD release has lowered considerably since 2016. Hope we see studios and labels dive even deeper for catalogue releases.

[TMDaines]

Really encouraging signs for the format. The threshold for a film to be considered financially viable for a UHD release has lowered considerably since 2016. Hope we see studios and labels dive even deeper for catalogue releases.

It's the cost of entry to the equipment that's the barrier. The value for money in 1080p projectors is so much better than genuine 4k ones.

[perkizitore]

But 4K good quality TVs are the same price or cheaper than their 1080p counterparts! I doubt that the projector market is driving physical sales. Most people have gone digital and sadly even some people sticking to digital still watch DVDs!

[tenia]

It depends what you call good UHD TVs and 1080p counterparts. Especially since UHD TVs are likely to be bigger than 1080p ones, and prices of very big 1080p TVs have indeed never been really competitive, so the comparison will be even more biased.

Basically, you'll be comparing in practice a good 1080p 50" TV (probably 900€) to a good 55" UHD TV (1500€) or a good 65" UHD TV (2500€).

So even screens are not that cheap, but it's not the issue : UHD screens ARE sold quite massively nowadays, but just not UHD releases, because the market simply doesn't really care about it, like the market didn't really care about BD despite having adopted HD TVs.

[MichaelB]

The Ladykillers (1955) 4K UHD coming November 9th.

As soon as I heard about this, I immediately asked someone with first-hand knowledge about the aspect ratio, and they’re doing it in both 1.37:1 and 1.66:1. So no complaints on that score.

[EddieLarkin]

So no complaints on that score.

You'd think so, but from how the advert reads, it sounds to me like only the (totally wrong and historically inaccurate) 1.37:1 version is making it to UHD:

The film will also become the first of any Ealing comedy to be released on UHD Blu-ray (4K resolution). The 5-disc box set is set to include a multi-region 4K Blu-ray, featuring the film at its very highest quality; two region B HD (2K resolution) Blu-rays containing the film at both both 1.37:1 and 1.66:1 aspect ratios

Hopefully I'm wrong.

[MichaelB]

My source is unimpeachable, and unquestionably knows more about the actual disc content than whoever wrote the advert.

[EddieLarkin]

That's reassuring to hear, as SC have done something similar before, by making the 1.75:1 version of The Dam Busters an LE exclusive special feature on its own disc. The "main disc", which was the only disc in the standard release, carried the 1.37:1 version.

[senseabove]

David Mackenzie also noted on the other forum that this is "the first time it's ever been mastered from the Technicolor separation elements. The improvement in detail and color is insane."

[bluesforyou]

It depends what you call good UHD TVs and 1080p counterparts. Especially since UHD TVs are likely to be bigger than 1080p ones, and prices of very big 1080p TVs have indeed never been really competitive, so the comparison will be even more biased.

Basically, you'll be comparing in practice a good 1080p 50" TV (probably 900€) to a good 55" UHD TV (1500€) or a good 65" UHD TV (2500€).

So even screens are not that cheap, but it's not the issue : UHD screens ARE sold quite massively nowadays, but just not UHD releases, because the market simply doesn't really care about it, like the market didn't really care about BD despite having adopted HD TVs.

Are TVs that much more expensive in Europe? I can get a Sony OLED A8H 55" for CAD 2500 (€1600). X900H 65" goes for CAD 1700 (€1090) and that is a great 4K TV.

[tenia]

I had a look at the LG C9 and the 55" is about 1600€ and the 65" 2500€.
Just looked at the Sony A8 and prices are roughly the same (1700€ and 2700€).

But 1080p TVs have never been competitive at these prices, and are likely to be bought at smaller sizes instead. My Panasonic 50G20 was 1000€ 10 years ago, you probably can get a very good 50" 1080p screen nowadays for less than this.

But in any case again, the issue is that even if people are buying UHD TVs, it doesn't mean they'll buy a UHD player and UHD discs.

[perkizitore]

I had a look at the LG C9 and the 55" is about 1600€ and the 65" 2500€.
Just looked at the Sony A8 and prices are roughly the same (1700€ and 2700€).

But 1080p TVs have never been competitive at these prices, and are likely to be bought at smaller sizes instead. My Panasonic 50G20 was 1000€ 10 years ago, you probably can get a very good 50" 1080p screen nowadays for less than this.

But in any case again, the issue is that even if people are buying UHD TVs, it doesn't mean they'll buy a UHD player and UHD discs.

The LG C9 was available for 1300, but it ended up costing me around 1050 after selling a Nintendo Switch Lite and the 100 voucher they included! It's probably discontinued, you should look into LG GX offers, but I guess the pandemic has altered the market (for comparison, last September the LG C9 had already dropped to 1300). You cannot even get a decent 1080p nowadays, I think all good manufacturers moved to 4K. FALD TVs were always expensive, but it's really a necessity now for HDR. With 1080p, you could get a decent edge led TV that would have sufficed for most people. In the US you can get a decent DV enabled Vizio or TCL set for less than you would have paid for a 40 inch 1080p TV a decade ago. With 4K you need the bigger size to notice the difference, but if you don't pay enough for a unit that can produce a decent amount of nits, you are just getting a dim picture.

[eerik]

I had a look at the LG C9 and the 55" is about 1600€ and the 65" 2500€.

Those prices look way too expensive. I am checking local prices here in Estonia for 2020's CX models, and 55" CX goes for about 1350€ and 65" CX 1950€. Last year's C9 models aren't widely available anymore.

[tenia]

LG 55CX currently is here in France 1600€ and the 65CX 2600€.

[TMDaines]

I wouldn't consider going from 92" projection to 55-65" inch screen an upgrade, even with the increase in resolution, hence why I think I will remain with only HD for the near future.

[perkizitore]

If you have a JVC or a really good Epson Full HD I agree, but getting an 75-85 4K DV LCD from Sony or Samsung could be an improvement!

[yoloswegmaster]

Here is the trailer for the Serpico 4K Restoration. The color timing seems to be causing controversy over on the blu forums.

[tenia]

Haven't checked but I suppose it's from Ritrovata.

[Rupert Pupkin]

it's the usual greenish/yellowish restoration. This doesn't look to me natural or accurate in comparison to the MoC release.
It's difficult so swallow that all 70's movies, because of film-stock, with different director of photography with their own style will all look like "Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noir" (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe)

[Grand Wazoo]

It's quite niche and possibly sprawling so I'm unsure who would do this, but is there a comprehensive list of releases affected by this color timing? Along with perhaps alternate choices for some of them like Arrow's Tree of Wooden Clogs or Second Sight's Color of Pomegranates Yuktevich cut? The latter may stretch what I'm meaning given its a different cut but the teal is somewhat subdued vs. the Parajanov cut.

[tenia]

I'll try and check this. There is a topic for this on blu-ray.com but I don't think it's up to date, and it probably only cover Ritrovata's yellow color grading and not Eclair blue one.
I doubt there'll ever be a comprehensive list though, since some of these restorations haven't been released on BD, and some have only been released in countries whose releases aren't often discussed or seen by people who might feedback on this.