Kuwabara wrote:Should there be commercial 2K Blu-rays and televisions?
Point of clarification, since this sentence confuses me, and leads me to perhaps believe this may need explaining: 2K is 1080p. In theory, they could be distinct, but in practice, there's never any difference.
Using the K style of referring to things, 1080p becomes 2K, in contrast to 4K.
Using the p style of referring to things, 4K becomes 2160p, in contrast to 1080p.
Just making sure this is known. Apologies if this makes me seem condescending in any way, these terms are confusing an inconsistent, so I thought I'd best clarify just in case.
(Plus, any onlookers to this may be unaware, so even if you are aware, this may clarify things for others)
Kuwabara wrote:There are hundreds of films shot in/scanned in at 2K and no intermediary home video format between 1080p and 4K exists.
If it only exists in 2K, then you only release it in 2K. Simple as that.
No offense, but I don't get why this is such a hard concept for you to grasp.
Kuwabara wrote:Upscaling 2K to 4K is no where near the same as upscaling 480i to 1080p, there's such a massive difference in resolutions there that your post comes off as really hysterical.
My point is that upscaling is an unnecessary and manipulative release strategy. Whether it's 480 to 1080, or 1080 to 2160, you're selling a product as if it has more detail than it really does. If it only exists in 2K, then releasing it in 4K is just manipulating the consumer to buy snake oil.
Also, not a criticism or anything, just a small aside here that's worth noting, similar to the thing about 2K vs 1080p/4K vs 2160p; turning 480i into 1080p is slightly more than just upscaling, as it would involve IVTCing or deinterlacing. If it's a matter of deinterlacing instead of IVTCing, they may just go with 1080i. That seems to be the route the BBC are going with for the Blu-Ray upscale of Doctor Who season 12(Well, the source was 576i in that case, but semantics).
Kuwabara wrote:I brought up the cropping because it was a cost saving measure, just like upscaling a 2K scan to 4K would be.
Upscaling isn't a cost saving measure, it's a lie. A ton of movies and TV shows don't exist in a 4K format, so often it's not a matter of doing a proper remaster or upscaling, it's a matter of either releasing it in its original format, or upscaling it; with the original being an honest release, and the upscale being a lie.
Even if the materials exist to do a proper version, and they do an upscale anyway, it's still a lie, and not a cost-saving measure, because you're not doing the same thing for cheaper, you're re-releasing something that already existed, and telling people it's something new. Though, Funimation are known for that, so I wouldn't put it past them.
Kuwabara wrote:Most people wouldn't (and don't) notice a difference between 2K and 4K, and upscaling is fine if done correctly with light filters and proper encoding. If FUNimation did what I suggested for a 4K release and wasn't totally transparent about that aspect of the process, it would be such an improvement over previous releases that I guarantee you and everyone else wouldn't even know.
If most people don't notice the difference between 2K and 4K, then what's even the point in upscaling it? You'd just lose detail, and take up a ton of extra space on the disc.
Why upscale to 4K and pad each episode out to twice its size, when you could do a 2K release with twice the per-disc episode count, and thus half the number of discs, thus a cheaper release to produce, thus cheaper for the consumer to buy, thus more consumers would be incentivised to buy it, thus it'd be a better release all-round?
And for movies, an upscale would just mean you'd be bloating it out, which means it requires more bitrate to get the same level of detail, so you'd actually be putting out an inferior product.
Besides, your TV will do a great job at upscaling if you have a genuine 4K TV anyway -- at the very least, given the small perceptible difference between 2K and 4K, it shouldn't really be distinguishable from an official upscale, really -- so doing an upscaled release is really just a totally pointless vial of snake oil.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.