# Sony Mastered in 4K impressions thread



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I thought it would be a good idea to have a Mastered in 4k thread where folks can post their impressions of M4K discs that they've purchased. 

I'm very curious... Especially about ghostbusters. 

Any buyers out there?


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## snowmanick (Oct 16, 2007)

I bought Battle: Los Angeles as an M4K (thanks for coming up with a shorter way of saying that by the way). I only have a PDP and I sit a fair amount of distance from it, so I don't think I'll be the best judge of any potential PQ changes, and B:LA has a fair amount of intentional dirt/grain/drab colors anyway. Those caveats noted, I can't say I noticed much of a difference in PQ. The audio seemed to be a bit more "punchy," with a bit more definition in the sharp report of a rifle shot, but that could also just be placebo or errors in audio memory.

Overall, at least for more recent films, such as B:LA, the main perk was that I didn't have to skip any previews/commercials to get to the film. Which I appreciated. Since this was within a few cents of the original BD of the film on Amazon, I think it is worth it for people such as myself. I don't watch the myriad extra features and am annoyed by all the stuff studios make us sit through with many new discs.

Like you, I think the M4K process may yield more significant differences with some of the older films, such as Ghostbusters, Taxi Driver, etc. 

Does anyone know if the process is similar/same as the Blade Runner Final cut anniversary BD?


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Thanks for that post! A great start.

I'm not that familiar with how Blade Runner was done. For these MK4 films, Sony is simply altering the the source that the BD is made off of... in this case their transfers are 4K. Of course, BL could have already been sourced in that fashion and, therefore, it will look the same. Sound won't be any different unless they go about tweaking the mix, but my understanding is that this is all about PQ.

Maybe I'll take the leap and make a comparison of Ghostbusters and get it up. :spend:


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## snowmanick (Oct 16, 2007)

I just purchased Glory from Amazon as an M4k. Hopefully I'll be able to do a comparison sometime next week. As a side note, Glory was less expensive as an M4K disc than a standard BD.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm not sure I buy into this M4K. Even if its better, is it noticably better is the question....
It may be worth buying new movies not in my collection in M4K but I'm certainly not running out to upgrade my collection. I think its kinda a gimmic. Sony has said they have a new 4K camera and intend to shoot any movies they make through their studio with it. So by principle if they shoot it in 4k and then convert to standard blu-ray format as is known now...it is masterd from 4k footage to blu-ray...M4K. Don't know that I see the significance in the labeling other than marketing. While it is true your end image can only be as good as the image you started with...depending on your mastering technique the end image may be no better than it was from an alternate format starting image. If you get what I'm saying. Would love to hear the truth about M4K from a insider in the industry.


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## snowmanick (Oct 16, 2007)

Well I just watched the M4K version of Glory. The film is from 1989, and I was hoping the M4K transfer would do this film justice. I only had it on DVD before, so this is not a BD vs. M4K match up. 

In regards to audio, it is Dolby True-HD and is very good.

In regards to video, while it is better than the DVD, I was hoping for more. There was still noticeable grain and noise in the image in several scenes, the colors were still a bit washed out (not terrible, but still muted). The noise was the most annoying aspect. In the final battle sequence, when the 54th is beginning its charge on the beach, there are several scenes with large expanses of clear blue sky in the background. The sky had lots of noise visible on my 50" plasma. I think it would be much worse on a front PJ system.

I chose this particular disc for two reasons. 1) I like the movie and wanted a blu-ray copy, and 2) I was curious to see how the M4K transfer would look on an older film. I didn't notice much difference on Battle: Los Angeles, but that was already a very good transfer and PQ issues are mostly there by design. 

I can say that the PQ was noticeably better than the DVD on Glory, but people shouldn't expect this to be a game changer or a real attempt to clean up the films. For example, the Blu-Rays of White Christmas and The Red Shoes are stunning. The same goes for the recent anniversary release of Blade Runner. The same level of attention was not given to the M4K transfer here.

Based on the two M4K discs I've purchased, I wouldn't bet that I could notice any difference between them and a standard BR without a direct, head-to-head, simultaneous comparison. I do like the extra features/commercials being removed, and the discs load quickly, which seem to be the main benefits for me. Luckily, the two discs I purchased sold at the same price or cheaper than the non-M4K transfer, so nothing was lost either. 

Take that for what its worth (not much I'm sure).


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

My issue with UltraHD is that there are still to many unknowns about how we will get this format into our homes. TV networks just spent millions switching to HD and I highly doubt that they will switch again soon. We all remember the format war between Toshiba and Sony and the bad taste it left in many peoples mouths. For most of us HD will be plenty for years to come. I dont see how UltraHD will take any sort of market by storm given 3D still has not gained much ground.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Thanks for that run-down! It might be, perhaps too much to expect for 4K transfers to result in crystal clear copies of older movies. Look at the painstaking restore that was executed on the Indiana Jones movies. Definitely didn't get rid of grain, etc. 

Perhaps the first glory blu-ray has slightly more washes out blacks? Less color saturation?

See if you can dig up a copy on the cheap (half.com)? It would be awesome to get a direct comparison of the two blu-rays.


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