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The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

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Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#151

Post by ascagnel_ »

rendaw wrote: post #105
liampulles wrote: post #29

Fun fact: The X-Files production team foresaw the coming of 16:9 home entertainment, so they made some effort (increasing with later seasons) to try and "protect" a 16:9 frame, which allowed for an unusually good 16:9 Blu-ray restoration. [ https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7499/look-inside-the-files... ] I learned this from the older X-files DVDs, which have some unusually good special features.

The article mentions that Mad Men was already in 16:9 so the issues are unrelated to re-framing.

Agreed. Mad Men premiered in 2007, well into the HD era, and was already composed for 16:9. The issue here is that the 4K "remaster" seemingly wasn't mastered at all, just a re-scan of the original negatives at a higher resolution.

That said, I think letterboxing is a better choice than trying to recompose a shot for a different aspect ratio if it wasn't accounted for initially (eg: The X-Files). And even then, the shot selection and composition would have been different had the aspect ratio been initially different (like TXF's 16:9 versions leaving the edges of the frame largely unused).

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#152

Post by sgt »

5555624 wrote: post #143
sgt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very well written show. It's crazy to think a lot of people don't even get to watch this, because it's so hard to find. I couldn't find it anywhere (except for DVD's) so I had to resort to torrents.

It's streaming, for free, on Tubi

Not available outside the US, I think. Torrents are then just more convenient.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#153

Post by sgt »

temp0826 wrote: post #124
sgt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very well written show. It's crazy to think a lot of people don't even get to watch this, because it's so hard to find. I couldn't find it anywhere (except for DVD's) so I had to resort to torrents.

I loved B5's story, but no remaster is going to fix the cheeseball acting of the show. It felt 200 years old even when it was airing. (Sigh, I'm probably still going to rewatch it...)

I think Garibaldi was actually quite good.

Sheridan was maybe a bit cheesy at times but definitely gave off that vibe of a leader one could follow into battle.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#154

Post by sgt »

WorldMaker wrote: post #104
sgt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very well written show. It's crazy to think a lot of people don't even get to watch this, because it's so hard to find. I couldn't find it anywhere (except for DVD's) so I had to resort to torrents.

There's a 4K 4:3 remaster streaming on HBO Max. It wasn't exactly well advertised (certainly not to the extent that it has been hard to miss this Mad Men advertising), but it exists and is a good way to watch the show. Feels a bit less cinematic not being in 16:9, but it looks good other than that because the show was shot to be 4:3 safe (as that was still the most common TV at the time).

Also a US only thing. Torrents keeping the rest of us alive.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#155

Post by ErroneousBosh »

mapontosevenths wrote: post #148
stogot wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you do VHS transfers professionally or your own personal VhS? Stacks of VHS sittin in a corner that I need to decide what to do with

My advice is to pay someone else to do the transfer, but get someone good. Most services online don't bother with a real TBC because a professional TBC is expensive, and not worth investing in for the average consumer. However, it is an absolute necessity if you want any kind of quality. Failing that, you can get a retrotink 4k and any old HDMI capture card to do a "good enough" job for most folks. It has a sort of p…

I am fortunate that the Panasonic AG7650 I use for playback has a built-in TBC that emits stable enough video to go straight into my BMD Intensity Pro.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#157

Post by Lammy »

mapontosevenths wrote: post #148
stogot wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you do VHS transfers professionally or your own personal VhS? Stacks of VHS sittin in a corner that I need to decide what to do with

My advice is to pay someone else to do the transfer, but get someone good. Most services online don't bother with a real TBC because a professional TBC is expensive, and not worth investing in for the average consumer. However, it is an absolute necessity if you want any kind of quality. Failing that, you can get a retrotink 4k and any old HDMI capture card to do a "good enough" job for most folks. It has a sort of p…

Disambiguation to save anyone looking it up: TBC == timebase correction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_base_correction

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#158

Post by barbazoo »

tonymet wrote: post #119

Seems to have been a deliberate incident, just look at all of the free PR on social media from this “accident” . Has HBOMax ever been on Hackernews except for bad naming ? Their app isn’t otherwise noteworthy

Not working for me. This makes me think they're lazy and greedy, doesn't make me want to go and consume their slop.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#159

Post by echelon_musk »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #79
aomix wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never watched the widescreen version of The Wire they put out years ago but now I'm curious again. That show was a bone deep 4:3 product and the show plays with it constantly. Here is an interesting breakdown that made me really appreciate how clever they got while trying to be pretty subdued with the cinematography on The Wire https://vimeo.com/39768998

David Simon's earlier work, "Homicide" had a lot of interesting switching between film + video and aspect ratios as well. I think it's something that he's been interested in for a long time.

It was recently remastered. I watched in the original 4:3 but I'm happy that some love has been put into restoring the show, albeit in unintended 16:9.

Re: The "Mad Men" in 4K on HBO Max Debacle

#160

Post by echelon_musk »

aomix wrote: post #74
liampulles wrote: post #29

Fun fact: The X-Files production team foresaw the coming of 16:9 home entertainment, so they made some effort (increasing with later seasons) to try and "protect" a 16:9 frame, which allowed for an unusually good 16:9 Blu-ray restoration. [ https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7499/look-inside-the-files... ] I learned this from the older X-files DVDs, which have some unusually good special features.

I never watched the widescreen version of The Wire they put out years ago but now I'm curious again. That show was a bone deep 4:3 product and the show plays with it constantly. Here is an interesting breakdown that made me really appreciate how clever they got while trying to be pretty subdued with the cinematography on The Wire https://vimeo.com/39768998

See https://davidsimon.com/the-wire-hd-with-videos/
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