Jacobss said:
I am asking myself what is Lucas actually thinking with digital scans of his films? As far I understand - Episodes 2 and 3 are stuck on 1080p (is 1080p similar to 2K?) so there is nothing he can do. Episode 1 was shoot on 35 mm tape and theoretical the best possible scan can be 4K, but all FX was done on 2K, so it's impossible to achieve anything more than 2K scan?
As for the OT - 1997 SE is only 2K right? And 2004 SE only 1080p?
Yes. As far as I know this is the resolution of the releases:
-1997 SE: 35mm originals with 2K digital enhancement scans. So only the new CG stuff is at 2K, with the rest being unscanned 35mm originals.
-TPM: 2K. The film was shot on 35mm film, but every shot was scanned. As far as I know, the digital intermediate that resulted was 2K.
-AOTC and ROTS: 1080p. Which is 1920x1080. But because this was cropped for widewscreen it is in reality less, about 1920x800.
-2004 SE: 1080p or 1920x1080. So just under 2K.
So why such very important films are preserved at such low resolution? I am saying low, because now we have 1080p at home, but what will be when we get 4K? And when theathers will show films in 8K? There will be no possibility to enjoy Star Wars in such beautiful quality... I don' understand Lucas - I know he don't want the original trilogy to be preserved, but why his loved SE is stuck at 1080p? Is it still possibly to do 4K scans of the OT? I mean both the SE and original from 77-83.
It is unlikely that theatres will ever show stuff in 8K, but 4K projection would be nice. And yes, because the OT is 35mm you could scan it in 4K, even 8K if you wanted to but there wouldn't be much point to that. The 1997 could be re-scanned in 4K, but the new shots would be 2K-only because thats the resolution they were created in.
And why were Episode 2 and 3 shot only in 1080p?
Because Lucas adopted HD technology so early this was the highest resolution possible at the time.
Someone said that for BD release Lucas will use scans from 2004 - what is bad about them for BD release? - I know the colors are bad, but what is about quality? I though those scans will be enough for BD, but only for BD... I heard the Episode 2 and 3 on DVD where already captured from digital source, so it's does not matter if the BD Episodes 2 and 3 will be from the same master as DVD. And as for Episode 1, Adywan said there is already new master used for future releases so there is hope it will no suck.
As for 8K scans - whats the point of scanning the 35 mm prints into 8K? I though the best possible resolution of 35 mm film is the 4K scan?
I am noob in this area, so thats why I am asking.
Basically you are right, 35mm film typically does not resolve more than 4K resolution, 8K scanning is for 65mm and such, but the thinking is "why not just do it anyway, just to be a completist?"