hairy_hen said:

The dye matrix master was made directly from the negative and thus the Tech prints are one generation closer to the source than regular 35mm, potentially yielding higher detail (though they're still fairly soft—the high contrast makes them look somewhat sharper than they actually are).

Interesting, have this actually been confirmed? I assume dye matrix master means/equals the color separation masters?

Because if the printing process of the IB prints didn't go through the intermediate steps of regular Eastman prints, it must mean the "tantive corridor tears" was on the negative and not something that originated on either the Interpositives or Internegatives.

Also, they apparently failed to do their job correctly when creating those separation masters:

Quote from the '97 restoration: "But the preservation effort was botched, (separation masters) mostly by a failure to clean the negative before copying it, and the studio never bothered to inspect the final results. Far from constituting a single studio's sin, such neglect of corporate assets was endemic to Hollywood at the time, and remains widespread today."

This coupled with the unstable CRI-stock makes the few IB-Tech prints and LPP prints invaluable for preservations.