but then again, so are II and III.
Yes and no (I think). The cameras used for shooting II and III were only 1920:1080, yes. But I want to say that the vfx and the DI were done at actual 2k cinema resolution.
IMDB confirms that, but it seems kind of silly to have a DI in a higher resolution than your filmed portions. The 2011 OT is a different beast entirely, however.
Correct. The 2004 masters were only 1920:1080. One of the Lowry guys even specified this at a press conference for the dvd when someone asked if it was 2k. And that’s the master that’s still being used eleven years later. There was even a screening in Georgia last year of ANH IIRC, an actual DCP of the 2011 version.
Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Maybe 1920 vs 2048 isn’t a massive difference. But I would think the outdated resolution combined with the '04 master’s other issues would be enough for LFL to finally start using a newer transfer (I put it that way because we know a newer one exists).