28 Days Later (2002) - 1080p Widescreen and Fullscreen Filmized Remasters (Widescreen released)

Hi everyone,

Here are screenshots of a project I’ve been working on for the last few days.

How actual video AI upscale tools can really help to improve footage stuck in SD ?

In this case, the main goal was to restore “28 Days Later” to an acceptable image quality, knowing most of the film was shot in 480p (except the last sequence in 35mm).

Applying my 4K Filmized Remaster process (but in 1080p in this cas), I used original bluray (in widescreen) to see what I could be able to achieve.

Here are the results so far :

• Less edge enhancement
• Less artifacts due to the 480p source
• Preserved details on complex shots (shadows and water)
• Better grain structure (mostly close to a Super 16 grain structure)
• Slightly adjuster color grading

Given the source, I won’t make miracles but it should be fun to achieve something with both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film.

Stay tuned.

BD 1080p

1080p Filmized Remaster

BD 1080p

1080p Filmized Remaster

BD 1080p

1080p Filmized Remaster

BD 1080p

1080p Filmized Remaster

BD 1080p

1080p Filmized Remaster

1080p Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

Will this be done at 25fps or 24fps? The reason I’m asking this is because the Fox Searchlight logo and entire movie (excluding end credits) were presented and shot at the PAL frame-rate of 25fps, which is what you see and hear on the original 2003 UK DVD release, but ALL of the NTSC home media releases unfortunately have them incorrectly converted to 24fps (Blu-Ray included in all countries), which caused the overall audio speed and pitch to sound lower than normal, and I think it’s very distracting IMO.

The only part of this movie that was made natively at 24fps and therefore has no speed/pitch issues is the aforementioned end credits. I would love to watch this awesome film again at the correct speed and pitch in HD, without needing the original UK DVD release.

From what I’ve been working on so far, the European DVD is in 25fps and widescreen but has less details than its bluray counterpart, which is indeed in 23.976fps. On the other side, the original fullscreen DVD is in 29,97fps so there is no proper way to get back the original framerate without losing quality or tweaking sources for this project.

I don’t know what would work best between those two options :

• Change framerate to fit original pitch
• Change pitch to fit both framerate and pitch

What about speeding both the Blu-Ray and US DVD versions of the film up by 4% to restore the original PAL pitch from the UK DVD, while still keeping the framerates (23.976fps and 29.97fps) the same?

I compared the AC-3 pitch of the original DVD with the DTS-HDMA pitch of the bluray and I don’t hear any issue. Are you sure about this ? In the meantime, here is the progress so far with both widescreen and fullscreen versions

Widescreen Filmized Remaster

Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

Widescreen Filmized Remaster

Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

Widescreen Filmized Remaster

Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

Widescreen Filmized Remaster

Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

Widescreen Filmized Remaster

Fullscreen Filmized Remaster

No offense but AI is atrocious. It looks like a cartoon or a painting.

digitalfreaknyc said:

No offense but AI is atrocious. It looks like a cartoon or a painting.

You know that movie is stuck in 480p, right ? So what you see here is the best result I could get at the moment with AI technology. IMHO it looks better in motion than the best official source. Look for comparison screenshots between the two in the first post.

This is looking great! I’m looking forward to seeing the final product. Have you considered doing any heavier colour grading or will you keep the general look intact?

I’m probably in the minority but I always thought using a more natural colour space would help this movie look less low budget. I know the original colour is probably intentional but it’s just my person opinion.

Thanks for the review. I already trimmed down the yellow tint of the original bluray, but not that much. Given the source, it is really hard to get a neutral color grading and keep the other colors intact. After a few tests, the upscale is more visible on the fullscreen version because this master is only available on DVD. On the other side, the widescreen version is looking really better with the upscale but has less image, of course. Both versions will be available but if you know, you know 😃

MJBenito said:

Thanks for the review. I already trimmed down the yellow tint of the original bluray, but not that much. Given the source, it is really hard to get a neutral color grading and keep the other colors intact. After a few tests, the upscale is more visible on the fullscreen version because this master is only available on DVD. On the other side, the widescreen version is looking really better with the upscale but has less image, of course. Both versions will be available but if you know, you know 😃

Awesome! I’m really pumped for this!

MJBenito said:

From what I’ve been working on so far, the European DVD is in 25fps and widescreen but has less details than its bluray counterpart, which is indeed in 23.976fps. On the other side, the original fullscreen DVD is in 29,97fps so there is no proper way to get back the original framerate without losing quality or tweaking sources for this project.

I don’t know what would work best between those two options :

• Change framerate to fit original pitch
• Change pitch to fit both framerate and pitch

My understanding is that the dialogue is pitched down due to the conversion from 25 to 24fps, but the score was created for the 24fps version of the film, so you have a choice to either hear the dialogue in the correct pitch or hear the score as it was written and performed… I watched it both ways years ago, and I think I preferred the 24fps version at that time.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your work here. From the screenshots, I’d say your version looks better than the blu-ray, so I’ll be interested in checking it out when it’s finished!

MJBenito said:

digitalfreaknyc said:

No offense but AI is atrocious. It looks like a cartoon or a painting.

You know that movie is stuck in 480p, right ? So what you see here is the best result I could get at the moment with AI technology. IMHO it looks better in motion than the best official source. Look for comparison screenshots between the two in the first post.

I’m fully aware. My comment was based on the screenshots – ESPECIALLY that last 2 shots. Holy Hell. It’s wax.

digitalfreaknyc said:

MJBenito said:

digitalfreaknyc said:

No offense but AI is atrocious. It looks like a cartoon or a painting.

You know that movie is stuck in 480p, right ? So what you see here is the best result I could get at the moment with AI technology. IMHO it looks better in motion than the best official source. Look for comparison screenshots between the two in the first post.

I’m fully aware. My comment was based on the screenshots – ESPECIALLY that last 2 shots. Holy Hell. It’s wax.

Completely 😅 but it is what it is unfortunately.

1080p Widescreen Filmized Remaster is now available. Use DM for more info.