Sorry if this has been asked before, but here's my question:

Does a movie have to be filmed in HD to be broadcast in HD (16:9)? I've noticed some movies broadcast in 'HD' and yet they are unavailable in HD or B-R DVD? For example, Saving Private Ryan.

Thanks.

No. Film has a higher resolution than HD.

FIlm negatives have a very high resolution (>4000 equivalent lines), providing camera filtering or special processing techniques don't diminish it. When negatives are mass-production printed and mechanically projected in theaters this potential resolution is greatly diminished (to about 1280X720p equivalent).

For HD broadcasts, some movies are optically scanned (telecined) and stored in digital form on master tapes or hard drives. The HD storage format is 1920X1080/24p, but the effective resolution (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5667245&&#post5667245) (resolvable detail) is typically only 800--1000 equivalent lines maximum horizontal detail, according to quotes/sublinks here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9314235&&#post9314235).

HD discs can't exceed the PQ on masters, but can deliver better PQ than most HD broadcasts because higher bit rates and newer digital coding (codecs) can be used. Also, some HD discs are using higher-resolution telecines (4k) downconverted to 1080/24p for improved PQ. Some movies are recorded with video cameras instead of film, and a growing number of regular TV productions are also directly digitally recorded. Sometimes broadcast movies are upconverted to HD formats from 480-line SD formats, but aren't true HD because originally finer details weren't captured at HD resolutions or higher. -- John

Does a movie have to be filmed in HD to be broadcast in HD (16:9)? I've noticed some movies broadcast in 'HD' and yet they are unavailable in HD or B-R DVD? For example, Saving Private Ryan.

Thanks.Just to clarify some posts here, any film can be converted to HD, but whether it will take full advantage of HD's resolution will depend on the film and the device doing the conversion. The most common device is called a "telecine" which usually allows realtime conversion from film to video. The conversion process is often called a "transfer". For higher resolution conversion, non-realtime scanning can be used. A popular telecine/scanner is the Thomson GV Spirit.

Once the transfer process creates a master, a separate mastering second process is used to create SD or HD optical discs. In the example of "Saving Private Ryan" the film has been shown in HD on various channels but doesn't appear to have been mastered to an HD disc format yet.

Okay, I get it now. Just trying to get all this hd stuff sorted out. Your replies are easy to understand and clears things up. Thanks.