First, mods please move this thread if there's a more suitable forum. I couldn't figure out a better one to use. DVD software, perhaps.

Anyway. What I'm wondering about is why aren't certain film imperfections corrected in the film to video transfer. Like dust or scratches in the film frame. I would've thought it's quite trivial to digitally remove high contrast scratches or dust that only affect one single frame. Another issue is the (supposedly mechanical) malalignment of successing frames, which you can often see as a judder in the beginning titles. Wouldn't that be very easy to correct too?

So am I underestimating the technical challenge these corrections involve? Or is it just that they're ignored or not considered significant? I personally find it rather disturbing to find a super-duper new video version of a film to have lots of scratches and dust. I'm still in the DVD era myself, so I don't know if it is still the same with HD transfers.

Technically all possible. Whether it's done or not depends on the studio wanting to spend the money or not.

Digitally painting out scratches or dirt is a time-consuming, expensive process that must be handled by VFX artists frame-by-frame. It isn't something that can be done real-time at the telecine by pushing a "no more dirt" button.

Digitally painting out scratches or dirt is a time-consuming, expensive process that must be handled by VFX artists frame-by-frame. It isn't something that can be done real-time at the telecine by pushing a "no more dirt" button.

So there is only the manual option? I would've thought dirt or scratches aren't such a challenge to pattern-recognition software given the high contrast (scratches) and the single frame nature. Then again, if it was that easy, probably most of the better studios would use it.

I see an opportunity here for a software house.

So there is only the manual option? I would've thought dirt or scratches aren't such a challenge to pattern-recognition software given the high contrast (scratches) and the single frame nature. Then again, if it was that easy, probably most of the better studios would use it.
I see an opportunity here for a software house.
There is software for all these issues. It's just not push a button and be done with it. Results need to be checked, parameters adapted etc. So it's costs extra.