Sony is Launching "Mastered in 4K" Blu-rays for UHDTV Upscaling

So, basically, they're trying to get people to buy what they should have pressed on the original Blu-Ray discs to begin with?

I mean, I'm sure the old versions of these Blu-Ray discs were authored using masters of these movies that were already 4K or higher. (They don't shoot movies in 1080P.) But, THIS TIME, they'll be upping the bit rate on what they're pressing to disc while keeping the same old 1080P resolution.

The clever way Sony words things, though, I bet they will confuse people into thinking they're buying a 4K version of the movie on a Blu-Ray. And, because of the higher bit rate, people will be tricked into believing it. So sad! Even on an Ultra HD TV, it's still just going to be upscaled 1080P.

So this is the new supetbit...

I wonder how much more of a difference we will see. I think it's a huge gimmick to put all of us off until 4K media comes to market, or at least to test the waters out with UHD TV's. I still know alot of people still buying DVD's.

This is a joke and has nothing whatsoever to do with 4HD or 4K. They are basically saying they are going to reissue some content on Bluray but with a wider color space encoding and at a greater bit length. The greater bit length will result in a slightly better picture. Widening the color space is like walking on a landmined trail. What pray tell with be the color space chosen? They say more of the colors on the original? Do they mean they will code for DCI color space? Doing so will be very expensive and will make these Blurays more expensive. Joe Sixpack will buy the cheapest version. Morover an expanded color space and coding will require that preset space to be on ones display. The average HD set? Please, we will give you more colors Joe (they just won't be accurate unless you buy one of our new sets. But I just bought a Samsungy and it shows me every color posible. Do't lie to me, just like my computer screen, zillions of colors.) They need to start a massive advertising campaign with Patton Manning aimed at a miniscule market.

I will never buy one of these superbit Blurays.

My first server is coming soon and the Sony server supposedly wil start shipping this summer. I don't believe it but if its Sony there can be no baloney.


There appears to be no plan. Server from Sony appears to be a very last minute executive at the top decision. No details at all, just will figure it out and have it in 6 months.

Sony seemed intent on claiming the first server based distribution of 4K content. The head honcho used it in his stage show, I think some staffer might of told him that. Announcing something doesn't make you first especially after others have announced it previously. I am sorry but all I see is a bunch of BS aimed at the financial market to demark a road to economic recovery that really looks like there isn't one. sony is going to take over the phone world? Right. Sure. People will rush out and buy Simon Cowl endorsed headphones. We will have OLED someday, but not now, we are bringing out 2 smaller 4K panels. Brilliant. What a coincept, Who would thunk it. someday we will have a 4K prosumer camera and we are the first to distyribute 4K over the internet to our server which will be out in the summer. I just don't get it and I need somebody to tell me I am wrong and that Sony has competent people at the top and have a plan that is well thought out and not just bursst from fire extinguishers.
Edited by mark haflich - 1/10/13 at 5:48am

So "mastered" in 4k is different then "native 4k right? Because if you look just below this story on the AVS home page, there is an article that says Sony will not be releasing disks in 4k resolution. Talk about confusing the people even more.

mastered in 4K (native 4K)

- sourced in 1080p from their original 4K masters in high bitrate to look at their best when upscaled back to 4K

HELP ME!

Pretty much. Might as well be labeled 'we apologize for not putting our full effort out the first time'

Just waiting for the 4K Remaster High Resolution ULTRA Color Monster Vision Super HDMI cable they are gonna sell at Best Buy now. You know you need it!!!

I could not tell the difference from a regular dvd vs superbit.

Exactly the first thing that popped into my mind...

Not going to waste my time with that rubbish.

My guess is maybe some of these were originally BD25 discs and are now coming out as BD50 to allow the higher bit rate.

Exactly what I was thinking.

-Jeff

New release movies have been mastered in 4K for years now. If it's a 4K theatrical release, then the BluRAy came from that 4K master. What do they want us to think, they shoot the movie twice, once in 4K and again at 1080P or 2K? Even re-mastered classics that have come out in the last three years have been from 4K transfers.

Now perhaps Sony is planning to increase the bit rate or tamper with the color space. But simply saying some BluRays will come from 4K masters is nothing new. We already have had that for at least three years.

We have a winner!

"Mastered in 4k" is just the latest marketing smoke & mirrors thrust, in my opinion. It may well and truly result in better 1080p presentations, but they are still limited to the resolution and colour depth of that specification.

Contains 1 oz. of unobtanium...

I'm in!


I guess the next marketing slogan will somehow morph HEVC(H.265) into ultra 1080p sourced from 4k.

I believe actual 4k films are fairly new. 70mm should be basically the same thing if not slightly better.

Fewer special features.

Aww yeah.

I sure would give up extras for extra bits but would not buy the titles I already own for that feature. I already have vhs, laerdisc, dvd and bluray versions of several movies I like. If there is a true 4K that would be a different matter.

+1 on that

I have one word for Sony: M-A-L-A-R-K-E-Y!!!!

everybody beat me to it

superbit is back baby, nice shiny silver blu rays:rolleyes:

Perhaps the marketing is a bit disingenuous and misleading, but if these discs truly do offer a better experience on my 1080p display, then I'd definitely buy the 'Superbit" BD vs. the regular Blu-ray if given the choice. Too bad I've purchased both the Amazing Spider-Man and Total Recall within the last month or so....

The Sony rep I talked to mentioned that the difference will be "quite apparent" (his words) when you upscale it to 4K. For 2K display it shouldn't make much of a difference if at all unless you're using projection (again, my paraphrasing of what he said).

I have learned to never say never as many formats that I have been through with the promise of better audio and video.

Wake me up at 20K

Thats a crazy statement. I mean, its not like there is some hidden information that only 4k can bring out, so the advantage should really not be any more apparent in 4k than on a 1080p set. I still am very skeptical that 1080p upscaled will look any better than it does on a quality 1080p set. I guess we should have seen this coming from Sony due to the company's afforementioned history with superbit dvds, but I really thought there would be a 4k blu ray spec introduced. Even if they used the current 50gb disks with limited extras on a disk, the quality would be pretty good. Oh well, I guess its just less to tempt me towards buying a new set

I have to assume that the rep is making this statement based on the fact that most 4k displays are quite huge and that maybe the slight differences are more appreciable on a huge display.