Yes,
This is related to restoration, but a question first:
Is it just me or do Web rips appear to be nothing more than "1080 HD" upconverted DVD sources? They seem far from the true treatment you'd receive from a physical BD. Am I wrong? It doesn't even look like they rescan whatever source they use.
If my assumption is correct, might there be a way to eliminate even the slightest amount of dirt/scratches and such that remain true to the old picture? I'm not referring to a frame by frame process, perhaps just an Avisynth script for MP4s...?
There are no stupid questions.
Thanks all,
Justin
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For the Webrips I've seen, yes, since none are even on DVD. My understanding is that they're captured from Amazon Instant Video or NetFlix shows (and maybe other sources as well) that haven't surfaced on Blu-Ray or DVD yet. Maybe the ones you've seen were captured from a low bitrate broadcast or reencoded at a lower bitrate than the capture.
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The ones I've seen are ones I purchased because I wanted a 1080 version of those not available on a true BD yet. I just didn't expect them to be nothing but what one can essentially do with VDub filters. The bitrates are around 5k, so I'd say that's rather low.
I just figure that if an MP4 is already nothing but an upconvert and (to make it worse) a BD isn't available yet, I could possibly improve a bit further through a script. -
What also seems to be a telltale sign, though not always, is when the titles/credits clearly haven't been restored. The vast majority of the time you can tell right off the bat by how much cleaner they are.
Also, I'm not quite sure what having bought them has to do with it. That is, would it be better if I'd pirated them? o_O -
Is "Webrips" even a word? What the hell does it even mean? Should manono, who knows better, be encouraging its use? How exactly can one purchase a "Webrip"? If you are using a word you made up yourself to talk about iTunes video or maybe Amazon video, yes, it's well known that their "HD" offerings use a fairly low bit rate. This is to keep the size small.
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Yes, "web rip" is a term for an online (preferably 1080) "HD" movie that's been downloaded and transcoded so you don't need Amazon or iTunes' player. No, you can't purchase a rip. Just with DVDs and Blu-rays, the rip comes later.
I just looked at the Mediainfo of a few and discovered that they seem to hover around 3-5K, so (as you said) that is rather small.
BTW, I've frequently seen the term "Macroblocks" but never really looked into them. Are the sections I point out in this image what the term refers to? If so, is it the low bitrate that causes them? -
Make up your mind. The ones I've seen (watched on Amazon Instant Video, as well as downloading a few just to have a look) were fine. Maybe you just acquired (one way or another) crap. But whatever you're talking about, they're not "upconverted DVD sources".
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Okay. What are they then? By "upconverted DVD sources" I meant the quality is essentially the same as an upconverted DVD; not a true proper treatment/restoration.
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Sure. Here's a sample from the MP4 and its Mediainfo:
General
Complete name : C:\April Fool's Day (1986) [1080p]_1795_1870.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 39.3 MiB
Duration : 1mn 14s
Overall bit rate : 4 444 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-05-16 15:53:58
Tagged date : UTC 2014-05-16 15:53:58
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1mn 14s
Bit rate : 4 057 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 12.0 Mbps
Width : 1 916 pixels
Height : 808 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.109
Stream size : 35.9 MiB (91%)
Title : April Fool's Day (1986) [1080p]_track1.h264
Encoded date : UTC 2014-04-14 11:30:06
Tagged date : UTC 2014-05-16 15:53:58
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 1mn 14s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 3.40 MiB (9%)
Title : April Fool's Day (1986) [1080p]_track2.ac3
Encoded date : UTC 2014-04-14 11:33:17
Tagged date : UTC 2014-05-16 15:53:58 -
Did they advertise it as "restored", "remastered", etc... ?
The main issue is low bitrate.
4Mb/s isn't a whole lot for HD for "typical" content (it might decent on simple cartoons, or low complexity material). Compare to a BD which would typically have around 25-35Mb/s. Web delivery is often bandwidth constrained.
Even if this were fully remastered from the original sources and they did a fine job, it would still look like mush at that bitrate
Does that mean all web delivered content looks like garbage or is upscaled from SD ? Not necessarily -
Good points.
Honestly, no, they didn't advertise it as restored in any way. However, I haven't noticed them doing that on physical releases either.
The clip from Agnes of God looks like the titles WERE redone, yet nothing else looks better. Either that or the titles looked pretty darn good to begin with...? *confused*
The April Fool's Day clip looks like both the film itself and the titles are just as "dirty" as the original.