What does "digitally mastered" really mean on commercially produced VHS?

[yoda313]

I've been watching some of my vhs tapes lately and got to wondering what "DIGITALLY MASTERED" really meant.

This would be on the "newer" movies like Twister, X-Files, or Star Wars (later releases and Phantom Menace -last Star Wars produced on VHS that I know of - I don't believe Episode 2 or 3 were released on vhs at all).

What did this really mean? Was the film stock digitally transfered to a digital intermediate form and then printed to vhs tape? Was this digital intermediate form used for DVD prints?

What was digitized? And is this a slight of hand phrase anyway since its an analog medium in the first place?

[edDV]

I've been watching some of my vhs tapes lately and got to wondering what "DIGITALLY MASTERED" really meant.

This would be on the "newer" movies like Twister, X-Files, or Star Wars (later releases and Phantom Menace -last Star Wars produced on VHS that I know of - I don't believe Episode 2 or 3 were released on vhs at all).

What did this really mean? Was the film stock digitally transfered to a digital intermediate form and then printed to vhs tape? Was this digital intermediate form used for DVD prints?

What was digitized? And is this a slight of hand phrase anyway since its an analog medium in the first place?

Remember the old ADD AAD codes for audio CD's? This is similar.

1st code is source recording (analog or digital)

2nd is mixer or master production format (analog or digital)

3rd is distribution format. VHS or Laserdisc would be analog. DVD/BluRay would be digital.

Typical production flow for a movie or TV series today is analog film or HD digital source is color graded, then converted to a digital intermediate format for production of the edit master. Then distribution is done from that master to various distribution formats.

In the case of VHS tapes that came after DVD was introduced ~1996, the analog film was usually converted to SD 4:2:2 10 bit digital for production, then released 8 bit digital on DVD or analog on VHS/Laserdisc. But many early DVD's were AAD. Many were remastered later ADD to DVD wide format.

Starting in the 1997-2003 period, editing was done in digital high def and recorded to 1440x1080 HDCAM tape.

During the 2000's, most were edited with 2kx1k or 1920x1080 digital intermediates with masters stored as digital data.

Late in the 2000's, much film production moved to 4kx2k digital intermediates. TV series remained 1920x1080.

[yoda313]

Remember the old ADD AAD codes for audio CD's? This is similar.

Yes I do.

1st code is source recording (analog or digital)

2nd is mixer or master production format (analog or digital)

3rd is distribution format. VHS or Laserdisc would be analog. DVD/BluRay would be digital.

Ok I guess I'm curious about the 2nd step. Thats the part I'm not sure about. If the string stayed analog from points 1 through 3 than they could not call it digitally mastered back in vhs days correct?

Is the second stage where they'd downmix the studio audio track to dolby surround (the old format with mono rear channels or the pro logic format with a matrixed center and mono rear)?

I think it makes more sense now. I guess I'm still unsure about what the digital process entails in step 2.

I guess the 2nd step would not create a generational loss or does it? Or does the "digital" part prevent any loss?

[cal_tony]

I looked at this post over and over again since its been on the first page because it perked my curiosity and I also wondered what it meant and finally an answer was given. Not surprisingly, it was given by edDV. Over the years he just seems to know so much varied video tech stuff and definitely all the trivia worth knowing.

Tony

[V Bot]

I looked at this post over and over again since its been on the first page because it perked my curiosity and I also wondered what it meant and finally an answer was given. Not surprisingly, it was given by edDV. Over the years he just seems to know so much varied video tech stuff and definitely all the trivia worth knowing.

Tony

I look at this site everyday. There are some pretty savvy people here. I look at the topics and read what might pertain to what I'm doing or what I may do in the future. I've learned a lot from these people. I've mentioned this site to many friends and family. Much appreciated.

[edDV]

Ok I guess I'm curious about the 2nd step. Thats the part I'm not sure about. If the string stayed analog from points 1 through 3 than they could not call it digitally mastered back in vhs days correct?

Yes, AAA would not be "digitally mastered" but there would still be much digital processing done to both video and audio elements in those days. But the final edit would be analog (optical or video).

"Digitally Mastered" would imply film was transferred to a digital format and kept digital through the post production process.

Is the second stage where they'd downmix the studio audio track to dolby surround (the old format with mono rear channels or the pro logic format with a matrixed center and mono rear)?

No. Audio post production is usually done multi-track and the edit master would be multi-track. Then a separate equalization and down mix would be done for each type of distribution release (e.g. diferent types of movie theaters, DVD, Blu-Ray, DTV, mobile devices and analog). I'd bet even streaming services like Netflix get a custom mix equalization.

I guess the 2nd step would not create a generational loss or does it? Or does the "digital" part prevent any loss?

If they just cut there would be no losses, but both video and audio are processed multiple times through the digital workflow. That is why digital video intermediates are between 10 and 14 bits deep and audio tracks are 24-48 bits and oversampled 96 or 192 KHz through the mix.

By the time we get it on Blu-Ray, video is 8 bits deep and audio is usually down to a 16 or 24 bit, 5.1 (sometimes 7.1) 48 KHz mix (although Dolby True HD can use 96-192 KHz sample rates).

[yoda313]

Thanks again eddv.

It definitely helps having things explained in terms of video work that I have touched on (albeit on a very "amateurish" level but enough to have an inkling about what the heck this all means).

It is always enjoyable to get the background on all this.