Time to junk your collections again.
abs-cbnnews.com: New restoration brings movie classics to life
LOS ANGELES - When watching the DVD re-release of "Gone With the Wind," what once appeared as simply a green cloth shawl worn by Vivien Leigh is revealed as a garment of dark emerald velvet so rich it beckons touching.
Similarly, in the 1939 film's opening scene, while Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara rambles on about the tedium of war, the white bodice of her dress now displays precise lace patterns and threads.
Likewise, when Errol Flynn rides horseback into Sherwood Forest in 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood," the detailed pattern embedded on his and other soldiers' armor is so vivid that the number of small metal rings can be counted.
These elements have been made clearly visible through a patented technology created by Warner Bros. in collaboration with AOL. The process involves digitally realigning and sharpening the older film negatives of these classic movies shot on Technicolor three-strip film.
Known as Ultra Resolution, the technique has been nominated this year for a Scientific and Technical Academy Award and has restored films in the studio's vast library including "Singing In the Rain," "The Searchers" and "The Wizard of Oz" -- prints that over time have suffered blurring or "color fringing" as well as shrinkage, stretching and other damage.
It was while observing a projected picture of "Wind" during some digital scanning that Chris Cookson, president, Warner Bros. Technical Operations and chief technology officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment, says he was inspired. He noticed a frame five pixels out of alignment and knew the resolution could be improved if somehow all the sharp edges could just be better matched.
