Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr D
Ok, so it would have been recorded on 2" quad video tape.
That ain't gonna happen:
2" Ampex Quad VTR for sale, $28,000
So i'm curious, to what extent does that recording format dictate the look?
Does that tape saturate like an analog audio tape, giving compression and distortion artifacts? Is that why the colours are so trippy and strong? Or is there only minimal colouration (like recording to analog audio tape with a low, conservative level)?
Sorry for all the questions, just keen to learn! |
The colors and frequency response are almost all from the cameras. 2" tape could add some noise, banding or moire, but that was greatly reduced over the years. A particularly large improvement was made early on by going from "low band" to "high band" recording. Some early tapes suffer from noticeable luminance edge ringing, especially if they are second generation or beyond.
Edit: I want to add that some U-Tube posts suffer from conversion from interlace to progressive formats or too-low bit rates, down-rezzing, etc., but none of that is obvious here.
Also questions: do we have any idea of the sequence of generations here?
Started on quad(?), as PAL (I believe so, I see cross color and cross luma effects)?
Was it transferred to another format at some time? What format (digital component)? With what gear?
What was the final format and hardware/software before it was transferred to MPEG or whatever is posted on U-Tube?
Despite all these possibilities, it seems like the look is a transparent reproduction of the cameras of the time (although the conversion to digital with high-quality gear may be giving a better picture than a regular PAL receiver would have done).