Telecine (
/ˈtɛləsɪni/ or /ˌtɛləˈsɪniː/) is the process of transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process.[1] Telecine enables a motion picture, captured originally on film stock, to be viewed with standard video equipment, such as television sets, video cassette recorders (VCR) or computers. This allows film producers, television producers and film distributors working in the film industry to release their products on video and allows producers to use video production equipment to complete their filmmaking projects. Within the film industry, it is also referred to as a TK, as TC is already used to designate time code.
With the advent of popular broadcast television, producers realized they needed more than live television programming. By turning to film-originated material, they would have access to the wealth of films made for the cinema in addition to recorded television programming on film that could be aired at different times. However, the difference in frame rates between film (generally 24 frames/s) and television (30 or 25 frames/s) meant that simply playing a film into a television camera would result in flickering when the film frame was changed in mid-field of the TV frame.
Originally the kinescope was used to record the image from a television display to film, synchronized to the TV scan rate. This could then be re-played directly into a video camera for re-display.[2] Non-live programming could also be filmed using the same cameras, edited mechanically as normal, and then played back for TV. As the film was run at the same speed as the television, the flickering was eliminated. Various displays, including projectors for these "video rate films", slide projectors and film cameras were often combined into a "film chain", allowing the broadcaster to cue up various forms of media and switch between them by moving a mirror or prism. Color was supported by using a multi-tube video camera, prisms, and filters to separate the original color signal and feed the red, green and blue to individual tubes.
However, this still left film shot at cinema frame rates as a problem. The obvious solution is to simply speed up the film to match the television frame rates, but this, at least in the case of NTSC, is rather obvious to the eye and ear. This problem is not difficult to fix, however; the solution being to periodically play a selected frame twice. For NTSC, the difference in frame rates can be corrected by showing every fourth frame of film twice, although this does require the sound to be handled separately to avoid "skipping" effects. A more convincing technique is to use "2:3 pulldown", discussed below, which turns every second frame of the film into three fields of video, which results in a much smoother display. PAL uses a similar system, "2:2 pulldown".
In recent decades, telecine has primarily been a film-to-videotape process, as opposed to film-to-air. Changes since the 1950s have primarily been in terms of equipment and physical formats; the basic concept remains the same. Home movies are video tapes of films that used this technique, and it is not uncommon to find telecined DVDs where the source was originally recorded to videotape. The same is not true for modern DVDs of cinematic films, which are generally recorded in their original frame rate — in these cases the DVD player itself applies telecining as required to match the capabilities of the television receiver.
The most complex part of telecine is the synchronization of the mechanical film motion and the electronic video signal. Every time the video (tele) part of the telecine samples the light electronically, the film (cine) part of the telecine must have a frame in perfect registration and ready to photograph. This is relatively easy when the film is photographed at the same frame rate as the video camera will sample, but when this is not true, a sophisticated procedure is required to change frame rate.
To avoid the synchronization issues, higher end establishments now use a scanning system rather than just a telecine system. This allows them to scan a distinct frame of digital video for each frame of film, providing higher quality than a telecine system would be able to achieve. Normally, best results are then achieved by using a smoothing (interpolating algorithm) rather than a frame duplication algorithm (such as 3:2 pulldown, etc.) to adjust for speed differences between the film and video frame rate.
Similar issues occur when using vertical synchronization to prevent screen tearing, which is a different problem encountered when frame rates mismatch.
[edit] 2:2 pulldown
In countries that use the PAL or SECAM video standards, film destined for television are photographed at 25 frames per second. The PAL video standard broadcasts at 25 frames per second, so the transfer from film to video is simple; for every film frame, one video frame is captured.
Theatrical features originally photographed at 24 frame/s are shown at 25 frame/s. While this is usually not noticed in the picture (but may be more noticeable during action speed, especially if footage was filmed undercranked), the 4% increase in playback speed causes a slightly noticeable increase in audio pitch by just over 0.679 semitones, which is sometimes corrected using a pitch shifter, though pitch shifting is a recent innovation and supersedes an alternative method of telecine for 25 frame/s formats.
2:2 pulldown is also used to transfer shows and films, photographed at 30 frames per second, like Friends and Oklahoma! (1955),[3] to NTSC video, which has 60 Hz scanning rate.
Although the 4% speed increase has been standard since the early days of PAL and SECAM television, recently a new technique has gained popularity,[citation needed] and the resulting speed and pitch of the telecined presentation are identical to that of the original film.
This pulldown method[4] is sometimes used in order to convert 24 frame/s material to 25 frame/s. Usually, this involves a film to PAL transfer without the aforementioned 4% speedup. For film at 24 frame/s, there are 24 frames of film for every 25 frames of PAL video. In order to accommodate this mismatch in frame rate, 24 frames of film have to be distributed over 50 PAL fields. This can be accomplished by inserting a pulldown field every 12 frames, thus effectively spreading 12 frames of film over 25 fields (or “12.5 frames”) of PAL video. The method used is 2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:3 (Euro) pulldown (see below[citation needed]).
This method was born out of a frustration with the faster, higher pitched soundtracks that traditionally accompanied films transferred for PAL and SECAM audiences. A few motion pictures are beginning to be telecined this way[citation needed]. It is particularly suited for films where the soundtrack is of special importance.
When a TV station in an NTSC region airs a film or show that uses a PAL printing/version, but is being broadcast in the NTSC format, sometimes they don't perform the proper PAL to NTSC pulldown conversion or it is done improperly. This causes the program to be sped-up slightly and/or sound higher-pitched, due to the faster rate of the PAL 576 lines/50Hz vs the NTSC 480 lines/60Hz format.
Some DVD releases of TV shows/Movies, such as The Archie Show, of which the episodes were broadcast in NTSC format, but the masters were either lost or damaged beyond usage, uses PAL 576/50 printings with 3:2 pulldown having not been performed properly, resulting in slightly faster film speed and higher pitch. Though some scenes in a few episodes use NTSC footage due to the PAL masters missing, the footage or damaged beyond use, causing varying shifts in speed, pitch, and film quality.
[edit] 2:3 pulldown
In the United States and other countries where television uses the 59.94 Hz vertical scanning frequency, video is broadcast at 29.97 frame/s. For the film's motion to be accurately rendered on the video signal, a telecine must use a technique called the 2:3 pulldown, also known as 3:2 pulldown, to convert from 24 to 29.97 frame/s.
The term “pulldown” comes from the mechanical process of “pulling” (physically moving) the film downward within the film portion of the transport mechanism, to advance it from one frame to the next at a repetitive rate (nominally 24 frames/s). This is accomplished in two steps. The first step is to slow down the film motion by 1/1000 to 23.976 frames/s. The difference in speed is imperceptible to the viewer. For a two-hour film, play time is extended by 7.2 seconds.
The second step of the 2:3 pulldown is distributing cinema frames into video fields. At 23.976 frame/s, there are four frames of film for every five frames of 60 Hz video:
- Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \frac{23.976}{29.97} = \frac{4}{5}
These four frames are “stretched” into five by exploiting the interlaced nature of 60 Hz video. For every frame, there are actually two incomplete images or fields, one for the odd-numbered lines of the image, and one for the even-numbered lines. There are, therefore, ten fields for every four film frames, which are called A, B, C, and D. The telecine alternately places A frame across two fields, B frame across three fields, C frame across two fields and D frame across three fields. This can be written as A-A-B-B-B-C-C-D-D-D or 2-3-2-3 or simply 2-3. The cycle repeats itself completely after four film frames have been exposed:
A 3:2 pattern is identical to the one shown above except that it is shifted by one frame. For instance, a cycle that starts with film frame B yields a 3:2 pattern: B-B-B-C-C-D-D-D-A-A or 3-2-3-2 or simply 3-2. In other words, there is no difference between the 2-3 and 3-2 patterns. In fact, the "3-2" notation is misleading because according to SMPTE standards for every four-frame film sequence the first frame is scanned twice, not three times.[5]
The above method is a "classic" 2:3, which was used before frame buffers allowed for holding more than one frame. The preferred method for doing a 2:3 creates only one dirty frame in every five (i.e. 3:3:2:2 or 2:3:3:2 or 2:2:3:3); while this method has a slight bit more judder, it allows for easier upconversion (the dirty frame can be dropped without losing information) and a better overall compression when encoding. The 2:3:3:2 pattern is supported by the Panasonic DVX-100B video camera under the name "Advanced Pulldown".
Similar techniques must be used for films shot at “silent speeds” of less than 24 frame/s, which includes home movie formats (the standard for Standard 8mm film was 16fps, and for Super 8mm film 18fps) as well as silent film (which in 35mm format usually was 16fps, 12fps, or even lower).
- 16 frame/s (actually 15.985) to NTSC 30 frame/s (actually 29.97): pulldown should be 3:4:4:4
- 16 frame/s to PAL 25: pulldown should be 3:3:3:3:3:3:3:4 (a better choice would be to run the film at 16.67 frame/s, simplifying pulldown to 3:2)
- 18 frame/s (actually 17.982) to NTSC 30: pulldown should be 3:3:4
- 20 frame/s (actually 19.980) to NTSC 30: pulldown should be 3:3
- 27.5 frame/s to NTSC 30: pulldown should be 3:2:2:2:2
- 27.5 frame/s to PAL 25: pulldown should be 1:2:2:2:2
Also, other patterns have been described that refer to the progressive frame rate conversion required to display 24 frame/s video (e.g., from a DVD player) on a progressive display (e.g., LCD or plasma):[6]
- 24 frame/s to 96 frame/s (4x frame repetition): pulldown is 4:4
- 24 frame/s to 120 frame/s (5x frame repetition): pulldown is 5:5
- 24 frame/s to 120 frame/s (3:2 pulldown followed by 2x deinterlacing): pulldown is 6:4
The “2:3 pulldown” telecine process creates a slight error in the video signal compared to the original film frames that can be seen in the above image. This is one reason why films viewed on typical NTSC home equipment may not appear as smooth as when viewed in a cinema. The phenomenon is particularly apparent during slow, steady camera movements which appear slightly jerky when telecined. This process is commonly referred to as telecine judder. Reversing the 2-3 pulldown telecine is discussed below.
PAL material in which 2:3 pulldown has been applied, suffers from a similar lack of smoothness, though this effect is not usually called “telecine judder”. Effectively, every 12th film frame is displayed for the duration of three PAL fields (60 milliseconds), whereas the other 11 frames are each displayed for the duration of two PAL fields (40 milliseconds). This causes a slight “hiccup” in the video about twice a second. Increasingly being referred to as Euro pulldown as it largely affects European territories.
Some DVD players, line doublers, and personal video recorders are designed to detect and remove 2-3 pulldown from telecined video sources, thereby reconstructing the original 24 frame/s film frames. This technique is known as “reverse” or “inverse” telecine. Benefits of reverse telecine include high-quality non-interlaced display on compatible display devices and the elimination of redundant data for compression purposes.
Reverse telecine is crucial when acquiring film material into a digital non-linear editing system such as Lightworks, Sony Vegas Pro, Avid, or Final Cut Pro, since these machines produce negative cut lists which refer to specific frames in the original film material. When video from a telecine is ingested into these systems, the operator usually has available a “telecine trace,” in the form of a text file, which gives the correspondence between the video material and film original. Alternatively, the video transfer may include telecine sequence markers “burned in” to the video image along with other identifying information such as time code.
It is also possible, but more difficult, to perform reverse telecine without prior knowledge of where each field of video lies in the 2-3 pulldown pattern. This is the task faced by most consumer equipment such as line doublers and personal video recorders. Ideally, only a single field needs to be identified, the rest following the pattern in lock-step. However, the 2-3 pulldown pattern does not necessarily remain consistent throughout an entire program. Edits performed on film material after it undergoes 2-3 pulldown can introduce “jumps” in the pattern if care is not taken to preserve the original frame sequence (this often happens during the editing of television shows and commercials in NTSC format). Most reverse telecine algorithms attempt to follow the 2-3 pattern using image analysis techniques, e.g. by searching for repeated fields.
Algorithms that perform 2-3 pulldown removal also usually perform the task of deinterlacing. It is possible to algorithmically determine whether video contains a 2-3 pulldown pattern or not, and selectively do either reverse telecine (in the case of film-sourced video) or deinterlacing (in the case of native video sources).
In the United Kingdom, Rank Precision Industries was[when?] experimenting with the flying-spot scanner (FSS), which inverted the cathode ray tube (CRT) concept of scanning using a television screen. The CRT emits a pixel-sized electron beam which is converted to a photon beam through the phosphors coating the envelope. This dot of light is then focused by a lens onto the film's emulsion, and finally collected by a pickup device. In 1950 the first Rank flying spot monochrome telecine was installed at the BBC's Lime Grove Studios.[7] The advantage of the FSS is that colour analysis is done after scanning, so there can be no registration errors as can be produced by vidicon tubes where scanning is done after colour separation — it also allows simpler dichroics to be used.
In a flying spot scanner (FSS) or cathode-ray tube (CRT) telecine, a pixel-sized light beam is projected through exposed and developed motion picture film (either negative or positive) and collected by a special type of photo-electric cell known as a photomultiplier which converts the light into an electrical signal. The beam of light “scans” across the film image from left to right to record the horizontal frame information. Vertical scanning of the frame is then accomplished by moving the film past the CRT beam. In a colour telecine the light from the CRT passes through the film and is separated by dichroic mirrors and filters into red, green and blue bands. Photomultiplier tubes or avalanche photodiodes convert the light into separate red, green and blue electrical signals for further electronic processing. This can be accomplished in “real time”, 24 frames per second (or in some cases faster). Rank Precision-Cintel introduced the “Mark” series of FSS telecines. During this time advances were also made in CRTs, with increased light output producing a better signal-to-noise ratio and so allowing negative film to be used.
The problem with flying-spot scanners was the difference in frequencies between television field rates and film frame rates. This was solved first by the Mk. I Polygonal Prism system, which was optically sychronised to the television frame rate by the rotating prism and could be run at any frame rate. This was replaced by the Mk. II Twin Lens, and then around 1975, by the Mk. III Hopping Patch (jump scan). The Mk. III series progressed from the original “jump scan” interlace scan to the Mk. IIIB which used a progressive scan and included a digital scan converter (Digiscan) to output interlaced video. The Mk. IIIC was the most popular of the series and used a next generation Digiscan plus other improvements.
The "Mark" series was then replaced by the Ursa (1989), the first in their line of telecines capable of producing digital data in 4:2:2 color space. The Ursa Gold (1993) stepped this up to 4:4:4 and then the Ursa Diamond (1997), which incorporated many third-party improvements on the Ursa system.[8] Cintel's C-Reality and ITK's Millennium flying-spot scanner are able to do both HD and Data.
The parts of a CCD scanner: (A) Xenon bulb; (B) film plane; (C) & (D) prisms and/or dichroic mirrors; (E),(F) & (G) red-, green- and blue-sensitive CCDs.
The Robert Bosch GmbH, Fernseh Div., which later became BTS inc. - Philips Digital Video Systems, Thomson's Grass Valley and now is DFT Digital Film Technology introduced the world's first CCD telecine (1979), the FDL-60. The FDL-60 designed and made in Darmstadt West Germany, was the first all solid state telecine.
Rank Cintel (ADS telecine 1982) and Marconi Company (1985) both made CCD Telecines for a short time. The Marconi B3410 sold 84 units over a three year period, and a former Marconi technician still maintains them.
In a charge-coupled device Line Array CCD telecine, a “white” light is shone through the exposed film image into a prism, which separates out the image into the three primary colors, red, green and blue. Each beam of colored light is then projected at a different CCD, one for each color. The CCD converts the light into electrical impulses which the telecine electronics modulate into a video signal which can then be recorded onto video tape or broadcast.
Philips-BTS eventually evolved the FDL 60 into the FDL 90 (1989)/ Quadra (1993). In 1996 Philips, working with Kodak, introduced the Spirit DataCine (SDC 2000), which was capable of scanning the film image at HDTV resolutions and approaching 2K (1920 Luminance and 960 Chrominace RGB) × 1556 RGB. With the data option the Spirit DataCine can be used as a motion picture film scanner outputting 2K DPX data files as 2048 × 1556 RGB. In 2000 Philips introduced the Shadow Telecine(STE), a low cost version of the Spirit with no Kodak parts. The Spirit DataCine, Cintel's C-Reality and ITK's Millennium opened the door to the technology of digital intermediates, wherein telecine tools were not just used for video outputs, but could now be used for high-resolution data that would later be recorded back out to film.[8] The DFT Digital Film Technology, formerly Grass Valley Spirit 4k\2k\HD (2004) replaced the Spirit 1 Datacine and uses both 2K and 4k line array CCDs. (Note: the SDC-2000 did not use a color prisms and/or dichroic mirrors.) DFT revealed its new scanner at the 2009 NAB Show, Scanity [9]. The Scanity uses Time Delay Integration (TDI) sensor technology for extremely fast and sensitive film scans. High speed scanning 15 frame/s @ 4K; 25 frame/s @ 2K; 44 frame/s @ 1K.
In 2003, MovieStuff out of Texas introduced the first low cost frame by frame scanning system to the archival and home movie transfer market. The Sniper Pro series uses a 3CCD 700-line professional video camera set up in an optical printer fashion for both 8mm and 16mm, with the camera utilizing a high resolution macro lens to image directly off the emulsion side of the film. Used in conjunction with special software, this allowed the system to scan each stationary frame into a PC and build a standard video file, frame by frame. The low cost and minimal hardware requirements have made the Sniper series a favorite in the industry, with PC Magazine running favorable side by side tests on the Sniper Pro against the venerable Rank Turbo. In 2008, the Sniper-HD series was released in both 8mm and 16mm and has proven a boon to archive and transfer houses working on a limited budget with HD and SD delivery requirements. The Sniper-HD scans frame by frame for true, progressive output in SD (in the DV codec) as well as HD (in the Motion JPEG HD codec). A single Sniper-HD will output both PAL or NTSC in equal quality, since the original scans are in progressive HD. Because each frame of film is maintained as a separate image, any playback speed from 6fps to 30fps can be reproduced in both progressive or interlaced pulldown patterns. As an alternative archiving choice, the software will also output true progressive frames in a numbered image sequence in a folder. These images can then be imported into any edit software, now or decades from now, to reconstitute the original frame accurate film file.
In 2004, MWA Nova, Berlin introduced flashscan, to replace projector-based systems for 8mm and Super8, but with quality near or equal to "big iron" flying spot or line array standard definition telecines that cost much more than the flashscan.
Using the continuous film motion found in the "big iron" machines, an array of multiple red, green and blue LEDs is pulsed at just the moment a frame of film is precisely positioned in front of the optics of a high-resolution, three-CCD, triggerable industrial process control camera. The LED array pulse triggers the camera and sends the single, non-interlaced image of the film frame to a digital frame store, where the electronic picture is clocked out at the applicable TV frame rate for PAL (or NTSC.)
This approach captures each frame of film as a clean frame, yet enables the film speed to be varied in real time—without flicker—from three to twenty-five Frames Per Second (PAL) or six to thirty FPS for NTSC units. The output can be progressive (non-interlaced) or interlaced. The LED array's light output and color balance can be altered to correct for fading film, while midrange and black levels and color balances can be adjusted electronically, providing the capabilities of "big iron" equipment. The high-quality, real-time output requires no post-processing in computers and can be recorded directly to tape, disc or editing system, along with two-channels of magnetic sound from striped film. Analog and Serial Digital In ports for video and audio offered flexibility to a range of users, including home movie transfer houses and archives.
In 2006, The Pulsed LED/Triggered camera/Adjustable color balances concept was extended to 16mm and 35mm in the company's flashtransfer standard definition system for 16 and 35mm film. A camera with larger CCD chips is used, also capturing each frame of film and then passing it to a framestore for output in real-time as PAL or as NTSC video via analog or SDI. Audio from optical or magnetic striped film was embedded in the SDI signal or output via analog ports.
MWA Nova introduced flashscanHD, a faster than real time high definition 8mm/Super8 product at IBC 2008. The SD system's sprockets have been replaced by a laser-based perf detection and image stabilization system. That enables the new unit to transfer film in HD at more than three times faster than real-time speeds, while maintaining a stable picture. A half-hour of real-time film is captured into a computer in ten minutes, with one frame of film transferred to one frame of HD video. The captured video is slowed down to natural speed in any professional non-linear editor. Software controls the transport, built in color correction for white, midrange and blacks can be triggered at specific frames. A panel similar to a color correction system panel is available to aid operators.
Expanding on that concept, the company created a 16/35 system— flashtransfer Vario—using a 1920 × 1080 three-chip sensor. The first unit was delivered in 16mm to the United States' biggest archive in late July 2010. This flexible, 16mm/35mm system can be had with either or both gauges on one machine. Archives such as the British Film Institute, and a small middle school in Foley, Alabama have jumped on the system.
The laser system has also been adapted to eliminating sound synchronization problems with magnetic sound film, and won an award at NAB 2011.
The company expects to have a new product with even higher resolution for smaller gauge film announced in Q3 of 2011.
Telecine technology is increasingly merging with that of motion picture film scanners; high-resolution telecines, such as those mentioned above, can be regarded as film scanners that operate in real time.
As digital intermediate post-production becomes more common, the need to combine the traditional telecine functions of input devices, standards converters, and colour grading systems is becoming less important as the post-production chain changes to tapeless and filmless operation.
However, the parts of the workflow associated with telecines still remain, and are being pushed to the end, rather than the beginning, of the post-production chain, in the form of real-time digital grading systems and digital intermediate mastering systems, increasingly running in software on commodity computer systems. These are sometimes called virtual telecine systems.
Some video cameras and consumer camcorders are able to record in progressive "24 frames/s" (actually 23.976 frames/s) or "30 frames/s" (actually 29.97 frames/s) in NTSC, or 25 frames/s (PAL) mode. Such a video has cinema-like motion characteristics and is the major component of so-called "film look" or "movie look".
For most "24 frames/s" cameras, the virtual 2:3 pulldown process is happening inside the camera. Although the camera is capturing a progressive frame at the CCD, just like a film camera, it is then imposing an interlacing on the image to record it to tape so that it can be played back on any standard television. Not every camera handles "24 frames/s" this way, but the majority of them do.[10]
Cameras that record 25 frames/s (PAL) or 29.97 frames/s (NTSC) do not need to employ 2:3 pulldown, because every progressive frame occupies exactly two video fields. In the video industry, this type of encoding is called Progressive Segmented Frame (PsF). PsF is conceptually identical to 2:2 pulldown, only there is no film original to transfer from.
Digital television and high definition standards provide several methods for encoding film material. Fifty field/s formats such as 576i50 and 1080i50 can accommodate film content using a 4% speed-up like PAL. 59.94 field/s interlaced formats such as 480i60 and 1080i60 use the same 2:3 pulldown technique as NTSC. In 59.94 frame/s progressive formats such as 480p60 and 720p60, entire frames (rather than fields) are repeated in a 2:3 pattern, accomplishing the frame rate conversion without interlacing and its associated artifacts. Other formats such as 1080p24 can decode film material at its native rate of 24 or 23.976 frame/s.
All of these coding methods are in use to some extent. In PAL countries, 25 frame/s formats remain the norm. In NTSC countries, most digital broadcasts of 24 frame/s progressive material, both standard and high definition, continue to use interlaced formats with 2:3 pulldown, even though ATSC allows native 24 and 23.976 frame/s progressive formats which offer the greatest image quality and coding efficiency, and are widely used in motion picture and high definition video production. Nowadays, most HDTV vendors sell LCD televisions in NTSC/ATSC countries capable of 120 Hz or 240 Hz refresh rates and plasma sets capable of 48, 72, or 96 Hz refresh.[11] When combined with a 1080p24-capable source (such as most Blu-ray Disc players), some of these sets are able to display film-based content using a pulldown scheme of whole multiples of 24, thereby avoiding the problems associated with 2:3 pulldown or the 4% speed-up used in PAL countries. For example, a 1080p 120 Hz set which accepts a 1080p24 input can achieve 5:5 pulldown by simply repeating each frame five times and thus not exhibit picture artifacts associated with telecine judder.
On DVDs, telecined material may be either hard telecined, or soft telecined. In the hard-telecined case, video is stored on the DVD at the playback framerate (29.97 frame/s for NTSC, 25 frame/s for PAL), using the telecined frames as shown above. In the soft-telecined case, the material is stored on the DVD at the film rate (24 or 23.976 frames/s) in the original progressive format, with special flags inserted into the MPEG-2 video stream that instruct the DVD player to repeat certain fields so as to accomplish the required pulldown during playback.[12] Progressive scan DVD players additionally offer output at 480p by using these flags to duplicate frames rather than fields.
NTSC DVDs are often soft telecined, although lower-quality hard-telecined DVDs exist. In the case of PAL DVDs using 2:2 pulldown, the difference between soft and hard telecine vanishes, and the two may be regarded as equal. In the case of PAL DVDs using 2:3 pulldown, either soft or hard telecining may be applied.
The recent advances of Blu-ray offer native 24 frame/s support, allowing 5:5 cadence on most modern televisions. The slight jitter in motion that is created by 2: 3 pulldown is much more noticeable on high resolution content.
- Hardware Products
- CINTEL International Ltd - Manufacturer of CRT and CCD based telecines and scanners
- Used telecine - Re-manufacturer of used CRT and CCD based telecines and scanners
- DEBRIE Technologies - DEBRIE Technologies - French Manufacturer of full range of cinematographic equipment HD telecines from 8 to 35mm
- DFT Digital Film Technology - Manufacturer of CCD based telecines and data scanners, formerly ThomsonGrassValley, previously Philips, BTS, Bosch - New Scanity uses Time Delay Integration (TDI) sensor technology for extremely fast and sensitive film scans
- flashscan8.us -US/Canadian Distributor of MWA Nova 16 & 35mm SD and 8/Super8/9.5mm, 16/35mm HD telecines and other products for archival, production and volume film transfer.
- Lasergraphics - Film scanner manufacturer
- MWA Nova - Manufacturer of 16 & 35mm SD and 8/Super8/9.5mm and 16/35mmHD telecines and scanning systems for archival, production and volume film transfer
- Tobin Cinema Systems Inc. - Tobin Cinema Systems Inc. - Film-Video / DVD Transfer (Telecine) Equipment Specialist\
- Building a Telecine Machine
- OldBoys web site early telecines
- [1] Home Movie Depot. Have fun with your memories
- [2] American Film Transfer. Have even more fun with your memories
