Avatar Technical Question

[Small White Car]

Is there anyone here who saw Avatar in the theater and can reliably tell the difference between 24p, 30p, and 60p footage?

I never saw it but noticed it playing at 60p on a Blu-Ray player at Best Buy the other day. It was literally snagging customers as they walked by...they just stopped and stared.

This got me wondering. Was it shown this way in the theater? If so, is THAT what people are going on and on about when they keep saying the effects are so amazing? Are they just confused because they don't see 60p very often and they don't know how to say "the frame-rate is awesome" so they just say "the effects are awesome?"

Does anyone know?

Because honestly it would explain a lot. I thought the effects were fine in the trailers (which played at 24p) but not much different than many other movies I've seen. I've been confused by the amount of praise the effects have been getting so I was wondering if this was the secret.

 

[sojourner]

I am guessing it had alot more to do with the "d" than the "p", as in 3d. Though for me personally, and this may have something to do with the fact I wear glasses for nearsightedness, the 3d was a blurry, headache inducing mess.

 

[Canadave]

I am guessing it had alot more to do with the "d" than the "p", as in 3d. Though for me personally, and this may have something to do with the fact I wear glasses for nearsightedness, the 3d was a blurry, headache inducing mess.

Funny... I'm terribly nearsighted, wear glasses, and I didn't have any problem with the 3D.

 

[JarodRussell]

I am guessing it had alot more to do with the "d" than the "p", as in 3d. Though for me personally, and this may have something to do with the fact I wear glasses for nearsightedness, the 3d was a blurry, headache inducing mess.

Funny... I'm terribly nearsighted, wear glasses, and I didn't have any problem with the 3D.

I asked a few friends of mine who wear glasses, and they loved it. If 3D was a blurry, headache inducing mess, then there's something wrong about your glasses, I'd say.

 

[sojourner]

Nope, glasses work perfectly fine in day to day use.

 

[JarodRussell]

Nope, glasses work perfectly fine in day to day use.

See, it's simply impossible that with the 3D glasses on top of your normal glasses the movie becomes a blurry mess. If it was blurry for you, then it must have been blurry for everyone else. And then there would have been a problem with the projector.

 

[sojourner]

^that could be the answer.

 

[Manticore]

I am guessing it had alot more to do with the "d" than the "p", as in 3d. Though for me personally, and this may have something to do with the fact I wear glasses for nearsightedness, the 3d was a blurry, headache inducing mess.

Funny... I'm terribly nearsighted, wear glasses, and I didn't have any problem with the 3D.

I asked a few friends of mine who wear glasses, and they loved it. If 3D was a blurry, headache inducing mess, then there's something wrong about your glasses, I'd say.

Speaking for myself, when I saw the movie on a normal screen, it was perfectly fine despite having basically two pairs of glasses on (3d and vision). In the Imax, though, I had constant double-vision with the 3d. >.<

 

[milo bloom]

Is 60p that mode where they add extra frames and it gives stuff that shiny, soap-opera like look? Cause, while that's certainly "eye-catching", it's also nauseating to watch after about 5 seconds.


Also, I watched this in the theater with the 3D glasses over my regular ones and it was fine.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Avatar was certainly filmed and released in 24 fps. Certain TV's interpolate frames and do other tricks to create the illusion of more frames. It usually doesn't look good.

 

[JarodRussell]

Well, in the US, because of NTSC, every movie has to be processed to 30 frames per second (60 half frames per second, 60 Hz), even though they were filmed with only 24 fps. In Europe, it's 25 full frames (50 Hz).

 

[Hyperspace05]

Yes, but that doesn't apply to DVD/Blu-ray content played directly to the TV. (assuming HDMI)

Conversion of film (usually considered 24p) to various video standards has many quirks and variations, which can be read about here.