Exactly, and to add to it, you can't know the director's vision or opinion on how the framing should be adjusted. AI can make images easily but it won't understand subtext and context that was intended. No time soon at least.
Comment on Could we use AI to update 4:3 media to 16:9?
drdiddlybadger@pawb.social 8 months ago
You should be able to but remember that aspect ratios and framing are done intentionally so what is generated won’t be at all true to what should be in scene once the frame is there. You’d be watching derivative media. Upscaling should be perfectly doable but eventually details will be generated that will not have originally existed in scenes as well.
Probably would be fun eventually to try the conversion and see what differences you get.
Ghost33313@kbin.social 8 months ago
CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This.
Surprise! If you want to go from 4:3 to wide screen, you still have exactly the same problem as when using pan&scan for going from wide to 4:3.
sanguinepar@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Definitely. I remember hearing about The Wire being released in a 16:9 format, even though it was shot and broadcast in 4:3, and how that potentially messes up some of the shot framing.
They did I by cropping from top and bottom rather than AI infilling, but the issue is the same.
IIRC, David Simon wrote a really interesting piece about how they did it but did everything they could to try and stay true to Robert Colesberry’s carefully planned framing, as they were aware that had it been intended for 16:9 he’d have framed things differently.
Personally I wish they had kept it at 4:3 and only released it in a higher resolution. Glad I still have my old 4:3 DVDs.
FelipeFelop@discuss.online 8 months ago
Very true, I remember a few years ago someone converting old cartoons to a consistent 60 frames a second.
If they’d asked an animator they’d have found out that animation purposely uses different rates of change to give a different feel to scenes. So the improvement actually ruined what they were trying to improve.
Deestan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
4:3 - Jumpscare, gremlin jumps in from off-camera.
16:9 AI upsized - Gremlin hangs out awkwardly to the left of the characters for half a minute, then jumps in.
setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I was just thinking that. Or something like a comedy bit where the camera pans to a character who had just been out of frame.
Overall it seems like impressive technology to be able to reform old media, but I’d rather put it to use in tastefully sharpening image quality rather than reframing images.
Deestan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Haha, yes. I spent 15 minutes trying to remember the term for the pan/zoom-to-reveal comedy effect before giving up and settling on a botched jumpscare.