| "Technicolor has annoying fuzziness around objects. See Wizard of Oz." This happens with Technicolor only when it's processed badly and the registration isn't done with sufficient precision. I agree, this has happened from time to time. Moreover, you also have to consider where the source material for the Technicolor process originated from. Tri-separated B&W negatives were used in the late 1930s, Wizard of Oz being one and the other major notable Gone With The Wind. Prints from tri-separations can be quite excellent, in fact brilliant as the colour can be precisely adjusted. Also colour 'compromises' don't have to be made in the printing as is intrinsically the case with film that use colour couplers - Eastmancolor (Eastman color negative, its internegative and theatre release/print stock) to name just a few. (Colour couplers in film emulsions are at best compromises as they have to be compatible with the processing chemistry and many of the best colour dyes and pigments are not. Processes that do not use colour couplers such as Kodachrome and Technicolor are much superior in this regard as stable dyes with the correct (or best) colour can be used. Colour couplers also lower the resolution of an emulsion although in many modern emulsions this isn't a significant problem.) Nevertheless, if tri-separated B&W originals are used after being stored a long time then shrinkage differences in the three negatives can pose printing/registration issues. It would be interesting to know the source of your Wizard of Oz, - as some years back the DVD version took this into account when the film was remastered. Every frame of the tri-separated B&W printing masters was resized to ensure its geometry was identical to all others. I've seen that remastered copy and its registration is excellent. Incidentally, the very last version of the Technicolor processes of the 1950s was the best colour film system for movies ever devised before they went digital. However, one needs to bear in mind that many so-called Technicolor films are only hybrids, as they use Eastmancolor (or other) film stock for both the original source and for later dupes from earlier Technicolor theatre release prints. They, along with multigeneration copies, often create many issues including low (fuzzy) resolution and muddy cross-colour effects. When making a claim like you have it's imperative you first check a film's manufacturing/printing methods. Tracing its manufacturing provenance is absolutely essential. Edit: FYI, pre-WWII B&W film emulsions as used in the Wizard of Oz were never as grain-free or as sharp as modern-day equivalents are. You also need to ensure that you aren't drawing any comparison to these much newer products. The Technicolor process should not be blamed for limitations in the source material. |