One of the best ways to describe our film transfer processes is to imagine that you can compare the original film to the video produced from each process side by side. For example, lets say that you ordered a Bronze DVD. Upon receiving the DVD, you pull out your projector to compare the film to the Bronze DVD. In the first row of the table below, the film is being projected onto the screen and the TV on the right is playing video from the Bronze process. You can easily see that the original film looks better than the video playing on the TV. This is very typical of a real-time or software frame by frame process that was developed in the 1970's and 1980's. Believe it or not, this is still the same process that over 95% of the film transfer companies are using today.

Now, look at the pictures from the Silver, Gold and Platinum and you can see how much better the video can look because of advances in film transfer and restoration technology.

If you are interested in the technical details behind each process click here. If you want to see higher resolution pictures of the images in the table below, click here.

 

	Bronze   Standard Definition   Software Frame by Frame The video from the Bronze process will be 30-50% less quality than the film. This is true of any software frame by frame (or real-time) transfer system. The Bronze process does not capture the Full Frame and does not include any restoration.
	Silver   Standard Definition   Full Frame   Hardware Frame by Frame A Hardware Frame by Frame process will result in video that is similar to the film. The video is sharper and has less grain compared to the Bronze. Because this is a standard definition process, it will only have about 2/3 of the detail compared to the original film.
	Gold Standard Definition Full Frame  Hardware Frame by Frame Hollywood Restoration I The Gold process will result in video that looks better than the film because of the frame by frame restoration  (color, exposure, removal of the grain & scratches). Because this is a standard definition process, it will only have 2/3 of the detail compared to the original film.
	Platinum HD   High Definition    Hardware Frame by Frame   Hollywood Restoration I   Hollywood Restoration II The high definition frame by frame scan picks up all the details from the film. You can see the imagine looks sharper and more 3-D, has less grain and the colors are better than the Gold process. Click here to see a larger resolution picture.

Film Transfer Basics

Video has several characteristics that determine how good it is. One of the most important characteristics is the number of lines of resolution. The resolution determines how detailed and sharp the video is. If you’ve ever watched a standard definition video channel on an HDTV and then switched to the high definition (HD) version, you notice that the HD version is much sharper and detailed. The reason is that standard definition video has 480 horizontal lines while HD has 1080 lines. In a similar way, a film transfer can deliver video in standard definition or high definition. Just like the TV channels, a high definition film transfer will look much better than a standard definition film transfer.

Equally important as resolution is the type of film transfer. There are a few basic types of film transfer processes. More than 95% of the companies out there today use a Real-Time transfer.  Any type of real-time film transfer will result in video that is 30-50% worse than the film’s current condition.

There is a hybrid of a real-time process called Software Frame by Frame. The video is captured in real-time and then the original film frames are extracted from the video. This reduces the interlacing affects of a real-time capture. Because the capture is real-time, the resulting video from a software frame by frame process will be 30-50% worse than the film's current condition but will have less interlace video artifacts than a real-time transfer.

A second and much newer film transfer process is called Hardware Frame by Frame. A hardware frame by frame process means that each film frame is captured like a separate digital picture. Reading each frame one at a time maximizes the detail that is captured. The level of detail is only limited by the process resolution (number of horizontal lines). A hardware frame by frame process will result in video that is 30-50% better than a similarly configured real-time or software frame by frame process.

So, at this point you’ve learned that film transfers can capture at standard definition (480 lines) or high definition (1080 lines). You’ve also learned about the 3 different types of film transfers being used today. In order from least to best quality we have:

1) Real-Time Standard Definition (least quality)
2) Software Frame by Frame Standard Definition
3) Real-Time High Definition
4) Hardware Frame by Frame Standard Definition
5) Hardware Frame by Frame High Definition (best quality)

The film transfer processes above are the basics types and do not include any restoration by themselves. Because over 90% of the old movie film we see needs restoration work, we've developed our Hollywood Restoration I and Hollywood Restoration II technology which can increase the quality of the film transfer by 30-80%.
 

Our Film Transfer Processes

We developed the following film transfer processes to meet the needs of a wide range of customers. It is important that you understand the film transfer basics outlined above before reading about our processes below.
 

Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Process
	Bronze The Bronze is a software frame by frame standard definition transfer. The video from the Bronze process will be 30-50% less quality than the film. The Bronze process is not a full frame process and does not include any restoration.
	Silver The Silver is a full frame hardware frame by frame standard definition transfer. A hardware frame by frame process means that each film frame is captured like a separate digital picture. Because this process is a standard definition process, it cannot capture all the details from the film. The Silver process will result in video that is similar to the film. The Silver does not include any restoration.
	Gold The Gold is a full frame hardware frame by frame standard definition transfer that includes our Hollywood Restoration I technology. The restoration includes our exclusive frame by frame color correction, exposure correction and the removal of about 50-75% of the grain and scratches. Even though the Gold is a standard definition process, the video will generally look better than the film because of the Hollywood Restoration I technology*.
	Platinum HD Introduced in August of 2005, this is the best frame by frame high definition transfer system in the United States today. Each full frame is scanned one at a time at 1080 lines of resolution. The Platinum HD process includes both Hollywood Restoration I and Hollywood Restoration II technology. The video from the Platinum HD process will be the best possible quality from the film.

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*Quality of restoration is dependent upon condition of existing film stock; severely deteriorated original materials may be beyond the reach of even the most sophisticated restoration methods. Click here for more information. Refunds are only given if a competitor can obtain better quality (defined by clarity, color, graininess and scratches) for a similar price (within 10% of ours). Under these fair terms, we've never had to give a refund.