High Framerate Remaster: Avatar and Titanic are set to return to cinemas

In a press statement that actually is already a few days old, but is only now attracting attention in the European media, the company Pixelworks announces a cooperation with James Cameron’s company Lightstorm Entertainment. Among other things, there should be HFR remasters for Avatar and Titanic.

That’s behind TrueCut Motion

Anyone who only thinks of Hobbit or Gemini Man when it comes to high frame rates in the cinema has not yet heard of Pixelworks’ TrueCut Motion technology. Here, the complete film is not simply increased from 24 to 48 fps (or higher), but in case of doubt it is decided scene by scene which frame rate is the best choice. This avoids the notorious soap opera effect that some viewers claim to have recognized in The Hobbit. In action scenes, higher frame rates than 24 fps are definitely welcome to get a clearer picture.

Pixelworks says TrueCut Motion allows filmmakers to decide frame-by-frame in post-production, frame-by-frame, which is the best fit for a consistent overall result, given any starting source rate. This applies to use in the cinema or in home cinema via streams or data carriers. In the future, some TCL televisions will support such films and output dynamically changing frame rates. The following video shows Pixelworks motion grading in selective use.

The collaboration with Lightstorm Entertainment by James Cameron, who is currently working on other Avatar films, includes at least Avatar and Titanic, two of the most successful cinema films ever. “We’re bringing Avatar and Titanic back to the big screen and better in every way,” James Cameron said. “We will present both films in 4K with high dynamic range visuals and have worked with Pixelworks’ TrueCut Motion platform to remaster the films in high frame rate while preserving the cinematic look of the original.” Since the cooperation refers to “several cinema films”, it can be assumed that it will not just remain with these two films.

“Lightstorm is once again pushing the boundaries of the cinematic experience and we’re thrilled to be a part of it,” said Richard Miller, GM of TrueCut at Pixelworks. “Having seen these remastered versions of AVATAR and TITANIC, we believe more and more filmmakers will be excited to take advantage of motion grading with TrueCut Motion Technology.”