Academic Report on the Development of the FHJ Film Grain Reduction Program (I and II versions)

• Summary:

In an outstanding collaboration between a student from the FH Joanneum University in Styria (Austria) and another from the Ferrol campus of the Universidade da Coruña, in Galicia (Spain) has been developed an innovative software that surpasses any other in terms of film grain removal: the FHJ program. This advancement is especially relevant in the television context, where grain can significantly consume available bandwidth.

• Background:

Film directors, including the writer of this report, select film emulsions considering various factors, including the grain visible in the image. This aspect becomes a distinctive characteristic that differentiates a film image from a digital one,  clinical and unnaturally clean. On an artistic level, the grain on the screen contributes to the cinematic narrative, as does the differentiated performance of the film emulsions or the use of reversal or negative materials.

• The problem:

Contemporary television stations show an aversion towards film grain, since its presence implies excessive consumption of bandwidth. The author's personal experience, when watching the broadcast of "Spitsbergen, O Gardián do Ártico" on Television de Galicia, was sad and reveals his dissatisfaction generated by the rude eliminating of grain on the tv station, sometimes affecting the quality of the image. This experience motivated the decision to provide grain-free television versions in future works.

• The solution:

After experimenting with several commercial programs without obtaining satisfaction (commercial programs remove grain but introduce weird artifacts here and there), was promoted the development of a customized software together with students from both universities. After months of work and cross-border collaboration between Styria and Galicia, significant progress was achieved through the creation of a grain reduction system, named FHJ  after the prestigious FH Joanneum University. This system uses advanced algorithms that, for the director author of this text, are magical in their complexity.

The impact of this software is evident in the example featured on Vimeo, where the raw Super-8 image is compared to the same image processed with the FHJ grain reduction program. Satisfaction with the result obtained is total, achieving the desired balance without compromising visual quality. 

FHJ VERSION II

Version I: Version 1 of FHJ Film Grain Reduction progam  reduces film grain only, but...

Version II. Version 2 of FHJ Film Grain Reduction program, additionally to the grain,  completely removes scratches, hairs, dust or stains from the film picture . The same image can be seen with version I, version II and untreated, on the bottom screen:

It´s important to highlight that, outside the television sphere, the full lenght film documentary "Perfect Antarctic Madness" can be enjoyed with its original film grain both on platforms such as Vimeo and in 16 mm projections (blow up from Super 8).

This project demonstrates the effectiveness of international collaboration and the application of advanced technology to address specific problems in film and television production. Daniel, de la FH Joanneum University, and Álex, of the Universidade da Coruña in Ferrol, ares proud to contribute to this significant advancement in the film industry, marking a milestone in removing film grain precisely and artistically.