Enhancement of Zapruder Footage

[David G. Healy]

There was a section on British TV a few months ago about enhancing film footage using computers.

Apparently, it is now possible to enhance a film to a higher level of resolution than the original film by comparing adjacent frames. It would be possible to see lettering that was only a blur on the original.

I wonder if this could be done to the Zapruder footage? It's of very low quality anyway. You might be able to see the actual bullet hole in JFK's throat and determine whether it was an entry or exit wound. Not to say what an enhancement of the head wound would show!

Only problem is, the footage is now owned by the government.

Would they release it, I wonder?

Carl,

We've got plenty of "enhanced" versions of the Zapruder film -- what we're sorely lacking is a *exact* duplicate [down ONE film generation] of the Zapruder film [residing at NARA] for research purposes...

A "enhanced" version of the Zapruder film is in fact, a altered copy of the in-camera Zapruder film.

8mm film has a long and well travelled history. The film format is capable of high resolution imagery. Even world airlines used the same format for in-flight movie presentations [complete with sound].

The people of the US own the Zapruder film, around 1998 the US taxpayers paid 16million dollars for the film, unfortunately the Z-film copyright wasn't part of the deal. The film is administered by the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas.