digitalfilm tree (dft) has once again had the honor of working alongside the prince estate (the late prince rogers nelson).

shipping pre-orders on october 25th, the diamonds and pearls release marks dft’s second pairing with prince’s estate after his syracuse concert, prince and the revolution: live (1985), which was restored and re-released in 2022. diamonds and pearls is a compilation of performances, including his 1991 special olympics performance and the special olympics rehearsal, as well as his 1991 wembley performance, and exclusive paisley park concerts like glam slam and the dawn party.

thomas galyon, csi, dft’s senior colorist and co-cto has lent his color and restoration wisdom to both projects, while greg filkins, our senior engineer scanned much of the film and video that was brought back to life in this jaw dropping collection.

“back when film was a more popular and standard medium by which to capture performances,” says galyon, “we had neither the scanning technology, nor the display technology to showcase nearly as much as we’re able to bring to screen today. especially when considering concert footage, and with the lighting, like prince used to employ, it’s remarkable to have such definition in the picture that you get the feeling of really being there thanks today’s hdr technology.”

in contrast to the syracuse concert, which was a capture of the original broadcast 3/4″ tape and then ai upscaled with dirt fix and color correction, diamonds and pearls is a truly unique experience with much of the footage having never been seen before and coming from film. filkins remarked, “film has the ability to capture much more resolution and detail than what video offered during that time period, so watching these scans in real time was truly remarkable.”

digitalfilm tree has 8mm, super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film scanning capabilities in our los angeles headquarters, as well as a litany of analog decks to help your vault come alive or online. we hope to see and be a part of restoring your treasures soon!