BluRay - Improve TNG's "video" feel?

[cosmichobo]

G'day,

I've recently read criticism over TNG, based on the fact it was recorded as video, compared to TOS, which was film... saying the TNG quality is thus so much the worse, and has aged badly...

Will/has the BluRay release done anything to improve this?

I'm assuming, given they have at least improved some of the visual effects, that they would also be aiming to improve the general audio and visual material in general...

Will this change anyone's feelings towards the series?


cheers

cosmic

[ZRFTS]

G'day,

I'm assuming, given they have at least improved some of the visual effects, that they would also be aiming to improve the general audio and visual material in general...

Well they're aiming on improving the visual effects, audio and visual material; in fact the sampler Blu-Ray they released shows notable improvements in detail, special effects and coloring; it isn't in HD but they did manage to improve it to make it look new and good.

Will this change anyone's feelings towards the series?

It won't change mine; this doesn't seem to be a pillaging of the series more like a form of respect for it, though most of us prefer the original version. I have no problem with this as I did for TOS when they remastered it, in fact I find the remastered version to be pretty interesting compared to the original.

[Snowman37]

I'm watching the first season on DVD. It looks fine. What's the problem?

[DigiFluid]

DVD looks like crap. Especially the TNG DVDs.

The "sampler" release for TNG on BD looks and sounds phenomenal--I'll be replacing my DVDs as quickly as I'm able.


And let's also not forget to differentiate on meanings of the word "remaster" here.

When they decided to take the George Lucas approach to TOS, it looked frickin' awful. Then along came the BD releases, which included both the 'revamped' versions and visual- and audio-remastered improvement to the original versions of the episodes.

The latter is what they're doing with the TNG episodes. Frame for frame, they're taking the original film and master and scanning it in at higher resolution than was ever possible with video compositing as was done in the old days. Even the VFX shots (say, of an Enterprise flyby) are not being redone in CGI. They've taken the original filmed shots of the model (the unlit pass, the window lit pass, the engine lit pass, etc) and taken all those original master film records and recomposited them at modern standards. When you see the gorgeous Ent-D on the TNG BDs, that isn't a new shot at all. That's the original filming that they did back in the 80s/90s.

On that sampler disc, I only noticed one solitary change in VFX. In the pilot, the energy beam to 'feed' the creature on Farpoint was moved from the captain's yacht to the more correct location of the phaser array. So far as I noticed, that was the only alteration.

[Snowman37]

DVD looks like crap. Especially the TNG DVDs.

Only if you're spoiled and have to have the latest technology, just because. VHS wasn't crap, DVD isn't crap. Was DVD a step up from VHS? Yes, on my goodness, yes! No more rewinding and fast forwarding, scene selection, wide screen, better resolution, the option to include special features, and the option to have multiple cuts of the film. I'm a big fan of the "2 Disc Special Edition" DVD releases which Bluray seems to have killed. Now, is Bluray a step up from DVD? Yes, but less so than DVD was from VHS. Where as DVD was an entirely new format, Bluray is the exact same thing. It's a disc that looks like a CD, only it holds more information. Better resolution, more space (fewer discs), but... that's just about it. Honestly, I'm just not that impressed with the sole exception being better picture resolution.

When they decided to take the George Lucas approach to TOS, it looked frickin' awful. Then along came the BD releases, which included both the 'revamped' versions and visual- and audio-remastered improvement to the original versions of the episodes.

Despite my harsh comments above, thank you for this. I thought the original versions of the episodes would be locked away forever. This is the only reason why I'd buy Star Trek (1966-69) on Bluray. If something happened to my DVD's, it's nice to know I could upgrade and still have access to the original 1960's presentations of the episodes. Thank you for telling me this!!!

The latter is what they're doing with the TNG episodes. Frame for frame, they're taking the original film and master and scanning it in at higher resolution than was ever possible with video compositing as was done in the old days. Even the VFX shots (say, of an Enterprise flyby) are not being redone in CGI. They've taken the original filmed shots of the model (the unlit pass, the window lit pass, the engine lit pass, etc) and taken all those original master film records and recomposited them at modern standards. When you see the gorgeous Ent-D on the TNG BDs, that isn't a new shot at all. That's the original filming that they did back in the 80s/90s.

I think the best example of this is the before and after shots of the jellyfish space aliens from "Encounter at Farpoint."

On that sampler disc, I only noticed one solitary change in VFX. In the pilot, the energy beam to 'feed' the creature on Farpoint was moved from the captain's yacht to the more correct location of the phaser array. So far as I noticed, that was the only alteration.

Normally, these kinds of changes bother me. However, if it's something that was an obvious mistake to begin with, than yeah... fix it. I wonder. Will they fix the phaser beam coming out of the torpedo launcher from that one episode? lol

[maneth]

Given that I don't own the show on DVD, I'd love to get it on blu-ray...

I guess we're lucky they originally shot the show on 35 mm film rather than videotape! Also, if this sells, there's a chance they'll do DS9 and VOY as well.

[McAvoy]

From what I do understand is that they are recreating the planets in CGI when needed. Other than that, they have altered the coloring, increased the resolution and fixed minor things here and there.

I bought TNG, DS9 and VOY DVDS when they first came out when they were $100 a season. Which is incredibly expensive today (even Blu-rays are not that expensive) but it was a huge jump when you had to buy individual VHS tapes for one or two episodes at 10 to 15 dollars a pop. So in my eyes at the time, DVDs had much, much more than VHS tapes and took far less space.

I will wait until they are cheap or can get them used somewhere. There isn't alot on the new Blu rays that I cannot get from my own personal DD collection already.

[DigiFluid]

I will most likely stop on my way home from work on Tuesday and pick up the season 1 set. The sampler disc was fantastic, I can't wait to watch the whole show on BD.

[LoneStar1836]

I saw in the Best Buy sale paper this morning that it will be for $60US. Fairly reasonable price by Star Trek standards, imo. Not that I'll be buying it right now but considering how expensive the regular dvd sets used to be, I was rather surprised to see the price that low.

[McAvoy]

I saw in the Best Buy sale paper this morning that it will be for $60US. Fairly reasonable price by Star Trek standards, imo. Not that I'll be buying it right now but considering how expensive the regular dvd sets used to be, I was rather surprised to see the price that low.

Technically $60 for a season isn't that bad. Back when TNG DVDs first came out $100 a season was expensive but DVDs were expensive as well since putting whole TV show seasons was still new back then. Now you can get a season on DVD between $20 to $40.

[Morbo]

anyone else in the US going to see 2 eps from season 1 on the big screen tonight? Got my tickets yesterday.
fathomevents.com if you want to go!