Enhanced versions and no 16:9 shots

Greetings,

Some years ago the enhanced version of TOS came out. I watched a few and really like it.

Using my Xbox 360 I had purchased the episode "Balance of Terror". During playback the enhancements are clearly shown in 16:9 format.

A few years ago I purchased the HD DVD version if TOS season 1. When watching those shows there are no 16:9 formats of any of the enhancements. I distinctly remember seeing other shows that had 16:9 format.

I've viewed them on Netflix and there are no 16:9 formats on those episodes as well.

Are they not available on DVD in the enhanced 16:9 format? Or are they sold in a different format other than DVD?

Also, watching "The City on the Edge..." I distinctly remember seeing a 16:9 shot of the ruins that looked really cool. Neither the DVD/HD DVD or Netfix has that shot. Was that removed?

I appreciate any info to help me out here

Thx/

 

I'm wondering if maybe you had your TV set to have a 4:3 picture stretch to fill its 16:9 format when you watched it on your XBox?

 

Sometimes, like when TOS is on CBS action, they cut the top and bottom off and stretch it a little to make it fit the wider ratio.

 

As the person who was highly involved in covering TOS-R when it was airing in syndication back in 2006, and the later disc releases, for TrekMovie.com I can tell you that MattM1121 is correct, they actually issued the Xbox Live versions not long after a new TOS-R episode was first aired. The Xbox downloads alternated between 4:3 live action and the 16:9 CG, it was technically a mistake.

Behind the scenes, the CG artists at CBS Digital gave themselves a 16:9 ratio to play in so that they could pick the best portions of the new landscapes/planetscapes to crop to 4:3 for the final airing versions in the US and later on disc (DVD/Blu-ray).

They also did the 16:9 versions for potential syndication in other markets where widescreen TVs had deeper penetration at the time (Japan and parts of Europe). In those markets the live action footage was also cropped to 16:9.

Of course things changed pretty quickly and dramatically from when they started the project in 2006. Streaming is now the norm, and there became no real need to worry about broadcast TV syndication rights, etc.

No shots were removed, the CG shots were cropped to 4:3 to fit with the original aspect ratio.

FYI: Here's the portfolio page for the main CG artist on the project, named Max Gabl, it has the 16:9 versions:
http://www.maxgabl.com/Content/TOS-R_Paintings.html

 

The CGI shots were rendered in 16:9 and then cropped to 4:3 to match the live action. The xbox live version used the full 16:9 CGI shots mixed with 4:3 live action but this was apparently a mistake. In Japan it was shown in widescreen with the full 16:9 CGI shots but with the live action cropped to 16:9.

 

Did the whole series end up that way? I want!

 

Good question I don't actually know what happened. At the time we were told that it was a mistake and that they were going to send proper (all 4:3) copies to MS to replace them on Xbox Live. I think later episodes were issued as all 4:3 from the get go, and only the first group of episodes that were remastered ended up with the dual aspect ratios.

 

Personally, I would hate to see it constantly switching between two ratios.

 

The Immunity Syndrome and The Tholian Web both feature 16x9 effect shots on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Also, Obsession is HD, but with original effects (and the original main title music).

 

Small correction - The Immunity Syndrome does feature 16x9 fx shots, but the Tholian Web doesn't.

 

It certainly did at one point:

 

Something's wrong with your Aspect Ratio.

Your 16:9 looks like 4:3!

 

Look carefully at the photo—note the reddish haze in the upper right. There is a difference in the blacks where you can make out the 16:9 frame.

EDIT: Oh, that's the edge of the TV against the wall in a darkened room. However, the image fills the TV screen. I imagine the rest of the program has "black bars" on the sides for the original material that does not fill a 16:9 frame.

 

I really love the work Max Gabl did for TOS-R, the enhanced landscapes and matte paintings are my favorite improvement of the TOS-R release (except for the shuttlebay footage. Cropping the top and some at the bottom of the original VFX footage would have yielded the same effect).

Of course, the problem with the original TOS (live-action) footage - in contrast to the TNG footage - is that you don't have excess areas left and right of the "action safe" images to expand to a "full screen" 16:9 image (aspect ratio 1.78:1).

The overscan of old 4:3 TV tube sets would trim the areas around the "action safe" area. A flat screen (with traditional overscan active) would yield a 14:9 TOS image (familar postcard format) because no overscan crops the sides.

I think this is the widest TOS image we could realistically expect unless one were to crop off additional areas at the top and bottom which I wouldn't recommend.

Bob