TNG DVD Transfers

[Similitude]

Luckily due to some error in Blockbusters pricing I was able to get all 7 Seasons for 27 bucks a pop. This was like 5 years ago or so when the Seasons were going for well over 100 in most places.

[ManaByte]

My first post here, and I can't think of a better one. Forgive any typos as I am on my iPhone.

As part of my old job, I reviewed all seven DVD seasons fir IGN DVD and even visited the DVD production house when they were working on the final DS9 seasons. As a previous poster stated; TNG was shot on video and as such it doesn't translate too well to DVD. The existing DVDs are the absolute best the existing TNG elements can look on standard DVD.

Even SciFi HDs TNG broadcasts do not look much better due to the source elements.

The reason TOS looks great in HD is because CBS Paramount did a very costly HD remastering mission for the shows 40th anniversary. All of the effects were re-done with CG at HD resolution, and the source elements were cleaned up using the original negatives.

Now, TNG was the best selling Trek series on DVD by a very large margin. There is a RUMOR going around that CBS will remastering the series like TOS. If so, the BluRay will look great. However until then, the DVDs are the best you can get.

[Captrek]

Similitude wrote:

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Luckily due to some error in Blockbusters pricing I was able to get all 7 Seasons for 27 bucks a pop.

Wow. And five years later that’s still a price I can’t touch. I would love to get all 7 seasons for $27*7.

Right now I’m watching bootlegs I downloaded off the internet. I don’t feel good about it, and if I could buy the series for a reasonable price I would, but I can’t find the complete series legit for much less than $300.

[ManaByte]

captrek wrote:

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Wow. And five years later that’s still a price I can’t touch. I would love to get all 7 seasons for $27*7.

Right now I’m watching bootlegs I downloaded off the internet. I don’t feel good about it, and if I could buy the series for a reasonable price I would, but I can’t find the complete series legit for much less than $300.

Well, it's $320 new on Amazon. If you really dig you can find it for $250 or so.

[Malcolm Orr]

ManaByte wrote:

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My first post here, and I can't think of a better one. Forgive any typos as I am on my iPhone.

As part of my old job, I reviewed all seven DVD seasons fir IGN DVD and even visited the DVD production house when they were working on the final DS9 seasons. As a previous poster stated; TNG was shot on video and as such it doesn't translate too well to DVD. The existing DVDs are the absolute best the existing TNG elements can look on standard DVD.

Even SciFi HDs TNG broadcasts do not look much better due to the source elements.

The reason TOS looks great in HD is because CBS Paramount did a very costly HD remastering mission for the shows 40th anniversary. All of the effects were re-done with CG at HD resolution, and the source elements were cleaned up using the original negatives.

Now, TNG was the best selling Trek series on DVD by a very large margin. There is a RUMOR going around that CBS will remastering the series like TOS. If so, the BluRay will look great. However until then, the DVDs are the best you can get.

Thanks for posting. Your opinion appears to be far more informed than mine as I have no experience in this field.

There's 2 points where I'd like to share my thoughts and wondered what you or others felt.

1) Video - on my PS3 with the right settings I can get many episodes looking very good - close to satellite broadcasts of Enterprise in SD for example, but some episodes are excellent, some are not (for similar scenes and similar lightings such as the bridge). Now the question I have is this - when you say the DVDs are as good as the existing masters, is that to say that the master versions of these episodes are recorded to the same quality or are the DVD versions slightly more compressed. I appreciate the masters will still look like they were shot on video, but there are certain epsides where a lot of compression seems to have occured.

2) The Remastering Project - I think it's probably a case of how and when than if. I think that the amazon/target place markers and the rumours of the test 2-3 years ago makes me think that it is at least being looked into. If I was to guess I would imagine that any tests to professionally upscale the images are less than satisfactory, however the series is still marketable, esp in Europe where TNG is on 2 different channels every day. Also the movies* include 4 TNG ones and I assume that as a block having TOS and TNG as HD for future syndication etc might be helpful.

Many TNG episodes have very little added effects. Darmok doesn't have a huge amount at all, neither does Chain of Command. Checking season 7 I can see a whole lot more, but many TNG episodes have very little added effects, assuming the ship and other model shots exist still.

* as an aside, Generations was on Sky HD last night. I'm not an expert but I swear it was an upscaled version. It had a LOT of artefacts present.

Anyway, here's hoping. TNG might have two things going for it overall - firstly it's popularity/familiarity with a general audience and the fact that it looks so bad that the choice will probably remain between remastering it in some form (and in it's entirity) or letting it become an atrefact of the past. I can see them leaving DS9 and VOY, but not TNG

[ManaByte]

I think we're almost guaranteed to see TNG remastered in time for its 25th Anniversary. I wouldn't be surprised if the project is going on right now.

[Falcor5]

ManaByte wrote:

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My first post here, and I can't think of a better one. Forgive any typos as I am on my iPhone.

As part of my old job, I reviewed all seven DVD seasons fir IGN DVD and even visited the DVD production house when they were working on the final DS9 seasons. As a previous poster stated; TNG was shot on video and as such it doesn't translate too well to DVD. The existing DVDs are the absolute best the existing TNG elements can look on standard DVD.

Even SciFi HDs TNG broadcasts do not look much better due to the source elements.

The reason TOS looks great in HD is because CBS Paramount did a very costly HD remastering mission for the shows 40th anniversary. All of the effects were re-done with CG at HD resolution, and the source elements were cleaned up using the original negatives.

Now, TNG was the best selling Trek series on DVD by a very large margin. There is a RUMOR going around that CBS will remastering the series like TOS. If so, the BluRay will look great. However until then, the DVDs are the best you can get.

Welcome to the board! I hope the rumor is true about CBS re-mastering TNG!

[ManaByte]

Well here's the thing with TNG; the amount of raw material that is available for the show is so much the company that did the TNG DVDs wanted to do a full seven disc set of nothing but extras but Paramount wouldn't go for it. There's THAT MUCH material in near pristine shape; and that doesn't even include the original elements which are preserved even better than the original series.

The only thing holding it back is if it is worth it financially for CBS to do it, and since TNG sold so well on DVD it's almost a no-brainer. The 25th Anniversary of the show is coming up in just a couple years so it would be the perfect time to do the BluRay re-release of TNG with remasted video and effects.

You'll never see DS9 or VOY remastered the way TOS was, but the chances of TNG happening are very good.

Also the new release should be awesome. CBS does an amazing job on their TV DVDs, better even than what Paramount did in the past. The TOS Remastered DVDs/BluRays along with the Twilight Zone Definitive Collection (done by Image under supervision of CBS) are fantastic and are even better than the initial Trek DVD releases.

[Hober Mallow]

ManaByte wrote:

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Also the new release should be awesome. CBS does an amazing job on their TV DVDs, better even than what Paramount did in the past. The TOS Remastered DVDs/BluRays along with the Twilight Zone Definitive Collection (done by Image under supervision of CBS) are fantastic and are even better than the initial Trek DVD releases.

I've got the first couple seasons of TZ, and you're right, it does look great, but since they've already done the work and remastered the series in HD, I hope it won't be too long a wait for the definitive definitive edition on blu-ray. I really want the last three seasons, but I'm holding out for a future blu-ray release.

And if TNG and TZ both go to blu-ray, and I can only afford one series, I'm gonna have to go TZ. Sorry, TNG.

[ManaByte]

I wasn't just talking about the quality, but the extras too.

The TZ set is about as complete as you can get.

The TOS Remastered sets are great too. On Season 2 disc five has Trouble with Tribbles in addition to the animated series Tribble episode and the DS9 Tribble episode. THOSE are great extras.

[GalaxyX]

^^ I hope you're right man. It's love to see remastered TNG.

But they really need to keep the prices in line with other shows and not be greedy bastards like with the original DVD's.

[Hober Mallow]

ManaByte wrote:

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The TZ set is about as complete as you can get.

Complete, yes. HD, no. I want to have my cake and eat it too. With mint frosting.

Imagine a Star Trek set as complete as the TZ set. That would be unreal. The first season TZ set comes with a copy of the TZ Companion. Almost every episode features some sort of extra, from isolated music score, to commentary, to Marc Scott Zicree interviews with cast, writers, and directors which served as the background material for the Companion. That's not even counting the extra features disc.

[Hober Mallow]

GalaxyX wrote:

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^^ I hope you're right man. It's love to see remastered TNG.

But they really need to keep the prices in line with other shows and not be greedy bastards like with the original DVD's.

The Star Trek blu-ray is reasonable, especially considering how much they used to charge for VHS. Imagine paying $99.99 for a new copy of Star Trek V on VHS. Horrible picture quality, no extras other than maybe a trailer for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

[ManaByte]

GalaxyX wrote:

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^^ I hope you're right man. It's love to see remastered TNG.

But they really need to keep the prices in line with other shows and not be greedy bastards like with the original DVD's.

TV DVD pricing has come down across the board. When the original TNG DVDs were first coming out, FOX was still charging $150 per season of X-Files. That doesn't fly anymore (unless you're HBO...).

[Hober Mallow]

ManaByte wrote:

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TV DVD pricing has come down across the board. When the original TNG DVDs were first coming out, FOX was still charging $150 per season of X-Files. That doesn't fly anymore (unless you're HBO...).

My mom has season one of the X-Files on DVD somewhere. If I remember right, there are like two thirty second extras on the whole set.