WGN has started the series cycle over again and I've been noticing a much sharper and cleaner video quality. It has really made it better to watch than the DVDs, where the color always looked off, a la the science uniforms looking green than blue. I hope to see another release that has this good of quality.
Has TNG Been Remastered?
- Thread starter Kamdan
- Start date
When viewing SD images, ALL HDTVS upscale the picture (if they did not, all you would see was a postage stamp sized image surrounded by a foot or more of black on all sides). Many times the TV has a better upscaler than the DVD player does.
I may record one of the WGN episodes just to see whats up. They could be using a new upscaler or something. Either way I'm curious.
One final time: (We wish)
First of all "remastering" means going back to the original filmstock, cleaning it up and then putting out there.
Secondly: TNG's special effects were done on videotape and furthermore the series was taken from film and transfered to videotape for editing. (Granted, high quality videotape.) So this means they filmed everything on film, sent it to the editor, who picked the good takes/shots, etc. and pieced the episode together onto videotape.
This means that to "remaster" TNG someone has to go back to the film and completely put the episodes back together again! This means finding all of the shots and takes and whatnot that were used and pretty much make the episode over-again from scratch. It's not impossible but it'd be a pretty huge undertaking. There's only so much resolution that you can get out of videotape and HD quality isn't in that particular deck.
"Upscaling" is over emphasized when it comes to TV and DVD/BD players as it sort of makes the presumption that the player is taking the material and "somehow" knows what's going on between two pixels and give you that added detail. It can't.
It can only make a "best guess" and make the picture fill the screen rather than being in a box. It cannot add detail and resolution that isn't there which is what HD is all about.
TNG's been rumored to get a "remastering" for sometime now but it'd be a huge, expensive, project for Paramount to take and it'd just be a question if it is worth it in the end. I'll admit I'm not sure if the effects were done on tape, but I do know it was edited on tape which really limits things.
It can be done but Paramount has to be willing to invest quite a bit into it and fans will have to be willing to pony up for another set of over-priced BD sets. (There were enough complaints about the price of the DVD sets.)
TOS it was easier to "remaster" since TOS was recorded and edited to film so there was a lot more there to work with.
First of all "remastering" means going back to the original filmstock, cleaning it up and then putting out there.
Secondly: TNG's special effects were done on videotape and furthermore the series was taken from film and transfered to videotape for editing. (Granted, high quality videotape.) So this means they filmed everything on film, sent it to the editor, who picked the good takes/shots, etc. and pieced the episode together onto videotape.
This means that to "remaster" TNG someone has to go back to the film and completely put the episodes back together again! This means finding all of the shots and takes and whatnot that were used and pretty much make the episode over-again from scratch. It's not impossible but it'd be a pretty huge undertaking. There's only so much resolution that you can get out of videotape and HD quality isn't in that particular deck.
"Upscaling" is over emphasized when it comes to TV and DVD/BD players as it sort of makes the presumption that the player is taking the material and "somehow" knows what's going on between two pixels and give you that added detail. It can't.
It can only make a "best guess" and make the picture fill the screen rather than being in a box. It cannot add detail and resolution that isn't there which is what HD is all about.
TNG's been rumored to get a "remastering" for sometime now but it'd be a huge, expensive, project for Paramount to take and it'd just be a question if it is worth it in the end. I'll admit I'm not sure if the effects were done on tape, but I do know it was edited on tape which really limits things.
It can be done but Paramount has to be willing to invest quite a bit into it and fans will have to be willing to pony up for another set of over-priced BD sets. (There were enough complaints about the price of the DVD sets.)
TOS it was easier to "remaster" since TOS was recorded and edited to film so there was a lot more there to work with.
^ Obviously this doesn't apply to *early* episodes like WNOHGB and Haven, but in general, some of that might be due to the uniforms themselves. If a uniform is worn repeatedly and washed, over and over, it will fade. This is why characters like Beverly, who wore the same blue uniform for the series run, seem to wear a much darker blue than, for example, Picard in "Tapestry". In that ep, his uniform was brighter, because it had never been worn before.
FWIW.
As for TNG-R, we will probably get a Fan Collective or two in HD, but I doubt any more than that. There's simply too many episodes. They managed with TOS because it was only three seasons (and was all shot on film from the get-go). TNG would require many more years of work.
The next Trek series to make it to Blu-Ray will be ENT. That's pretty much *already* in HD (it's been shown that way on TV).
FWIW.
As for TNG-R, we will probably get a Fan Collective or two in HD, but I doubt any more than that. There's simply too many episodes. They managed with TOS because it was only three seasons (and was all shot on film from the get-go). TNG would require many more years of work.
The next Trek series to make it to Blu-Ray will be ENT. That's pretty much *already* in HD (it's been shown that way on TV).
About the only thing Paramount has said is that they would like to do it but it would be a tremendous undertaking.
I personally think it's inevitable at some point. It's just a question if it will be in 2 years, or 5, or 10. By then it could be on the next-gen format (no pun intended).
I personally think it's inevitable at some point. It's just a question if it will be in 2 years, or 5, or 10. By then it could be on the next-gen format (no pun intended).
Nah, TNG is a cash cow for CBS/Paramount. If the next film is as successful as Star Trek (2009) was, I'd expect this project to move forward pretty quickly, as all parties involved attempt to cash in on the Trek namesake. It might take some time, but it'll happen.
Now, VOY and DS9, they'll probably never see proper Blu-Ray releases. Unfortunately.
It really depends, re-editing all of the episodes from the original film negatives would be an enormous undertaking. Every episode would pretty much need to be redone from scratch. That's even assuming the negatives are in any condition to undergo the process and won't need fixing/reproducing themselves.
Would it be that much harder than TOS? I would think the TNG film would be in better condition than TOS, being 20 years newer (assuming it was stored well). Or did they not need to re-edit the footage together for TOS?
CBS/Paramount isn't stupid (unlike, say, the way Warner Bros. treated Babylon 5). I'm sure the negatives have been well-preserved. They're almost certainly in better shape than the 35mm film of the original Star Trek, since they were edited on video and thus subjected the film negatives to less wear and tear.
Instead of doing the entire show why not hold a vote and remaster the all-time ten fan-favorite episodes for special release. Odds are "shades of gray" will NOT be one of them.
Hold the vote on Star Trek Online keep the voting open for six months then make it so.
True, although "Shades of Grey" would be one of the easiest episodes to remaster, since it's mostly composed of clips from other episodes and stock shots.
They didn't need to edit the film for TOS since TOS was edited on film. So it was a simple matter of running the film through the process of cleaning it up and "remastering" it.
For TNG they have to go back to the editing process and put the episodes back together again from square one.
Gotcha. I wasn't sure if they might have recut TOS anyway, just to clean up transitions and whatever else. So that does make it a lot more time consuming if they have to recut it.
But if it helps them make up their mind, I'll gladly help on doing some of the CGI (I believe the software they used on the TOS remasters is the same one I use)
I wouldn't be so sure... we've seen Paramount make short-sighted decisions before, editing the 24th century shows on video tape to save money and only rendering the TMP Directors' Edition effects at 480i resolution.
Nope. For one thing, fading from washing would not cause Beverly's uniform - which was not "the same uniform for the series run" or probably even for a single shooting week - to be darker than a new costume.
Different dye lots and the use of different materials (wool for later male uniforms, Spandex for the first uniform designs for both sexes and for women throughout) accounted for most color variations.
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