I've finally pushed the button on Star Trek on Blu-ray

Amazon's listings are usually suspect, they just stick the region of the country of origin on. Blu-ray.com is the place to look for Region coding info.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-Three-Season-Pack-Blu-ray/7193/

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-Season-1-Blu-ray/4189/

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-Season-2-Blu-ray/6281/

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-Season-3-Blu-ray/7192/

 

Thanks, that helps a lot. I assume is still in NTSC format though? I only have limited experience with NTSC but it's always looked a little "off" compared to PAL.
Of course, this was under the old TV system, so maybe with HD it's not quite so noticeable I've not emerged into the Blu-Ray market at all, which does limit my knowledge somewhat

 

I'm in the US and have a Region 2 Blu-Ray set of Space:1999 and it looks lovely. HD does not have the issues of PAL and NTSC conversion or compatibility. We should all be seeing the same thing in any region as long as it's region free.

Here's a short but informative article on HD image in regions 1 and 2:

http://www.sharbor.com/tutorials/1674.html

 

All the Blu-rays I've encountered with film material on them (which includes TOS) is delivered in its "native" frame rate. A disc designed for US markets will say the frame rate is "23.976," the 3:2 pulldown conversion rate for NTSC color video. (The original NTSC spec went from 30 frames-per-second to 29.97 with the introduction of color.)

Without getting into a lot of technical gobbledygook about transitional formats, that means you will see TOS delivered to your screen with no interlacing at 24 fps, the way it was shot. Most BD players have adjustments for conversion output, and I suppose the defaults may vary by manufacturer. But filmed material should look the same anywhere.

(At the very least, if you "rip" the content to a computer hard-drive, you will notice a film frame rate.)

And yes, SPACE: 1999 on BD looks fantastic. I read that the prior release on DVD was "mastered" from 16mm distribution prints, while the BDs were mastered from 35mm.

 

Thanks guys. The only troubling thing now is the Amazon customers who have reported problems with the quality of the discs. Has anyone else encountered quality control issues with this set?

 

That's Amazon's crapness rising to the fore once again. For any title, they'll bunch all the reviews together in one place. I saw those worrying disc reports too, and on closer examination, they're all reviews for the DVD sets, not the Blu-ray.

 

I bought the individual season sets because I wanted the supplementary materials. I believe the complete series set is the episodes, only.

I have had no problems with the season-only sets.

 

Where did you get this?

The TOS Blu-Ray season sets contain all of the features for each season.

The Amazon deal simply bundles the 3 season sets in shrink wrap.

 

Amazon's own page at the link given above says: "Special Features—None" while the pages for the season-only sets list all the features. I was not sure if different sets had been released.

My biggest reason for buying just the first season (and figuring I'd buy the other sets later) was because I wanted to be sure I was getting the "unenhanced" original episodes. Now that I've seen all the upgraded VFX, I know I prefer the originals.

 

Amazon is sort of innacurate.

As a matter of fact, all the features are there.

The Blu-rays contain both original and enhanced VFX, as well as most of the features ported from the DVD, plus a lot of material that is new and unique.

It's likely the Amazon description for features was simply not filled out, possibly because of the fact that nothing was added beyond the existing Season 1, 2 and 3 sets.

 

The Blu-Rays really did have a profound impression on my, and I'll tell you why.

I think the lower-resolution we've been seeing it in all these years has sort of 'distanced' me from the show, like, it's so clearly a show from the sixties, because it looks like a show from the sixties. But the Blu-Ray editions look so crystal clear, it's like looking at footage that was shot yesterday (other elements aside, of course). That really connects you to the story in such a dramatic way, Kirk looks like a real, living, breathing person in a way that he just doesn't in the lower-resolution footage.

I really have been enjoying the Blu-Ray editions for this reason, and I'm surprised over and over again how much of a difference it makes.

 

Looks like the sale's over, back up to $85 I do want these, ever since watching TNG in high def it's impossible to go back!

 

If it happened once, it will happen again. Maybe next time I won't er and um so much! Still, it would have been a bit of an extravagance to get a Bluray player solely to watch TOS on, family responsibilities and all that

 

One week later, I'm the proud possessor of Star Trek TOS on Blu-ray.

Once again I'm reminded how much I love HD video and HD audio (although not so much this time as I'm an original effects over the remastered effects nut, so I'll be sticking with the mono).

I'm also reminded how much I hate Blu-ray as a format! Here's a smart idea, let's code the discs with java!

At least a minute to load each disc to the main menu screen, even longer on Seasons 2 and 3, so checking twenty discs this morning took close to an hour and half. BD Live that I'll never use. Picture in Picture commentaries that I'll never listen to as I can't be asked to degrade my audio settings to hear the secondary audio. Season 2 throwing up a 'Network Connection Failed' warning at the main menu because of an incompatibility with my Panasonic Player. The episodes play fine though (I hope)...

I'm apt to go all Leo Getz when it comes to Blu-ray...

But the HD image is so sweet!


So here's the question...

Which of my VHS tapes don't I throw out? I know I'm keeping City on the Edge of Forever because anything past the DVDs had music replacement. Any other changes to episodes I need to know about?

 

Loading time varies depending on the model of Blue-Ray player. My Maganvox BD player is slow, but my Sony Playstation boots up much more quickly.

If changes in the sound mix will prevent you from tossing any VHS episodes, then you might as well keep them all. The “original mono broadcast mix” is frequently not the same mix as originally heard in the first season and NEVER is in seasons 2 and 3. Sound effects are added, the engine rumble in the exteriors remains in every episode of the last two years, is FAR too loud in a few episodes of the first season, music changes are scattered about, at two episodes try to “repair” looped dialog in both sound mixes. Honestly, the mono mix in the final two seasons is just the DVD track mixed down.

However, if none of that matters to you, then go ahead and kiss your cassettes goodbye. I held onto mine. But then again, I am really hung up on sound more than picture. The lower resolution of the tapes and Laserdiscs doesn't bother me.

 

Still averages out to $29 dollars per season. I paid around $60 per season when I was buying them (though worth every penny).

The only thing that bothers me about the TOS discs is the lack of a 'Play All' feature.

 

You can watch the original effects while listening to the surround lossless soundtracks.

Start the episode with the original effects option, then use the audio button to switch to the surround track.

You can also switch between the original effects and the CGI by using the angle option, and the soundtrack will not change.

 

I was under the misapprehension that the mono audio was the original audio, instead a downmix of the remastered audio. Audio of a starship rumbling by disabused me of that notion. It's not a dealbreaker, just something they should have advertised ahead of time. Still going to dump the tapes though. When you use flooring as storage space, something has to go!