Question: Does CBS-D have another restoration project that had been put on hold because of TNG-R? In such a case, I'd perfectly understand that DS9-R in return would now be put on hold. Bob
I'd forgotten for a sec that the first season was a short one. Thanks for the correction on the math. You make some good points. Maybe it's all or nothing. I don't know. I just hope it isn't nothing...
None that I can think of that would be bigger than Star Trek. The rights to some of CBS's older shows are really murky though. Murder, She Wrote, for example, was broadcast on CBS but Universal holds the home media rights. Looking through past CBS programming, I can't really see anything that would bring huge numbers other than Twilight Zone, but that's already out on Blu-ray. I really can't see it being nothing. CBS is a business and they hold the rights to one of the biggest cash-cow TV franchises ever. CBS is in the business of making money, so I don't see any justification for them not getting a new SKU out there for DS9 and Voyager (then again, I don't work for CBS, so who knows). Even if it's a half-assed HD job (rescanning live-action footage and just upscale the CGI), I still think they'll do something with the last two series.
Could be wrong, but it seems unlikely to me that there's another project getting in the way. I think most of CBS's other shows that might worthy of the blu-ray treatment were shot *and* edited on film. And so that's really a much less labor intensive project. If I understand it right, for these old shows on film you can just scan in the film, do some color correction, remove the worst of the dust and scratches, create the HD master, and you're more or less done. Even with the film in good shape this certainly costs money, but nothing like what it costs to rebuild an episode of Trek piece by piece, using the old video as the guide. CBS has a syndication "bible," which shows how many old series that you might not think about have already had HD masters made for them. And so those shows are "blu-ray ready," so to speak. But is there a market for a blu-ray of The Fugitive? I don't know. I've never seen that show, but I've heard such good things about it I'd buy if the price were right. Anyway, for possible interest, here's the link to the CBS syndication bible: http://syndicationbible.cbstvd.com/whnjs.htm
I've read this a few times, but I don't see how it would work. So the live action would look great, but then the FX would be a muddy and blurry mess from the video? Since the special effects, to be honest, are one of the draws of Trek, I don't see how that would make the sale to any fan....
Definitely not Sadly not. Projects like Twin Peaks, Gunsmoke, Bonanza only require a fraction of the effort (and therefore manpower) that TNG requires.
I remind you of the third rule of acquisition Never spend more for an aquisition than you have to. I'm one of those waiting for the complete set. After all good things come to those who wait.
Couple questions, would Voyager be more or less expensive than DS9 to convert to HD? Also, if Voyager is less expensive could they decide to do Voyager next rather than DS9? Food for thought.
I think overall VOY would be more expensive, it wasn't until the later seasons that DSN heavily used CGI, in fact there is only one CGI shot of the station in the entire show, the very last shot. Sure there was some CGI in the early seasons such as Odo's morphing sequences. Meanwhile VOY used a mix of CGI and model work for the ship (I heard/read one way to tell if it's the model or not in certain shots is if the lights are on underneath the shuttlebay it's CGI if they are off is the model due to the nacelle motors taking up the space).
I'm pretty sure it's all or nothing - they could maybe do a "Next Level" style sampler disc with some episodes carefully chosen to match a budget to gauge demand... but when it comes down to any sort of long haul, it isn't just about Blu-ray sales, but syndication and streaming. And the latter, especially, want seasons, not random episodes. Probably more - Voyager went CGI-only before DS9.
Another thing to consider re: cost DSV vs VOY. IS that didn't VOY require new ships more often given it's nature i.e new alien race new ship design. Whilst with DSN we tended to see the same designs over and over again.
Yeah, that's pretty much how it would be. It'd look better than the DVD release, but worse than it could. It'd be very similar to the Stargate Atlantis Blu-ray release: the CGI for that show was done at sub-HD resolution because it was airing on TV. Granted, SGA already had HD masters for the live action stuff, but they just did a quick upscale on the CGI for the Blu-ray release and called it a day. Having seen SGA on both DVD and BD, I can say that even the upscaled CGI looks significantly better than the DVD material. So even if they don't give it the glorious full restoration treatment, I do think we'll at least get something. Is it ideal for hardcore fans like us? No, probably not for most (though I personally wouldn't mind). Would it make sense for CBS's pockets? Yeah, because not only would they have a new SKU on store shelves, they could also make new syndication and streaming contacts for the new HD materials. One way or the other (full restoration or a quick release), I don't see CBS letting DS9 and Voyage just die on DVD. There's still money to be made simply because they have the Trek name attached to them.
^That might be true, but the question is will people buy what they percieve to be a sub-standard product. Of course Blu-Ray isn't the only revenue stream for a remastered DSN or VOY, another key one might be TV sales.
DS9 switched to mostly CGI during the Sixth Season, while Voyager made the switch at the beginning of the Third, I believe. Regarding upscaling CGI, they did it with Enterprise. Didn't look so bad. There's also this fan made hd restoration/upscaling? of the WWLB battle, it looks great. So there's hope...
TV sales might be what doom DS9/VOY to begin with. It doesn't seem like American broadcasters are lining up to purchase strip syndication rights to TNG-HD. Then you factor in that DS9/VOY struggled in syndication to begin with. That may be what is giving CBS cold feet?
Good point. But I think Amazon Prime paid a pretty penny to get TNG in HD. Seems like what CBS needs is another Trek "sugar daddy." Iirc, they had one for TOS from Toshiba/HD DVD during the high definition format wars. I think that essentially paid for the redo of TOS, the blu-ray of which is even today riding high on the amazon charts when it's on sale And, iirc, CBS signed a rich deal with Netflix c. 3 years ago to stream Trek, and that helped launch the rebuilding of TNG. And now, perhaps they need someone similar to cut them a big check for DS9. Since apparently that hasn't happened, perhaps that's part of the problem? Just guessing.