Nicholas Meyer Confirms Upcoming 4K UHD Release Plans for STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN

[Tomalak]

But it really isn't. The jump from SD to 1080p is far greater than the jump from VHS to DVD was. When we're talking in technical terms. The fact that it is the same type of media is misleading.

I disagree, the jump in quality from analogue to digital was far greater than simply VHS resolution to DVD - I'm talking about the whole package. It allowed for 5.1 digital audio tracks, multiple languages, commentaries, subtitles, additional content, scene selection, seamless branching, anamorphic widescreen. VHS had none of this! Blu-ray is incremental in that it builds on DVD, offering basically the same package, albeit with better image and sound quality. Yes, technically the leap from 480p to 1080p is greater than 240p to 480p, but that's only one aspect.

 

[Indysolo]

I disagree, the jump in quality from analogue to digital was far greater than simply VHS resolution to DVD - I'm talking about the whole package. It allowed for 5.1 digital audio tracks, multiple languages, commentaries, subtitles, additional content, scene selection, seamless branching, anamorphic widescreen. VHS had none of this! Blu-ray is incremental in that it builds on DVD, offering basically the same package, albeit with better image and sound quality. Yes, technically the leap from 480p to 1080p is greater than 240p to 480p, but that's only one aspect.

Most of that's why DVD wasn't a step up for people who collected Laser Discs. They were analog picture, didn't do seamless branching and in most cases weren't anamorphic (there were a few special exceptions) but otherwise they could just about everything else.

Neil

 

[Tomalak]

Most of that's why DVD wasn't a step up for people who collected Laser Discs. They were analog picture, didn't do seamless branching and in most cases weren't anamorphic (there were a few special exceptions) but otherwise they could just about everything else.

Neil

The same goes for VCDs - but both were niche formats. DVD refined the concept and had mass market appeal. Blu-ray hasn't had anything like that level of market penetration, and a lot of people don't seem to either notice the difference, or think it is significant enough to justify the additional cost of buying a blu-ray player, and purchasing more expensive discs.

 

[Indysolo]

VCD was a junky picture though. Laser Disc was excellent and at times, difficult to tell if DVD was superior.

Neil

 

[mos6507]

Laser may have been analog (composite) but it did not have compression artefacts. Mosquito noise in DVDs is pretty much a given. The big reasons DVDs won over laser was the smaller form-factor and being able to fit most movies on one disc.

 

[Indysolo]

And lower price.

Neil

 

[Tomalak]

Early compression algorithms were poor, but DVD now looks perfectly acceptable, especially if your player and television can upscale to a decent standard. For SD TV shows, blu-ray has few real advantages for most viewers.

 

[BillJ]

For SD TV shows, blu-ray has few real advantages for most viewers.

Depends on the show.

 

[Kronos]

Laserdisc was awesome, you really felt like you had bought something

 

[Trekkin]

Depends on the show.

*cough*TNG*cough*

I do understand why some people don't bother to upgrade. It's expensive, there's not usually that many additional extras, and the picture quality doesn't really affect the story.

But it blows my mind that people can look at (for eg.) The X-Files DVD's vs the later Blurays, and honestly say that they can't see the massive improvement.

 

[Tomalak]

*cough*TNG*cough*

I do understand why some people don't bother to upgrade. It's expensive, there's not usually that many additional extras, and the picture quality doesn't really affect the story.

But it blows my mind that people can look at (for eg.) The X-Files DVD's vs the later Blurays, and honestly say that they can't see the massive improvement.

It obviously looks better to me, but apparently a lot of people don't think it's worth their while buying it again. People have better things on which to spend their money I guess. Times are hard, buying a TV show for (potentially) the third time is pretty trivial. And presumably some think there's no point in buying something that'll be on Netflix soon enough.

 

[Trekkin]

Totally. I can remember when Voyager VHS's were about $30 AUD for 4 episodes. Thinking about how many people would have brought the entire franchise one tape at a time, I'm honestly surprised the DVD's managed to sell as well as they did.

 

[Oso Blanco]

But it blows my mind that people can look at (for eg.) The X-Files DVD's vs the later Blurays, and honestly say that they can't see the massive improvement.

That's because they have rescanned/remastered the episodes. Comparing the newly mastered BDs to the old DVDs is a little unfair, I think.

 

[Trekkin]

I think you can get the remastered versions on DVD now. I haven't watched them, so I can't really compare.

There was certainly a big difference between the remastered DVD's and Blu's of TOS. You know, besides the Blu's selling point of being able to switch to the original SFX.

 

[Green]

TWOK Director's Cut Blu-ray Amazon pre-order price dropped to $14.99

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

It obviously looks better to me, but apparently a lot of people don't think it's worth their while buying it again. People have better things on which to spend their money I guess. Times are hard, buying a TV show for (potentially) the third time is pretty trivial. And presumably some think there's no point in buying something that'll be on Netflix soon enough.

I think upgrades are worth it when the new version takes full advantage of the original camera negative, such as the blu rays of The Twilight Zone. That set is beautiful beyond belief, and leaves all older media releases in the dust. Night and day quality.

Then, you want to own physical media, that's the other bonus, instead of other delivery options.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Depends on the show.

I agree. Some TV shows have gone back to the original camera negative and retelecined for Blu-ray release.
Twilight Zone black and white series did.
The Wire did.
Breaking Bad did in 4k.
TOS & TNG did
"Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series" from 1999 did but from 4k scans!

(W)e had the chance to go back (to) the original camera negative, clean it up, and preserve it. . .The good people at Illuminate Hollywood went back to the film masters and made 4K scans of the entire series.
To faithfully recreate the series from the 4K scans, Illuminate used a tool called iConform to perfectly match every shot, take and synch to the original and made that sure each one looks exactly as it did when it aired for the first time on TV. That means they painstakingly recreated all original artwork, fonts, titles, dissolves, transitions, speed changes, and visual effects to match the original NTSC masters.

We took nearly 1 petabyte worth of digital files, removed all the dirt and scratches, and color graded the whole thing

SOURCE

 

[Jeyl]

I've been seeing posts from the Home Theater Forum and FaceBook that review copies have shown up and the general consensus is that the transfer is good.

Bill Hunt from thedigitalbits.com posted on his facebook page "Holeeeee sh&@. The new Star Trek II Blu-ray looks FANTASTIC." and will be posting a review of it sometime this afternoon. I asked him if the blue coloring job on the previous Blu-Ray was rectified and he replied "Yes. Color is much improved." Looking forward to seeing some pictures!

 

[Jeyl]

The Digital Bits review is up.

Also an interesting note. This is officially a 'new version' of the film that differs from the Director's Edition seen on TV and DVD. In the added shot of Kirk, Spock and Saavik climbing out of a hatch, the exchange between Kirk and Spock regarding Kirk's son has been removed. It's kind of weird considering that the shot is still in the film, but the dialogue isn't. So hold onto your DVDs if you got'em!

 

[Kronos]

I'm not shocked to see those lines get cut, they were both delivered flat as hell.