Stargate Universe: Season One arrives with a savory 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer steeped in rich colors and impenetrable shadows. While the series' palette is in a constant state of flux -- "Air" revels in desaturated skintones and murky corridors, "Light" bathes the dim Destiny halls in fiery yellows and summery oranges, and "Justice" sends the SGU mainstays to an arid desert planet where blood seems to sear the sandy soils -- contrast and clarity remain strong, skintones are convincing and lifelike, and blacks are deep and nicely resolved (save a few shoddy shots in the pilot). Detail is often striking as well. Fine facial textures are refined, edge definition is crisp and clean, and delineation, though less forgiving than Stargate fans might expect, allows viewers to explore the sinewy stretches of the ship. Yes, softness crops up on occasion, but it usually traces back to the series' photography, not Fox's proficient transfer. If I have any complaint, it's that faint artifacting and aliasing haunts shots dominated by special effects. Jut gaze out the windows of the Destiny, take note of the purple-streaked wormholes and probe the distant starfields; look closely at her hull, or examine the plating of a fleeing shuttle. It's there. Otherwise, the technical presentation is quite impressive. Unintentional noise, severe macroblocking, banding, ringing, and DNR are either nowhere to be found, or kept to an absolute minimum.
All things considered, newcomers, diehards, and videophiles of all stripes will approve of the results. Fox's transfer isn't perfect, but it looks substantially better than its DVD counterpart and adds some serious value to the release.
For a show so darkly lit where you can barely see anything, it would almost be worth it to buy.
