The Future of Trek DVDs

[Alex1939]

I dunno where to put this, this forum seems as good as any.


I wish I could purchase, high quality Blu-ray, Star Trek episodes of my choosing, on set DvDs, in the order I choose them.


Is that really so much to ask? Can't Paramount or whoever package a $120 deal for say 20 episodes, or a $250 for 50 episodes or something???

Because I'd like to order, high quality blu-ray, of my favorite episodes, in the episode order I would want them. For instance, if I want 4 mirror universe episodes on one Blu-Ray.. well then I should be able to get it!


Really, next year is 2010... is this soooooo much to wish for??

 

[22 Stars]

I think this is an exaple of the industry lagging behind the consumer, much like the music industry did for about 5 years before iTunes really established itself. There are illegal ways to do exactly what you want, there SHOULD be and will be a legal way to do this in the coming years.

 

[argon8]

Paramount could probably either arrange something like that, or do it themselves. The problem is that they can't do it quick enough to do it for millions of people every week. Give them a few years and you might see a custom BRD (Blue Ray Disk: I just made it up) service. For now, the closest we can come is burning our own DVDs.

 

[librarytrekker78]

FYI Memory Alpha has an article about the release of TOS Season 1 on Blu-Ray, which is scheduled for 29 APRIL 2009. Amazon.com is showing it as available for pre-order for US$80.99. I'm excited and I think the price is pretty reasonable compared to the original DVD release (at least in retail stores). My only problem is I don't own a Blu-Ray player!

 

[Lateralus]

FYI Memory Alpha has an article about the release of TOS Season 1 on Blu-Ray, which is scheduled for 29 APRIL 2009.

And it'll be the same package that was available on the HD DVD way back in 2007.

 

[USS KG5]

Custome Blu-Ray will never happen, the costs are just far too high, the sales price would need to be pretty much as high as one of the box sets.

However Hi-Def downloads are becoming a reality right now, download and burn to recordable Blu-Ray and voila...

 

[Mr. B]

1080p retail downloads makes a lot more sense than custom blu-rays. Even if it were possible to pirate it, it would still cost about $13 a disk to burn it + hardware cost.

 

[AviTrek]

Well only TOS and ENT are available in HD. Any other show would require massive amounts of work to produce in HD. There have been plenty of debates about if the cost would be justified before, but you can bet you'll see boxed sets of TNG/DS9/VOY on BluRay before you can buy individual episodes.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

FYI Memory Alpha has an article about the release of TOS Season 1 on Blu-Ray, which is scheduled for 29 APRIL 2009.

And it'll be the same package that was available on the HD DVD way back in 2007.

No it isn't. Here's the link to Amazon for the Blu Ray. Click on the pics for more detail.

However Hi-Def downloads are becoming a reality right now, download and burn to recordable Blu-Ray and voila...

Not in 1080p they aren't and if you don't have 1080p, Blu Ray is pretty pointless.

1080p retail downloads makes a lot more sense than custom blu-rays. Even if it were possible to pirate it, it would still cost about $13 a disk to burn it + hardware cost.

Nope. If you know where to look, you can get Blu Ray Media for as low as $3 per disc. Burners are now down to $189... again, if you know where to look. And expect both to see the price dropped significantly during the next 12 months on both.

 

[CommodoreKong]

1080p retail downloads makes a lot more sense than custom blu-rays. Even if it were possible to pirate it, it would still cost about $13 a disk to burn it + hardware cost.

Bandwidth speed + some ISPs implementing bandwidth caps make 1080p downloads of episodes unlikely at this point (of course that could easily change in the future).

Custom made DVDs/Blu Rays by Paramount is never going to happen, it would be a lot more work to make them then the standard season/collections plus it's an extremly niche market.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

1080p retail downloads makes a lot more sense than custom blu-rays. Even if it were possible to pirate it, it would still cost about $13 a disk to burn it + hardware cost.

Bandwidth speed + some ISPs implementing bandwidth caps make 1080p downloads of episodes unlikely at this point (of course that could easily change in the future).

Custom made DVDs/Blu Rays by Paramount is never going to happen, it would be a lot more work to make them then the standard season/collections plus it's an extremly niche market.

^^^What he said and another thing that people need to realize is that Paramount tried the individual episode route initially with the DVD's for TOS and it wasn't popular and it was very expensive. Even the MSRP's on these boxed sets in BD is a good deal just as it is in the boxed set DVD format.

Making individual episodes, especially custom, increases costs dramatically.

People tend to forget how expensive it was ($15 - $20 per episode) back in the days of VHS with Trek and how it took forever for new episodes to get released and they would only get released a few at a time.

No thanks. I'll take the boxed set and spend a little more on the one-time investment.

 

[I am not Spock]

I watch Trek DVDs mainly on my Mac laptop. I am annoyed I can't find the TOS dvd boxsets anymore. Should have bought them several years ago. My computer doesn't play Blurays, so the annoucement about the TOS Bluray set doesn't exactly excite me much...

 

[jefferiestubes8]

BluRay vs downloadable content

1080p retail downloads makes a lot more sense than custom blu-rays.

Downloadable video content is the future. The Everything-On-Demand is not just a fantasy. Give it 10 years to mature.
The iTunes store model will not exist in that business model then.
Monthly Subscriptions to all-you-can-stream buffet style downloads may be in vogue in 6 years.
Until then you have DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Paramount will milk Trek as long as they can.


You may also wish to visit this thread:
STNG continues on in Bluray..with great packaging!
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=83092
as I came up with the thought of fan collective sets for remastered ST:TNG episodes. The cost to do all the episodes would not be a good R.O.I. for Paramount.

 

[USS KG5]

However Hi-Def downloads are becoming a reality right now, download and burn to recordable Blu-Ray and voila...

Not in 1080p they aren't and if you don't have 1080p, Blu Ray is pretty pointless.

There is no technical bar to 1080p downloads, merely no-one is offering them now, probably due to average bandwidth being not high enough.

I'm not sure what your point is about this to be honest - the way ahead for the entertainment industry is pretty obvious at this point.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

iTunes HD downloads

There is no technical bar to 1080p downloads, merely no-one is offering them now

Just 1 day after your post.

ITunes to let user buy movies in HD
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6645604.html
http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6645411.html?industryid=45173
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayR...STORY=/www/story/03-19-2009/0004991749&EDATE=

The iTunes Movie Store will be adding more HD movies soon and customers can view the latest offerings at www.itunes.com/movies/hd

Perhaps CBS Paramount will offer separate remastered episodes for download?

Also this week Warner Brothers mentioned they will do manufacturing-on-demand for DVD releases.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6645560.html?desc=topstory

 

[AviTrek]

Re: iTunes HD downloads

There is no technical bar to 1080p downloads, merely no-one is offering them now

Just 1 day after your post.

ITunes to let user buy movies in HD
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6645604.html
http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6645411.html?industryid=45173
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayR...STORY=/www/story/03-19-2009/0004991749&EDATE=

The iTunes Movie Store will be adding more HD movies soon and customers can view the latest offerings at www.itunes.com/movies/hd

Perhaps CBS Paramount will offer separate remastered episodes for download?

Also this week Warner Brothers mentioned they will do manufacturing-on-demand for DVD releases.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6645560.html?desc=topstory

HD <> 1080p. The truth is, this is all marketing BS. I've seen companies claiming HD by supporting MPEG4, I've seen companies claiming HD with so much compression the picture is incredibly muddy, and I've seen companies claiming 720p or 1080p and then compressing the data so much that it's worthless.

The only way to begin to measure picture quality is bitrate, but marketting departments would rather water down buzzwords so their cheap ripoffs qualify instead of teaching consumers what really matters.

And while jefferiestubes8 contiues to insist on 1080p being so incredible, the truth is unless you have a 46+" screen you really can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. The human eye just doesn't have the "resolution."

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Re: iTunes HD downloads

The only way to begin to measure picture quality is bitrate,

And while jefferiestubes8 contiues to insist on 1080p being so incredible

I will delve into very technical video stuff since I disagree with AviTrek's post.

HD video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD) video


SMPTE-292M specs detail a datarate of 1.485 Gbit/s of 1920 x 1080 transferring HD-SDI between VTRs.

Right there 1080p video quality not on a consumer medium is an incredible picture.

Now for Blu-ray you have
Maximum Resolution: 1980x1080/24p, Max Video Bitrate: 40Mbps
3 different types of Compression: MPEG-2, AVC MPEG-4, VC-1

HDTV broadcast television (ATSC spec) 19.2Mbps
The FCC allows broadcasters only around 19 Mbps, including audio and housekeeping signals-figure around 18 Mbps maximum for HD video. So, that's a compression ratio of more than 55:1 for broadcast TV.

Right there are two major differences in quality.

"Apple's downloads use more compression than Blu-ray so that means a falloff in quality."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10200439-93.html

While marketing department like buzzwords and easy concepts for consumers they are just not going to get into detailed technical specs. Most consumers DO NOT care.
the new ST:TOS-R on Blu-ray shows:
http://trekmovie.com/images/merchandise/STTOS_S1_BRD_Back_Oslv.jpg
"1080p High Definition" that is all. If you must have the bitrates of various Blu-Rays check this website's Blu-ray reviews:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

With the current infrastructure available HD video downloads on the Internet for PC playback or iPod playback are available. It WILL be more compressed to speed up the download.

I would like to get back to discussing the future possibilities of Star Trek content on DVD/Blu-Ray/downloads and away from the detailed technical video specs in this thread.

 

[Jeyl]

If the future of movie purchases is going to be limited to downloads, this is not going to be something I'd like to partake in.

First off, it's not tangible. Star Trek on discs, BluRay or DVD can be shared,include special features, multiple audio formats and branching features. And rather than try to go through grievous amount of means just to share a movie file to another person, I can just give him the disc and that's that.

 

[USS KG5]

If the future of movie purchases is going to be limited to downloads, this is not going to be something I'd like to partake in.

First off, it's not tangible. Star Trek on discs, BluRay or DVD can be shared,include special features, multiple audio formats and branching features. And rather than try to go through grievous amount of means just to share a movie file to another person, I can just give him the disc and that's that.

Well it IS the future, for a massive number of reasons but principally cost. You need vast factories to manufacture discs, you need a vast number of trucks, planes and ships to distribute them, you need big warehouses to store them and big stores to sell them - all of the above are full of staff.

So for the industry a switch to downloads is a no-brainer. They do have to get past their own prejudices (they sell you a piece of plastic that has video content on it right now and for some reason they like that) and the prejudices of their audience (which includes me, I feel this way) which really likes tangible possession.

Simple fact is though the environmental impact of downloading is far less, there is no way server farms use as much energy as factories and trucks.

Whether anyone here likes it or not the solid-state format is on its last legs, and technology-wise our future is far more connected than it ever used to be. It is already possible to carry around a sizeable collection of movies or TV on a small device that fits in your pocket. In a few years I-pods could have capacities measured in terabytes and be full of high-def video you can play anywhere, anytime. The full history of film and TV will be available on demand for a subscription.

It just seems unavoidable!

 

[jefferiestubes8]

1080p

However Hi-Def downloads are becoming a reality right now, download and burn to recordable Blu-Ray and voila...

Not in 1080p they aren't

CaptainHawk1

The 1080p streaming HD Zune video experience on Xbox LIVE marketplace
relaunch of the video service, now Zune-branded with 1080p instant-on streaming content in 18 countries.

Jun 1st 2009 SOURCE

The new ZuneHD hardware unit is out in September I

have been told that Zune HD will ship on September 5, 2009."

SOURCE