The OFFICIAL STNG-R general discussion thread!

[Maxwell Everett]

There's a review up at: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/observations/tng-r-review.htm

Solid review, though I thought this bit was amusing:

I'm new to the Blu-ray world, and I actually bought a player just to view TNG-R. It took me a couple of tries to find out an image setting on our LCD TV that would include just the right amount of noise reduction to remove all the annoying white pixels and leave a decent graininess while not blurring the image too much. After that adjustment the image quality is superb, with little noise even in the dark scenes.

If he smoothed away most of the "noise" then what he has actually accomplished is to wipe out all the high frequency detail inherent in the film's grain structure, which in the case of the original camera negative, means he has wiped out most of the detail in the image with a very broad brush. You can't review the true image quality of the set if your display isn't properly calibrated -- and certainly not after applying detail destroying noise reduction (enough to completely remove occasional white specks, i.e. dirt or dust on the negative).

Technicolor has already applied a minimum level of DNR during encoding, so this, in my view, is completely unnecessary. The episodes will generally get finer-grained as the show progresses (due to more advanced film stocks being used), so the level of "graininess" will subside unless a certain stylistic choice is used (as in the Kataan scenes in "The Inner Light.")

 

[gaghyogi49]

I prefer a review like that over one that mixes up the 21st and 24th century and James and Patrick Stewart! ;-) I know, I'm biased, though ;-)

 

[Trekfan76137]

Have their been any screenshots from "Heart of Glory" yet? Just wondering if they reused the stock footage from TMP of the Klingon cruiser.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

I prefer a review like that over one that mixes up the 21st and 24th century and James and Patrick Stewart! ;-) I know, I'm biased, though ;-)

And I would never expect EAS to make those kind of blunders.

At least Mr. Schneider was open about how the material was being viewed. I have no real problem with someone turning DNR on for personal viewing if that's really what they prefer... but for review purposes, it seems counterproductive. I hope he watched the majority of the episodes for the review without DNR turned on.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

If you can't quite read it, it says $59.99 without coupon! So, make sure you bring in a DVD you don't want.

 

[BillJ]

If you can't quite read it, it says $59.99 without coupon! So, make sure you bring in a DVD you don't want.

Wow.

Wonder if it's a typo though? Web site has it as $79.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Star+Tr...d=2496801&skuId=5795252&st=5795252_&lp=1&cp=1

 

[davejames]

Not sure how anybody could put up with watching Trek on a LCD TV myself. I tried a few times, but could never get the space scenes to be nearly dark enough. You turn out the lights and it still lights up your entire living room.

I finally had to get a Plasma just so I could get the space scenes to look properly dark. Plus the colors are just so much bolder and richer.

 

[BillJ]

Not sure how anybody could put up with watching Trek on a LCD TV myself. I tried a few times, but could never get the space scenes to be nearly dark enough. You turn out the lights and it still lights up your entire living room.

I finally had to get a Plasma just so I could get the space scenes to look properly dark. Plus the colors are just so much bolder and richer.

I've owned multiple LCD's and have never had a problem watching space TV shows or movies on them.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

Wow.

Wonder if it's a typo though? Web site has it as $79.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Star+Trek%3A+The+Next+Generation+-+Season+1+%5B6+Discs%5D+-+Blu-ray+Disc/5795252.p?id=2496801&skuId=5795252&st=5795252_&lp=1&cp=1

Yeah, it's been that ever since they listed it... in fact, I pre-ordered it at that price about a month ago. But these ads show up on Blu-ray.com every week and they're always accurate to the following week's prices. Here's the thread I got it from:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=201223

 

[BillJ]

Wow.

Wonder if it's a typo though? Web site has it as $79.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Star+Trek%3A+The+Next+Generation+-+Season+1+%5B6+Discs%5D+-+Blu-ray+Disc/5795252.p?id=2496801&skuId=5795252&st=5795252_&lp=1&cp=1

Yeah, it's been that ever since they listed it... in fact, I pre-ordered it at that price about a month ago. But these ads show up on Blu-ray.com every week and they're always accurate to the following week's prices. Here's the thread I got it from:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=201223

If the Amazon price doesn't drop soon I'll be at Best Buy Tuesday morning when they open! That's about twenty bucks cheaper.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

Not sure how anybody could put up with watching Trek on a LCD TV myself. I tried a few times, but could never get the space scenes to be nearly dark enough. You turn out the lights and it still lights up your entire living room.

I finally had to get a Plasma just so I could get the space scenes to look properly dark. Plus the colors are just so much bolder and richer.

It depends on what kind of LCD. LCDs backlit with a fluorescent tube aren't that great. LCDs with full-array local dimming LED backlights have outstanding color and contrast ratios.

 

[trekker670]

Wow.

Wonder if it's a typo though? Web site has it as $79.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Star+Tr...d=2496801&skuId=5795252&st=5795252_&lp=1&cp=1

Yeah, it's been that ever since they listed it... in fact, I pre-ordered it at that price about a month ago. But these ads show up on Blu-ray.com every week and they're always accurate to the following week's prices. Here's the thread I got it from:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=201223

If the Amazon price doesn't drop soon I'll be at Best Buy Tuesday morning when they open! That's about twenty bucks cheaper.

Same here, it's cheaper plus I don't have to pay for shipping to get it the same day / worry about not getting it on release day.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

Yeah, it's been that ever since they listed it... in fact, I pre-ordered it at that price about a month ago. But these ads show up on Blu-ray.com every week and they're always accurate to the following week's prices. Here's the thread I got it from:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=201223

If the Amazon price doesn't drop soon I'll be at Best Buy Tuesday morning when they open! That's about twenty bucks cheaper.

Same here, it's cheaper plus I don't have to pay for shipping to get it the same day / worry about not getting it on release day.

And if you pre-order online now and choose in-store pickup, you'll get an additional $10 off coupon emailed to you for use on another purchase (*cough* Total Recall, July 31st *cough*)

 

[MacLeod]

Not sure how anybody could put up with watching Trek on a LCD TV myself. I tried a few times, but could never get the space scenes to be nearly dark enough. You turn out the lights and it still lights up your entire living room.

I finally had to get a Plasma just so I could get the space scenes to look properly dark. Plus the colors are just so much bolder and richer.

It depends on what kind of LCD. LCDs backlit with a fluorescent tube aren't that great. LCDs with full-array local dimming LED backlights have outstanding color and contrast ratios.

Most people would refer to LCD's with some form of LED lighting, as LED TV's rather than LCD TV's.

 

[Maxwell Everett]

Most people would refer to LCD's with some form of LED lighting, as LED TV's rather than LCD TV's.

Fair enough. I was just trying to point out what davejames left out of his post. He made it seem as if the choice was binary, e.g. grayish blacks with LCD or deep blacks with Plasma.

LED backlit LCD TVs use the same TFT LCD technologies as CCFL backlit LCD TVs.

 

[trekker670]

And if you pre-order online now and choose in-store pickup, you'll get an additional $10 off coupon emailed to you for use on another purchase (*cough* Total Recall, July 31st *cough*)

If you order online, it's still $79.99 though, right? The discounted price of $59.99 is only in-store and the $54.99 price is only in-store with the coupon?

 

[davejames]

Yeah I'm aware of LED TVs; I was just referring to the ex-astris review where the guy was talking about his LCD.

Plus most people I know just have the cheaper LCDs anyway.

 

[MacLeod]

True, but in terms of TV's we refer to them as LCD, LED, Plasma or CRT with OLED soon to join the party.

What it comes down to in part is the actual contrast ration. You might get richer blacks on an LED TV than on a Plasma. It all depends on the exact specifications of the model. But Plasma and LED do give you the richer blacks. Before buying my TV I examined several TVs LCD, LED and Plasma and as they were all showing the same thing. The winner in terms of Black was the LED. (On the models I saw)

 

[Maxwell Everett]

And if you pre-order online now and choose in-store pickup, you'll get an additional $10 off coupon emailed to you for use on another purchase (*cough* Total Recall, July 31st *cough*)

If you order online, it's still $79.99 though, right? The discounted price of $59.99 is only in-store and the $54.99 price is only in-store with the coupon?

Right... but you should be able to take care of all that stuff when you arrive to pick up the set at the customer service desk, since they don't charge your card until you show up and buy it (you'll initially see a phantom charge for the amount that will disappear after a few days). Just bring the ad and a DVD with you to trade in and the price will be adjusted down from $79.99 (plus tax) to $54.99 (plus tax).

Here's the Price Match Guarantee from BestBuy.com:

How does your Price Match policy apply to purchases made using store pickup?

If you purchase an item at BestBuy.com (which includes a purchase from a smartphone application/website, BestBuy.com orders with store pickup, and orders from the kiosk inside a Best Buy store) and if the item is offered at a lower price in the store when you pick it up, you will automatically pay the lower price.

 

[mraig]

And if you pre-order online now and choose in-store pickup, you'll get an additional $10 off coupon emailed to you for use on another purchase (*cough* Total Recall, July 31st *cough*)

If you order online, it's still $79.99 though, right? The discounted price of $59.99 is only in-store and the $54.99 price is only in-store with the coupon?

Right... but you should be able to take care of all that stuff when you arrive to pick up the set at the customer service desk, since they don't charge your card until you show up and buy it (you'll initially see a phantom charge for the amount that will disappear after a few days). Just bring the ad and a DVD with you to trade in and the price will be adjusted down from $79.99 (plus tax) to $54.99 (plus tax).

Here's the Price Match Guarantee from BestBuy.com:

How does your Price Match policy apply to purchases made using store pickup?

If you purchase an item at BestBuy.com (which includes a purchase from a smartphone application/website, BestBuy.com orders with store pickup, and orders from the kiosk inside a Best Buy store) and if the item is offered at a lower price in the store when you pick it up, you will automatically pay the lower price.

I think you guys need to read the ad more carefully... If you look closely, I think what they're selling for $59.99 is tickets to see the screening of the two episodes. That's why it says "in theaters nationwide" and "Fathom Events" and "2 episodes plus behind the scenes." They just used the same graphic for the season 1 set. It's a somewhat deceptive ad, but I think that's what it's saying.