TNG HD coming to Syfy (UK)

[MacLeod]

Don't know if it's showing on the otherside of the pond, but SyFy (UK) are running ads for TNG HD. Coming

Stardate 05-11-12

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I only have Freesat anyway, but I'm curious to know if they'll be cropping the picture to 16:9. Does it look that way from the ads?

 

[MacLeod]

You can't tell from the ads, they are little more than a title card at the moment. No scenes from episodes are shown in the ad.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2H8-UxPlDw[/yt]

 

[BillJ]

Probably wont start airing here in the States until January or September.

 

[MacLeod]

Seems a touch odd that the UK would get it before the US, but perhaps that is so they can sell more BR's rather than have people watch it on TV.

 

[BillJ]

Seems a touch odd that the UK would get it before the US, but perhaps that is so they can sell more BR's rather than have people watch it on TV.

I don't think they have enough episodes ready for American syndication yet. We should have season three out by the time Septembef rolls around.

 

[Flake]

I am watching terminator on syfy uk and spotted the ad! If they do 1 ep per week they will not catchup to the blu-rays at all.

 

[SoM]

I only have Freesat anyway, but I'm curious to know if they'll be cropping the picture to 16:9. Does it look that way from the ads?

My first thought too, since TOS-R only airs in the UK as a 16:9 crop.

If they haven't done a crop at-source though, probably not - do HD channels crop and resize HD material like that? It would defeat the purpose of it even more than the usual treatment of such cropping - and lots of early-2000s shows are currently shown double-cropped/resized on various channels (they cropped the widescreen material to 14:9 in a 4:3 frame on their masters when they broadcast in 4:3. And now they just use those masters, resized again).

[Also, Sky providing no way of watching 4:3 material *in* 4:3, rather than stretched to 16:9, via HDMI is a sore spot. You have to drop down to SCART to be able to watch it in its proper aspect ratio.]

 

[Maxwell Everett]

I am watching terminator on syfy uk and spotted the ad! If they do 1 ep per week they will not catchup to the blu-rays at all.

That's certainly true. 177 weeks after November 5th is Monday, March 28th, 2016! With roughly 20 weeks between Blu-ray releases, they should all be out somewhere around fall 2014:

Season 3: April 23, 2013
Season 4: September 10, 2013
Season 5: January 28, 2014
Season 6: June 17, 2014
Season 7: November 4, 2014

 

[senten]

[Also, Sky providing no way of watching 4:3 material *in* 4:3, rather than stretched to 16:9, via HDMI is a sore spot. You have to drop down to SCART to be able to watch it in its proper aspect ratio.]

Surely most TV's would let you change the aspect to 4:3?

 

[Dac]

FWIW, On Virgin Tivo (what I have) the HD Channels leave SD content in 4:3, so I imagine they'll leave TNG at that too, albeit in Hi Def.

 

[SoM]

[Also, Sky providing no way of watching 4:3 material *in* 4:3, rather than stretched to 16:9, via HDMI is a sore spot. You have to drop down to SCART to be able to watch it in its proper aspect ratio.]

Surely most TV's would let you change the aspect to 4:3?

Not in HD mode, no - they do in SD, but the HD spec requires all material to be 16:9, with narrower material pillarboxed at source. Sky could easily include such a setting to do it, but they don't.

 

[Dac]

Considering the Blu Rays are actually 16:9 and have the black bars hard coded into the image that isn't an issue, surely? Its actually kind of annoying for people who do want to stretch it, because the TV already see's it as 16:9.

 

[Start Wreck]

Not in HD mode, no - they do in SD, but the HD spec requires all material to be 16:9, with narrower material pillarboxed at source. Sky could easily include such a setting to do it, but they don't.

My TV, and pretty much every modern TV I've used, lets you change the aspect ratio to 4:3 regardless of resolution. It's a standard feature of TVs.

 

[tomswift2002]

Considering the Blu Rays are actually 16:9 and have the black bars hard coded into the image that isn't an issue, surely? Its actually kind of annoying for people who do want to stretch it, because the TV already see's it as 16:9.

With HD there is no native 4:3, so when a 4:3 image is seen on Blu-Ray it's in 16:9, but with the pillar boxes.

And as for widescreen broadcasts, CBS would be absolute idiots if they didn't make 16:9 masters, since stations would pay thousands more for a 16:9 HD version than the current 4:3 HD versions.

 

[Bamarren]

Awesome news, looks like Ill be in my friends house a lot more often to see this on his huge telly once a week!

 

[Seven of Five]

Well I've just skipped ahead on my Sky Guide and seen that TNG is starting on SyFy HD at 7.00pm this Monday. To add to the confusion, there's an episode on each night at 7 until next Friday!, which is as far as the guide will go at the moment.

They will soon run out of HD episodes that way, so I wondered if they will show season one, and then wait a bit till season two? Or maybe they'll just go as far as they can until they do run out of episodes, and then just loop back?

Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to seeing them.

 

[Zaku]

Second ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsCDf61FlI&feature=relmfu

 

[Flake]

Assuming this post at syfy is written by a staff member, the episodes are broadcast in 4:3

http://www.syfy.co.uk/blogs/star-trek-hd-generation

 

[MacLeod]

Sure widescreen version would be great, but it all depends on how it was actually filmed, or rather more accuratly framed. That is to say is there elements in the 16:9 frame which shouldn't be there, cameras, equipment, crew etc...