'Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1 ' - High-Def Digest Review

[Shadow of Death]

Truly, they did an amazing job!
I can't justify the current price to buy it though. Hopefully will rent or borrow a friend's, who is definitely getting it.

I really hope they do the same for Deep Space 9

I'll just say this...It's a lot cheaper than I expected (I was thinking it would be over $100 CAN before taxes). The Star Trek TV DVDs aren't known to be cheap and this is "The Next Level" (pun intended?).

It should be very much worth the price they're asking. ~$95 CAN after taxes (less in the USA) isn't too much to pay for nearly 1200 minutes (20 hours) + Extra features. It's about $3.5 per episode. Not the cheapest I've seen, but considering all the work put into it it's pretty fair, I think.

I'm OK with this in particular since I never got the DVDs, so it's not like I'm buying the series all over again. Of course, I am pretty sure I've seen all the episodes on TV and such at least once, so there is that.

EDIT: I will also put it out there that I'd like Enterprise on Blu-ray. It would, as the most recently produced Star Trek Series, look the best visually. I know it's not terribly popular, but I do want it. I might consider purchasing DS9 on Blu-ray as well, and re-purchasing Voyager in Blu-ray format if everything was done properly. I wouldn't pay quite so much for these though. I like Voyager the most of all Star Trek series, but as I already purchased the series on DVD I'm reluctant to re-purchase it all over again.

[mbrennem]

Rumour has it that one of the special features is supposed to definitively explain why 4:3 was done and why 16:9 was not chosen. Aaron, can you comment on this from your viewing of the special features?

For the record I prefer that it be in 4:3 but I am really curious what they explored on the 16:9 front.

On another note, I'm disappointed in the $80 set price in Canada compared to $60 in the U.S. when our dollars are equal.

[paaron46]

Rumour has it that one of the special features is supposed to definitively explain why 4:3 was done and why 16:9 was not chosen. Aaron, can you comment on this from your viewing of the special features?

Simply to preserve the way it was meant to be seen when it originally aired.

[dpeters11]

Simply to preserve the way it was meant to be seen when it originally aired.

I wonder, if they did do 16:9, if you'd possibly see things out of the frame that you weren't supposed to see, like production equipment etc.

[paaron46]

I wonder, if they did do 16:9, if you'd possibly see things out of the frame that you weren't supposed to see, like production equipment etc.

Possibly, since the shots were composed with a 4:3 viewing area in mind.

[Josh Z]

I believe TNG was shot in 4-perf format, meaning that the camera negative had a 4:3 aspect ratio. There may be extra image around all four sides of the "Broadcast Safe" area that could be (were?) harvested, but it's a relatively small amount and the overall negative is still 4:3.

This is different than something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was shot in 3-perf format (which uses less film and is cheaper). A 3-perf image has a negative ratio closer to 16:9. If the show is composed for 4:3, the usable image is extracted from the center of the frame. That's why the 16:9 transfers for Buffy that were released on DVD in Europe (and are available on Netflix, I believe) have extra picture on the sides with camera equipment and lights in the frame.

A 16:9 transfer of the live action footage in TNG would involve some cropping and some stretching, like the HD broadcasts of Seinfeld in syndication currently.

[Attebery]

It's on sale!
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh..._Best_Buy/9837

[rory49]

I think that's in response to BB's sale. I couldn't pass it up at that price point...how low can you expect it to go (unless you want to wait for this year's - or next year's - Black Friday sale?)

I also want to encourage this type of Blu restoration project with an early purchase.

[eastx]

Excellent review! Love every bit of it.

If I didn't have a trip to Seattle coming up next week, I'd buy this in a heartbeat. Will definitely grab it next month though.

[Mandrake]

I grew up with TNG, so I'm thrilled they're doing such a thorough job of badly-needed restoration. (My god the SD version looks horrible.) That being said, I may wait since the show didn't really find its footing until Season 2-3...

[Bob X]

This is different than something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was shot in 3-perf format (which uses less film and is cheaper). A 3-perf image has a negative ratio closer to 16:9. If the show is composed for 4:3, the usable image is extracted from the center of the frame. That's why the 16:9 transfers for Buffy that were released on DVD in Europe (and are available on Netflix, I believe) have extra picture on the sides with camera equipment and lights in the frame.

This is slightly off topic, but after watching seasons 4-7 of Buffy in 16:9, I have to say this issue is GROSSLY overstated. I remember exactly one instance where you see equipment (and that might actually have been season 2 of Angel), a couple where the framing is a tad awkward, and one or two where someone is not moving their mouth while they're supposed to be talking.

Yes, I also prefer watching Buffy in its intended 4:3 ratio. But honestly, if you didn't know the show wasn't meant to be in 16:9, you would NEVER notice from watching the Euro DVDs.

Anyway, just had to get this out. Back to TNG...

[Krawk]

I am delighted to see Paramount is treating this project with great care. I also hoped, and am glad to see the 13 seconds of lost footage in "Sins of the Father" was found. I figured once they started cataloging all their reels they would find it.
Can't wait til mine shows up in the mail!

Truly, they did an amazing job!
I can't justify the current price to buy it though.

I really hope they do the same for Deep Space 9

Seriously? How many hours of material and six discs and not worth $60?

I too hope for DS9.

[Shadow of Death]

@Krawk - Well, at the time of his posting it was more like $75. That said, I made a case for it being worth ~$85 Canadian myself. It's nearly 20 hours (though some of that is opening/ending credits).

[coljohnmatrix]

Rent it and watch the special features.

There are many shows (and movies) on blu-ray that I would love to rent, including this one. But where? Netflix doesn't carry most older shows that have been released on blu-ray, and neither does Blockbuster online. The video stores around me closed. Redbox doesn't carry them. Where are people renting these from?

[OneManShow]

At $60, this set is very tempting. I didn't buy the DVD sets and I only planned on buying about 2 or 3 seasons on bd. Starting with season 3 or later.... like seasons 3, 5, 7.

I doubt these discs will be available for rent, but the HD episodes will probably be on netflix streaming and cable eventually.