Star Trek: The Next Generation, Coming Soon to Blu-ray - Sampler Review

[Trekkie313]

Originally Posted by blackshadow1981

i just had a look at your blu collection Trekkie313 nice, some there i wouldnt mind owning myself

anyways you have good taste in movies

Thanks.

[Maxwell Everett]

Originally Posted by popeflick

Question that I can't seem to find an answer to: in Farpoint, during the first scene with Q as the judge, there looks to be a matte in place during Picard's close up. I remember it drove me and my buddies nuts back in the day and was hoping they'd somehow figure a fix for this. Clearly they couldn't - but does anyone know what the heck was going on there?

It looks as if they had some type of zoom lense for the shot and somehow they didn't notice they were grabbing the inside of the camera matte or a flag?

It's on both Picard's closeup and Q's. It's harder to see on Q because he's shot against a dark background. You see it first when Q freezes Yar:

http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_282.jpg

It looks like an intentional stylistic choice to vignette the image on the more intense shots, to draw attention to the center of the frame. Here are a few more:

http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_307.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_308.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_317.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_318.jpg

They probably used something like this in the matte box:

http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn....s/PFcv11-2.jpg

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Everett

It's on both Picard's closeup and Q's. It's harder to see on Q because he's shot against a dark background. You see it first when Q freezes Yar:

http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_282.jpg

It looks like an intentional stylistic choice to vignette the image on the more intense shots, to draw attention to the center of the frame. Here are a few more:

http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_307.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_308.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_317.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x...int_hd_318.jpg

They probably used something like this in the matte box:

http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn....s/PFcv11-2.jpg

I'd be curious to know, because at least one shot of Picard that matches it prior does NOT have that affect, but is only a line or two earlier. It simply strikes me as odd because it's so distracting.

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

Someone in the world probably has hacked his DVR to a Blu-Ray burner.

Well, you can just capture the stream from the broadcast without re-compressing it or anything, but it's still crappier than an actual blu-ray. Much higher compression rates, they will likely DVNR out the film grain so they can compress it better (or just let the picture quality suffer and leave the film grain...) I can convert my DVDs to Blu-ray without re-compressing them... Doesn't make them look like Blu-rays.

I have yet to see any HD broadcast that can even remotely compare to Blu-ray picture quality. Sure, it looks 'pretty good' (sometimes), but in general it's just 'okay'.

And I assume no lossless audio on broadcast either...

And did I mention ads and obnoxicons? That's one of the main reasons I don't even _have_ cable anymore...

[DragonQ]

Originally Posted by Rik1138

And if they do release 16x9 versions for syndication, the only way to get them would be to download/copy them off the broadcast...

That means moderate to crappy picture quality, obnoxicons throughout the entire show, and various advertisements spattered throughout... And probably end credits squeezed into a postage stamp and run at double speed so they can fill the entire screen with more ads...

Ever heard of WEB-DL? No adverts or on-screen graphics there.

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

Someone in the world probably has hacked his DVR to a Blu-Ray burner.

No need. An HTPC with a tuner card can record any TV without DRM (as long as it's free-to-air or you have a decrypter card for pay TV).

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by DragonQ

Ever heard of WEB-DL? No adverts or on-screen graphics there.

Nope, are you referring to a specific service of some kind, or just general 'web downloaded' video (like iTunes)?

The only references I can find to 'web-dl' online is a tag used in the file names for pirated copies of TV shows ripped off of DVD, Blu-ray or sometimes iTunes. Of course those don't have any graphics or ads, because they come from the DVD and Blu-rays...

TNG won't be released on Blu-ray in 16x9, so the only source is some broadcast service, which will, most likely, have obnoxicons and possibly ads. A service like iTunes would be a better option as well... But as far as I know iTunes is still just 720p, isn't it? I assume that won't last forever, but until they have 1080p video, I don't even consider it an option...

And _ANY_ digital broadcast (or re-compressed 'download service') (including iTunes) is going to have inferior picture quality compared to Blu-ray, so even if it was logo-free, it's still not going to look as good... Maybe that's good enough for some people, but I want the best looking picture possible on my system.

[DragonQ]

Originally Posted by Rik1138

The only references I can find to 'web-dl' online is a tag used in the file names for pirated copies of TV shows ripped off of DVD, Blu-ray or sometimes iTunes. Of course those don't have any graphics or ads, because they come from the DVD and Blu-rays...

TNG won't be released on Blu-ray in 16x9, so the only source is some broadcast service, which will, most likely, have obnoxicons and possibly ads. A service like iTunes would be a better option as well... But as far as I know iTunes is still just 720p, isn't it? I assume that won't last forever, but until they have 1080p video, I don't even consider it an option...

WEB-DLs come primarily from iTunes, they never come from DVDs or BDs (those rips are marked as such). So, if TNG was ever put out on iTunes, you could buy the episodes there and have them without adverts, on-screen graphics, etc. although only in 720p currently.

Originally Posted by Rik1138

And _ANY_ digital broadcast (or re-compressed 'download service') (including iTunes) is going to have inferior picture quality compared to Blu-ray, so even if it was logo-free, it's still not going to look as good... Maybe that's good enough for some people, but I want the best looking picture possible on my system.

True, the BDs will be the best quality. But WEB-DL is likely to be the best quality available for the eventual 16:9 versions!

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by DragonQ

True, the BDs will be the best quality. But WEB-DL is likely to be the best quality available for the eventual 16:9 versions!

Quite the oxymoron.

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by DragonQ

WEB-DLs come primarily from iTunes, they never come from DVDs or BDs (those rips are marked as such).

I probably just found someone miss-using the term... I found a couple of file names like this:

(title of show/movie/etc)_Web-DL_[DVD-Rip].mkv
(title of show/movie/etc)_Web-DL_[BluRay-Rip].mkv

Etc... I think someone was just associating it with a version of the show you can download from the web...

[Ned Schneebly]

Anyone have any idea how well the sampler disc sold?

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Originally Posted by DragonQ

True, the BDs will be the best quality. But WEB-DL is likely to be the best quality available for the eventual 16:9 versions!

If they do end up doing that, I will be pleased. I will have the entire series on BD, and a select dozen or so favorite epis in widescreen for my iPod.

I'll have "The Best of Both Worlds."

[Indiana Jones]

Didn't Michael Okuda say that in some cases there was a little bit more information on the sides but it usually contained stuff that was never meant to be seen (ie sandbags, lighting equipment etc) so just because that one frame would be ok it doesn't automatically mean every frame will have enough usable material to make 16:9 versions without cropping.

[alehel]

Originally Posted by Ned Schneebly

Anyone have any idea how well the sampler disc sold?

Well enough for my local corner video store here in Norway to have it on display . Bought a copy last night and really enjoyed it

[blackshadow1981]

it was ment to be seen as 4:3 so that's what i will stick with....

i don't wanna see short fat people or zoomed in frames and i don't wanna see lighting stands and sandbags or cables

why now days does EVERYTHING have to be in widescreen when it was shot over 20years ago when 4:3 was the norm? i wanna see it as it was ment to be seen i will always take OAR over zoomed or stretched any day, for me the blu ray is all about the PQ

they zoomed and cropped the HUGE blu ray "world at war" box set too and that's the reason i still haven't bought it even tho i love ww2 media

i hate it when you go to peoples homes and their tvs are set to fill the screen on everything, some black bars are not going to kill you

(unless you have a very cheap plasma with bad IR) my 50" plasma has no problems with IR at all

what im trying to say is when it comes to AR sometimes less IS more

[willbfree]

This discussion is long-done, but FYI, lightstands and such are easily painted out nowadays.

[octagon]

Maybe at the end of this AR discussion we'll juuuuust miss the USS Bozeman.

[IdeaOfEvil]

Just to have a definite answer, these bluray releases will be closer to a 4:3 ratio than a 16x9 redux, right? And if it is closer to the 4:3 ratio, it's still not going to be framed like the original broadcasts because the blurays are using more of the image from the film than what was originally cropped out, right?

[jd641]

Originally Posted by IdeaOfEvil

Just to have a definite answer, these bluray releases will be closer to a 4:3 ratio than a 16x9 redux, right? And if it is closer to the 4:3 ratio, it's still not going to be framed like the original broadcasts because the blurays are using more of the image from the film than what was originally cropped out, right?

Some more and some less apparently. Out of the sampler disc episodes only Sins of the Father had major cropping issues which seems more like an error than something that will be prevalent in the later seasons. The other episodes actually opened up by 2-3% all around the image which was a nice surprise to my eyes. I like seeing that slight bit more in the picture even if it's not really noticeable to most people.

[HDvision]

The new Blu-rays as the sampler are 4/3, with variations into the framing we see inside that 4/3 window, when compared to the original 4/3 DVDs which are the old TV masters.

The widescreen versions will be HDTV only (and hopefully on iTunes) for now.

[popeflick]

Originally Posted by willbfree

This discussion is long-done, but FYI, lightstands and such are easily painted out nowadays.

Do tell. Can they fix the fact that since equipment was there it wasn't lit to be shown?