Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Jeff Kleist]

24 S7's fast release was possible because they had an 8 episode buffer from before the writer's strike.

Don't look for it to become common. bare minimum required is 4 weeks after finishing if it's on a normal production schedule

[SquidPuppet]

Makes sense. Thanks Jeff.

[Nick Graham]

I'm becoming curious what Bill's definition of "morning" is.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

I'm becoming curious what Bill's definition of "morning" is.

You realize they're West Coast, right? It's only 1 PM there right now.

He says he'll have it either later this morning, or early this afternoon. Have patience.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Beast

Not that I'll cancel either way. Having paid $43 and change, I'm happy either way.

I'm still jealous of you by the way... I missed that deal by ONE MINUTE... UGH!

BTW, the *screenshots* on DVDBeaver.com of II, III, and IV are very interesting to me... certainly worthy of a DVD upgrade... which makes me feel better about my purchase.

~Alan

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I'm still jealous of you by the way... I missed that deal by ONE MINUTE... UGH!

BTW, the *screenshots* on DVDBeaver.com of II, III, and IV are very interesting to me... certainly worthy of a DVD upgrade... which makes me feel better about my purchase.

~Alan

Yet if you check the thread here, people are hating on the screencaps.

I think they look fantastic. A lot better than the DVD comparison shots.

Just waiting to hear the poop on Star Trek VI from Bill.

[Jeff Kleist]

Here you go guys

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

[RedIsNotBlue]

Any chance Lionsgate will re-release The Punisher with the Extended Cut with better picture quality and lossless audio? I would have figured they would do it around the time Punisher: Warzone hit Blu-ray but nothing. I like the movie alot but the transfer is really awful and the audio lacks the oomph it should have.

[Bolty]

Well, it's up and it's not good.

Trek 2 looks great and the other 5----they blew it.

Bill Hunt was as honest as he said he'd be.

Well somebody above beat me to it and the link is working on his post.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Well, it's up and it's not good.

Trek 2 looks great and the other 5----they blew it.

Bill Hunt was as honest as he said he'd be.

Well somebody above beat me to it and the link is working on his post.

Well, he's still giving them a 16 for Video. So it's not like he's saying "Oh God, My Eyes!".

He outright says they're still way better than the DVD's. So again, it's personal prefrences.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Beast

Well, he's still giving them a 16 for Video. So it's not like he's saying "Oh God, My Eyes!".

He outright says they're still way better than the DVD's. So again, it's personal prefrences.

Plus, I can't speak for everyone, but I know I'll be double dipping in a couple years when the Director's Cuts are released.... hopefully with better PQ...

~Alan

[Nick Graham]

Bill, Jeff:

I'm still very torn on cancelling my preorder at Amazon. While I know that I will be very disappointed in how they look on my 46" Panny plasma, as I am a loather of DNR, they are still going to be a stop-gap upgrade over the DVDs. Is there a way for those of us who are Trek fans but who demand more for our blu buying buck to have our cake and eat it too, or will going ahead with my order only encourage Paramount to continue on with this sort of treatment to their films? What's the best way to ensure this is not repeated when they inevitably release the Director's Editions?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

Bill, Jeff:

I'm still very torn on cancelling my preorder at Amazon. While I know that I will be very disappointed in how they look on my 46" Panny plasma, as I am a loather of DNR, they are still going to be a stop-gap upgrade over the DVDs. Is there a way for those of us who are Trek fans but who demand more for our blu buying buck to have our cake and eat it too, or will going ahead with my order only encourage Paramount to continue on with this sort of treatment to their films? What's the best way to ensure this is not repeated when they inevitably release the Director's Editions?

Didn't Bill already cover this here?

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

The real shame is, Paramount has generally been excellent in my opinion in terms of the overall high presentation quality of their Blu-ray releases, both new and catalog. I know for a fact that they really work hard to sweat the details on this stuff. I don't believe that corners were deliberately cut here, I just suspect some of these transfers were done before people had started to realize that excessive noise reduction was a problem on Blu-ray at large screen sizes - one of the major reasons why many studios have had to re-do HD transfers done even a just couple years ago. And as Trek II was the most recently completed, I think it benefited the most from that learning curve, if you will.

The issue with the films (II being the exception) is that they were done BEFORE Paramount (and others) learned about the dangers of DNR?

~Alan

[Constitution 101]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Here you go guys

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Did they go back and make a new transfer from the old original film negatives or did they re-master using digital technology to clean up the old transfer? I'd like some clarification b4 I buy this set. Thanx for all the great info here!

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Beast

Well, he's still giving them a 16 for Video. So it's not like he's saying "Oh God, My Eyes!".

He outright says they're still way better than the DVD's. So again, it's personal prefrences.

They are better than the DVDs. My feeling is, your mileage will vary specifically upon how large your intended display screen is. On a 40" display, they're not bad - just not perfect. On a much larger display, they're more problematic. Trek II at least, is fantastic, and the remixed audio on ALL the titles is very nice. People really just have to decide what's right for them.

[spartanstew]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

On a 40" display, they're not bad - just not perfect. On a much larger display, they're more problematic.

And since Blu Ray is intended to be viewed on displays over 40" (unless you're sitting 6' from your set), that doesn't bode well.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

Bill, Jeff:

I'm still very torn on cancelling my preorder at Amazon. While I know that I will be very disappointed in how they look on my 46" Panny plasma, as I am a loather of DNR, they are still going to be a stop-gap upgrade over the DVDs. Is there a way for those of us who are Trek fans but who demand more for our blu buying buck to have our cake and eat it too, or will going ahead with my order only encourage Paramount to continue on with this sort of treatment to their films? What's the best way to ensure this is not repeated when they inevitably release the Director's Editions?

No, I don't think so. I've spoken with the folks at the studio, and I know some of the mastering people. They get it, and they work very hard to achieve the highest quality. Just look at Godfather, Trek II... newer titles like Iron Man, etc. I think this was just a really tough call. Many of the transfers were started before people in the industry really fully understood DVNR was an issue with very large screens. I don't think we'll be seeing this issue from them very much, if at all, in the future. This is an abboration. The only problem, of course, is... it's Star Trek.

[Bill Hunt]

Originally Posted by Constitution 101

Did they go back and make a new transfer from the old original film negatives or did they re-master using digital technology to clean up the old transfer? I'd like some clarification b4 I buy this set. Thanx for all the great info here!

These are ALL new transfers for Blu-ray... though some were completed before all the DVNR issues (on very large displays) were fully understood. And of the lot, only Trek II got a FULL neg up restoration (because it was required). But they're all new(er) transfers for Blu.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

They are better than the DVDs. My feeling is, your mileage will vary specifically upon how large your intended display screen is. On a 40" display, they're not bad - just not perfect. On a much larger display, they're more problematic. Trek II at least, is fantastic, and the remixed audio on ALL the titles is very nice. People really just have to decide what's right for them.

Well, again... for $43 and change... I'm not canceling.

[AlaskaDon]

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

They are better than the DVDs. My feeling is, your mileage will vary specifically upon how large your intended display screen is. On a 40" display, they're not bad - just not perfect. On a much larger display, they're more problematic. Trek II at least, is fantastic, and the remixed audio on ALL the titles is very nice. People really just have to decide what's right for them.

Thanks a ton for the heads-up on this Bill. As I do most of my movie viewing on a set-up very close to what you used to rate them (Sony Pearl pj vs. your Panasonic) I decided to wait and cancelled my order at Amazon. I'll make do with the DVD's on my Oppo 983 until the next time they release them. Very disappointing though. Hopefully it won't be too long before the problem is fixed.