Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- Blu-ray

[Geoff D]

Re: the wider point of rebuilding a video-finished show from the film negatives, I don't think anyone ever said it was impossible on a technical level. But it takes a lot of time and thus a lot of money to do such a thing so the corporate wheels turn ever so slowly, especially when aksing the bean-counters to spunk millions of dollars on retuning some old TV show, no matter how legendary the IP might be. That's why we haven't had a glut of rebuilds over the last decade or so. Some, yes, but not a tidal wave because the obstacles are the same as they've ever been: time and money. And certain shows actually had a cut negative to begin with e.g. Friends which removed a major obstacle in assembling and made it relatively cheaper to newly rescan (and not once, but twice in the case of Friends).

The addition of 4K HDR in recent years has also brought another layer of, if not difficulty then cost to consider. If you future proof it you'll be set for decades but it'll cost more up front, and studios are not renowned for how forward-thinking they are. Emerging technologies don't really matter either, you either scan this stuff from the camera negatives or you don't (and automated matching systems like that used by Illuminate/HTV have been around for years when it comes to assembling the footage). Maybe AI upscaling could make the CG elements in DS9 and Voyager more palatable to remaster cost-wise - tho there's still a lot of miniature work in DS9, especially in the early seasons - and speaking purely for me I'd take it if it meant the difference in getting those shows in HD (or even 4K) or not. I'm currently enjoying the hell out of Babylon 5 on Blu-ray, grotty old Amiga VFX and all.