Would You Buy A TV Show on Blu-ray if it wasn't HD?

[laptophound]

HD all the way! With multi disk cases now shelf space isn't a big issue. Plus its a lot less then DVDs! Can't wait for a time when an entire season fits on one disk in HD!

[Guitar Joe]

I would like everything to be released in HD, but for older shows that just isn't an option.

For instance, I would like to all of the X-Files to be released on blu-ray, but since it wasn't in HD, it could be released on a much smaller number of discs than its DVD counterpart.

[iam1bearcat]

let's say Seinfeld or The X-Files or The Wire comes out on blu-ray... will i buy it? yep. will i buy it without reading up on the PQ and AQ? yep. why? because it's about the show for me. and owning them on blu (even a little better quality than their DVD counterparts) is worth it to me.

it would be great to be able to rid my shelf of all my dvd's (only have about 40 or so now unlike many here so it is possible lol) and only have blu-rays.

[Canada]

If the show was SD and they don't want to do a refit for HD I'd bite.

Simpson Seasons on 1 or 2 disks. I'm running out of space for disks as it is.

[ZoetMB]

Nope. I don't mind if the show was shot in 1.33 and it's also 1.33 on Blu-ray (in fact I would absolutely not want it cropped to 16:9), but I would not buy it on BD if it were still in SD unless it was something I felt that I absolutely "had to have" for historical reasons and if it were priced like a DVD and not like a BD. In most cases, you can find the show on Hulu, iTunes or on other such services so an SD BD isn't necessary.

IMO, it's not worth buying something on BD just because it's on fewer discs. Most shows from the 1950s were shot on 35mm film and can look great if rescanned properly, especially if they were shot in black & white (like early "I Love Lucy" and "Twilight Zone") because there's no issue of color dye fading and somewhat less chance of vinegar syndrome. Even shows shot on early 1960s color videotape, which wasn't the best technology, can look pretty good if restored properly.

BD is being marketed as the ultimate format and it should always strive to be that, otherwise customer confusion sets in and they wonder why they should buy BD in the first place.

But I generally would never buy a TV show on disc anyway, although my daughter wanted a back season of Alias back in the day, so I did buy that. And I'll buy the big Lost set if the price ever drops substantially.

[HDMe]

I'm feeling deja vu here...

I have no interest in SD content on Blu-ray at this point.

I am afraid that IF it became acceptable to release SD content on Blu-ray, the studios would stop even considering releasing HD versions of some shows because it would be too hard to get the consumer public to know the difference.

Consider... How would they differentiate an SD release on Blu-ray from an HD release on Blu-ray of something like Seinfeld?

Today, the differentiator is in the packaging... you buy DVD for SD and Blu-ray for HD. If they started putting SD content on Blu-rays, it would create major confusion for most consumers.

[42041]

Even aside from the fact that I have zero desire to own most older TV shows, no. If the show was filmed/mastered in HD then I'll only buy the HD. If it wasn't and the studio wants to put it on both formats, then I'll buy whatever costs less.

[Tom Hiddleston]

High quality only please. I'll make room for my blu rays.

[Pyoko]

No, if it were theoretically possible for it to be in HD—and this is true for the vast majority of American TV shows, even if they would require major overhauls with the SFX and editing—I would never buy it in SD.

The only exception would be stuff that originated in SD, like many anime series, but even then they're always upscaled so you don't save that much space anyway.

[Fingers Crossed]

Well, I'll say this: I'm strongly considering buying "The Simpsons" Season 13 on Blu-ray. But there are very few cases where I'd make this exception.

[Chiyo_chichi]

For a show like Seinfeld, sure. However only if they utilize the storage in a major way.

Just thinking, dual layer dvd, round to 9 gigs, so lets say 5 minium....5 dvds worth on one bd in sd quality.

Basically multiple seasons per release, or one single comprehensive one, you know.

Originally Posted by HDMe

I am afraid that IF it became acceptable to release SD content on Blu-ray, the studios would stop even considering releasing HD versions of some shows because it would be too hard to get the consumer public to know the difference.

Consider... How would they differentiate an SD release on Blu-ray from an HD release on Blu-ray of something like Seinfeld?

Studios put out lousy bds of films that are barely that much an upgrade over their dvd counterparts anyway. Classic Media's Gojira is a perfect example AND that one's in HD!

[hardtosayx]

Well the quality of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 5 isn't far from standard. I actually think the TV broadcast looks better.

But I'd definitely prefer HD on BD, not so much SD on BD. Even though It's Always Sunny isn't perfect looking, I'll take the little bit better looking over the standard.

Even if a show like Seinfeld couldn't be true HD quality, the HD broadcast looks very good for what it is.

[JediFonger]

most TV/movies/etc. media is shot on film (professionally). whether 8,16,35,70mm, etc.

so the blanket statement of 'everything looks better in HD' isn't reallly much of a stretch... HOWEVER the caveat is two fold:
1. how good the SOURCE looks, if the source is dead or there's no longer an ability to improve it... it's difficult to justify spending $ to remaster old material to new medium.
2. if the original source was 'SD' (as it were) then there's nothing we can do about it. BBC circa 1970s recorded in beta (i think) and a # of series like Monty Python, faulty towers:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072500/technical
^were all finalized on 'SD'. so trying to upscale that would be kind of useless imho. yeah there might be select scenes in 16mm film... but most of the series took place in the studio, shot on video low-res.

i'm reminded of Twilight Zone Season 2's recent efforts to upscale the 5 or 6 episodes shot originally in SD. if that was so... do the best job they can to clean everything up, but encode the final media in AVC to save space. i don't get why they felt the need to upscale it for us when there is already Blu-Ray players, AVRs, standalone scalers, PC softwares, etc.etc.etc. there's a LONG LINE of chain of electronics that is already capable of upscaling. no need to do it for us.

my big thing is: SOURCE transparency. if you can have a media like BLu-Ray (or DVD for that matter) keep to the original source and in the 'spirit' of how the creators/artists wanted you to experience it then do that.

if the source is film, you bet your ass it'll look nice in 2k, 4k and beyond (depending on grain size ofc).

if the source is SD (and that's the best they have), by all means encode it progressive but use AVC please. don't just "copy&paste" MPEG-2 from DVD days.

also, i do acknowledge and realize that TV series like Babylon 5 is going to have a HUGE uphill battle of investment vs. profitability. when shows like B5 was on... it was already battling cancelation, meager budgets and constant influences from studios. shows like that just aren't going to get ADDITIONAL $ from today to redo everything because there isn't enough fan-base to purchase the end result. there's simply not enough consumers to justify the cost for niche shows.

Star Trek however... is entirely diff. pretty sure Paramount was pretty damn happy with the TOS 3 season BD sales! i have it. we trekkies will buy anything! that was a great illustration of live plate shot in 35mm. studio honoring Gene's vision of keeping the old fx and honoring the fx krew that did the job (no matter how campy and cheesy you think it is). that and upgrading the fx which took a lot of $!

finally, regarding capacity/space. i wouldn't mind at all if shows like fawlty tower were encoded in 480p AVC and all 2 series were on 1 or 2 discs. despite what studios want you to believe... we don't want a plethora of discs "for value's sake". not everyone has space to store them all physically!

[Mumps]

I would love to see a bunch of older shows, mostly cartoons from the 80's and older, put in SD on Blu.

Imagine the entire collection of Looney Toons on only a FEW discs, instead of the monster amount of discs the collection has on DVD right now.

*dreams*

[Member-115369]

No, the DVD is probably cheaper so not much point in paying more for the BR if they didn't put it in HD.

Mostly moot for me as I've pretty much stopped buying TV seasons as I just don't have the time/interest to rewatch them.

[seigneur_rayden]

I would NOT. Having standard definition on a blu-ray is plain ridiculous and stupid.

[nathanp]

Originally Posted by Mumps

I would love to see a bunch of older shows, mostly cartoons from the 80's and older, put in SD on Blu.

Imagine the entire collection of Looney Toons on only a FEW discs, instead of the monster amount of discs the collection has on DVD right now.

*dreams*

They'd look so much better in HD though, nope couldn't do it.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by JediFonger

finally, regarding capacity/space. i wouldn't mind at all if shows like fawlty tower were encoded in 480p AVC and all 2 series were on 1 or 2 discs. despite what studios want you to believe... we don't want a plethora of discs "for value's sake". not everyone has space to store them all physically!

It's funny you mention Fawlty Towers, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread.

It was shot on 2" video and the 2009 remastered three disc dvd release is likely as good as it will ever look.

But it could still be compressed less and fit on one 50gb disc.

Do I have any burning need for that? No.

Would I buy it over the three dvd set if were available? Yup.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by nathanp

They'd look so much better in HD though, nope couldn't do it.

There was one WB cartoon presented in HD on either The Maltese Falcon or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (I forget which) and it looked absolutely amazing. Releasing them in SD would be a crime.

[djluis2k6]

I have Apple TV, so if it's not on Blu-Ray, I buy TV shows now only on iTunes, whether they're in HD or SD.