Cropping/Reformatting Tv/programs/movies for the 16:9 display era

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by BouCoupDinkyDau

It's gonna be like watching every season for the first time. Even the poorer episodes will be worth the time, just to see certain scenes/props/FX/costumes in much better detail and color.

Not for me.

Several times a week I watch a batch of TNG episodes. Say, 2 or 3 in a row, that my TiVo has picked up. So I watch about 5-7 episodes a week already.

I have been to Star Trek conventions. I will probably go to another one in the next year. I own many TNG toys - including the full bridge playset, dozens of figures, ships, etc. I play Star Trek Online regularly (at least once per day).

And I'm totally uninterested in this release without at least 16x9.

I think some truly forget how bad some (a lot) of episodes in the first three seasons are. Like, truly bad Trek. Some of the worst episodic Trek ever, in fact. The show had it's moments, and a few stand-outs, but by and large, nothing got good until significantly into Season 3 when they figured out what they were doing (and Roddenberry was no longer there to pretend that even from the 60's Trek was not militarized).

So, seeing the costumes and bad monster make-up even crisper does nothing for me. I was more psyched than anyone about this, because we've seen how good 16x9 conversions have gone before with TV shows. If this had truly been a new experience, I would have been all over it. But if they do not even have a true 16x9 option (zooming and losing resolution, without the extra information is not a substitute that will get me to purchase this), I can't see any reason I'd ever sit and watch these when I can get the episodes on my TiVo that look "good enough" (as during my Trek marathons I'm usually on my laptop or something anyway, and crisper costumes and the bad acting of guest stars in higher resolution won't really be noticed by me).

They have also severely limited the commercial potential by not at least offering a 16x9 option on the discs. It simply will not sell at mass retail now. To the average consumer, HD and 16x9 are synonymous. Now, you and I know the difference - but they don't. If Wal-mart even carries these, I can see customers returning it now, "This isn't in HD!" because to them, it won't be. TNG has a huge cross-over appeal, it could easily go beyond "I buy all Trek stuff" fans, but it won't now.

So they only people who they are satisfying with this are Trek fans who are also purists. We had the arguments about this six months ago, I get how some people feel, and I'm happy they are getting what they want. But especially since they said that they ARE doing 16x9 versions at the same time, just not for Blu-ray, I'll be happy just waiting until they start syndicating them, and I'll just save the series on my TiVo to watch.

I would have loved to been all excited by this release, but there is no way I am going to spend $60-100 on Season 1 when most of the episodes aren't great in the first place, and they aren't offering a significantly new experience. On the budget this show was made on, it's just not there for me. Yes, yes, I can tell the difference between HD and SD - but not enough to purchase an expensive set and get up and put the discs in whenever I want Trek, when I can just dial it up on my TiVo instantly in "good enough" quality.

And that's from someone many would consider a die-hard Trek fan.