Friends on Blu-ray?

[obriensg1]

Well those widescreen versions look better to me. I watched the show a lot over the years but I'd do so again. Don't think I saw all the episodes, and definitely not in order.

Thanks for that clip. If you could upload the opening credits in widescreen that wold be AWESOME.

Yeah if they release Friends: Season 1 in 16:9, I'm so there.

[cinemaphile]

Most shows, and even films for that matter, are intentionally shot in a format larger than 4:3 or 16:9, with markings on the monitors so directors can see what the pic will look like cropped for either format. (if you ever watch behind-the-scenes documentaries, you'll often see these on the monitors)

So, as you can see in the pics someone posted, they didnt just crop the WS version to make the 4:3 TV version, nor are they just cropping the 4:3 to make a WS version.... both are separately cropped from the larger filmed image. So either way you are gaining some image in one direction, but losing some on the other. Neither is necessarily better, but with TV's being widescreen now, that would probably be the preferred version, so it can fill the screen properly.

[biozon]

I agree that HD version would be great. Judging from the awesome HD extract posted a couple of pages before, I'd be happy to acquire a bluray version of Friends.

Hell, I would even buy a Bluray player solely for this! It looks way better than original DVD! The colors, the crispiness, the wide-screen - totally worth of buying!

I just don't get why it wasn't done like 3 years ago?

Friends' fans auditory is huge - millions, if not tens of millions of people. This is a potentially great market for Blurays. Even if 100.000 of Blurays are purchased - the remastering process completely make sense from financial point of view.

And again - sell it by seasons first and then, as usual, sell the "Complete seasons" edition - you'll make twice the money.

I just don't get why not grabbing this opportunity earlier?

[Mire]

Ok so apparently TNT Germany airs Friends in HD too and the 720p HDTVRips from those screenings did hit the web. I just finished watching the second episode and man i have to tell you Friends in HD looks amazing. The colors, the details, the widescreen...It's pure hd heaven. If 720p HDTVRip looks so good i can't imagine how the bluray will As a huge fan of the series i watched the complete series for 5-6 times but now i'm urging to start all over again

[SethRex]

Yeah, I can imagine. Friends on Blu-Ray isn't even an 'if' for me. I'll buy it whenever I can.

[Drewbee87]

Just downloaded some HD episodes from the first season. In a few scenes U can see the end of the set & another U see one of the crew members arm. Can they do anything to cover that up when they re-master it for Blu-ray? Like extend the set digitally?

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by Drewbee87

Like extend the set digitally?

No one's gonna spend that amount of money just to fix little mistakes like that. I suppose they can "fix" it by cropping certain shots, but honestly it's most likely that nothing will be done at all.

[nametag]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

Most shows, and even films for that matter, are intentionally shot in a format larger than 4:3 or 16:9, with markings on the monitors so directors can see what the pic will look like cropped for either format. (if you ever watch behind-the-scenes documentaries, you'll often see these on the monitors)

So, as you can see in the pics someone posted, they didnt just crop the WS version to make the 4:3 TV version, nor are they just cropping the 4:3 to make a WS version.... both are separately cropped from the larger filmed image. So either way you are gaining some image in one direction, but losing some on the other. Neither is necessarily better, but with TV's being widescreen now, that would probably be the preferred version, so it can fill the screen properly.

This is a good point, but to me it's the 'markings on the monitors' bits which are important to consider here. The episodes were compositionally framed to be within a 4:3 frame, so even though that image is a crop of the original film, to make it 16:9 is a crop of the originally intended frame.

It's not something that would HUGELY bother me but in general I'd prefer a 4:3 image, I certainly think its preferable to the occasional bits that would be cut off the top and bottom, and the sorts of things people have said about seeing random bits of the set or whatever at the sides.

[gaja]

Originally Posted by Drewbee87

Just downloaded some HD episodes from the first season. In a few scenes U can see the end of the set & another U see one of the crew members arm. Can they do anything to cover that up when they re-master it for Blu-ray? Like extend the set digitally?

Where to look for that HD downloads? Don't put links, just direct me...
...or PM me

[gaja]

Originally Posted by Mire

Ok so apparently TNT Germany airs Friends in HD too and the 720p HDTVRips from those screenings did hit the web. I just finished watching the second episode and man i have to tell you Friends in HD looks amazing. The colors, the details, the widescreen...It's pure hd heaven. If 720p HDTVRip looks so good i can't imagine how the bluray will As a huge fan of the series i watched the complete series for 5-6 times but now i'm urging to start all over again

Where to look for that HD downloads? Don't put links, just direct me...
...or PM me

[Shawn Elestren]

Originally Posted by gaja

Where to look for that HD downloads? Don't put links, just direct me...
...or PM me

Me too!

[271286]

Me three... Pretty please

[jimbean]

[Ugly Pig]

That one doesn't seem to have any cropping on the top and bottom in the HD version... In fact I think there is slightly more there??

[JayX]

Interesting that the GEM and TNT versions seem to be using different HD masters. Wonder if we can get a sample of both to do a proper side by side comparison.

I'm presuming the comparison above is SD DVD against the TNT HD broadcast? Looks like different (and possibly better) colour timing as well as the increase in image. Luckily 'Friends' isn't exactly a show known for it's direction so as long as images aren't cropped, which always looks ugly, then we've got a good master to get a BD from. I've got the TNT versions to watch, and they seem pretty good from an initial scan. Surprisingly the titling looks to be HD, although possibly from a later season (was s10 broadcast in HD?). It's been an awfully long time since I've seen S1 so might have to dig out the DVDs to see how different the HDTV versions look. Encouraging either way, even if you're not into 'Friends' - the more filmshot 80s/90s TV given this treatment the better.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by jimbean

How in the world is there more on the HDTV image as far as I know there were no Friends episodes shot in 16:9 I believe the we all shot 4:3 so you should actually be loosing picture in the 16:9 image.

[The Blu Knight]

Originally Posted by Canada

How in the world is there more on the HDTV image as far as I know there were no Friends episodes shot in 16:9 I believe the we all shot 4:3 so you should actually be loosing picture in the 16:9 image.

Just because something was originally broadcast in 4:3, doesn't mean it was shot as such, as seems to be the case with Friends and Seinfeld.

[JayX]

Originally Posted by Canada

How in the world is there more on the HDTV image as far as I know there were no Friends episodes shot in 16:9 I believe the we all shot 4:3 so you should actually be loosing picture in the 16:9 image.

Would it seriously hurt to actually read the thread?

[FriendlyScreamer]

Has anyone noticed that in that picture it is not eqaul new material on both sides. The right side has more new material then the left side...so what did they do originaly? I thougght they would have just cropped it to the middle but obviously they must have actaully repositioned every shot? that wiierd.

[Rantlers]

I see seasons 1 & 2 have aired. Is season 3 in progress or scheduled to air as well?