Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray - Sampler Review

[Holmes108]

Originally Posted by segagamer12

couldn't be more wrong. theatrical films have BLACK BARS nobody notices or complains so now you can shut up.

I'm not picking a side, but that's not the same thing at all. A TV, particularly your own TV, in a lit up room has a much more definitive border, or edge. You also paid big money to get the biggest possible screen, and like to see it utilized when possible.

I'm really not trying to comment on the aspect ratio argument in general... but comparing to a movie theater is a poor choice.

[omegaman7]

I have nothing against walmart, except that they are high priced at times. Certainly when comparing to online shopping And I'd work there given the opportunity. I fully understand the economy right now. I work part time at UPS at the moment. Finding a part time job that will work with my current hours is proving to be a challenge

I'd really like to put my computer to work for my off hours. I'm an aspiring writer, so it will likely happen Though I'm nothing like Roddenberry...

Only a few weeks to go guys

[whbinder]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

And this whole "sampler" disc now makes PERFECT sense as well. They are testing the markets to see who will buy a Blu-ray in 1.33. What I said above is so accurate it's kinda scary

Well, somebody's certainly a fan of themselves.

The sampler disc isn't to test the market. The sampler disc isn't a barometer of Blu-ray sales. Secret chips aren't implanted in the sampler disc to control our minds.

The sampler disc is just a nice little afterthought. They made three episodes to test the technology. The test worked. Neat. Why not put them on Blu-ray for folks while we wait for the rest of the series.

Honestly, they've already invested more money and man hours into this than on most current broadcast television shows. They didn't invest millions of dollars to make a three disc set to test the waters.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by whbinder

Well, somebody's certainly a fan of themselves.

The sampler disc isn't to test the market. The sampler disc isn't a barometer of Blu-ray sales. Secret chips aren't implanted in the sampler disc to control our minds.

The sampler disc is just a nice little afterthought. They made three episodes to test the technology. The test worked. Neat. Why not put them on Blu-ray for folks while we wait for the rest of the series.

Honestly, they've already invested more money and man hours into this than on most current broadcast television shows. They didn't invest millions of dollars to make a three disc set to test the waters.

It's a 3 disk set?

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Originally Posted by whbinder

Secret chips aren't implanted in the sampler disc to control our minds.

[Mavrick]

I was sure the sampler was just a single disc. If it is 3 discs than it's the cheapest 3 discs I've ever known, it's only £6.99!

[bboisvert]

Originally Posted by whbinder

Secret chips aren't implanted in the sampler disc to control our minds.

Well, of course they're not going to use chips... sheesh!

[omegaman7]

Ceti Eel? The only indigenous lifeform of Ceti Alpha V? Ugly little things LOL!

[whbinder]

Originally Posted by Kinetic_Blue

It's a 3 disk set?

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I was sure the sampler was just a single disc. If it is 3 discs than it's the cheapest 3 discs I've ever known, it's only £6.99!

My apologies. I meant a three episode disc. That damned chip in my brain is confusing me.

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by Kinetic_Blue

It's a 3 disk set?

sure - i bluray, 1 dvd and 1 digital copy disc

the sampler serves 2 purposes. first, it gives the fans something to watch and build the hype for the seasons. look at how we are drooling over the few images we have seen so far. i would say it is working.

second is to give paramount/cbs a few extra dollars. how many people are going to buy this and then buy the seasons too? a lot of people won't hold off until the seasons come out, they will grab this anyways. they did the work, they want to maximize their profit. same reason why those "best of" and collector sets keep coming out. this could sit on the shelf and they would still put out the seasons so it isn't a real tester.

[Caesar Will Rise]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

Well, of course they're not going to use chips... sheesh!

That is just too good. You go.

[EddieLarkin]

Blu-rays in 4:3 that were big sellers:

The Wizard of Oz
Snow White
Bambi

And to a lesser extent:

It's A Wonderful Life
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Gone with the Wind

Not to mention the original Star Trek, and The Twilight Zone.

People who buy Blu-ray tend to be, at least on average, a bit more educated in regards to stuff like aspect ratios than the the type of person who has not adopted Blu-ray because "they can't see a difference". TNG being in 4:3 will not impact its sales

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

I seem to remember that these were essentially giant puppets--can anyone confirm this?--and I get that sense much more in the cleaned-up footage.

Yep, as mentioned, they are puppets. There's a quick shot of the scene being filmed in one of the trailers on the disc... Shows them hanging on a rig with the puppeteers doing their thing, and a fan blowing on them to make the fuzz move.

Hopefully there's a lot more of this behind the scenes type footage on the actual season sets, I love seeing that kind of thing. Maybe even a PIP of the raw footage that would play with the entire episode, at least for one or two episodes. Always loved that feature on 300.)

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Originally Posted by Rik1138

Hopefully there's a lot more of this behind the scenes type footage on the actual season sets, I love seeing that kind of thing. Maybe even a PIP of the raw footage that would play with the entire episode, at least for one or two episodes. Always loved that feature on 300.)

I dig that kinda stuff too.

[Gold Ranger]

Ceti Alpha 5?
What about Ceti Zordon?

I'm only buying the sampler if there are special features on it!
I'll only be watching Encounter at Farpoint anyway.
I'm not watching anything out of order.
I've got TOS season 1,2,3 all the movies. but I can't watch the Next Gen movies until all 7 seasons are out...

[Maxwell Everett]

Originally Posted by omegaman7

Ceti Eel? The only indigenous lifeform of Ceti Alpha V? Ugly little things LOL!

That's actually one of the neural parasites from the TNG episode "Conspiracy". They do look rather similar, though.

en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Neural_parasite_(24th_century)

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Blu-rays in 4:3 that were big sellers:

The Wizard of Oz
Snow White
Bambi

And to a lesser extent:

It's A Wonderful Life
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Gone with the Wind

Not to mention the original Star Trek, and The Twilight Zone.

People who buy Blu-ray tend to be, at least on average, a bit more educated in regards to stuff like aspect ratios than the the type of person who has not adopted Blu-ray because "they can't see a difference". TNG being in 4:3 will not impact its sales

Exactly. And while I don't have any hard data, I really don't see Wal-Mart as a big seller of Blu-ray anyway. Seems to me that most Wal-Mart shoppers shop there precisely because they're on very tight budgets (even though much of Wal-Mart's prices actually suck) and are not particularly interested in high end products when cheaper alternatives exist.

As for making Star Trek 16:9, don't people realize that in order to make it 16:9 that the image has to be cropped vertically?? That 16:9 removes picture, it doesn't add it. Yes, there's a little bit of image outside the 4:3 TV frame, but that only gets you a tiny bit there. So yes, if they made it 16:9, you won't have vertical black bars, but you will have a cropped picture. You don't need the producer to do that, you can use the zoom control on the TV.

Besides, being a high-end product, BD should never attempt to cater to the lowest common denominator. Those people can buy $3 DVDs or rent $1 DVDs from one of those dispensers.

[Narcissus]

if it wasn't shot wide screen, leave it the 'F' alone.
if you can't handle the entire screen not filled, it's probably a good thing you weren't around for the era of video viewing.
And If You Want To See How Truly Heinous This Is,
Look At "The World At War" Blu-Ray.....

[segagamer12]

Originally Posted by Holmes108

I'm not picking a side, but that's not the same thing at all. A TV, particularly your own TV, in a lit up room has a much more definitive border, or edge. You also paid big money to get the biggest possible screen, and like to see it utilized when possible.

I'm really not trying to comment on the aspect ratio argument in general... but comparing to a movie theater is a poor choice.

I was not taking sides either what I was saying it nobody returns blu rays because of the black bars, people are used to them even if they get annoyed by them.

[omegaman7]

Originally Posted by Maxwell Everett

That's actually one of the neural parasites from the TNG episode "Conspiracy". They do look rather similar, though.

en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Neural_parasite_(24th_century)

Thanks for the correction! You're right! LOL! I completely forgot about that episode.