It’s going to take a long time before all your favourite TV shows are converted to Blu-ray, especially if they all undergo as much improvement as Star Trek: The Next Generation has.
This clip is our first glimpse into the Trekkies journey into high definition, and the difference is remarkable. Especially when you consider what happened to get there:
Transferring STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION to high-definition presented numerous challenges – The series was originally shot on film and then transferred to videotape, which was used to edit episodes together. In order to create true HD masters, CBS is going back to the original uncut film negative – all 25,000 plus film reels of it – and cutting the episodes together exactly the way they originally aired. The visual effects were all shot on film and will be painstakingly recompositioned, not upconverted from videotape. The newly cut film will then be transferred to true high-definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio.
A three episode sampler will arrive at the end of this month, before the first season is released later this year. I’m guessing the end result will make a lot of Star Trek fans very, very happy.
[Trek Movie via i09]
Jeff
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:34 PMand very very broke :( dammit!!
Marrowmaw
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:37 PMAll orig TNG on VHS > Blu Ray. However I no longer have a working VHS player it may be worth getting this. ;)
Dan
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 8:40 PMHellsing920 is that you?
Commander Shepard
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:39 PMsorry, i dont use blu-ray but how does this make blu-ray amazing, could this remastered not fit on a dvd?
dont get me wrong the vid is great, just wanted to know why bluray gets all the props thats all.
Random
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:45 PMhttp://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#bluray_vs_dvd
Easy :)
Commander Shepard
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:48 PMThankyou.
Tim
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:15 PM:/ how you can be a reader of something like gizmodo and not know the difference between blu ray and DVD? >.>
adam
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 1:48 PMlol exactly, wtf how does someone not know the difference after all these years.
TSH
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:41 PMGood lord, that’s a lot of work. Looks like my family will have Christmas sorted for me for years to come…
attila
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:45 PMGood on them. I am not a trekkie, but its great to see stuff like this done – particularly where the source exists in a higher quality that it was originally shown in. Good luck to the Trek fans whose loyalty (fanaticism?) gives the studio the confidence to undertake this kind of work knowing they will get a decent return.
Blake
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:53 PMOh wow looks amazing.
Labrys
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:54 PMOk I have never really been into Star Trek.
But even I would be tempted by this when it comes out.
cleverclogs
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 3:55 PMCan’t wait!
Timmahh
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:01 PMErr, personally, I’d rather not see how dodgy the sets were on Next Gen! Ooh that console looks like a painted cardboard box, hey that screen is just a piece of perspex etc! :)
I really don’t think it’s necessary to go full Blue-ray on a regular sized 42″ TV anyway, you really can’t see that much of an improvement until you go to 50″ and if you think the difference is worth it, you may be just a little bit anal!!
Drew
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:04 PMYou cant see the difference between VHS and BluRay on a 42″ 1080P screen? You’re blind, aren’t you?
Timmahh
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:10 PMOh, of course, I keep thinking DVD to Blue-Ray, cos that’s what my collection is. Never had the VHS version…. sorry bout that. but DVD to Blue-Ray stands!
Commander Shepard
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:13 PMfuture proofing it.
Drew
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:33 PMI disagree, 720P vs 1080P maybe but even DVD to BluRay is a big difference.
Tim
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:21 PMHuuuuge difference between even DVD and a 720p bluray… That’s not on a fancy tv either, just a 42″ Sanyo
Aaron
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:00 PMSo much ditto.. I love my blu-rays compared to my DVDs… such a major difference.
Entilzha
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:04 PMConsidering the DVD’s were made from filming a projection screen what did you expect.
Jamie
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:18 PMPlease tell me they are converting to wide-screen in the process. The only reason I can’t watch TNG anymore is because it bugs the schite out of me to watch 4:3 on a 19:9 TV.
Normandy
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:21 PMi prefer the old, it hides the really bad effects!
Tim
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:21 PM+1
Max
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:31 PMMore accurately, it shows why remastering is awesome — even viewing that clip in 360p (which is lower than DVD quality) on YouTube, the difference is very noticeable.
That said, Blu-Ray is indeed awesome ;)
Boomzzilla
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 4:31 PMTwo deal breakers for me, first is that season 1 of TNG is a real snoozefest and infact I think the whole series is better remembered through rose tinted glasses rather than experienced, I don’t think TV shows age well, even good ones compared to films.And 2nd no wide screen I know this is a limitedation of the time but still a deal breaker.
I think I might be more interested in “themed” sets like they did with the DVD’s such as Borg,Klingon,Q Etc. as there really was a lot of filler episodes.
Tim
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:17 PMI’d imagine this is going to cost a fair bit … Still, looking forward to seeing it :D
warcroft
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:48 PMAlthough Im not a Star Trek fan Im very impressed by the efforts being taken for the conversion.
J-rod
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 6:02 PMWill be available in 3d?
Akirasan
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 7:56 PMI’ll just wait for the 8k version
mike
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 8:03 PMyay can finally watch riker’s gut get bigger in HD
Bruce
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 8:56 PMi think there’s a big difference between 720p and 1080p on a 55 inchtv when u sit 2.5metres away. Its all relative.
KRS1
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 10:25 PMOooooh captain janeway!
Aaron
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 12:14 AMI see blueray lasting untill maybe end of 2014. Come on 3840×2400 or 4096×2160 tv’s.
Dennison
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 12:24 AMYes (waiting in line already for mid-night release) :-)
MattW
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 2:29 AMAnd I thought the Seinfeld HD remaster was good.