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  • Best Way To See B5?

    From Lance Corporal \hammer\ Schultz@1:2320/100 to All on Mon Oct 28 07:39:02 2013
    From: "Lance Corporal \"Hammer\" Schultz" <starfist@gmail.com>

    On Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:42:07 -0400, Dr Nancy's Sweetie wrote:

    Are they really as bad as all that? My first guess was to go for
    the DVDs, because it's not like I can tape a new set off the air,
    what with it not being on the air, but if the DVDs are distractingly
    bad that leads me to wonder what other options, if any, might exist.

    The DVDs are the best way to view them.

    They are not without their problems, but there are no suitable
    alternatives.

    B5 was filmed in widescreen, and the DVDs are in widescreen. That
    would seem like a good thing.

    The problem is that the effects were rendered in 4:3 for television.
    So there are insurmountable quality problems with the mix of the two
    formats. Most of the time it looks good, but if you are picky like
    me, sometimes the poor quality of the mixed live and CGI shots can be distracting.

    It would have been a better choice to simply produce the DVDs in 4:3
    as they were aired. As nice as it is to see the pure live shots in
    16:9 as they were shot, it's not as if any of those scenes were shot
    with the *intention* of being aired that way, so there is no real
    creative loss. In fact, since the 4:3 shots are all cropped and
    zoomed, the "loss" would be a wash anyway.

    Of course if they had done that, only technical people would
    understand why the DVDs aren't widescreen and people would have
    complained.

    Regardless, it's a wonderful show and you should have the DVDs.

    And if they can find "lost Dr. Who" episodes in some third world
    country, maybe some day they will find the rendering data that has
    been lost and they could remaster the series in high definition. I
    wouldn't hold my breath though.

    --
    Hammer


    --- Internet Rex 2.31
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  • From David E. Powell@1:2320/100 to All on Wed Nov 6 20:25:02 2013
    From: "David E. Powell" <David_Powell3006@msn.com>

    On Monday, October 28, 2013 8:29:27 AM UTC-4, Lance Corporal Hammer Schultz wrote:
    On Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:42:07 -0400, Dr Nancy's Sweetie wrote:



    Are they really as bad as all that? My first guess was to go for

    the DVDs, because it's not like I can tape a new set off the air,

    what with it not being on the air, but if the DVDs are distractingly

    bad that leads me to wonder what other options, if any, might exist.



    The DVDs are the best way to view them.



    They are not without their problems, but there are no suitable

    alternatives.



    B5 was filmed in widescreen, and the DVDs are in widescreen. That

    would seem like a good thing.



    The problem is that the effects were rendered in 4:3 for television.

    So there are insurmountable quality problems with the mix of the two

    formats. Most of the time it looks good, but if you are picky like

    me, sometimes the poor quality of the mixed live and CGI shots can be

    distracting.



    It would have been a better choice to simply produce the DVDs in 4:3

    as they were aired. As nice as it is to see the pure live shots in

    16:9 as they were shot, it's not as if any of those scenes were shot

    with the *intention* of being aired that way, so there is no real

    creative loss. In fact, since the 4:3 shots are all cropped and

    zoomed, the "loss" would be a wash anyway.



    Of course if they had done that, only technical people would

    understand why the DVDs aren't widescreen and people would have

    complained.



    Regardless, it's a wonderful show and you should have the DVDs.



    And if they can find "lost Dr. Who" episodes in some third world

    country, maybe some day they will find the rendering data that has

    been lost and they could remaster the series in high definition. I

    wouldn't hold my breath though.

    Given the Star Trek remasters' success, I'd love to see B5 redone with new widescreen format post production. However, the odds of that happening...?

    Hammer



    --- Internet Rex 2.31
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  • From Lance Corporal \hammer\ Schultz@1:2320/100 to All on Thu Nov 7 12:45:02 2013
    From: "Lance Corporal \"Hammer\" Schultz" <starfist@gmail.com>

    On Wed, 6 Nov 2013 20:15:36 -0800 (PST), David E. Powell wrote:

    Given the Star Trek remasters' success, I'd love to see B5 redone with new
    widescreen format post production. However, the odds of that happening...?

    Slim to none, I'd say. Today it is a triumph to fans if B5 is picked
    up for syndication. AFAIK it's not even being shown anywhere in the
    US right now.

    Star Trek simply has a much, much larger fan base from which to draw
    revenue, and decades of evidence showing they are happy to spend more
    and more money on new releases. I am sure all of us here would be
    happy to spend money on a set of B5 remaster BD, but I doubt there are
    enough of us to warrant the work.

    Those TNG Blu rays are really good, BTW.

    --
    Hammer


    --- Internet Rex 2.31
    # Origin: 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (1:2320/101)
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