Am I the only one...

[Maagic]

I'm not talking about B5 in specific, but DVDs as a whole.

Making sure the DVD player is set up for a 16x9 TV.
Setting the DVD specific setting on the TV so that it is in standard format (not stretched)
TONS of color settings on my TV that are specific for digital pictures and DVD sources.

Took a while to get things to where they look right, and my settings for watching DVDs are different than for watching Satellite TV and for watching VCR tapes, etc...

Also some DVDs have a deal where you can set your color/sharpness/black levels for optimum viewing... I think Phantom Menace has that... or you could go one better and rent (or buy) "Video Essentials". I did that on mine and it made my picture a LOT better... It's like $50 which is why I recommend renting it if you can find it. Netflix has it.

 

[Demon]

I'm totally with you on the technical issues, but there is one CGI shot that always leaves a lump in my throat. During the battle for Earth, Clark turns the guns on Earth, and Sheridan orders the Agamemnon to ram. The sight of the Apollo coming to the rescue, and the Agamemnon emerging through the exploded remains of the gun platform, leaves me breathless every time. I can hardly help cheering

Oh yeah, me too. But I think we both feel that way because of what that image means dramatically and conceptually, not because of what it physically looks like. That is, our enthusiasm is in the form of "Oh my God, that ship is going to sacrifice itself!" and not, "Wow, look at the spacial composition and realism of the ships relative to each other!"

Absolutely! It's the emotional impact of the moment, as portrayed by the excellent graphics, not the graphics themselves that sends shivers down my spine

 

[GKarsEye]

The "yeah" at the end of the statement was supposed to make it look sarcastic.

OF COURSE I'm a geek. The mighty GKarsEye is a B5 dialogue memorising, old progressive rock listening, computer programming, Street Fighter II playing uber-Geek who anally arranges his stupid DVD and CD collections in specific ways and sometimes forgets to surpress these tendencies around attractive women.

I'm such a dork.

 

[Lyta]

I'm such a dork.

But such a cute one despite your chauvanistic tendancies.

 

[HeinleinFan]

GKE wrote: *I'm such a dork.*

Hey, lighten up. Some women like that.

Thank God my GF does.

 

[GKarsEye]

Some women like that.

Yeah- fat chicks. Bazing!

I'm kidding, of course. Oh God, ladies, please don't kill me.

 

[HeinleinFan]

Good thing for you my old lady wasn't reading the screen over my shoulder.

 

[GeoKuutio]

Good thing for you my old lady wasn't reading the screen over my shoulder.

We don't want any corpses here.. right?

 

[FlipperPA]

Hehehehe, c'mon guys, geek is chic these days. I've always been lucky enough to have the freak / geek combo work to my advantage!

-Tim

 

[madtrekker]

I don't enjoy being negative about the show, but I have to admit the CGI and an irrational hate of it almost caused me to miss out completely on the series. I watched the pilot and then gave up on B5 for several years.

I read this with some amusement since my experience was almost precisely the opposite!

I missed the pilot, but read about the show's special effects (which were created on Amiga's) in an Amiga magazine. Since I was a big Amiga fan I tuned in to Midnight on the Firing Line and was instantly hooked (by the plot rather than the effects, I should add)

So, while the CGI may not stand the test of time all that well, I may never have started watching the series if not for the Amiga link. (I didn't watch Channel 4 much, so even though I'm a fan of sci-fi series it would've been easy to miss - indeed I nearly missed the start of some of the later seasons)

Chris

 

[kin_of_zathras]

Just my 2 cents
My S2 hasn't arrived yet, but from the S1 set, the cgi looks fine to me, its just the composite shots that look nasty, even on my small 64cm screen.
Now if those wankers hadn't lost the cgi files, they wouldn't have to redo the cgi, they could just put in the separate elements into the widescreen shot, e.g. the electricity when G'kar is being tortured in Parliament of Dreams.