Babylon 5 on Blu-Ray?

[Cannonade]

Hi all.

I have recently seen the joys of Blu-Ray films on the PS3 and a 42" HD TV and I have to say, I am impressed.

After watching B5 with this set up, and being similarly impressed with the upscaling quality, it occured to me that it would look fantastic if the series was done in Blu-Ray. Especially after hearing Warner Brothers have gone Blu-Ray.

Of course, if this was ever done, I imagine it would cost a small fortune to buy the complete universe in Blu-Ray, but I think it would be lovely to see!!

It would be cool to see if anyone else would like to see it in Blu-Ray (or HD, which ever one wins!)

 

[maneth]

I don't think so, not unless they render the CGI again. The DVDs as they are look a hundred times better than they ever did on first broadcast, but the CGI simply isn't of a high enough resolution to match any high-definition TV format.

Even though more and more movies are being shot in a digital format, most are still shot on analog, and can thus be remastered to almost any resolution.

Even though HDTV at 1920×1080 is a lot better than standard tv, there's a bit to go to digital cinema resolutions such as 4K at 4096 x 2160, i.e. about 8 megapixels, the resolution of a decent digital camera.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Especially after hearing Warner Brothers have gone Blu-Ray.

Yes, WB has announced that as of this coming May, they will ONLY release in Blu-Ray, so if there is ever a hi-def B5 release, it will be in Blu-Ray. But, Maneth is right, the B5 CGI wouldn't look that hot in hi-def, and re doing it all would cost a fortune. Now. Maybe some day, in the not too distant future, it might look economically feasible, but not now.

But, this does seem to indicate that the hi-def format war is coming to an end. With WB going to Blu-Ray, 70% of the studios are now exclusively Blu-Ray, and there are some other pressures on the hold-out studios as well, but I think within a year, it will all be over but the shouting. From Toshiba...

 

[maneth]

It's a shame really, because the HD-DVD discs have bigger capacity. I would expect that they'd be used in data storage and the like, and maybe we'll get DVD burners for computers that use both.

I suspect that the studios chose blu-ray because it has more copy protection than the HD-DVD format does. A futile attempt I suspect, since it's only a matter of time before those are hacked.

 

[crazybillyo]

It's a shame really, because the HD-DVD discs have bigger capacity. I would expect that they'd be used in data storage and the like, and maybe we'll get DVD burners for computers that use both.

Actually it's the other way around. A dual-layer HD-DVD disc can hold up to 30 GB, while a dual-layer Blu-Ray can hold up to 50 GB. HD-DVD has approved a specification for 3-layer discs that will raise its capacity to about the same as Blu-Ray, but there's nobody really using it at this time. I've heard other reports about both formats investigating more layers in their discs to increase capacity. HD-DVD's gotten up to 150 GB per disc, and Blu-Ray 250 GB.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

cbo is quite correct, Blu-ray does have greater capacity. HD-DVD's strongest point is that they can be manufactured on SD DVD making equipment, with some modification. Also, HD-DVD supporters say that since Blu-ray discs are thinner, they are more fragile.

 

[maneth]

Thanks for the info, I'm still sure about the DRM on blu-ray, though.

Babylon 5 was shot on film, so provided they redo the CGI to match the better resolution, we may see a new version sooner or later. Although my bet is they'll only do it if they make more TLT stories to get new fans for the show.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I wonder if they might be influenced by Paramount's experience with the upgrade on ST:TOS. It would take a lot more work to redo the CGI on B5, but if the ST discs sold really well, that might encourage WHV. Another question, will Paramount release them on Blu-ray now, instead of the HD-DVD they are using currently? If so, and the format war ends quickly, that could improve sales.

 

[maneth]

As far as I know, Paramount is still supporting HD-DVD, for now.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

This is true, but most people believe that since they, and Universal, are the last major studios supporting HD-DVD, they will decide to switch fairly soon. However, Toshiba isn't going down without a fight. They are now having fire sales on all their players. Attempt to gain market share, or trying to unload what they have, because they see the writing on the wall? Who can say...

 

[Ferazel]

Okay,

I've lurked a long time... waiting for TMoS and TLT.
However, I want to chime in on this idea.
Having not been filmed in HD, I hope they don't try to remaster the video in HD as the CGI already looks pretty jarring compared to the live action stuff. So how about this idea. When I first heard about Blu-Ray, I thought "wow you could fit an entire TV season on one disc". Re-encoding the shows from MPEG2 to h.264 you could fit 6 SD discs on a dual-layer Blu-Ray. So how about it? Why not re-release the B5 seasons each on one blu-ray disc!

Potentially cheaper to manufacture, distribute, and easier for retailers to display. Consumers can easily binge on B5 without interruptions and it's a win-win situation.

Maybe they can change the "quasi-corny" menus while they're at it. Pshh, who am I kidding it's WB we're talking about.

Anyways, here's to entire seasons on one disc! :beer:

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Having not been filmed in HD,

Well, it was filmed in super 35, so the film elements would look FINE in HD, thus the speculation about redoing the effects. I could only see a SD Blu-ray release if Blu-ray became almost as common as DVD is now. But, JMS had planned for 16x9 HD discs in the future, so, who knows what will happen.

PS: Welcome to the board!

 

[Ferazel]

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking straight there. The show was "filmed" so they could pull the masters out and remaster them in HD. Although even looking at the masters from the DVD they looked like they're in pretty poor condition.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking straight there. The show was "filmed" so they could pull the masters out and remaster them in HD. Although even looking at the masters from the DVD they looked like they're in pretty poor condition.

That would be the rats!

 

[LondosHair]

Judging by the Star Trek TOS remasterings, I think it would definitely be possible to re-master B5 to near-Blu-Ray quality. The CGI might not be too costly to remanufacture, due to the proliferation of CGI in television now compared to 1993. Besides, thanks to TLT, WB now has new and more highly-detailed models of B5, Minbari warcruisers, Narn cruisers, etc. ... a good portion of the modeling has already been done!

But, like Ferazel said, this is WB... who has, despite all evidence to the contrary, often treated B5 like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. I think they still consider B5 to be more of a cult phenomenon, when just about any Star Trek fan you talk to has either seen the series or at least knows the basic story.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

when just about any Star Trek fan you talk to has either seen the series or at least knows the basic story.

WHAT? You talk to Star Trek fans? Not me! Nope, never, not me!

 

[Shabaz]

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking straight there. The show was "filmed" so they could pull the masters out and remaster them in HD. Although even looking at the masters from the DVD they looked like they're in pretty poor condition.

Thanks for the correction.

They do, in places, look grainy as hell, and with a lot of scratches and dust. I think a good new telecine could help, but there probably would need to be some fairly substantial cleaning up done, either physical or digital, to make the prints look good in HD. I don't think it's beyond the realm of feasibility though, and there are some pretty good professional digital degrain and dust cleanup filters out there now that would by themselves go a good way already. Physical cleanup is probably a bit more expensive, and won't really help with the graininess. But if WB was willing to put the time and money into it the same way Paramount did to Trek, it could be done.

Which is exactly where the rub is, of course. B5 is a 'hey, we still have this lying around' property to WB it seems, where Trek still is a flagship franchise to Paramount. (Not entirely without reason, but still.)