Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

[Seymour Scagnetti]

With the recent original Star Trek series (season 1) being issued in Bluray with great results why is there no other older pre-hidef shows given the same treatment either on Bluray or on Hidef TV channels.

Obviously sitcoms like Seinfeld may never have that option because they were shot on video but many 1 hour dramas like Star Trek were shot on film yet you never see other older shows being shown in hidef format. The reason can't be the delay in being issued on Bluray as I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark in hidef on TV and that has yet to be out on Bluray. What are they waiting for?

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

Because blu ray isn't mainstream yet. Much more money to be made milking the special edition DVDs. Restoring older shows costs money.

The blu ray version is out quick because it was already done on HD-DVD almost a year ago.

[JayBee74]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

I didn't even know they remastered Star Trek for BluRay.



I would like to see what they could do with a high def colorized version of Leave It To Beaver and the older B&W "Barney" episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.
Question on the Star Trek upgrade. I know they made significant upgrades to the background and space shots. What about the interior shots of the inside of the ship? Are the human beings and others looking good too?

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

Because blu ray isn't mainstream yet. Much more money to be made milking the special edition DVDs. Restoring older shows costs money.

The blu ray version is out quick because it was already done on HD-DVD almost a year ago.

It's going to be sometime before older shows make it to Blu. A lot of the newer television shows like Nip Tuck, Rescue Me, and Prison Break sold terribly so that is why you haven't seen some of the rest of the titles in those series yet. Rescue Me, they released S3 on Blu-ray and it sold poorly so S4 only came to DVD.

Heavyweights like Star Trek are going to sell + the new movie is out soon, so they will sell. Plus they are re-releasing the films on Blu-ray too, so it works out well for them.

[marque1d]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

With the recent original Star Trek series (season 1) being issued in Bluray with great results why is there no other older pre-hidef shows given the same treatment either on Bluray or on Hidef TV channels.

Obviously sitcoms like Seinfeld may never have that option because they were shot on video but many 1 hour dramas like Star Trek were shot on film yet you never see other older shows being shown in hidef format. The reason can't be the delay in being issued on Bluray as I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark in hidef on TV and that has yet to be out on Bluray. What are they waiting for?

http://www.amazon.com/Seinfeld-Seaso...dp/B000RKBQBU/

it was shot on film but native 4:3

nearly all shows (sans reality tv) have been shot on film but the major issue is that rarely were they 16:9 protected. HDNet was known for having Hogan's Heroes remastered but this involved cropping, which may not compromise picture quality but obviously isn't OAR or the director's intent.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

I didn't even know they remastered Star Trek for BluRay.



I would like to see what they could do with a high def colorized version of Leave It To Beaver and the older B&W "Barney" episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.
Question on the Star Trek upgrade. I know they made significant upgrades to the background and space shots. What about the interior shots of the inside of the ship? Are the human beings and others looking good too?

I have the HD-DVD version. It looks quite good. The people in charge on of the restoration didn't want to take away all the original's charm. They touched up the backgrounds like your pics show. Cleaned up most of the grain. They didn't use CGI to take the place of the horrible costumes used back in the day.

The only thing I didn't like about the HD-DVD version was that the episodes were spread out over discs in a random/haphazard way. Makes it a hassle to try and watch them in the order they originally appeared.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

http://www.amazon.com/Seinfeld-Seaso...dp/B000RKBQBU/

it was shot on film but native 4:3

nearly all shows (sans reality tv) have been shot on film but the major issue is that rarely were they 16:9 protected. HDNet was known for having Hogan's Heroes remastered but this involved cropping, which may not compromise picture quality but obviously isn't OAR or the director's intent.

That's good to know that Seinfeld was shot on film but regardless of the 4:3 aspect ratio it shouldn't stop it from being shown in Hidef at least on TV. That's what I don't get. All kinds of older movies are shown in high def on movie channels and networks long before they are ever on Bluray but you'll never see Seinfeld or Friends shown in high def in reruns. I always thought they couldn't but since they were shot on film that doesn't seem to be the case and I don't think it;'s because of the aspect ratio since whether there are black bars on the side or top and bottom they're still there regardless.

[JayBee74]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

That's good to know that Seinfeld was shot on film but regardless of the 4:3 aspect ratio it shouldn't stop it from being shown in Hidef at least on TV. That's what I don't get. All kinds of older movies are shown in high def on movie channels and networks long before they are ever on Bluray but you'll never see Seinfeld or Friends shown in high def in reruns. I always thought they couldn't but since they were shot on film that doesn't seem to be the case and I don't think it;'s because of the aspect ratio since whether there are black bars on the side or top and bottom they're still there regardless.

A little research on my part revealed that they took the original film stock of Seinfield and then cropped the film a little at the top, moderately at the bottom and then added on the sides-remember the original TV 4:3 version took off from the sides.
4:3 TOP, 16:9 AT BOTTOM

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

A little research on my part revealed that they took the original film stock of Seinfield and then cropped the film a little at the top, moderately at the bottom and then added on the sides-remember the original TV 4:3 version took off from the sides.
4:3 TOP, 16:9 AT BOTTOM

That looks like a hidef picture because I've never seen Seinfeld on TV look that vibrant so why aren't we seeing this on all the network HD channels. Why do they keep showing crappy SD. It's even more baffling now because from your example they can make it look very presentable in 16:9.

On one of my local HD channels they show the Bill Bixby's Incredible Hulk Show from the 1970's in hidef and it looks incredible (pun intended). It's in 4:3 mode but still looks alot better than the SD resolution. Funny thing is the Incredible Hulk is the only old show I've ever seen in Hidef on TV.

[JayBee74]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

That looks like a hidef picture because I've never seen Seinfeld on TV look that vibrant so why aren't we seeing this on all the network HD channels. Why do they keep showing crappy SD. It's even more baffling now because from your example they can make it look very presentable in 16:9.

On one of my local HD channels they show the Bill Bixby's Incredible Hulk Show from the 1970's in hidef and it looks incredible (pun intended). It's in 4:3 mode but still looks alot better than the SD resolution. Funny thing is the Incredible Hulk is the only old show I've ever seen in Hidef on TV.

I notice on my local Fox station that they don't show Wheel Of Fortune or Jeopardy in high def even though it is advertised as such and appears on the DirectTV guide as a high def program.

[SqueakyD]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

I notice on my local Fox station that they don't show Wheel Of Fortune or Jeopardy in high def even though it is advertised as such and appears on the DirectTV guide as a high def program.

That's probably the fault of your local Fox station. You should give them a call and complain! Some local stations might not have the servers to record and show syndicated programs in HD. The same thing happened with the local Lansing, MI stations that had WoF and Jeopardy.

[JayBee74]

Re: Older TV shows in hidef. Why the wait?

That's probably the fault of your local Fox station. You should give them a call and complain! Some local stations might not have the servers to record and show syndicated programs in HD. The same thing happened with the local Lansing, MI stations that had WoF and Jeopardy.

I think you're right-this from a January 2007 forum post (not OS):

The last I read, so far around 40 to 50 stations in the US are
broadcasting Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD on their digital
channel. The rest are SD only. These two game shows are syndicated
programming, so the show is transmitted to the local stations ahead of
time and the local station plays the program from their tape machine.
Network broadcasting is sent live to the affiliates and the local
station passes on the network HD feed.

Jeopardy is available in HD to the local stations, but the local
station has to have a HD tape machine/server to record the program to,
cross-converters to go from 1080i to 720p if the station is a 720p
station (ABC, Fox affiliates), HD satellite link hardware and other
equipment.