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Bitchy Rants by Andrew Aiello on January 24th, 2008
We reported a couple weeks ago that Warner Bros Home Entertainment was going Blu-Ray exclusive once their contract with the HD-DVD collation was up. Despite Warner’s move HD-DVD is far from dead. Though HD-DVD is precariously on the edge of “losing” the HD disc format war. Even if one format wins out we should ask the questions: “Will the HD market go physical or broadband? If HD-DVD wins, will the lower priced players and uniform spec make the market successful? Can Blu-ray make the market better? Or are the IPTV technologies too attractive to keep HD discs strong?
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Bitchy Rants by Andrew Aiello on October 16th, 2007
Today I ask the question, “Is remastering in HD worth the trouble?” As many a Trekkie knows, season 1 of Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) is coming out on HD-DVD Nov. 20th. This dual format release is pretty groundbreaking. Over the summer, Paramount has been syndicating these remastered Star Trek episodes. Each one meticulously color-corrected, rescanned for 1080P and edited with newly created CG models. There are obviously some skeptics out there but the truth is the episodes do look better, and the new CG and score are still cheesy enough for the 70’s, but now have enough detail and depth so you don’t get taken out of the plot. Each episode has supposedly had a million-dollar budget for these remasters. Now, with the HD-DVD release coming, paramount is looking to cash in on the new HD standard. The set is retailing for $194.99(129.99 via amazon), that’s about $4.50- 6.70 per episode. Keep in mind, you also get a SD version of each episode on the opposite side of the disc(whether you wanted one or not).
This is all well and good for TOS, which is only 3 seasons long. But what about the gargantuan TNG (The Next Generation), which clocks in at 7 seasons? Well, read on and I’ll discuss it…
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