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
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