Is Enterprise available in HD?

.

Is Enterprise available in High Definition on either DVD or Blu-ray?
(Please note I want LEGAL ways to obtain this show... not bit-torrent
downloads.)

jayembee...

As far as I know, there isn't (yet) a single TV show that's been
released on either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

lorincantrell...

And probably won't be for awhile. DVD is the king of the road for now
and the forseeable future simply because of it's ubiquitiousness.
Everybody who wants a dvd player can have one ($30 at Wal-Mart). The
discs have proven durable and will likely last decades. The most
important thing to consider is that they are compatible with EVERY
color tv ever made, if you have the right connection. Old Philcos to

videonovels...

So are Blu-rays or HD-dvds. You just need the correct cable (such as

JEDIDIAH...

It's not at all that simple. That's the problem.

That and a suitable cable will cost you as much as an entire SD
DVD player.

RF) and they'll automatically downconvert to the old analog standard
and should work even for 1950s-era tv sets.

Also, we must remember that many, many people already have or will have
displays capable of showing 1280x720 or 1920x1080. The old
standard-definition 720x480 dvds will look inferior when compared to
the high-definition NBC/abc/et cetera broadcasts, and people will want
to upgrade.

JEDIDIAH...

High definition content is already widely available and isn't doing
much to impress some of the early adoptors.

state-of-the-art DLP's. When NTSC tvs go dark when the HD broadcast
conversion is complete, you'll still be able to play DVD's on them.

JEDIDIAH...

You also won't have to worry about whether or not ALL of your
playback and display hardware conforms to whatever DRM regime allows
for getting the full potential out of new formats. I could see HD and
BlueRay both getting CLOBBERED over this.

Sorting out those details are non-trivial for those of us
comfortable re-writing a device driver, nevermind the bulk of
consumers already happy with DVD.

The DRM in the new formats might actually cause piracy to
be rampant simply for usability reasons.

I see no need to replace my DVD collections anytime soon. The only
thing that would tempt me are HD versions of films originally shot in
70mm (think 2001 and Patton) and maybe ST: TOS if Paramount goes all
out and cleans up the original masters (as my DVD's have 40 years of

jayembee...

Actually, they did. What's on the DVDs are their post-clean-up versions
that were done when Sci Fi gave them money to help finance it. If you
compare the DVDs with the VHS/LD versions, the improvement is remarkable.

Anim8rFSK...

And gives us the right audio tracks.

videonovels...

Wrong audio tracks? I didn't realize TOS had different audio versions?

jayembee...

The DVDs have re-engineered (and badly, at that) Dolby Digital 5.1
audio tracks. The originals were monaural.

This is just the audio equivalent of taking an old TV show that
was originally fullscreen and making it widescreen.

The real problem is that it wouldn't have been any effort on
Paramount's part to have *both* the original mono and new 5.1
tracks. But they chose to have only the latter.

jayembee...

The only reason I haven't bought the DVDs (beyond the first two that
were released). The DD5.1 tracks are horribly engineered. Even though
the LDs look a lot worse than the DVDs, I'd rather have the analog
mono sound on those than the digital 6-channel sound on the DVDs.

I *was* going to get the season sets when word originally got out
that they were going to include the original mono tracks as a
second audio track. But when it was announced that that wasn't the
case, I passed them by.

Oh, actually, there is *one* TOS DVD that I deliberately made a
point of getting, which is the one with "City on the Edge of
Forever", and that was only because they (accidentally, as it
turned out) used the original soundtrack that included "Goodnight,
Sweetheart" playing in the storefront when Kirk and Edith were
on their date. As opposed to the generic muzak that they replaced
it with for the tape and LD releases.

(as my DVD's have 40 years of

trash on them). An HD format will probably, eventually supplant DVD,
but I don't think you will see the wholesale title replacement you've
seen from the consumer in the VHS/LD to DVD transition.

I grew up with a 19 inch tv and rabbit ears. DVD picture quality still
impresses me, even though I get 2 HD stations over-the-air and have
watched primetime shows in both 1080i and 720p. Just finished watching
the DVD's of season 4 ST: Enterprise and it looked fantastic.

videonovels...

.

Okay. There are several HD-quality movies released on the old-format
DVD, so I was hoping maybe paramount had done the same for Enterprise.

I don't care about the earlier seasons, but I'd like to get Season 4 in
HD. That season rocks. And as for TNG/DS9/VOY, all those seasons will
probably look best in SD. The upcoversion process is likely to create
distortion/dithering of the original video & not look as good.

What season did Star Trek begin broadcast in HD?
Was it ENT season 2?

Was Star Trek: Voyager ever broadcast in HD?

Alan Figgatt...

HDNet started running promos several days ago that Enterprise will be
shown on HDNet starting this fall. No details so far, but presumably
HDNet will show Enterprise starting from season 1. So if you have an HD
TV and get HDNet, you will have the opportunity to see Enterprise in HD.
If your cable provider is Comcast or Cox who famously don't carry HDNet,
you could call them and ask them to add HDNet.

Based on what should be knowledgeable postings on avsforum.com,
Enterprise was shot using HD video cameras from the beginning. The first
season was on a 720p camera, the following seasons with a 1080p/24
camera. So the first season will likely look soft for HD.

Star Trek: Voyager was never broadcast in HD. Voyager, DS9, and TNG
were all shot on film, but all the special effects and editing were done
in SD video, so they likely will never be released in full HD. OTOH, The

Jorabi...

Isn't there any way for those scenes to be up-converted to HD?
I know it wouldn't be as crisp, but it would allow them to release
the full episodes in HD.

Anim8rFSK...

you wouldn't be accomplishing anything. You'd still be running an SD
image on an HD screen.

Alan Figgatt...

I could see the studio putting together a HD TNG, DS9, or Voyager some
years from now when DVD sales have fallen way off in favor of HD,
however it is provided (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, download for a fee). Got to
squeeze as much revenue out of the old TV show library as possible. They
have made a lot of money the past several years releasing old TV shows
on DVD season sets and they want to keep that revenue stream going.

If it was affordable - and that is a big if - they could go back to
the 35mm film sources, telecine the selected scenes in HD and reedit
them to match the edits on the SD version. Apply the latest in
upconversion processing to the special effect shots (too expensive to
redo them). Create a new master and release the whole thing as new "HD"
versions. Purists and aficionados will bemoan and whine up and down the

videonovels...

.

There are several HD-quality movies released on the old-format DVD, so
I was hoping maybe paramount had done the same for Enterprise.

I don't care about the earlier seasons, but I'd like to get Season 4 in
HD. That season rocks. And as for TNG/DS9/VOY, all those seasons will
probably look best in SD. The upcoversion process is likely to create
distortion/dithering of the original video & not look as good. I'll be
satisfied with my old DVD sets.

internet that these are not true HD, but the studio will ignore them and
sell the box sets anyway. They have already converted a number of older
TV shows to HD masters, mostly restricted to those shot & edited on 35mm
film with no or few SD video special effects. I predict that we will see
this upconversion / telecine mix done in 5 or so years.

Jorabi...

Thanks. I think Anim8r misunderstood my question. I only wanted the
effects shots upconverted to HD and inserted into the 35mm transfers,
not the whole shows.

Anim8rFSK...

You're assuming the 35mm negs are lying around and easily accessible.
Since TNG was assembled on tape, that's probably not the case. Unless
they kept all the masters and all the logs, it's not gonna happen; and
even if they did, it's probably not going to happen. Plus you'd have to
mess with almost any shot that has a window in it. TOS was assembled on
film, so film versions exist. TNG was dumped to tape, and everything
done there, so film versions do NOT exist.

Alan F

Anthony Cerrato...

I cannot see anybody doing anything with HD DVDs until the
format war is settled! Blu-ray or HD units will lie unsold
and unwanted in stores except for 1-2 people who can pay an
exorbitive price for a unit that may well be obsolete in

videonovels...

.

There will be several million Blu-ray players sold during 2006-10.

In the form of Sony Playstations.
(even if the PS3 turns out to be a flop, like Gamecube, it would still
sell 20-30 million consoles, and thereby put high-definition video
players in millions of homes)

future. I certainly wouldn't buy one now.
...tonyC

Anim8rFSK...

TNG had a lot, if not all, their fx work done on film in season one (and
elements done on film but comped in video for some time after). Much of
season one was done using a library of film work ILM did for Farpoint.
Season 2 is where they switched to the smaller coarser detail lower
quality model Enterprise and cheap video fx work.

Original Series was shot, edited, and the special effects done entirely
on 35mm film. It is a candidate for release in HD if they re-telecined
it in HD, although one hopes they stick to the 4:3 original aspect ratio
and not crop it to 14:9 or 16:9.

Anim8rFSK...

They may well have mastered to HD already; they mastered the films in HD
years ago.

I think it will be a while before TV season sets show up on HD-DVD or
Blu-Ray beyond several demo releases as the sales volumes for HD-DVD and
BD will be rather small this year.

Alan F