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:   
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   > > Are they really as bad as all that?  My first guess was to go for   
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   > > the DVDs, because it's not like I can tape a new set off the air,   
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   > > what with it not being on the air, but if the DVDs are distractingly   
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   > > bad that leads me to wonder what other options, if any, might exist.   
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   > The DVDs are the best way to view them.   
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   > They are not without their problems, but there are no suitable   
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   > alternatives.   
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   > B5 was filmed in widescreen, and the DVDs are in widescreen.  That   
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   > would seem like a good thing.   
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   > The problem is that the effects were rendered in 4:3 for television.   
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   > 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   
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   > me, sometimes the poor quality of the mixed live and CGI shots can be   
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   > distracting.   
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   >    
   > It would have been a better choice to simply produce the DVDs in 4:3   
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   > as they were aired.  As nice as it is to see the pure live shots in   
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   > 16:9 as they were shot, it's not as if any of those scenes were shot   
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   > with the *intention* of being aired that way, so there is no real   
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   > creative loss.  In fact, since the 4:3 shots are all cropped and   
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   > zoomed, the "loss" would be a wash anyway.   
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   > Of course if they had done that, only technical people would   
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   > understand why the DVDs aren't widescreen and people would have   
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   > complained.   
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   > Regardless, it's a wonderful show and you should have the DVDs.   
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   >    
   > And if they can find "lost Dr. Who" episodes in some third world   
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   > country, maybe some day they will find the rendering data that has   
   >    
   > been lost and they could remaster the series in high definition.  I   
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   > 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   
   --- SBBSecho 2.24-Win32   
    * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:340/400)