Topic: Stargate SG-1 and Eureka on Blu-ray
I was curious if anyone had purchased the new blu-ray releases of these 2 sci-fi channel series? I was wondering if they were worth purchasing.
JWSlider3
Re: Stargate SG-1 and Eureka on Blu-ray
I have not, but I bought WAREHOUSE 13 on blu-ray and it looks spectacular and EUREKA -- its sister show on the same network and from the same studio and on the same production model and with crossovers -- would have had the same treatment for its digital assets.
EUREKA is being released by our old frenemies, Mill Creek (88 episodes of SLIDERS on 15 discs at 4.7GB per disc with a bit rate of 2 - 4 Mbps per episode when the standard is 6 - 8 Mbps). And it looks to me like Mill Creek is using digital assets from a German blu-ray release but cutting corners by reducing an 18 blu-ray disc set to 12 discs -- but because it's a 1080p format to begin with, I don't think the loss of detail will impede viewer enjoyment.
STARGATE SG-1, however, is a different case -- the blu-ray is using standard definition master tapes and upscaling it to 1080p. The series was (like SLIDERS) largely shot on film but edited on video. It's decent DVD quality, but the upscale, in deblocking the jagged edges that result, also smooths out details and textures, giving a somewhat airbrushed quality to the video -- until the final three seasons which were filmed on HD digital cameras. For the upscaled seasons, it might be no different from watching the DVD and having your TV and player do the upscale as you play it.
Re: Stargate SG-1 and Eureka on Blu-ray
As far as SG-1 is concerned. If I remember correctly, the first 3 seasons are filmed in 16mm and 4 thru 7 were in 35mm and 8 thru 10 are HD. I would think 8-10 would be a straight forward switch over and 4-7 would be a slight uprez but 1-3 would be really rough uprez (really glossy).
I don't know of any other blu-ray examples from VEI (the company releasing it). I have been happy with the "The Sentinel" series and "Poltergeist the Legacy".
I didn't know "Warehouse 13" got a blu-ray release. What company did that release?
JWSlider3
Re: Stargate SG-1 and Eureka on Blu-ray
The WAREHOUSE 13 blu-ray box only credits Universal, so I guess it was their home video department?
From what I can tell from having listened to people talk about STARGATE SG-1 and reading the blu-ray box set reviews, SG-1 was filmed on 16mm and 35mm for Seasons 1 - 7 -- but then it was transferred to video tape for editing. The special effects were also produced at 480p standard definition and transferred to tape for editing as well.
And the master tapes existed in this form before they were converted to digital and then upscaled, probably through simple bicubic enlargement with deblocking and noise reduction. Even if the live action shots exist on 16mm and 35mm, the special effects don't and there was no financial gain in rebuilding them. I mean, we live in a world where the remastered STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION for high definition blu-ray with lavishly rebuilt effects for HD did not turn a profit, so studios have backed off of that. STARGATE SG-1 is likely part of the plug-and-play conversion to HD for most home video releases to come.