I mean the laserdisc PCM or AC3 can no longer compete with the audio on blu ray.
The only use for laserdisc now if for unaltered films, unreleased films or audio tracks.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
I was under the impression that laserdisc got killed off a while ago. But what do I know.
It's an interesting question for which I don't have enough information for a meaningful answer.
It does pose a related issue though.
As DVD became more popular many films and television shows that didn't get a VCR release were dug out by studios and given a dust down because the possibility of extras and higher picture quality made rethinking releasing the material for sale a viable option on that new format.
I've recently been watching Department S and Jason King on some really nice sets put out by Network (they have also put out disc sets of show partially lost with books and documentaries explaining the lost material, like the BBC does with shows like Doctor Who).
That's great, some of these shows have never seen the light of day since initial broadcast but to gather them they have had to search high and low (some of the episodes only existed in foreign archives) and the poor condition of what's left of the source material really shows on DVD.
On Blu Ray and other HD formats the poor quality would show up even more and that would either prompt some studios to really push for restoration (which is a costly process and has it's limitations, especially when the source is really degraded) or not bother and as the DVDs rot (and they do) those shows will be lost again.
There are still many films and shows that haven't even got a release in any format.
If the source material is poor and the demand is low because nobody remembers them that may amount to a loss of our cultural heritage.
That's why the preservation section of sites like this one are so important because at some point these may be the last refuge for hours and hours of material.
Thanks for the post Bingowings. I found it quite interesting. And i am also a fan of doctor who, the older seasons and i quite understand the difficulty of putting the shows on blu ray that were not shot on 16mm film, or whatever they used before video. I know some of the 80's shows look horrendous even on DVD because the quality seems to be sub 480i like they were bad vhs rips. Better than nothing i suppose.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
The Doctor Who releases are an interesting case in point because though they are given a retail release they are restored by a small team of largely volunteers.
While many of the episodes are lost, all their soundtracks survive because of fans taping the sound from the television on audiotape.
Every lost episode has some record partly because of fans taking telesnaps which add to the materials still archived by the BBC and the search continues for lost tapes and film around the world.
If this sort of practice was expanded to other films and shows and broken down systematically sites like this one could do some of the work. I suspect a lot of people would be happy to do it for free if they knew that a large chunk of the money raised went back into search, archive and restoration projects but in the hands of business alone I suspect Darwinian principles would kick in and erase important cultural artifacts from recorded history.
I followed the restoration of the lost color episodes interesting read.
The type of person i am i would prefer to buy a restored NTSC complete tom baker set more than anything. At least before he was phoning it in, being unhappy and never finish recording Shada.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
As far as old episodes of Doctor Who and Blu-Ray, the only one that would benefit is Spearhead from Space, as it's the only one that was shot entirely on film. All the others were shot on video (though recent DVD restorations tend to be from film sources, as the video masters were printed to 16mm film for international distribution), so they can't have higher than SD resolution.
I honestly don't remember whether Spearhead was shot on 16 or 35mm film. I'd like to know, though.
The early stuff was not not edited on SD video, or the composite effects done that way?
That would be a very dire case indeed. Like Star Trek the Next Generation where the raw footage exists on supposedly pristine 35mm, but the effects and final edits were conformed on video.
CBS is currently looking for a technological way to restore the current video masters for blu ray as transferring the film and doing it all from scratch are cost prohibitive they would also have to redo all the effects in HD cgi.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
Well, early episodes of Doctor Who weren't really edited per se. It was all done more or less live.
I'm really not that much of an expert on old Doctor Who. You should check out the Restoration Team's website, they've got a lot of great, detailed information about each of the stories they've restored.
^It was 16mm.
The TVM could also be upgraded.
After that Year Zero for HD would be 2010.
So other than just keeping the brand alive on new formats there is no real incentive to upgrade to HD formats if the material shows no visible difference.
Yeah and i am not too sure Dr. Who fans want an upscale with colors tweaked and DVNR and edge enhancement applied to make a fake HD version.
Yeah i heard they filmed the Matt Smith season in HD. And yes it is on pre-orders for blu ray. Though i am sure the UK will get their release first unless they are simultaneous.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
Actually no, Year Zero for HD would be 2009. Planet of the Dead was the first episode shot in HD, followed by The Waters of Mars and The End of Time - all three were shot in 1080i50. (All 3 have been released on Blu-Ray as well, along with an upconverted version of The Next Doctor, which was shot in SD.)
Series 5 is the first full series to be shot in HD, though, you're right about that.
I should have specified the first to be shot in 1080P not 1080i. Makes quite a difference really on playback as far as i know.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
I don't think Blu Ray will be anywhere as near as big as DVD was, there are approaching affordable 64GB Flash RAMs now.
Soon non-optical formats will be so cheap and hold so much data that I really can't see the format having the longevity that DVD has (it's not quite a dead format yet) and it's had a short run compared to VHS.
Downloads (to set tops etc) and online broadcasts seem to be more likely successors.
I think Series 5 is still shot in 1080i50.
At any rate, it's never been a problem for me, as I never watch them any higher than 720p anyway.
--edit--
Just looked into it, and I'm sort-of right, sort-of wrong.
All Doctor Who since Planet of the Dead in 2009 (this includes Series 5) was shot at 1080p25. They were then edited, and effects were added, at 1080i50, as 1080p25 is not part of the broadcast standard. As such, the fully-edited episodes are locked at 1080i50. The UK Blu-Rays are (I believe) 1080i50, as well.
The US broadcasts are standards-converted from 1080i50 to 1080i60 for broadcast and Blu-Ray release.
I'd hate to think of Planet Of The Dead to be considered a starting point for anything Doctor Who related.
In terms of everything else will people just get used to the low resolution of video broadcasts (like many assume that early photographs were meant to look sepia) or do you think some new art form will emerge of painting in the 'missing' pixels or whatever they will be using in the exciting space year of 2015 (I wrote a cheque today and the date made me feel like Heywood Floyd)?
It could be done.
I'm not saying it would be convincing or that it's a good idea (it could be as terrible as colourising monochrome classics) but it might mean we could get something resembling Lon Chaney's London After Midnight (1927) from the existing stills as fluid animation of still images would be a possible consequence of the detail extrapolation and simulation needed.