bloopbleep

as of right now, should I wait for my classics to go blu-ray or just put in ps3 and upconvert? example honeymooners,rockford files,gunsmoke...
Should I just buy the sets on dvd now or wait for blu-ray editions?
my hdtv is 720p. Will I see a difference and please this is a legitmate question not looking for a flame war. thanks.

matome

I wouldn't hold my breath for classic TV shows like those to show up on BD anytime soon. They've just recently been showing up on DVD. It'll be the newer/current shows that will be out first.

RockyMtnBri

I agree - anything made before TV HD I can live with on standard DVDs.

nateman

Shows like The Rockford Files, Honeymooners, and Gunsmoke won't be seeing a BD release for a long, long time. I doubt any of those shows will make it on Blu-ray, ever. I'm a fan of TRF and if you're a fan as well, I say don't stop Blu-ray from getting in your way of buying the seasons on DVD. None of those shows have been huge sellers on DVD (just sells enough for more seasons coming out on DVD), and the studios wouldn't make any money off releasing older shows like TRF on BD.

I see shows like Mission: Impossible and Hawaii Five-O being re-released on BD, but it'll be such a long time until that happens, I'm still getting the seasons on DVD when they come out.

StephenX

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't these filmed in standard definition? If so, isn't it pointless/impossible to release on BD, as the source material is not in high definition?

Dane Marvin

Shows like those were shot on film. You don't have to use a high definition camera to have be able to render a high definition transfer. The only classic shows that would not benefit from an HD upgrade would be shows shot on videotape like All In the Family, Family Ties, Full House, etc.

That said, don't wait to buy classic TV shows on HDM unless you are prepared to wait your lifetime. Demand is incredibly too low at this point and cost is incredibly too high. Results would not be as great as they would for be for classic films because I have no doubt that less time and effort would be put into them due to the sheer volume of material (hours and hours) that you have to work with compared to just a single film (+/- 2 hours). An upscaled DVD would be probably be just fine.

The exceptions are obvious - shows with huge cult followings: The Star Trek series, The Twilight Zone, and a few others...

GogoTheMimic

Depends on the show, they could go back and remaster them like they're doing with Star Trek although I doubt many if any other shows are going to get that kind of attention.

The only shows I'm really excited for in HD are some of the newer ones that are actually filmed in HD, I'm not expecting old favorites(like 3rd Rock or something) to look anything better than upscaled on BluRay anyway.

Qui Gon Jim

Yup. These older classic TV shows can be a very "niche" product, but because the userbase for DVD is so huge, even this "niche" can become profitable.

Even in the best case scenarios for BD, it will be years before the userbase is going to be large enough for a company to turn a profit on the release of some sitcom from the 70's.

Drexl

Well, if they already have HD masters, they don't really need to remaster them, unless you're talking about how they messed with the effects on Star Trek. It helps that releasing TV shows wasn't widespread until 2001 or later, which is when mastering started getting good (we've seen that some masters from 2000 or earlier look crappy, like Waterworld and Mission: Impossible 2).

I would agree though, that it will take quite a while for many shows to get released, if ever. The perceived demographics of HDM aren't helping matters, so there will need to be a more diverse market to get them out. Current offerings skew heavily towards action and sci-fi titles.

Plus, there's a chance that some shows would get released in a butchered "fullscreen" (for a 16x9 TV) version only, as some are being shown now on HD channels. That may be reason enough to not worry about BD.

PhantomStranger

Most classic shows shot on film will look spectacular on Blu-ray. The Prisoner is due later this year on BD in the UK.

bloopbleep

I would love to see honeymooners,I love lucy,Adventures of Superman and Gunsmoke on blu-ray.

Gizmo

Its gonna be a loooooooooooong time before you see many shows on Blu-ray. The current TV on Blu-ray (and HD DVD) sales are pretty low. I think only Lost Season 3 and Heroes has been moderate sellers. IIRC, Lost Season 3 only sold 4k its first week. Other shows like Sopranos, Rescue Me, Prison Break has sold poorly.

StephenX

That makes sense. I knew a lot of shows would be impossible to render a HD transfer, but didn't know about the older stuff being shot on film. Huh, guess I learned something.

QuePaso

Yes, all the old goodies like I Love Lucy, etc were shot on Film. Also, at CES 2005, CBS showed clips of an episode of Gilligans Island re-mastered in 1080p from the film elements which blew EVERYONE away with how amazing it looked. I think we'll be seeing a lot of those old classics like never before.