There's an amazing deal going on this week at Best Buy, where you can get any season of X-Files, and other FOX shows, for cheap.

However, I hesitated because X-Files was only in 4:3 and stereo, and also because I knew that it would inevitably be released on Blu-ray.

But is there really any point in waiting for a hi-def version of something that seems tailor-made for 480i broadcasts, limited to 2-channel audio? Can a true 1080p version of X-Files even exist? Because I'm not sure if TV shows are shot in the same high resolutions as movies.

The X-Files was 4:3 for the first 4 seasons, then switched to 16x9. I'm also pretty sure that it is in surround sound, although the current DVDs may not be discrete.

However, I'm not sure why the aspect ratio is relevant. It doesn't have any bearing on any eventual HD presentation. We already have great HD releases in all kinds of aspect ratios -- 1.33:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, etc.


The general answer to your question is that if it was shot on film (as opposed to video), it will benefit from HD. The X-Files qualifies.

How long it will take for it to be released is a whole other story. All studios seem pretty slow on the trigger with TV shows so far... and Fox seems slow with just about everything. So you may have a looooong wait for X-Files in HD.

I would love the entire X-Files series and the movie in HD on BD.

How long it will take for it to be released is a whole other story. All studios seem pretty slow on the trigger with TV shows so far... and Fox seems slow with just about everything. So you may have a looooong wait for X-Files in HD.

IIRC, The Simpsons and The X-Files (both Fox titles) were the first TV on DVD titles ever released by a major studio. So hopefully Fox will in fact bring the X-Files to BD sooner rather than later.

A broader question for 80's and 90's TV shows is how they were posted. If all the effects and editing were done in a 60i environment, it'd be a massive effort to go back and remaster to HD. Even films that were posted and edited in fillms but intended for television can find that effects simply don't hold up at 1920x1080. That's why Star Trek has been getting remastered.

Remastering is certainly possible, but pretty expensive for a 22-episode season.

My services are always available for anyone who wants to tackle "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" of course :).

My services are always available for anyone who wants to tackle "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" of course :).


That would be amazing. I Love Whedon stuff. I would love if they could just clean up the X-files. Fancy effects like what they're doing with Star Trek would be cool but a restoration similiar to what Warner did with the original Robin Hood would be ideal.

I'm of mixed views on TV shows on HDM. With higher capacity on the discs, I'd love to see more episodes on fewer discs but that would only be possible if SD was used.

However, I hesitated because X-Files was only in 4:3 and stereo,


Why would that have any bearing on your purchase, if that's how the show was originally?
J

most TV shows are shot on film 16mm or 32mm .... but the problem starts with the editing or post production... i bet most TV shows before the mid 1990s have this problem....
this means that they would have the "finished" edited TV shows on tapes with 480i resolution...
i'm sure they have the original "filmed" source.... and having them in HD would mean re doing the post production again....

I recently picked up the full Babylon 5 collection on SD DVD. Considering how poor the video quality is and how cruddy the CGI is it would take herculean effort to get this up to HD/BR quality. The show is still great so I can look past that. :)

Remastering is certainly possible, but pretty expensive for a 22-episode season.


Very expensive, you have to track down the assets and basically re-make the show.

I recently picked up the full Babylon 5 collection on SD DVD. Considering how poor the video quality is and how cruddy the CGI is it would take herculean effort to get this up to HD/BR quality. The show is still great so I can look past that. :)

What is really terrible about that show in particular is that for the space scenes they were always intending on going back and re-rendering everything for DVD (and potentially higher) resolution. Somewhere along the way all of the scenes were lost, and so for the DVD they were stuck with going with the crappy broadcast resolution effects, which is why you may notice they don't look so hot.

Great show though, and I would love it in HD.

A broader question for 80's and 90's TV shows is how they were posted. If all the effects and editing were done in a 60i environment, it'd be a massive effort to go back and remaster to HD. Even films that were posted and edited in fillms but intended for television can find that effects simply don't hold up at 1920x1080. That's why Star Trek has been getting remastered.

Remastering is certainly possible, but pretty expensive for a 22-episode season.

My services are always available for anyone who wants to tackle "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" of course :).

Buffy in HD would be awesome... looks like it is never going to happen though as it was all edited on video, which makes me want to cry.

:(

Why would that have any bearing on your purchase, if that's how the show was originally?
J
Because he didn't know if the source (film or video) would benefit from a 16:9 ratio HD format. It was already answered it indeed would.

a restoration similiar to what Warner did with the original Robin Hood would be ideal.
That's a three strip process that wouldn't work.
Agree, what they did with the AoHR is amazing!