Posted Wed Sep 28, 2011 at 12:25 PM PDT by Tom Landy
Paramount and CBS will be boldly bringing the classic sci-fi series to Blu-ray starting in 2012!
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" will be released in high-definition Blu-ray, starting with 'Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Next Level' - a Blu-ray sampler including the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint," "The Inner Light," and "Sins of the Father" on January 31, 2012 followed by a season-one set to be released later on in the year, and subsequent seasons beaming down after that. Each of the 178 episodes spanning The Next Generation's seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release in the Blu-ray format and, eventually, for runs on television and digital platforms in the U.S. and across the world. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will, as fans know, be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012.
"Fans have been clamoring for a high-definition release of "Star Trek: The Next Generation,"" Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. "Transferring the series to high-definition presented difficult technical challenges, but our team has come up with a process to create true 1080p HD masters with true HD visual effects. We can’t wait to show fans how pristine the series looks and sounds with our upcoming Blu-ray releases."
CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. And all of the work is being done in conjunction with respected, longtime Star Trek figures Denise and Michael Okuda, who are on board as consultants."
Suggested list price for the sampler Blu-ray is $21.99.
You can find the latest specs for 'Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Next Level' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under January 31, 2012.
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