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ChAnOoD
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Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2763
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  Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:07 am |
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According to Video Age: https://www.videoageinternational.net/2021/08/09/watercooler/robocop-returns-worldwide-in-full-hd/
| Quote: | In its relaunch, Fox’s Tubi has already exclusively re-licensed the new digital original version of ROBOCOP: The Series’ 16 X 9 FF in the U.S. with both Sinclair Broadcasting licensing the new HD 16 X 9 FF version, and Liberation Hall relaunching the series in both versions in Blu-ray and DVD.
ROBOCOP: The Series has already been picked up by Italy’s Sky Italia for its initial run in HD. The series is available in English, French, German, Italian and Lat Am Spanish languages. |
That´s cool.
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Joined: 17 Nov 2001
Post Count: 6533
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:32 am |
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Interesting for sure but i can't help wondering just what kind of Hi Def are we talking about here?
Did they simply upscale the original SD episodes? I can't image they did a true remaster like with Star Trek TNG so how HD will this actually be?
| Quote: | | ROBOCOP: The Series is considered one of the greatest TV franchises of all time |
...Hmmmm. Well.
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ChAnOoD
DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2763
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:59 am |
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| Archive : | Interesting for sure but i can't help wondering just what kind of Hi Def are we talking about here?
Did they simply upscale the original SD episodes? I can't image they did a true remaster like with Star Trek TNG so how HD will this actually be? |
I´m not sure. They´re talking about 16:9, so it assume it´ll go in widescreen? I was thinking since it was filmed on a good condition a real remaster would be done using the original, but maybe I´m being too optimistic. I didn´t find any more info in the net (release date of the Blu Ray edition, etc).
We´ll see if anyone here from Italy can watch it and tell us how it looks. For broadcasting I assume they´d end upscaling the whole thing, but without any release date for the home video editions there are hopes of a decent new transfer. Anyway, I think it can´t be worse than the German edition. Any upgrade on the quality would be good.
| Quote: | ROBOCOP: The Series is considered one of the greatest TV franchises of all time
...Hmmmm. Well. |
PS: Now you know why they´re taking The Series clips online.
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Rick
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Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 3728
Comment: I'm The No. 2 Guy Around Here
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:47 am |
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The series was recorded on film was it not? So perhaps they are actually giving it a 16:9 remaster with the original negatives? The special effects may be an issue though. Unless they also have access to the footage of Robovision shots without the video effects, these may prove problematic to restore. The footage may need to be cropped but in some scenes they will lose text etc. so they may just have to have those displayed in 4:3 pillarboxed. Will be very interesting to see how these look.
If Sky Italia have already agreed to buy the rights to show then surely they were shown a preview of the restoration to let them know what it is they are buying and gauge interest? It may show up on TV screens sooner than we think... The article does say "...of the show in a brand-new, just-released 16 X 9 HD FF format". This would give the impression it's already done but then again with the other inaccuracies in the article who is to say if that is real or not? They seem to be hyping up the show in the hopes that some TV companies will buy it and show it.
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ChAnOoD
DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2763
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 9:00 am |
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| Rick_ : | | The series was recorded on film was it not? So perhaps they are actually giving it a 16:9 remaster with the original negatives? |
Yes, that´s what I was thinking of. It´d be cool to have a real remaster and not an upscaled version.
| Rick_ : | | The special effects may be an issue though. Unless they also have access to the footage of Robovision shots without the video effects, these may prove problematic to restore. The footage may need to be cropped but in some scenes they will lose text etc. so they may just have to have those displayed in 4:3 pillarboxed. Will be very interesting to see how these look. |
I think a real remaster wouldn´t be too difficult to do, since a lot of work was done for real. I meant, explosions were real, captured on film, and the RoboPOV isn´t too difficult to recreate with todays technology. I think Diana would be the trickiest FX to remade, but most of the special effects were practical. Computer/Video stuff my brain is thinking of are the CGI enviroment on "Heartbreakers" (and some other backgrounds for cyberspace in other episodes), some flying ads on OCP´s skyline and perhaps some digital rays and sparks (yup, I´ve been editing The Series stuff for a while and they didn´t use 100% real sparks on Robo. It´s fun to spot these small things).
I just found the guy behind Rallie LLC was behind Rigel and worked with Orion, so who knows if other Robostuff will come on Blu Ray (he mentions The Series and Prime Directives as some of his credits).
| Quote: | | If Sky Italia have already agreed to buy the rights to show then surely they were shown a preview of the restoration to let them know what it is they are buying and gauge interest? It may show up on TV screens sooner than we think... |
I hope we won´t have to wait. And I hope the new Blu Ray release will be worthwhile (make it Region Free!)
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Rick
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Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 3728
Comment: I'm The No. 2 Guy Around Here
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:32 pm |
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OK, so it seems the series is already uploaded on to Tubi and it's just a crop to 16:9 of the 4:3 footage. Now, the article did say that there were HD restored and also the standard versions so perhaps this is the standard version and the HD is yet to be seen? There doesn't appear to be any image upgrade on the cropped SD versions, its the same sub-par SD video, now made worse by zooming in. I still hope they have done some form of restoration on the footage and we are yet to be surprised. However unlikely that may now seem.
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ChAnOoD
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Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2763
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:36 pm |
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| Rick_ : | | OK, so it seems the series is already uploaded on to Tubi and it's just a crop to 16:9 of the 4:3 footage. Now, the article did say that there were HD restored and also the standard versions so perhaps this is the standard version and the HD is yet to be seen? There doesn't appear to be any image upgrade on the cropped SD versions, its the same sub-par SD video, now made worse by zooming in. I still hope they have done some form of restoration on the footage and we are yet to be surprised. However unlikely that may now seem. |
Since they didn´t put a release date for the Blu Ray set and the Tubi versions were uploaded before the news, I assume they´re an old SD release (if I´m not mistaken, some regions already had The Series on Amazon Prime, with the same quality) and the HD ones will follow in the future.
I really hope they´ll put some effort on the remaster instead of putting a cheap thing and pass it for High Definition. Fingers crossed.
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RoboPimp
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Comment: "You dead wrong if ya think that pimpin' gon' die" - Snoop Dogg, P.I.M.P. (Remix)
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| Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:30 pm |
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The version currently on Tubi is worse than what was taken down from YouTube. I guess it's nice that they are officially availible to watch for free, but the cropping is a noticeable flaw, on top of the already poor quality.
Any kind of remastering or upgrading of The Series is of course highly welcome. I don't expect much from this article, though. The way it was worded, praising The Series as if it was one of the most successful TV shows of all time, made it seem like they were making a lot out of a little. But if they do actually remaster the series to some degree, and release it in a respectable quality, I will be first in line to buy the Blu-ray boxset!
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ChAnOoD
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Joined: 29 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:52 pm |
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| RoboPimp : | | I don't expect much from this article, though. The way it was worded, praising The Series as if it was one of the most successful TV shows of all time, made it seem like they were making a lot out of a little. But if they do actually remaster the series to some degree, and release it in a respectable quality, I will be first in line to buy the Blu-ray boxset! |
I think the "most sucessful TV shows of all time" could be a quote from Rallie. Since he was the guy behind Rigel (and produced the show) he´d like to hype this release. It had a decent distribution, and even came here back in 1995 (which I find amazing, considering PD never came to Spain).
I hope they´ll do a decent work on Blu Ray, as I wouldn´t mind having it twice, as an upgrade for the one disc, SD German Blu Ray release. Plus, make it region free. I understand some legal copyright stuff always make it trickier, but can´t understand when the smaller labels make an amazing edition for only a part of the planet. Specially when you worked on a remaster and on bonus stuff that´d cost you more than a dollar.
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Rick
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Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 3728
Comment: I'm The No. 2 Guy Around Here
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:47 am |
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I'm excited to see what a HD remaster will look like, but find it odd they are happy to put the SD version as a straight crop of the old 4:3 episodes and not hold off and make the SD version a downscale of the new remastered HD stuff, so at least it will look more naturally framed without peoples head and text being cut off and not as grainy. Or maybe that's the plan and the cropped SD stuff is a stop-gap for now? I dunno, it's weird!
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ChAnOoD
DC-L4
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 2763
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:25 am |
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| Rick_ : | | At least it will look more naturally framed without peoples head and text being cut off and not as grainy. |
Oh, yes. It´s a pain in the butt when you put The Series footage on widescreen, you have to move the image from shot to shot, trying to make it look decent (and it´s not possible in a bunch of scenes). I think the new widescreen edition would have the original filmed scenes instead of an upscaled, but it´d worried me if it ends being something like "Buffy", as it seems the HD edition changed the aspect ratio and you can find the cameras and crew on both sides
I meant, it´d be weird to upscale the whole thing to pass it for widescreen. RoboCop´s POV would be impossible to get right: you´d cut text or the image and it´d look horrible. Imagine a shooting scene: If you want to show the "TARGETING_" display on screen, you´d end cutting someone´s head if you use the old fashioned TV ratio.
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Rick
CH-L4
Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 3728
Comment: I'm The No. 2 Guy Around Here
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 6:04 pm |
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That's what I was saying, for RoboVision, they would need to go back to the original footage and recreate the video overlay effects for 16:9 or simply upscale the existing footage but keep it as 4:3 in a 16:9 frame with black bars at the side or some form of border to make it look intentional. But that could get messy looking...
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RoboPimp
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Joined: 10 Mar 2007
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Comment: "You dead wrong if ya think that pimpin' gon' die" - Snoop Dogg, P.I.M.P. (Remix)
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:48 pm |
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| Rick_ : | | I'm excited to see what a HD remaster will look like, but find it odd they are happy to put the SD version as a straight crop of the old 4:3 episodes and not hold off and make the SD version a downscale of the new remastered HD stuff, so at least it will look more naturally framed without peoples head and text being cut off and not as grainy. Or maybe that's the plan and the cropped SD stuff is a stop-gap for now? I dunno, it's weird! |
Well, ya gotta remember this is Tubi we are talking about. They are the low budget steaming service, everything is free with commercials, and their library has an even higher percentage of pure garbage than Netflix. So quantity over quality is their credo, and I'm not surprised they crapped out a cropped edit with minimal effort. Let's just hope whoever is making the blu-ray remasters has a bit more care and attention to detail, but I still don't have too much faith.
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Archive
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Joined: 17 Nov 2001
Post Count: 6533
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| Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:00 pm |
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I have to think there is absolutely no way they are redoing all the FX and POV shots. Very time consuming and expensive.
I can only guess that they will run the SD copy they have in some upscale program. Fix the contrast and make the colors pop a bit better. It's not gonna look fantastic but still way better than the bland recent German Bluray edition.
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RoboCop: The Series on HD
