The X-Files series - BD fix

[spoRv]

As a long time X-Files fan, I was waiting for the BD version of the whole series (the DVD sets are on my shelf since the first release); sadly, it seems it will be not released in Italy, nor the Italian language will be included in some foreign release...

So, I thought to take the BD boxset ("only" 55 discs!  ), and mux the Italian track from the DVD to them, but... I discovered that something else should be fixed... too lazy to wrong what, so follow the link:
http://www.xfilesvault.com/features/What...n-Blu-ray/

Something that could be (quite?) easily fit:

• credits: most parts are simply 4:3 squeezed to fit 16:9, so maybe an upscaled DVD 16:9 version *should* be better, at least it's not squeezed
  
• color grading: often the DVD is better - IMHO - and could be used as color reference
  
• some shots/scenes (and a whole episode) are upscaled; *probably* it's possible to do a better job using the PaNup technique, because the BD used upscaled NTSC footage
  
• season 8 has black crush, but should be fit by Fox now AFAIK
  
• some minor problems
  

Opinions?

P.S. This is a thing that Jerry will be happy to spend his next two years! 

[PDB]

To add: Doombot had an idea to sync the 2.0 English from the DVD to the BDs. That would take forever in of itself

Sadly, Fox did also get 4:3 HD master but we will probably never see them.

I think they fixed the black crush.

[nafroe]

Overall, I am personally quite content with the BDs (aside from the botched fonts throughout).

My original copy of Season 8 did have the black crush... but I contacted Fox and they sent me a corrected batch of discs within a few weeks.  The colors on corrected batch are identical (to my eye) when compared to the DVD counterpart.

I kinda liked how the audio sounded on these... (I'm partway through Season 4 right now) and am quite familiar with how many of the stereo DVD tracks reacted to Dolby Pro-Logic II-x treatment on my 5.1 receiver.  It's my opinion (and, again... I could be wrong) that the 5.1 on the BD sounds extremely similar to the stereo DVD versions.  Then again... I could be wrong.

As a long time X-Files fan, I was waiting for the BD version of the whole series (the DVD sets are on my shelf since the first release); sadly, it seems it will be not released in Italy, nor the Italian language will be included in some foreign release...

So, I thought to take the BD boxset ("only" 55 discs!  ), and mux the Italian track from the DVD to them, but... I discovered that something else should be fixed... too lazy to wrong what, so follow the link:
http://www.xfilesvault.com/features/What...n-Blu-ray/

Something that could be (quite?) easily fit:

• credits: most parts are simply 4:3 squeezed to fit 16:9, so maybe an upscaled DVD 16:9 version *should* be better, at least it's not squeezed
  
• color grading: often the DVD is better - IMHO - and could be used as color reference
  
• some shots/scenes (and a whole episode) are upscaled; *probably* it's possible to do a better job using the PaNup technique, because the BD used upscaled NTSC footage
  
• season 8 has black crush, but should be fit by Fox now AFAIK
  
• some minor problems
  

Opinions?

P.S. This is a thing that Jerry will be happy to spend his next two years! 

I know that Seasons 1-6 (or 7??) were the only seasons to see complete LD releases... Syncing LD audio to BD?  Surely would be a MASSIVE undertaking... But hey, a man can dream, can't he??  

[Evit]

Let me guess why they don't release it here in Italy... Mediaset!

[Stamper]

The really botched it, though widescreen is welcomed for the original seasons, the fonts are totally ugly and take you out of the experience.

[spoRv]

I know that Seasons 1-6 (or 7??) were the only seasons to see complete LD releases... Syncing LD audio to BD?  Surely would be a MASSIVE undertaking... But hey, a man can dream, can't he??  

You SHOULD dream!

Seasons 1 to 7 where released in Japan... if I think I missed them (at the time, when? maybe 10 years ago) for "only" 100US$ per season...

The fact Fox (or, probably, the restoration house which did the BD) has also the 4:3 HD version of seasons 1-4 doesn't necessarily means it would be released in the future... but, also, the contrary is true... even if I'm pretty (99.99999999%) that it will never see the light of the day!

[jerryshadoe]

Yeah, with the workload I already have and the numerous projects I'm working on, if I took this on then you would (maybe) see it completed in two-three years

However, I am willing to help sync the LD PCM tracks to the BD if someone were to capture them and supply them to me along with the BD audio... Of course, a LOT of patience would be needed there, with the amount of episodes we are talking about here and I wouldn't even be able to start ANY work on this until some time this summer. I have too much going on right now, including a paid restoration gig that I just landed a few days ago for a private party that will take me a few weeks to complete.

[DoomBot]

Just now saw this thread. Getting the LD audio would be really awesome, but cost of the LDs would be insane. Someone would have to own some or all the seasons to make this happen. I still have my dvds and won't get rid of them.

[BusterD]

The half-season LD boxes only seem to go for a few hundred yen used in Japan, but I dunno if it would really be worth the time. Plus I'm not sure how much life my HLD-X9 has, and capturing that many seasons would put a lot of hours onto it. It's been playing fine since I got the belts replaced by Pioneer a couple year ago, but you never know when it could go...

[jerryshadoe]

I, honestly, believe that anyone that attempts to do this project and actually capture the PCM audio for all available seasons on Laserdisc, would need to purchase a crummy player that would be dedicated JUST to THIS project.

BusterD makes a valid point about just how much wear and tear would be involved in doing this due to the amount of time the player would actually need to be running continuously. As long as the discs are in decent condition, any basic player would suffice for PCM audio capture. If you want to capture the video too, then it's a different story, but I don't think that would be necessary here.

The nice thing about all of this is that even if the discs are expensive, you can always resell them after the audio is captured, so the only real expense is a cheap player and, potentially, an audio capture device. The rest is just time and effort to capture all of the audio... And, of course, someone actually syncing the LD audio to the BD releases. And, again, if anyone actually attempts this crazy project, I might just be crazy enough to assist with the syncing work