Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 on Blu-ray last Tuesday gave fans an exciting glimpse at the Deep Space Nine station (setting for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) in high definition. You get to see the station inside and out, even Morn! See below for the DS9 in HD images, plus a discussion about what the future holds for DS9 in HD.
Deep Space Nine in HD
The sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray gives us our best look at the Deep Space Nine station yet. Free of the analog artifacts of the 1990’s post-production process, there are new details and coloring that can be made out on the station hull. We also get a very brief glimpse of sections of the Promenade in “Birthright”.
Check out the different shades and color variations along the hull of the station. The periodic yellow strips along the habitat ring were barely noticeable before.
Click images to enlarge
The Promenade
The Replimat
Morn!
Later in the season we see the runabout used by Picard, Data, Troi, and LaForge in “Timescape.” Sadly the runabout is either rather small in the frame or in motion, so there aren’t any amazingly clear shots to be had.
One last sort of bonus is the coalescent organism from “Aquiel”, which gives us rough idea of what Odo might look like.
The Future of Deep Space Nine and Voyager in HD?
CBS is now wrapping up their work remastering Star Trek: The Next Generation for HD and Blu-ray release. Which brings up the question as to what is next. Seeing Deep Space Nine above just adds to the hope that the entire series of Deep Space Nine would be remastered in the same way. However, the glimpses of DS9 seen on TNG Season 6 may be the only ones we will get in HD (at least for the near future).
One has to bear in mind the huge expense that CBS went to with remastering Next Generation. Due to the video post-production process used in the 80’s and 90’s they had to essentially recreate the entire post-production process to make TNG in HD, and that is very expensive. The same expensive process for TNG would have to be done for remastering Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and Star Trek: Voyager for that matter). Star Trek: Enterprise – which was recently released on Blu-ray – didn’t have this issue because it was originally shot and broadcast in HD, so there was no remastering required.
While some fans may take this as a time to ramp up a good old fashioned campaign with social media and petitions, currently the best way to support the rest of the franchise getting the re-mastering treatment it deserves is to buy Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray sets (and TOS and Enterprise sets as well), watching the remastered episodes on Amazon (they’re the only ones to have Seasons 3-5 in HD), and tuning in to the remastered episodes on SyFy in the UK, and the Tuesday night block of remastered episodes on BBC America here in the US.
The cost to do TOS (back circa 2006) and TNG were likely seen as worth it for CBS because TOS and TNG are the two most popular and well known (even to casual fans) series of the Star Trek franchise. So DS9 and VOY would require the same huge resources, but for a much smaller fan base. So you can imagine CBS is gun-shy about committing to seven more seasons of DS9 and then seven more seasons of Voyager.
This is a major shame, CBS Digital has all the right, very talented, people and they have their remastering workflow down pat now, however it appears that this is going to come to an end in just a few weeks when the work on the seventh season of TNG wraps up. TrekMovie will continue to monitor developments and will keep readers in the loop if we hear something different in the coming weeks and months.
TNG IN HD AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
The just released Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Chain of Command” single disc set and the entire 6th season are available on Amazon.
The previous 5 TNG seasons are also available, currently discounted down to as low as $49.99.
Perhaps a good idea would be to offer a sample Blu Ray of a few DS9 episodes remastered, then if sales are brisk they can proceed with Season 1. If we could get Emissary, In the Pale Moonlight and The Visitor remastered, we would at least have something of an HD keepsake for DS9 fans should they not go into full production.
Sad to hear that the TNG sets aren’t selling as well as CBS hoped. The odds of getting DS9 were already pretty small to begin with, and that certainly isn’t going to help.
Well, CBS needs to understand that fans like myself can’t just run right out & spend anywhere from $80 to $130 per season. We have to wait until a good deal comes along such as when Amazon drops them to around $50 to $60. That may give the appearance that not as many fans want the show, but we DO want them. We just can’t afford the initial prices CBS & most retailers want to charge.
I personally would LOVE to own DS9 on Blu-ray. It’s my second favorite Trek after the original series. I hope & pray they go ahead with it.
Matt, with all due respect, your “cold hard truth” of advising people to buy the sets for TNG, Enterprise and TOS on Blu-ray has very little to do with CBS’s decision making process for a DS9 remastering project.
@2 TrekCore
What do you mean? What else is involved that fans can do to make CBS to DS9?
@3 Kevin – I appreciate the desire to do *something* however all I can say is that CBS are well aware of the desire fans have for DS9 in HD.
In reality there’s very little you can do. As I’ve posted elsewhere, there are no current plans in place.
I want VOYAGER more than DS9.
Is there really a doubt that they will remaster all of Star Trek
?
Surely they will be making money off syndicating TNG & TOS in HD & will have to do the same for DS9 & Voy?
Not just DVD Sales.
They can’t keep selling the old (extremely poor) SD versions can they?
Not converting to HD would be like cutting their catalogue in half & abandoning 14 years of star Trek which they must have been making money off, not just TNG & TOS???
I read that the majority of the income comes from selling the rights to air the new Remastered Trek (including Netflix) rather than box set sales.
The fact that channels like SyFy in the UK have TNG remasterd at a near constant loop and the newly remastered series are televised as quickly as the box set is released speaks volumes in my opinion.
In fact, it is currently half way through the Remastered Series 5, I expect Series 6 to be the Remastered version when it airs too.
@6 TrekCore
If they have no plans and there’s nothing we (as fans) can do….
You seem to know more than the rest of us — does that mean there’s really no hope for DS9, even if people go buy all the Blu-rays??
@9 – Kevin – I’m not saying there is “no hope”. I’m saying there are no plans in place, and buying extra Blu-rays isn’t going to change that.
Trekcore had an article last May in which Bonchune said he still had the assets used for the show and that they were overbuilt so they stand well in hd remastering. Take a look at this article if you haven’t seen it yet.
http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/05/deep-space-nine-in-high-definition-one-step-closer/
So thi article isn’t entirely accurate.
PLUS the thing that really should be commented on here is the fact that TNG remastered is available on Amazon Prime in HD glory. My wife and I pay 80$ a year for Amazon Prime and just watch them on there!!! Way better deal than buying each season before the price goes down… I would suspect many are doing that too.
@10 TrekCore
I read both your site and I read TM often, and now you’re telling us different things.
The article here says “Currently the best way to support the rest of the franchise getting the re-mastering treatment it deserves is to buy Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray sets (and TOS and Enterprise sets as well). While this may seem a bit like shilling for CBS, this is the cold hard truth. ”
TM says buy Blu-rays, you’re saying that buying extra Blu-rays don’t matter. Your site usually seems to have more blu-ray info than I’ve seen here, so what is the real story here?
3. The MOSEPH!! – July 3, 2014
I am SO SICK of hearing Star Trek fans bitch about prices.
They expect Star Trek to be delivered to them on a silver platter & not pay for the privilege.
Letting down sales & waiting for discounts before they consider Supporting their ffavourite franchise.
It’s not a right to have Star Trek DVD’s & Blurays produced for us.
CBS is a business there to make money- they pay the artists to produce it for us in exchange for money- Do you guy’s actually get that?
Stop Bitching & SUPPORT STAR TREK.
If you want to see more of it.
13 — Make that a latinum platter.
ps — bitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchbitchb
@11 – Aaron, yes, my article from last May still stands regarding CG assets. Matt isn’t entirely clear on this here – it’s somewhat vague – I’m not sure if he read our article or not.
@12 – Kevin – I don’t want to sound like I’m getting at Matt; it’s a nice article, but there are several inaccuracies. Most notable is encouraging readers to buy more Blu-rays to get DS9. This is simply not true. I’d reach out to Matt to offer him a heads up but I don’t have contact information. Hopefully he reads this and revises the article or gets in touch to clarify things.
8. MAch1 – July 3, 2014
Thats what I thought- this is not just about Bluray unit sales.
I would hate to see the other series only avalible on syndication & online/netflix & not get a Bluray release.
& Enterprise was Not ready for HD- it did need the FX shots upscaled, I hope this is sorted out one day.
@13. Trekboi
You expect people to spend $80 per season in the middle of a crappy economy ?
@16 Trekboi
Enterprise was ready for HD, at least the live-action parts — the CGI was gradually increased in quality as the series progressed from S1 to S4. That’s just the nature of the originally-rendered files, I think.
@17 Ahmed
I’ve been getting the sets each time on release week for like $55, and Amazon’s been putting them on sale for less every so often (in the low $40s)
@15. TrekCore
“I’d reach out to Matt to offer him a heads up but I don’t have contact information.”
You will find the staff contact info at the About section, here is Matt email address:
matt [AT] trekmovie [DOT] com
@19 – Thanks Ahmed, I’ll drop him a line
A lot of DS9’s vector graphics files from the later years were reported to exist in the hands of one of the designers, IIRC, so they’d need re-rendering in HD, as opposed to recreating from scratch.
I can’t believe Blu-ray sales are the primary purpose of the HD upgrades anyway: it must be for archive TV and VOD syndication rather than discs. I’d never buy anything other than TOS Remastered on Blu-ray (given the very high prices of each season, even after several years, I still don’t own season three!) TNG I don’t really like (as long-timers here know ;)) so I would never buy it, especially for the huge price tag anything Trek-related always carries!
Increasingly, I buy TV shows in HD on iTunes or stream them on Netflix. In many cases, that’s more than adequate quality, as I don’t expect cinema quality from many TV shows. For me, Game of Thrones is an honourable exception, due to its exceptionally high-quality mastering, as is Supernatural, given it’s a ‘legacy’ collection (ie one I started collecting on Blu-ray years ago before I had web TV and like enough to want to complete it.) I would buy DS9 in HD on iTunes, possibly even Voyager, if the price was right. Certainly, watching them the whole way through on Netflix/Amazon Prime in HD would be a no-brainer!
I have a basic rule that, if a show exists in HD, I refuse to watch it knocked down to SD, so in the UK, where Blu-ray uptake has been very poor, I’m reliant on web-based services!
Here’s hoping DS9 gets the upgrade: it’s the best of the Star Trek spin-off shows and deserves the chance to shine in the future.
And my remark about the vector gfx got pre-emptied while I was typing! I thought it was Trekcore. Very nice bit or research there by Trekcore!
13. Trekboi
People always look for the best deal. It’s basic economics. When a show’s been out on BD for a number of years and stays at the same price when most others have dropped in price, expect people not to buy them!
There are so many great 2 & 3 part arcs in DS9, it would be a nice alternative to offer movie versions of those eps in HD like they’ve been doing with the 2 parters each season for TNG.
@22 Dom
TOS is down to the low $30’s most of the time now, and sometimes you can get the three-pack of the series for like $70.
The way trek core puts it, it sounds like CBS has adopted Gene Roddenberry’s philosophy of a perfect humanity.
“We shouldn’t be worried about ‘things’. Our goals should be to better ourselves. Angels and Gods do not deal with money, and neither should we. Since we aspire to greatness above those who choose to do infantile things, money is no longer a deciding factor in how we operate. As of now, there are no plans for Deep Space Nine in High Definition. Now go and enrich yourselves.
CBS Entertainment”
What the heck else could it be?
“We do not understand nor do we even like Deep Space Nine. For a comedy show, it’s not even funny. Enterprise is a far more appropriate show to release on BluRay than Deep Space Nine. Archer giving speeches with dramatic music playing. That’s funny!
CBS Entertainment”
@TrekCore “I’d reach out to Matt to offer him a heads up”?? A heads up on what? That you disagree with his article? Your comments on here look more like advertising for your own site.
Matt’s got a good point. A “fan campaign” isn’t going to convince CBS to dump tons of money into a DS9 remaster, since it has a smaller fanbase than TNG. Buying Blu-rays won’t necessarily do it either, but it can help to show that people actually will buy the product, thus making CBS’s investment worth while. If they can’t make good money on TNG, how can they justify spending money on DS9?
Do people remember how much the old DVD season sets used to cost?
TNG S1 was 140$ when released in 2002, granted it was 10 years younger than 2012’s Blu-ray S1.
They bigger grief is re-buying the whole series if ya already own all of it on dvd
I’ve been pre-ordering the TNG blu ray seasons for each season on Amazon. When you pre-order, you get a price guarantee. I’ve never payed more than $80 per season. And sometimes, I even get a reduction a few days after I get the season. One of the seasons only cost me $56.
Now, I’m not saying that $80 times seven is a small amount. But it’s not a bad deal for 24/26 episodes in remastered blu ray.
I would love to have DS9, but I am forced to agree that if you really want it, support TNG blu ray.
Eventually, inevitably they will come out on blu-ray. Dont’ forget to save up your bucks for 4K, 8K, Purple ray, 3D holograms etc when everything is reissued in future formats ad infinitum. ;^)
Looking forward to “Trials & Tribulations” in HD.
BK out.
I like the idea of just doing a few DS9 episodes in HD. I would be happy with that. Maybe CBS could do a fan poll on various sites (like this and Trekcore) and pick the eps with the highest votes. While I would love all of them, I would be happy with the best 20-30 episodes of DS9 in HD.
@B Kramer – I’m looking forward to Infrared-Ray
Well I for one do hope that they eventually decide to bring DS9 and Voyager to Blu-ray.
I recently viewed some episodes from both DVD sets to compare with TNG Season 5 blu-ray. The DVD sets obviously look very rough in comparison to TNG in many spots, especially the CGI sequences which were rendered in low res and often given only 1 pass.
You will occasionally see anti-aliasing issues; for instance I watched Dragon’s Teeth last night and there is a composite shot of Janeway and one of the Vadwaur characters in the observation deck looking out at the ruined city and it was pretty bad. This is on DVD, the consistency of FX work is kind of all over the place for a series of that era.
Anyway, I doubt that my buying up each release of TNG on Blu-ray will affect any decision making. I still buy them anyway, I love this project and it keeps me interested in Star Trek. Knowing that a giant gap incoming after the release of the 7th season of TNG really does bring me down a bit.
So, I live and hope that they do make a decision soon. At least a confirmation that they are either doing it or not, a non response is cruel.
:0
This dhould be reposted
There must be hope all the pieces can be put together.
Or at least make the job a lot easier.
Lol Premature post.
This should be reposted
http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/05/deep-space-nine-in-high-definition-one-step-closer/
There must be hope all the pieces can be put together.
Or at least make the job a lot easier.
17. Ahmed – July 3, 2014
BitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitchBitch
When TNG came out in Australia it was $150-235 on DVD
TOS & Enterprise were $120-150 on DVD
& you guys are Bitching about Remastered TNG/DS9 on Bluray for $80
Cheap Cheap Cheap.
Do you think other franchises have fan’s sitting around dictating prices to studios?
No they pay the money & are glad they have something for it- Star Trek fan’s are arrogant & spoiled.
I know dozens who are simply waiting for a ‘complete’ box set release, so I wouldn’t worry about sales yet.
DS9? Here’s my money in advance :-)
Deep. Space. Nine.
Is there added economic benefit in terms of syndication when the program is in HD? Do they get more money from Networks/Netflix etc and also, are they allowing the HD episodes to be used to broadcast?
I’ve seen TNG-HD for 45% off sometimes on iTunes. So there is no excuse to be a bunch of cheapskates, since the real Star Trek is selling just fine on iTunes.
I guess with Star Trek 3, that new Trek will have to save the floundering old Trek yet again.
@18. Kevin & 36. Trekboi
I live in Canada & the prices are higher here than in US, that is why I will wait for Boxing Day to buy the Blu-ray.
“Do you think other franchises have fan’s sitting around dictating prices to studios? No they pay the money & are glad they have something for it”
Good for them :)
The only real question I have is the TNG series finale, All Good Things. Will they use the triple nacelle Enterprise-D, or will they modify the Sovereign class so it can use the same sets from the Enterprise-D?
@38 TUP
As I said earlier, SyFy channel in the UK have been airing remastered HD TNG as soon as it has been officially released. They currently show two episodes a day and also repeat them the following afternoon. They are currently mid way through (for the second time) the remastered HD series 5. I am hoping when we get to series 6 it will be the HD remastered version this time (as it had not been released last time).
Add to they they are showing the complete series of DS9 and Voyager.
Keep in mind that the blu-ray sales – above, below or just at expectations – are only a very small amount of the money CBS is hoping recoup from the mastering process. Star Trek: The Next Generation has been a cash cow for Paramount because it’s still in demand for cable and syndication rights. As television goes HD, demand for SD shows is less and less.
All the blu-ray sales in the world don’t beat out what SyFy or local affiliates pay out. Remastering TNG pretty much guarantees another 10 years minimum of rights. That’s huge money.
And the truth is, even if blu-ray sales of DS9 exceeded TNG (unlikely unfortunately). There’s just not the demand to put it on TV.
Do you have billboards for the local independant stations in your town? Look up on them; Captain Picard, Seinfeld, Ross & Rachel. Those are the shows that last in reruns. And those shows are available in HD.
I’m not saying that DS9 or Voyager won’t go HD. They may have learned a great deal in the last years on how to make it a more financially feasible endeavor, but as the article points out, it’s slightly higher cost for a very tiny portion of the return on investment.
I see what TrekCore is saying, in that the sales figures for TNG-R are not really the factor for the CBS plans to remaster DS9.
If you want TNG in Blu, buy it. Same applies for anything else.
It may simply be that CBS have no active plans for DS9 on Blu-ray, because they simply haven’t planned for it.
Maybe they need CBS-D to work on other shows for CBS or on contract to other studios? They are an independent effects house, and do work beyond the Star Trek Blu-ray projects.
It’s an “I haven’t planned on it” rather than a “we’re not doing it.”
TrekCore may know of something that he’s not at liberty to divulge in terms of where CBS exec’s heads are at.
I want both DS9 and VOY on Blu, but it seems to be out of our hands at this point.
Patience, it may still happen, just not immediately.
@37. Optimistic Doodle
TOS and ENT didn’t have “complete box sets,” just the separate seasons shrink-wrapped together — and there’s been no indication so far that TNG will have anything different. Why not just buy the seasons individually? It’s sure to be cheaper in the long run than dropping $400+ on seven seasons at once??
Who the hell’s been paying $80-$130 a season for the TNG sets? Since the launch of TNG on Blu-ray, I’ve been nabbing these sets for under $70 the week of release. I got TNG Season 6 for $59.99 (Best Buy and Target had the set at this price).
Price isn’t an excuse. Move on to something different.
They should release some highlights from DS9 and VOY on Blu-Ray, the entire seasons don’t make any sense…
If I was CBS, I’d release thematically distinctive discs… a TOS-Klingon based set including Trials and Tribblations as well as all appearances of TOS Klingons, a Mirror Universe set, a huge Dominion War set including the entire story arc from the last five seasons…
For VOY I’d only go for the better two-parts released in a fashion not unlike the individual TNG “movies”… I want Caretaker, Future’s End, Scorpion, Dark Frontier and the Finale…
But I guess, even that will be a pipe dream now… It’s a pity…
I paid about $60 for TNG Season 6. Ignoring the bonus content, that is 26 episodes that run around 43 minutes each. 43 x 26=1118 minutes. That’s almost 19 hours of Star Trek! Many movies on Blu-ray cost around $20, or more. If you do the math, it is a good deal.
Paramount is a business. They have to make an acceptable return on their investment in order to continue with other Star Trek series. It’s basic economics.
If you don’t buy the Blu-ray sets, but complain anyway if DS9 does not get the HD treatment, then it is the same as not voting in an election.
Brandon M @1:
Yes. While we can quibble over which episodes fit the bill (Dominion arc has to be represented IMHO), clearly reiterating the “Next Level” for DS9 would serve to test the market waters as speculation cannot.
Deep Space Nine progressed from a cautious first year to one of the most ambitious climaxes in TV history, an incredible seven-year arc. It deserves to be preserved at the quality that it was shot in. If only they had made Insurrection into a DS9 crossover instead of acne jokes. Grrr…
If the math for syndication doesn’t add up, perhaps this is a lost cause, but it seems to me that using CBS to do this now is the best option from the perspective of getting it done with a team that’s all dialed-in and ready to go, rather than ramping up from zero at some point in the future. Wouldn’t everyone feel like a dunce if they disbanded the team and then suddenly one of the actors has a comeback and the math changes?
Who, you may ask, is going to come back from this crew? A hint: lilac.
;-)
Even though I don’t have Blu-Ray myself, I strongly recommend they do this. DS9 is very popular among fans, check the Trek BBS and other sources, you’ll see what I mean.
If I ever get a Blu-Ray, I would def consider buying DS9.