Babylon 5 Lost Tales in 720p HD

[trekkeriii]

Noticed Netflix is now streaming the Lost Tales in HD now. Figured I'd give you all a heads up. In addition they are streaming all 5 seasons (including The Gathering DVD edition in Season 1). Downside is the episodes are in full screen not the widescreen like the DVD releases.

[vakie]

Noticed Netflix is now streaming the Lost Tales in HD now. Figured I'd give you all a heads up. In addition they are streaming all 5 seasons (including The Gathering DVD edition in Season 1). Downside is the episodes are in full screen not the widescreen like the DVD releases.

Wait a minute, if they are fullscreen they might have better picture quality than the DVD's. That is, if they are the original TV-versions, and not somehow cropped from the DVD's. Can someone check?

I was all for the DVD's being widescreen, but if I had known how badly they butchered the CGI scenes, I'd have preferred the fullscreen. Just compare how sharp the CGI looks in the 4:3 trailers on the DVD's, compared to the episodes.

[Flynn2000]

The irony is, that the better and more important an episode is, the more chopped and cropped it is. A low CGI bottle episode will be the least effected.

Severed Dreams is so cramped by widescreen cropping that it's hard to follow parts of the space battle.

[Lope de Aguirre]

Noticed Netflix is now streaming the Lost Tales in HD now.

I hope we will be given a "The Lost Tales" Blu-Ray in 1080P soon!

[Whyruss]

Hmmm I bought the DVD Boxes as they were released and they are in 4:3.
On SciFi the intro is in 16:9 and the rest of the episode is in 4:3 - don't ask me why... ^^

[vakie]

Hmmm I bought the DVD Boxes as they were released and they are in 4:3.
On SciFi the intro is in 16:9 and the rest of the episode is in 4:3 - don't ask me why... ^^

Hmm, I don't think so? I have the DVD's and they are 16:9, except Crusade which is 4:3. Have also seen Sci-Fi broadcasts and they were 16:9. The original 4:3 TV versions had the intro in widecscreen.

[Jan]

I'm sure that somebody more knowledgable than I can chime in here but IIRC, what ratio you have on the DVDs depends on what region you're in. Something to do with subtitles, maybe?

Jan

[vakie]

Nope, I have B5 DVD's from both R1 (USA) and R2 (Europe), and all are widescreen (except The Gathering). Subtitles can be added to any aspect ratio. I don't see why any other region would be 4:3 either, WB would have to master a whole new set of discs, with additional costs.

[Whyruss]

I think they changed it during the years. As I said the first DVDs here (Europe / RC 2) were released in 4:3. But I recently bought the first season again (don't ask me why - it was sold for 9,99Ç so I couldn't resist ^^) and now it's in 16:9.
I was also talking about the german SciFi channel (luckily u can switch audio to English ^^). I guess it depends on the TV channel - f.e. on Kabel1 B5 is also in 4:3 and on Tele5 it's in 16:9.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

I think they changed it during the years. As I said the first DVDs here (Europe / RC 2) were released in 4:3 ...

Hmmm ... only if the rest of R2 got different DVDs to the UK. I bought every season set as it came out (pre-ordered from Amazon UK in most cases) and every single one of them is widescreen.

[Zoltan]

I think they changed it during the years. As I said the first DVDs here (Europe / RC 2) were released in 4:3. But I recently bought the first season again (don't ask me why - it was sold for 9,99€ so I couldn't resist ^^) and now it's in 16:9.

The first release of B5 in R2 was a double-sided DVD of The Gathering and In the Beginning, if I remember correctly, and those were indeed in 4:3 format.

The series itself was released from the beginning in 16:9.

[vakie]

The first release of B5 in R2 was a double-sided DVD of The Gathering and In the Beginning, if I remember correctly, and those were indeed in 4:3 format.

The series itself was released from the beginning in 16:9.

And that first release with TG and ITB, only TG was 4:3 (as intended), ITB was 16:9. This was the same in R1.

I got R2 season set DVD's from both UK and Germany from the beginning as they were released, all were 16:9.

[Snatcher42]

In addition they are streaming all 5 seasons (including The Gathering DVD edition in Season 1). Downside is the episodes are in full screen not the widescreen like the DVD releases.

Not a downside for me! I have the widescreen DVDs, and have been looking for a way to re-watch the series in fullscreen for ages. Thanks for the heads-up, wow I'm really excited! Watched a few bits on netflix, and have to say that the effects (especially mixed live action and cgi) look the best they have since first broadcast. I've never been a fan of the 16:9 versions. A little cropping is ok, but I hated how blurry everything looked whenever any cg was in a shot. It also felt odd that characters stood unnaturally close together in the first few seasons, the directors framing more for fullscreen. Hope netflix doesn't "fix" this, and switch over to widescreen later!

[DGTWoodward]

Hmmm ... only if the rest of R2 got different DVDs to the UK. I bought every season set as it came out (pre-ordered from Amazon UK in most cases) and every single one of them is widescreen.

This ^

No offence but I think...might you just be confusing your DVD releases as I have bought seasons 1 - 4 on day of release here in the good old R2 UK and every man-jack one of then has been 16:9?

I bought season 5 as a Region 1 because, for what ever reason, the UK season 5 was held back for months and I did not want to wait. And that was 16:9 too.

Are you sure that you are not confusing the first 'teaser taste' release of Gathering/Beginning, or even perhaps the VHS, which cetainly was 4:3 I know...because I bought all of them too.

[JoeD80]

A little cropping is ok, but I hated how blurry everything looked whenever any cg was in a shot. It also felt odd that characters stood unnaturally close together in the first few seasons, the directors framing more for fullscreen. Hope netflix doesn't "fix" this, and switch over to widescreen later!

It is nice to see the non-blurry EFX for once! I don't think Netflix would change the version over since they already have these versions licensed. Also note that the credits are correct because of the full-screen use (e.g., Delenn's transformation isn't revealed in the credits before you see it; Ivanova's promotion is reflected in the credits; etc.)