The Simpsons season 13 on Blu-ray: HD or upscaled? (1 Viewer)

[cafink]

Season 13 of The Simpsons was released on both Blu-ray and DVD. It's my understanding that the show wasn't produced in HD until the 20th season, but I've been having a lot of trouble getting definitive information about how the show was produced, and what source was used for its Blu-ray release. Basically, I just want to know whether it has a "true" HD image, or if it's just an upscaled standard-def transfer.

Thanks for your help.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by cafink

Season 13 of The Simpsons was released on both Blu-ray and DVD. It's my understanding that the show wasn't produced in HD until the 20th season, but I've been having a lot of trouble getting definitive information about how the show was produced, and what source was used for its Blu-ray release. Basically, I just want to know whether it has a "true" HD image, or if it's just an upscaled standard-def transfer.

Thanks for your help.

I think part of the reason for the confusion is that the show didn't air in widescreen until about half way through the 20th season but the show aired in HD for years in 4x3. That being said, I CAN'T confirm that the Blu-ray is truly HD but it looks much better than the DVDs and the HD broadcasts and is on par with the 4x3 episodes on the S20 Blu-ray so I assume that S13 isn't just an upconvert.


EDIT: After reading Bob's post below, I looked it up on Wikipedia and, assuming the info is correct, the show didn't air in HD until midway through the 20th season.

 

[goteam007]

The show was never aired in HD in 4x3. It was always upconverted until midway through the 20th season. The episodes on the 13th season blu-ray are upconverted. Half of the episodes on the 20th season are upconverted. The 13th season blu-ray would be a good choice because of the durability of the disc.

 

[Regulus]

The Packaging of Season 13 is as bad as the one for Season 11!

 

[TravisR]

Just because the show didn't air in HD until midway through S20, the S13 and the 4x3 S20 episodes aren't necessarily upconverted on Blu-ray. They could be making HD masters for Blu-rays and future syndication sales. Considering how popular The Simpsons is in terms of video sales and in syndication, I think that show is at the top of Fox's list to create HD versions of.


Once again, I'm not saying that the S13 Blu-ray definitely isn't an upconvert but comparing it to an upconverted DVD of an S12 episode, the S13 episodes are noticably better looking and are on par with the HD S20 episodes.

 

[cafink]

Thanks for the info, guys. Good to know that the Season 13 Blu-ray looks better than the DVDs, but I guess nobody knows anything about how its transfer was created? What exactly is the "master" of an episode of the show? What would it take to go back and create a new master for HD? Is this something they'd be able to do for all previous seasons, or do they only have the materials to do so for more recent ones?

Thanks again.

 

[goteam007]

I believe older episodes are in a similar state as the X-Files or Star Trek: TNG. The original footage is on film, but edited together on standard definition video. They would have to go back to the original film and re edit in HD if they want a true HD release.

 

[TravisR]

I would think that they gave up editing on video more than 2 years ago. I think the episodes produced in the fourteenth season (2002) is when they switched to using digital ink and paint so maybe they made the switch then?


Once again, I'm only guessing so I could be totally wrong.