Highway To Heaven coming to Blu-ray, March 13, 2023 from VEI. (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

I don't think anyone said VEI scrubbed all the grain from the images. However, maybe if someone else has the inclination to post true HD captures from the VEI set, I can post a comparison and then we can know for sure if any DNR was applied, and if so, what the impact was. There is no way to say what others have reported is nonsense without a comparison being made. Just because grain is still present doesn't mean no DNR was applied.

DNR is only a problem if it is noticable, even ever so slightly to me. I havn't seen any unnatural, un-film like appearance so far. And I agree if anyone has the means to do a 100% accurate screen capture of DNR in this set, I would very much appreciate it. I'm actually looking to find fault with this set, but have come up short so far.

Anyone that does not own the set and claiming DNR...their word means nothing to me.

 

[smithbrad]

Anyone that does not own the set and claiming DNR...their word means nothing to me.

The person I was quoting owns the set and did their own comparison to streaming versions. I thought that might be of value to others considering buying it, having too different perspectives. I don't personally own the set; I was just offering a courteous but did not intend to create an argument about it. I will bow out now from this thread and leave it to others to figure out.

 

[Bryan^H]

I just want to know where the DNR is located on this set. It isn't an argument, I'm just curious that's all.

 

[Bryan^H]

Deal breaker for me. I have the Mill Creek DVD set already, and OAR is more important than PQ.

How about the syndicated/cut episodes on DVD vs. the uncut BD set?
It isn't my intention to be the spokeperson for VEI as there have been MANY releases from them I thought were bad to awful (and I've said so as they have been released). But I'm singing the praises of this set with good reason. The widescreen isn't bad at all and that is hard for me to say, but with so little info lost and much gained I cannot find too much fault with it.

 

[t2smith]

Here are a few screen captures I did directly from the VEI set.

 

[classictvfan40]

Here are a few screen captures I did directly from the VEI set.

They look great!

I was debating whether or not to get it due to it being widescreen and not its original aspect but after seeing these and other posts I'm going to get it!

 

[chrislong2]

I'm not a fan of this show, but that looks to me like they did a pretty good job on the widescreen. In recent times, I have begun wondering what Little House would look like widescreen - I'll bet that could be done in similar fashion if NBC was so inclined. Part of me even wonders if they did create a 16x9 version also when they created the 4x3 remaster. Don't get me wrong I like the 4x3 and understand it is OAR and some people can't stand non-OAR, but when it's done right, it can be done quite well. Road to Avonlea is another show that was remastered from 4x3 to 16x9 quite well (though only on DVD). I tire of hearing the same old "non-OAR is terrible" and "All DNR is bad" stuff. DNR when used properly can be helpful. And OAR is great, but we live in a world with rectangular tv's now so if a show can be made to look decent on it, why not do it?

 

[Bryan^H]

Here are a few screen captures I did directly from the VEI set.

Pretty much what I'm seeing on my set as well, beautiful HD imagery.

I'm not a fan of this show, but that looks to me like they did a pretty good job on the widescreen. In recent times, I have begun wondering what Little House would look like widescreen - I'll bet that could be done in similar fashion if NBC was so inclined. Part of me even wonders if they did create a 16x9 version also when they created the 4x3 remaster. Don't get me wrong I like the 4x3 and understand it is OAR and some people can't stand non-OAR, but when it's done right, it can be done quite well. Road to Avonlea is another show that was remastered from 4x3 to 16x9 quite well (though only on DVD). I tire of hearing the same old "non-OAR is terrible" and "All DNR is bad" stuff. DNR when used properly can be helpful. And OAR is great, but we live in a world with rectangular tv's now so if a show can be made to look decent on it, why not do it?

Exactly. In a perfect world we would have OAR, and widescreen for those that want it. I didn't want widescreen to start with, but changed my mind quickly after watching a few episodes. The bold color, and very fine grain is just gorgeous on this BD set.

Widescreen of classic TV shows will never be favorable to me, but it can be acceptable. Much like The Waltons (which looks fine in widescreen as well) it is a very pleasing presentation.

I think I saw so many poorly cropped, and chopped series in widescreen it scared me into thinking they all would look terrible.
I feel bad for fans of this series sticking with the poor video quality DVD sets that are butchered for syndication, and without subtitles. I wish they'd give this set a chance. They might be pleasantly surprised like I was.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Pretty much what I'm seeing on my set as well, beautiful HD imagery.

Exactly. In a perfect world we would have OAR, and widescreen for those that want it. I didn't want widescreen to start with, but changed my mind quickly after watching a few episodes. The bold color, and very fine grain is just gorgeous on this BD set.

Widescreen of classic TV shows will never be favorable to me, but it can be acceptable. Much like The Waltons (which looks fine in widescreen as well) it is a very pleasing presentation.

I think I saw so many poorly cropped, and chopped series in widescreen it scared me into thinking they all would look terrible.
I feel bad for fans of this series sticking with the poor video quality DVD sets that are butchered for syndication, and without subtitles. I wish they'd give this set a chance. They might be pleasantly surprised like I was.

Yeah, save your feeling bad for those who really need it.

One season of the DVDs are edited for syndication. Yeah, that sucks. Meanwhile all five seasons of the Blus are hacked and cropped. So by my count, Five is still greater than one, which means that while a single season of the DVDs has issues, ALL FIVE SEASONS of the Blu-rays are damaged goods.

So, I'll stick with the DVDs because it won't cost me 50 more dollars for substandard product that I only would need a fifth of anyway for, what, an hour's worth of inconsequential material added back in? and I get the added bonus of not supporting the release and maybe sending the message that half-assed hackjobs like this are unacceptable.

 

[bmasters9]

Yeah, save your feeling bad for those who really need it.

One season of the DVDs are edited for syndication. Yeah, that sucks. Meanwhile all five seasons of the Blus are hacked and cropped. So by my count, Five is still greater than one, which means that while a single season of the DVDs has issues, ALL FIVE SEASONS of the Blu-rays are damaged goods.

So, I'll stick with the DVDs because it won't cost me 50 more dollars for substandard product that I only would need a fifth of anyway for, what, an hour's worth of inconsequential material added back in? and I get the added bonus of not supporting the release and maybe sending the message that half-assed hackjobs like this are unacceptable.

Why would this Highway to Heaven release be as bad as the Mill Creek Jeannie Blus?

 

[Tony Bensley]

Yeah, save your feeling bad for those who really need it.

One season of the DVDs are edited for syndication. Yeah, that sucks. Meanwhile all five seasons of the Blus are hacked and cropped. So by my count, Five is still greater than one, which means that while a single season of the DVDs has issues, ALL FIVE SEASONS of the Blu-rays are damaged goods.

So, I'll stick with the DVDs because it won't cost me 50 more dollars for substandard product that I only would need a fifth of anyway for, what, an hour's worth of inconsequential material added back in? and I get the added bonus of not supporting the release and maybe sending the message that half-assed hackjobs like this are unacceptable.

Why would this Highway to Heaven release be as bad as the Mill Creek Jeannie Blus?

It really comes down to personal preferences.

For me, seeing the Mill Creek I DREAM OF JEANNIE Blu-ray screen caps, it was a very easy decision to stick with the Sony DVDs, despite Season 1 being colorized. They really looked THAT bad to me!

Regarding HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, I'm thinking the overall PQ of the Blu-rays and that all of the episodes are unedited time wise are worthwhile trade offs for the non OAR, at least to me, and more importantly, probably the Mrs, who has of late, been complaining about Vision TV only airing so many of the MURDER, SHE WROTE episodes, but unfortunately THAT series doesn't have all of the episodes on Blu-ray, and existing MSW series sets seem to be rather pricey, at the moment! HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN is another series that she loves, but all she has is the Season 1 Mill Creek DVD episodes (Is this the one that has the syndicated cuts?) in the rather lousy paper insert casing, which I suspect she has barely touched in the decade plus since I picked it up for her at the local North Bay Wal-Mart. At least it was fairly cheap, as I recall! I may actually ask her about this new HTH Blu-ray set.

CHEERS!

 

[bmasters9]

Regarding HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, I'm thinking the overall PQ of the Blu-rays and that all of the episodes are unedited time wise are worthwhile trade offs for the non OAR, at least to me, and more importantly, probably the Mrs,

So basically, even if it's not exactly formatted properly, seeing the whole show is more important to you? That's the vibe I'm getting here.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

It really comes down to personal preferences.

For me, seeing the Mill Creek I DREAM OF JEANNIE Blu-ray screen caps, it was a very easy decision to stick with the Sony DVDs, despite Season 1 being colorized. They really looked THAT bad to me!

Regarding HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, I'm thinking the overall PQ of the Blu-rays and that all of the episodes are unedited time wise are worthwhile trade offs for the non OAR, at least to me, and more importantly, probably the Mrs, who has of late, been complaining about Vision TV only airing so many of the MURDER, SHE WROTE episodes, but unfortunately THAT series doesn't have all of the episodes on Blu-ray, and existing MSW series sets seem to be rather pricey, at the moment! HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN is another series that she loves, but all she has is the Season 1 Mill Creek DVD episodes (Is this the one that has the syndicated cuts?) in the rather lousy paper insert casing, which I suspect she has barely touched in the decade plus since I picked it up for her at the local North Bay Wal-Mart. At least it was fairly cheap, as I recall! I may actually ask her about this new HTH Blu-ray set.

CHEERS!

Season 2 is the one on DVD with issues. MC's S1 was complete. S2, even though it was stated to be uncut, was still cut.

And overall, your take is the most logical one. It all comes down to personal preference and what's more important to someone.

I didn't buy Jeannie, either. And that was disappointing, because I was looking forward to that. But again, I already had the DVDs, and the DVDs were still a superior product for me (well, for everyone so it seems) after the Blus were released. So that was that. Money saved.

 

[Bryan^H]

Yeah, save your feeling bad for those who really need it.

Why are you attacking me? I don't care if you don't watch the set. I'm talking about people the are on the fence, and don't care about aspect ratio near as much.

 

[Bryan^H]

And overall, your take is the most logical one. It all comes down to personal preference and what's more important to someone.

No one said anything other that. My take isn't logical now? I just said I was impressed with the set. I am.

I said early on that I am for OAR 100%! And I understand completely for those people that skip this set because of it. I bought it because there was no choice, much like I bought time cut syndicated DVD sets back in the day with music changes because I had no choice. I hated the Happy Days DVD sets because of the music changes at first, but got used to it and still enjoyed the DVD sets available.

Sometime in this hobby we are given option to skip or buy. I respect your decision (and any person's decision) to skip this set because of no OAR. Just because I like this set doesn't mean you have to treat me poorly.

 

[classictvfan40]

Why are you attacking me? I don't care if you don't watch the set. I'm talking about people the are on the fence, and don't care about aspect ratio near as much.

Yeah I don't understand the hostility. There's no need for it.

 

[smithbrad]

Yeah I don't understand the hostility. There's no need for it.

Please, take into consideration, on a forum hostility can easily be perceived when not actually intended. I perceived hostility when all I was doing was trying to help clarify something, whether correct or not doesn't change my perception, which was why I bowed out of the discussion. Possibly, the same is going on here.

 

[smithbrad]

A comparison of a VEI capture provided above with a streaming HD of the same capture within a frame or so:

The first in the VEI capture (you may need to click to see full size):

The second is the Streaming capture (you may need to click to see full size):

The next is a comparison of a few areas between the two, with VEI on the left and streaming on the right, these are full size captures, no zooming was applied:

From the comparison you can see that the VEI is slightly smoother. I'm not saying it is bad or how noticeable it will be to each viewer in motion. Some of it will depend on screen size and seating distance. What it does seem to prove is that VEI added additional DNR on top of what they were provided.

 

[Tony Bensley]

So basically, even if it's not exactly formatted properly, seeing the whole show is more important to you? That's the vibe I'm getting here.

That is part of it, but it's also the fact that the OAR 4:3 DVD images from the Mill Creek set have a zoomed in look that I find a real turn off. Like I said, for me the trade offs add up in this case, but one's mileage might vary regarding that.

CHEERS!

 

[smithbrad]

Another bit of analysis I first posted elsewhere. Technically, if you take a 4:3 image and chop from the top and bottom to create a 16:9 image you lose approximately 25% of the content. However, looking at two screen captures from another site, one of the 4:3 DVD and one from an HD widescreen VEI image, I'd guess the pixel loss to be closer to only a 14% loss. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest they weren't using the whole negative in the first place for the 4:3 SD DVDs or when broadcast. They probably cropped in some from all sides when they created the original 4:3 tape masters. With current film scans they seem to capture the negative from edge to edge. Thus, when the studio went widescreen, they likely recouped more content from the sides and chopped less from top and bottom, which may explain why many aren't finding as much of an issue with the current 16:9 image on VEI's blu-ray release or what is currently streaming.