Pre-Order I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

Could it be possible that 2 different sets of transfers were used by mistake? This is making less and less sense, otherwise!

CHEERS!

At this point, I wouldn't even doubt that. Especially some of the problems reported are just fine on my set.

This is without a doubt the strangest BD release I have ever encountered since I started collecting discs.

 

[Tony Bensley]

At this point, I wouldn't even doubt that. Especially some of the problems reported are just fine on my set.

This is without a doubt the strangest BD release I have ever encountered since I started collecting discs.

Strange is definitely appropriate! Disappointing, but still clearly in HD and better than the Sony DVDs vs. old non remastered SD transfers with the combed effect and clearly inferior to the DVDs, is a real head scratcher!

I've also reworded my previous post for clarity.

Could it be possible that 2 different sets of transfers were used for this I DREAM OF JEANNIE Mill Creek Blu-ray release by mistake, with some sets getting the HD transfers and other sets getting the old SD transfers? This is making less and less sense, otherwise!

CHEERS!

My still forming theory is that Sony initially gave Mill Creek the old I DREAM OF JEANNIE SD masters, which contributed to the release delays. Then, after Mill Creek approached Sony for the better HD masters, eventually received those.

What may have happened after that could be one of two scenarios:
1/ There was a mix-up in which some of the Blu-ray sets ended up with the old SD Transfers, which when ported over to Blu-ray, tend to have the added combing effect.
2/ With some Blu-ray sets with the old SD Transfers having already been replicated, Mill Creek simply left those as is, even in the midst of using the newer HD transfers for subsequent replication pressings once Sony handed those over.

Please understand this is merely speculation, on my part!

CHEERS!

 

[morasp]

If there are different versions, I wonder if the sets have serial numbers that could help differentiate them?

 

[Tony Bensley]

If there are different versions, I wonder if the sets have serial numbers that could help differentiate them?

Good question!

 

[BobO'Link]

While what I've watched so far isn't "stellar" it *is* a bit better looking than the DVD, but it's marginal. I got out my BW S1 set (the easiest one to access) to compare a few episodes. Both suffer from the same things - soft focus on many scenes and some contrast issues. These issues could easily be on the source material or negative but it looks more like they both used the same source and *not* a new transfer.

I also have that audio issue on the episode "Help, Help! A Shark" - it's very loud - as well as the title mix up on that last S5 disc. While I didn't notice any "jaggies" on the BW issues I watched I *do* see them on the color episodes I've sampled, although they're generally not *too* noticeable at my regular viewing distance (42" set viewed from ~8ft).

That said, I've only watched disc 1 in its entirety. It's certainly not as sharp/crisp as other BW series from the early 60s that've received BR releases. I sampled several color episodes - one mentioned above that has some video issues - and they have good color though often a bit soft looking and not as good as other color series from this era of TV that've received BR releases.

The primary good thing I can say is MC doesn't have the theme song on an annoying loop over the episode selection menu like on the Sony discs.

After comparing the BW S1 DVDs to this I don't believe this was from a new transfer but from the same one used for the original DVD releases (the BW S1 DVDs also do not have a new copyright date on the opening credits).

After their very good looking Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, and Quantum Leap releases I figured this one would also be quite good. It's not - it's "Just OK" and I can only recommend it to those who don't already own the Sony releases.

I paid ~$38 for my set and, depending on Mill Creek's response to complaints/reviews, may return it as my Sony DVDs look almost as good and don't have those issues.

 

[Tommy R]

One thing I didn’t mention from my previous post is that I compared both a B&W episode as well as a color episode, and it was much harder to differentiate the B&W when comparing. But the color episodes showed more noticeable improvement.

It may be a bit before I start going through the episodes regularly for fun, but when I do I’m gonna start somewhere in the back half of season two, as I started going through it with my DVDs a while back and got sidetracked. All said I’m glad to have the blu ray, even if it’s not the best possible release. At the very least, it’s blu ray which is far more durable than DVDs. I couldn’t tell you how many DVDs start not-working without any noticeable damage, while I haven’t had a single blu ray issue in my entire collection in that regard.

 

[Bryan^H]

I'm going to post screenshots from random episodes on my DVD and BD later, and let people here decide if, or how much better they BD set looks. Have patience.

 

[Tony Bensley]

While what I've watched so far isn't "stellar" it *is* a bit better looking than the DVD, but it's marginal. I got out my BW S1 set (the easiest one to access) to compare a few episodes. Both suffer from the same things - soft focus on many scenes and some contrast issues. These issues could easily be on the source material or negative but it looks more like they both used the same source and *not* a new transfer.

I also have that audio issue on the episode "Help, Help! A Shark" - it's very loud - as well as the title mix up on that last S5 disc. While I didn't notice any "jaggies" on the BW issues I watched I *do* see them on the color episodes I've sampled, although they're generally not *too* noticeable at my regular viewing distance (42" set viewed from ~8ft).

That said, I've only watched disc 1 in its entirety. It's certainly not as sharp/crisp as other BW series from the early 60s that've received BR releases. I sampled several color episodes - one mentioned above that has some video issues - and they have good color though often a bit soft looking and not as good as other color series from this era of TV that've received BR releases.

The primary good thing I can say is MC doesn't have the theme song on an annoying loop over the episode selection menu like on the Sony discs.

After comparing the BW S1 DVDs to this I don't believe this was from a new transfer but from the same one used for the original DVD releases (the BW S1 DVDs also do not have a new copyright date on the opening credits).

After their very good looking Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, and Quantum Leap releases I figured this one would also be quite good. It's not - it's "Just OK" and I can only recommend it to those who don't already own the Sony releases.

I paid ~$38 for my set and, depending on Mill Creek's response to complaints/reviews, may return it as my Sony DVDs look almost as good and don't have those issues.

As I see it, the bold section might be key insofar as the reported baked-in jaggies/combing, particularly screen size and the relative viewing distance from said screen!

CHEERS!

 

[dawnshadow]

Strange is definitely appropriate! Disappointing, but still clearly in HD and better than the Sony DVDs vs. old non remastered SD transfers with the combed effect and clearly inferior to the DVDs, is a real head scratcher!

Still clearly in HD? No, not at all… it’s debatable at this point whether these possibly look a slight bit better than the DVDs but that doesn’t make them HD.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Still clearly in HD? No, not at all… it’s debatable at this point whether these possibly look a slight bit better than the DVDs but that doesn’t make them HD.

I'm merely reporting what others have observed, which widely varies with this release.

CHEERS!

 

[Lecagr]

This blu ray edition of IDOJ has too many episodes crammed on to the discs, that's just one of the problems with it so I'm gladly staying with the individual season DVD releases of IDOJ from Sony. I don't own a blu ray player anyway and have no plans to purchase one. DVD has been a reliable format for me over the years and the image quality DVD's produce is superb enough. If I invested in blu ray, I would be buying classic TV shows and movies that I already have on DVD and I won't do that because I would consider it as a waste of money.

 

[BobO'Link]

This blu ray edition of IDOJ has too many episodes crammed on to the discs, that's just one of the problems with it so I'm gladly staying with the individual season DVD releases of IDOJ from Sony. I don't own a blu ray player anyway and have no plans to purchase one. DVD has been a reliable format for me over the years and the image quality DVD's produce is superb enough. If I invested in blu ray, I would be buying classic TV shows and movies that I already have on DVD and I won't do that because I would consider it as a waste of money.

I was a "DVD only" person for a very long time after BR came out, much for the same reason as you. I caved when Star Trek:TOS remasters with *original* vfx were only released on BR. I liked my DVDs but had seen screen shots from the remastered video and it was significant enough that I "needed" to upgrade. I'm glad I did (admittedly, my first BR player was from a friend who upgraded and gave me their old player which had Component outputs that worked with my CRT - I'd been talking about it and was looking at HDMI-Composite adapters when he upgraded). More than a few BR products, from TV series to movies, are a significant, visible, improvement with the BR releases (Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek:TNG, and Monty Python's Flying Circus being stellar examples). And I don't automatically upgrade everything in my collection. It must be a series/movie I watch very regularly or truly love. Even then, there've been a few BRs that just weren't worth the purchase with IDOJ, at this point, being one of those few.

I'm not trying to convince you but simply saying I was once in your shoes and made that step. For me, it's been more than worth the expense of a few (OK... a few hundred) double-dips and gives me more options these days. It doesn't hurt that BR is often less expensive than the same product on DVD and often takes up less shelf space.

 

[ScottRE]

That

another problem i had was i put the disc in my region free player and it started making a really loud , unbalanced spinning noise and sounded like it was gonna make the player explode. i put it back in my other player and it played fine. go figure. both are basic sony blu ray players .

This happened to me with two VEI released: The Immortal and The Magician. I wound up ripping them to digital files so I could watch them without being distracted. I've never had this happen with the less cheap labels.

 

[Lecagr]

I was a "DVD only" person for a very long time after BR came out, much for the same reason as you. I caved when Star Trek:TOS remasters with *original* vfx were only released on BR. I liked my DVDs but had seen screen shots from the remastered video and it was significant enough that I "needed" to upgrade. I'm glad I did (admittedly, my first BR player was from a friend who upgraded and gave me their old player which had Component outputs that worked with my CRT - I'd been talking about it and was looking at HDMI-Composite adapters when he upgraded). More than a few BR products, from TV series to movies, are a significant, visible, improvement with the BR releases (Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek:TNG, and Monty Python's Flying Circus being stellar examples). And I don't automatically upgrade everything in my collection. It must be a series/movie I watch very regularly or truly love. Even then, there've been a few BRs that just weren't worth the purchase with IDOJ, at this point, being one of those few.

I'm not trying to convince you but simply saying I was once in your shoes and made that step. For me, it's been more than worth the expense of a few (OK... a few hundred) double-dips and gives me more options these days. It doesn't hurt that BR is often less expensive than the same product on DVD and often takes up less shelf space.

Thanks Howie and I appreciate your comments. I am content with DVD, but having said that, I can currently think of one item that if it had a blu ray release and done properly, it might entice me to buy a blu ray player. That item is the complete series of Gomer Pyle USMC. If the series was released on blu ray with every episode uncut including all the music segments, it would not be easy to pass that one up. The DVD's that were released are a mess with several episodes edited because of music, and so far this issue has not been corrected. Of course, I would prefer a new DVD release of the series with every episode uncut, but if it came out on blu ray, as I said it would be difficult to pass that one up.

 

[bmasters9]

This happened to me with two VEI released: The Immortal and The Magician. I wound up ripping them to digital files so I could watch them without being distracted. I've never had this happen with the less cheap labels.

So basically, you believe that if it's a more prestige label (one of the major studios), it's more likely better made?

 

[BobO'Link]

That

This happened to me with two VEI released: The Immortal and The Magician. I wound up ripping them to digital files so I could watch them without being distracted. I've never had this happen with the less cheap labels.

Yeah, I have a couple of VEI releases where the player thrashes quite a bit while loading an episode. It normally settles down once it starts playing but it's quite disconcerting.

 

[ScottRE]

So basically, you believe that if it's a more prestige label (one of the major studios), it's more likely better made?

I have no doubt.

Sadly, I Dream of Jeannie might very have supported a higher budgeted release. It's a classic show that is still well known. This didn't need to be a budget toss-off. I'd have paid twice as much for more discs, better transfers and even a few bonus features.

 

[HubbaBubbaKid]

I have no doubt.

Sadly, I Dream of Jeannie might very have supported a higher budgeted release. It's a classic show that is still well known. This didn't need to be a budget toss-off. I'd have paid twice as much for more discs, better transfers and even a few bonus features.

i agree. for most people 30+ , IDOJ, Bewitched, TAGS, Gilligans Island , I Love Lucy, and The Brady Bunch are some of the first shows that come to mind when talking about old tv shows bc of their long history of syndicated reruns. most markets got most of these so multi generations got to watch them .

 

[bmasters9]

I have no doubt.

Sadly, I Dream of Jeannie might very have supported a higher budgeted release. It's a classic show that is still well known. This didn't need to be a budget toss-off. I'd have paid twice as much for more discs, better transfers and even a few bonus features.

So you're not in it just for the show, I take it-- you wanted a deluxe treatment (or at least a somewhat better one than this junk Mill Creek Blu).

 

[ScottRE]

So you're not in it just for the show, I take it-- you wanted a deluxe treatment (or at least a somewhat better one than this junk Mill Creek Blu).

I have the Sony release as well as the Mill Creek DVD box set. I'm in it for the show, but this release doesn't sound any better better than something I can get off a bootleg site (and a bootleg site might even do a better job at box art). If a label is going to release a series on Blu Ray, consumers have every reason to expect (or even demand) that it will be an improvement from standard def DVD. That's the entire selling point of the format. Blu Ray wasn't introduced just so you can squeeze enough data on there to make is as good as DVD. I'd expect this from Alpha Video or some Public Domain label.

However, if they put actual care into the release and provided more than a barebones uprez, I would have happily paid more for it. Because a series of this longevity and popularity deserves it. Lost in frigging Space was treated better. I'd be happy with a barebones release if they added a few more discs and made it look undeniably better than the SD DVDs.