Futurama Volume 6 DVD/Blu-Ray set

[Reply #40 on:]

Well I enjoyed his insane trip round NNY as Titanius (especially when he jumps out of his and Fry's apartment window), when he tries to destroy the Die of Power with his head, all of the things he talks about when he thinks he's in Cornwood and I, for some unknown reason, enjoy when they are taken to Cornwood and he shouts 'COORRRRNNNNWWOOOODDDD'.

[Reply #41 on:]

For my money, Bender's Game is the funniest of the movies -not the best, but the funniest.

[Reply #42 on:]

OKAY, I'M STILL UNDECIDED. DVD OR BLU-RAY.

Otis, what is the quality of the DVD like compared to HD?

[Reply #43 on:]

I'm not really the best person to ask as I have little experience. The DVD's are good, but if you have HD then any show made in HD will bound to be quite a lot better in HD, so might as well I'd say...

[Reply #44 on:]

OKAY, I'M STILL UNDECIDED. DVD OR BLU-RAY.

Otis, what is the quality of the DVD like compared to HD?

Really?  Who doesn't have HD these days besides old people

[Reply #45 on:]

I have HD on my downstairs TV too, but no Blu-Ray Player or PS3. And I'm not moving my PS3.

[Reply #46 on:]

Only one thing for it, get another PS3...

[Reply #47 on:]

Hell no.

[Reply #48 on:]

I'm fairly certain I don't have HD, but then again my parents are old.

[Reply #49 on:]

Tell them to stop being so old!...

[Reply #50 on:]

I have HD on my basement TV but not on the other one. Luckily, I manage to commandeer the basement every Thursday. The show looks SO GOOD.

I don't have a Blu-ray player either, which seems to be like something maybe the family should fix? It's not usually a big deal though.

[Reply #51 on:]

Tsk tsk, Leela.  Haven't you heard of a little thing called trigger discipline?  And you're wondering why that gun went off...

Awesome box art though.

[Reply #52 on:]

I have better-than-HD on my PC monitor so nyeh. :P

[Reply #53 on:]

If I played the DVD in a PS3 would it be HD?

[Reply #54 on:]

If I played the DVD in a PS3 would it be HD?

lolno

[Reply #55 on:]

A DVD in a Blu-Ray player can often be upscaled, but not HD...

[Reply #56 on:]

God damn... So when Sky One HD show Futurama, do they have the Blu-Ray in? And the DVD on Sky One? If not, why can't I get the DVD in HD?!

[Reply #57 on:]

Because HDDVD lost and we are left with only one option (for physical media) unfortunately.

[Reply #58 on:]

I want HD Betamax damn it! ...

[Reply #59 on:]

God damn... So when Sky One HD show Futurama, do they have the Blu-Ray in? And the DVD on Sky One? If not, why can't I get the DVD in HD?!

Um... you realise that TV channels don't just pick out a DVD and press play to broadcast a show, right?

And seasons 1-4 of the show don't exist in HD. They were only produced in standard definition so even if they show the old episodes on Sky HD, my guess is that they're just upscaled.
You can get Futurama from Bender's Game onwards on Blu-Ray (well, once season 6 is finally released in the UK, YOU can). Bender's Big Score and The Beast with a Billion Backs exist in HD but neither have been released to the general public yet, to the best of my knowledge. Perhaps some iTunes download or something exists that I don't know of.

[Reply #60 on:]

Yes I know all of that information, and I've seen eps from Seasons 1-4 on Sky One HD, they look just the same, probably worse than on SD...

[Reply #61 on:]

(well, once season 6 is finally released in the UK, YOU can).

Is there a Season 6 DVD release date yet? Enquiring minds want to know!

[Reply #62 on:]

I sent an email to Play and asked them about it, it's in the UK thread in Ontopic, nothing yet.

Eric Rogers tweeted:

And if you loved this season, or found it even slightly rewatchable, then buy the DVD on Dec 21! My big dumb face can be seen in the extras!

[Reply #63 on:]

*BUMP*

Good news everyone! I pre-ordered Season 6A... Went for DVD.

[Reply #64 on:]

One day you'll regret that you didn't get the Blu-Ray, but maybe by then the Blu-Ray will be cheaper...

[Reply #65 on:]

I will not regret not getting the Blu-Ray.* Because I've realised I rarely put on any of my Blu-Rays. I've always got a DVD on.

*For now.

[Reply #66 on:]

and danny realized blu-ray is a waste of time.

who cares if it's clearer...it's a fcuking cartoon.

i won'tbuy blu-ray until the entire series (1-4, and movies) are on bluray....what a waste of money.

[Reply #67 on:]

Burned by HD-DVD, were you? 

j/k

[Reply #68 on:]

Some new details:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Futurama-Volume-6/16002

I'm think the list there isn't complete as far as extras go, since it omits the Christopher Tyng thing.

[Reply #69 on:]

Now I know IGN is absolute shit, but this is the only info I could find on the quality of the DVD version of Season 6A.

The video looks pretty good, but has artifacting, bleeding colors, and can look over-saturated. Of course those with less than ideal televisions won't notice most of the visual bugs, but those with high-end HD set ups may be disappointed with what they see.

[Reply #70 on:]

I've always thought that American NTSC looks shit compared to UK PAL anyway. The UK DVD will look better, more lines, just better. Of course the Blu-Ray will look a lot better again, but you get my drift...

[Reply #71 on:]

who cares if it's clearer...it's a fcuking cartoon.

i won'tbuy blu-ray until the entire series (1-4, and movies) are on bluray....what a waste of money.

I've said it before, but again, if anything animation is the best thing to buy in HD. With live-action stuff, there is always SOME grain, some artefacts, it never looks perfect. Animation on the other hand can look absolutely spotless. 'Futurama' is a gorgeous looking show, so it deserves HD if you ask me.

As for not buying blu-ray until 1-4 are released in that format too, they weren't even produced in HD so it'll be a waste of time. Plus this comment seems to completely contradict your previous comment.

[Reply #72 on:]

I've always thought that American NTSC looks shit compared to UK PAL anyway. The UK DVD will look better, more lines, just better. Of course the Blu-Ray will look a lot better again, but you get my drift...

Not trying to make fun of you especially since I haven't seen PAL side-by-side with NTSC in ages, but "more lines, just better."?  What about the refresh rate?

[Reply #73 on:]

There's various info on refresh rates on the internet, but from what I've read it seems to suggest PAL is smooth, however, there is a small shift in the pitch of the audio if at 50hz, as where NSTC displays both 24 frame/s and 25 frame/s material without any speed shifting by using a technique called 3:2 pulldown, but at the expense of introducing unsmooth playback in the form of telecine judder. I'm no expert on refresh rates, my info here is based on a a quick poke around online. It confirmed some stuff I thought anyways though...

Anyways, by more lines I meant PAL had 576 horizontal lines NTSC has 480 horizontal lines according to the source I just used. The more lines the better, it means more detail and clearer picture. Blu-Ray can be 720p or 1080p, the more the better. When I say PAL is just better than NTSC that's why I said it, PAL looks better than NTSC and having more lines helps...

I have a few American NTSC DVD's and lots of PAL DVD's. I also have duplicate DVD's of exactly the same thing in both NTSC and PAL, and the PAL ones always look sharper and much better. I've also owned an NTSC Wii and and a PAL Wii and the PAL Wii was far superior because it’s sharper, more lines again...

Obviously Blu-Ray is best though, even more lines...

[Reply #74 on:]

Now I know IGN is absolute shit, but this is the only info I could find on the quality of the DVD version of Season 6A.

The video looks pretty good, but has artifacting, bleeding colors, and can look over-saturated. Of course those with less than ideal televisions won't notice most of the visual bugs, but those with high-end HD set ups may be disappointed with what they see.

Let me check out the DVD of Futurama Volume 5 on a Full HD TV and I'll let you know if it looks like IGN described it..

[Reply #75 on:]

There's various info on refresh rates on the internet, but from what I've read it seems to suggest PAL is smooth, however, there is a small shift in the pitch of the audio if at 50hz, as where NSTC displays both 24 frame/s and 25 frame/s material without any speed shifting by using a technique called 3:2 pulldown, but at the expense of introducing unsmooth playback in the form of telecine judder. I'm no expert on refresh rates, my info here is based on a a quick poke around online. It confirmed some stuff I thought anyways though...

Anyways, by more lines I meant PAL had 576 horizontal lines NTSC has 480 horizontal lines according to the source I just used. The more lines the better, it means more detail and clearer picture. Blu-Ray can be 720p or 1080p, the more the better. When I say PAL is just better than NTSC that's why I said it, PAL looks better than NTSC and having more lines helps...

I have a few American NTSC DVD's and lots of PAL DVD's. I also have duplicate DVD's of exactly the same thing in both NTSC and PAL, and the PAL ones always look sharper and much better. I've also owned an NTSC Wii and and a PAL Wii and the PAL Wii was far superior because it’s sharper, more lines again...

Obviously Blu-Ray is best though, even more lines...

As someone who did a fair bit of DVD importing in my teens, I'd like to back everything Otis is saying up. I've never really looked into the specifics of it, but going on pure "that looks better than that" instincts, PAL looks much nicer than NTSC.

[Reply #76 on:]

Let me check out the DVD of Futurama Volume 5 on a Full HD TV and I'll let you know if it looks like IGN described it..

Thank you.

[Reply #77 on:]

Ok, I took some photos comparing the DVD and HD Futurama Volume 5 resolutions in a 40'' Full HD (1920x1080) TV.
Sorry for the weird angle but I used a small tripod that I couldn't put that far away...

                  Please click for full size the images

Take 1: DVD Resolution


Take 1: HD Resolution


As you can see in the preview (and even more in the full size images), there's color bleed in the Normal DVD resolution. The wires are more detailed in the HD version.
About the color.. it looks better in the DVD but that's because I used a different setting in the HD photos (I probably shouldn't have done that)

Take 2: DVD Resolution


Take 2: HD Resolution


On this one, the detail on the surveillance cameras of Planet Express look great in HD but blurred in the Normal resolution. You can see thinner borders in the drawings.. like washed out borders in the DVD resolution.

Take 3: CLOSEUP - DVD Resolution


Take 3: CLOSEUP - HD Resolution


This closeup is the biggest zoom that the camera can take.. you can see the pixels of the TV, and here you go the full detail of the difference between the two resolutions. Clearly the HD is superior than the DVD, but looking the video from about 3 meters (10 ft) away, you'll notice it less.

I've yet to take photos of the 2 resolutions from 3, 6 and 10 ft (1, 2 and 3 m) away from the screen to see if there's a big difference, probably it is not a dramatic change.

The quality also depends of 2 other factors:

• If your TV smooths the DVD to show it kinda better (this TV kinda does that)
• If your HD TV is Full HD (1920x1080) or only HD (1280x720 or less)

Of course, with an HD TV  (non Full HD) the color bleeding will be less noticeable, but if in the future you get a Full HD TV, you'll see it.. and the bigger the TV the worse the DVD will look.

Technology can make the DVD look acceptable, but real TVs can't restore the resolution to be fully crisp.. CSI technology is not yet available like Zapp believes.

I hope this help to make up your mind now.. DVD or Blu-Ray.. either way, we have to keep supporting Futurama!

[Reply #78 on:]

DVD doesn't look that bad, fine by me.

JavieR, how is the DVD compared to BBS? Because BBS was produced in HD but hasn't made it to Blu-Ray yet, and it looked great on DVD.

[Reply #79 on:]

Well, BBS would look just like the images I added.. since a DVD can't have more resolution than 640x480 pixels.

Like I said, the photos were made by looking at the 40'' Ful HD TV from 2 ft of distance. If you look the DVD from 10 ft it would not be that different than the HD resolution... it all depends of the TV size, the bigger the screen, the bigger you'll notice the distortion.

If you watch the DVD in a 22'' Full HD monitor (1920x1080), you'll see less color bleeding and distortion. The image is up scaled like in the 40'' TV, but the "physical pixels" are smaller so is less noticeable (but you can see the difference with HD) .

If you're going to get a 40' or bigger Full HD TV, I recommend the Blu-Ray set. If you're going to watch it in CRT TV or an HD (not Full HD TV) you probably will only need the DVD set... for now..

In the future all TVs will be Full HD (1920x1080) or even with bigger resolution (like these LG TVs), and then, you'll probably will see the Futurama DVD sets like watching a 240p YouTube fullscreen video in a 22'' monitor.

I'd like to end with a quote:

          Leela: Fry, you're wasting your life in front of that TV. You've got to
          get out and see the real world.
          Fry: But this is HDTV, it's got better resolution than the real world.