Exclusive – ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ HD Preview Screencaps • TrekCore.com

In the first of two new exclusives, TrekCore is taking a look at the new TNG Blu-Ray with brand new HD Screencaps of the pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint”. We’ve retaken those screencaps already published by review sites but present them here without annoying watermarks so you can get an unfiltered view of the beautiful remastering that’s taken place. We’ve also included a selection of new screencaps of key scenes which haven’t yet been made public.

TrekCore Comments: We were especially interested to see how the remastered HD version coped with composited visual effects. Screenshots of the security guards held in the turbolift behind Q’s energy forcefield and Riker walking into the holodeck simulation both illustrate an excellent standard of compositing – far far superior to the original version, and a lot more convincing at the same time. We’ll be posting detailed comparisons after the official release, but any fan who remembers these two particular scenes will undoubtedly be impressed at the way the HD version handles over the original SD transfers.

Another interesting shot is the view of Farpoint station. The HD transfer shows the station surrounded by verdent gardens and trees – something completely lost in the original! Little details like this are lovely to behold, and add new life to a show which is now 25 years old.

The transporter effect has so far only been available in a small thumbnail, so we wanted to bring you a full HD resolution copy of this. It would appear as if this effects sequence has been redone using CGI but at the same time remains very faithful to the original. The extra vibrant shimmers, swirls and sparkles bring a whole new dimension to the transporter sequence – such an improvement over the original SD print, dulled down in the transfer to videotape.

The shot of the Enterprise delivering the energy transfer beam has been fixed! In the original the beam is shown unusually emanating from the Captain’s Yacht. It’s a nice touch, and we’re glad that – whilst remaining true to the original – the remastering team are happy to fix up these small errors.

TrekCore will be bringing you a full selection of hundreds of HD screencaps for all episodes on the sampler disc after the official release, matching the standard we’re proud to maintain across the whole site. We’ll also be adding new comparison features between the HD and SD versions, so watch this space!

Part 2 of our exclusive look at the sampler disc will be released tomorrow with coverage of “Sins of the Father” and “The Inner Light”.