So frustrating to not have Blu-Rays of complete series! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

sabastianc65 · 02-18-2018, 04:01 PM

I'm so frustrated that it appears there won't be more I Love Lucy Blu-Rays. They were extremely expensive, but I was looking forward to completing my collection.

I realize that people are saying the DVDs and Blu-Rays were of pretty equal quality, but that makes sense as so much effort was put into restoring the DVD prints. I don't know how much better the Blu-Rays would look.

But I am hard-of-hearing, and the problem with the DVDs of I Love Lucy is that they used old-style captioning (like you see on your TV when watching a live program). When applied to DVD releases, the TV must be connected with analog cables in order for the captioning to display on the DVDs. Meaning, HDMI strips off the captioning. It's the nature of the technology.

So, unfortunately, as we all transitioned to HDMI, we lost the old-style captioning (think black background with white text) and only DVD/Blu-Ray activated captions/subtitles - often listed as SDH on the DVD/Blu-Ray case - were able to be viewed.

So, if I go to a friend's house and bring a Lucy DVD with me, the captions are stripped and I have a hard time understanding the episode. If I bring a Blu-Ray, I can activate the subtitles through the Blu-Ray since this is the only form of captioning allowed for Blu-Rays (also available for DVDs if the company chooses to include them).

So, I was really hoping that the captioning problem would be solved with the Blu-Ray releases.

Hopefully, one day, the complete series will be released all at once on Blu-Ray or a future format (well, we have video streaming now).

The Lucy Show first season DVD had the original captions and the switch to DVD-activated subtitles (meaning, you use the DVD menu to activate them rather than the TV) occurred with the rest of the seasons. I was hoping the release of complete series of The Lucy Show (all together) would address this, but the studio just chose to repackage the individual episodes and thus did not do anything to update the captioning.

To many, this may not seem like a big deal. But to someone like me who has a hearing loss, these details are not small.

tlc38tlc38 · 02-18-2018, 04:13 PM

I would also like to have the rest of ILL on Blu.

Ron Ron · 02-18-2018, 06:51 PM

When you compare the Dick Van Dyke complete blu ray release to the individual blu ray releases of ILL ....you'll know why people didn't buy them thus sales being poor and no further releases. I regret buying season 1 on blu ray.

Frank Gannucci · 02-18-2018, 07:30 PM

I have the original ILL box set that was made 11 years ago. The CC on there is the kind that you would see if you watched The Simpsons. Just thought I would say that.

02-18-2018, 04:01 PM	#1
sabastianc65 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 15, 2010 Location: USA Posts: 18	So frustrating to not have Blu-Rays of complete series! I'm so frustrated that it appears there won't be more I Love Lucy Blu-Rays. They were extremely expensive, but I was looking forward to completing my collection. I realize that people are saying the DVDs and Blu-Rays were of pretty equal quality, but that makes sense as so much effort was put into restoring the DVD prints. I don't know how much better the Blu-Rays would look. But I am hard-of-hearing, and the problem with the DVDs of I Love Lucy is that they used old-style captioning (like you see on your TV when watching a live program). When applied to DVD releases, the TV must be connected with analog cables in order for the captioning to display on the DVDs. Meaning, HDMI strips off the captioning. It's the nature of the technology. So, unfortunately, as we all transitioned to HDMI, we lost the old-style captioning (think black background with white text) and only DVD/Blu-Ray activated captions/subtitles - often listed as SDH on the DVD/Blu-Ray case - were able to be viewed. So, if I go to a friend's house and bring a Lucy DVD with me, the captions are stripped and I have a hard time understanding the episode. If I bring a Blu-Ray, I can activate the subtitles through the Blu-Ray since this is the only form of captioning allowed for Blu-Rays (also available for DVDs if the company chooses to include them). So, I was really hoping that the captioning problem would be solved with the Blu-Ray releases. Hopefully, one day, the complete series will be released all at once on Blu-Ray or a future format (well, we have video streaming now). The Lucy Show first season DVD had the original captions and the switch to DVD-activated subtitles (meaning, you use the DVD menu to activate them rather than the TV) occurred with the rest of the seasons. I was hoping the release of complete series of The Lucy Show (all together) would address this, but the studio just chose to repackage the individual episodes and thus did not do anything to update the captioning. To many, this may not seem like a big deal. But to someone like me who has a hearing loss, these details are not small.

02-18-2018, 04:13 PM	#2
tlc38tlc38 Every day’s a Dolly day! Forum Star Join Date: May 02, 2008 Location: I’m just travelin’ thru Posts: 19,258	I would also like to have the rest of ILL on Blu.
	__________________ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. Deuteronomy 15:10 In loving memory of my best friend, my Mama.

02-18-2018, 06:51 PM	#3
Ron Ron Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 30, 2005 Posts: 2,138	When you compare the Dick Van Dyke complete blu ray release to the individual blu ray releases of ILL ....you'll know why people didn't buy them thus sales being poor and no further releases. I regret buying season 1 on blu ray.

02-18-2018, 07:30 PM	#4
Frank Gannucci Member Forum Star Join Date: Mar 05, 2007 Posts: 16,042	I have the original ILL box set that was made 11 years ago. The CC on there is the kind that you would see if you watched The Simpsons. Just thought I would say that.