"Star Trek: Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" are the only television series in the franchise that have yet to be given an HD or Blu-ray release. It has now been stated that an HD or Blu-ray release for these two series may never happen.
Robert Meyer Burnett, who worked extensively for the special features for the Blu-ray releases of other "Star Trek" series, explained in an interview with Trek News that time and money were the main culprits. Another concern was that the finished edits of the two shows were only available in an NTSC resolution.
Unlike older shows shot in 35mm film, with all of the special effects included in the cut negative, "Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" utilized a cheaper method. Burnett elaborated that the visual effects and other edits were only added once the film had been formatted onto a videotape.
"So a radical notion was proposed," Burnett stated. "Why not go back to the original negative and rebuild the entire show, from from the ground up, in High Definition? In the history of television, this had never been done before."
This lengthy process also involved redoing many of the special effects and then layering them on top to replicate was done on the videotape. The process has not yet been done for "Voyager" or "Deep Space Nine" but it was done, over the course of several years, for "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Unfortunately, the Blu-ray sales for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were below the studio's expectations. The low returns would not justify the time and expenses required to repeat the process for the other two "Star Trek" shows.
"The Next Generation" was also the most popular iteration of the series. If that show failed to draw in Blu-ray sales then the chances of "Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" doing any better were quite low, /Film reported.
"Voyager" and "Deep Space Nine" can still be viewed on DVD and are available on streaming networks such as Netflix. However, they are only available in their original resolutions and cannot be viewed in an HD format.
The studios are pushing forward with a new "Star Trek" television series, titled "Star Trek Discovery." The official teaser trailer for the new show can be viewed below: