Editing Babylon 5 (section)

== Home media ==
In July 1995, [[Warner Home Video]] began distributing ''Babylon 5'' VHS video tapes under its Beyond Vision label in the UK. Beginning with the original telefilm, ''[[Babylon 5: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'', these were [[PAL]] tapes, showing video in the same [[Aspect ratio (image)#Current video standards|4:3 aspect ratio]] as the initial television broadcasts. By the release of Season 2, tapes included [[closed captioning]] of dialogue and [[Dolby Surround]] sound. [[Columbia House]] began distributing [[NTSC]] tapes, via mail order in 1997, followed by repackaged collector's editions and three-tape [[box sets|boxed sets]] in 1999, by which time the original pilot telefilm had been replaced by the re-edited TNT special edition. Additional movie and complete season boxed-sets were also released by Warner Bros. until 2000.

[[Image Entertainment]] released ''Babylon 5'' [[laserdiscs]] between December 1998 and September 1999. Produced on double-sided 12-inch [[Pioneer Corporation|Pioneer]] discs, each contained two episodes displayed in the 4:3 broadcast aspect-ratio, with Dolby Surround audio and closed captioning for the dialogue. Starting with two TNT telefilms, ''[[Babylon 5: In the Beginning|In the Beginning]]'' and the re-edited special edition of ''The Gathering'', Seasons 1 and 5 were released simultaneously over a six-month period. Seasons 2 and 4 followed, but with the decision to halt production due to a drop in sales, precipitated by rumors of a pending DVD release, only the first twelve episodes of Season 2 and the first six episodes of Season 4 were ultimately released.<ref>{{cite web |title=Babylon 5: The Gathering / In The Beginning |last=Germano |first= Derek M |year=2001 |url=http://www.thecinemalaser.com/dvd2/reviews/babylon-5-tgitb-dvd.htm |publisher=thecinemalaser.com |access-date=January 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230075959/http://thecinemalaser.com/dvd2/reviews/babylon-5-tgitb-dvd.htm |archive-date=December 30, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In November 2001, Warner Home Video began distributing ''Babylon 5'' DVDs with a two-movie set containing the re-edited TNT special edition of ''The Gathering'' and ''In The Beginning''. The telefilms were later individually released in [[DVD region code#Region codes and countries|region 2]] in April 2002, though some markets received the original version of ''The Gathering'' in identical packaging.

DVD boxed sets of the individual seasons, each containing six discs, began being released in October 2002. Each included a printed booklet containing episode summaries, with each disc containing audio options for German, French, and English, plus [[wikt:Special:Search/subtitle|subtitles]] in a wider range of languages, including Arabic and Dutch. Video was digitally remastered from higher resolution PAL broadcast masters and displayed in [[anamorphic widescreen]] with remastered and remixed [[Dolby Digital]] [[5.1 surround sound|5.1]] sound. Disc 1 of each set contained an introduction to the season by [[J. Michael Straczynski|Straczynski]], while disc 6 included [[featurettes]] containing interviews with various production staff, as well as information on the [[fictional universe]], and a [[gag reel]]. Three episodes in each season also contained commentary from either Straczynski, members of the main cast, and/or the episode director.

Since its initial release, a number of repackaged DVD boxed sets have been produced for various [[DVD region code#Region codes and countries|regional markets]]. With slightly altered [[cover art]], they included no additional content, but the discs were more securely stored in slimline cases, rather than the early "book" format, with hard plastic pages used during the original release of the first three seasons.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="4" style="text-align:left; border: 0"|'''Initial DVD release'''
|-
! style="text-align:left"| '''Episode box sets''' || [[DVD region code#Region codes and countries|Region 1]] || [[DVD region code#Region codes and countries|Region 2]] || [[DVD region code#Region codes and countries|Region 4]]
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete First Season || November 5, 2002 || October 28, 2002 || November 27, 2002
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season || April 29, 2003 || May 26, 2003 || July 9, 2003
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete Third Season || August 12, 2003 || November 10, 2003 || December 19, 2003
|-
| style="padding-left: 1em" align="left" | Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season || January 6, 2004 || April 19, 2004 || August 19, 2004
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete Fifth Season || April 13, 2004 || Jan 2005 || December 16, 2004
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series || August 17, 2004 || N/A || N/A
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Complete Universe (inc. all movies and Crusade episodes)|| N/A || October 24, 2005 || N/A
|-
! colspan="4" style="text-align:left; border: 0"|'''Movie releases and box sets'''
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Gathering / In the Beginning || December 4, 2001 || N/A || November 21, 2001
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Gathering || N/A || April 8, 2002 || N/A
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: In the Beginning || N/A || April 8, 2002 || N/A
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Movie Collection || August 17, 2004 || N/A || March 2, 2005
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: Movie Box Set || N/A || February 21, 2005 || N/A
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers || March 14, 2006 || October 24, 2005 || November 16, 2005
|-
| align="left" style="padding-left: 1em" | Babylon 5: The Lost Tales || July 31, 2007 || September 3, 2007 || January 2, 2008
|}

On July 19, 2023, Warner announced that Babylon 5 would be released on Blu-ray on December 5, 2023, for the show's 30th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Babylon 5 Gets First-Ever Blu-Ray Release December 2023|date=July 19, 2023|url= https://gizmodo.com/babylon-5-blu-ray-complete-series-price-release-date-1850651890|publisher=[[Gizmodo]]|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref>

=== Mastering problems ===
While the series was in pre-production, studios were looking at ways for their existing shows to make the transition from the standard [[Aspect ratio (image)#4:3 standard|4:3 aspect ratio]] to the [[widescreen]] formats that would accompany the next generation of televisions. After visiting [[Warner Bros.]], which was stretching the [[Horizontal blanking interval|horizontal interval]] for an episode of ''[[Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman|Lois & Clark]]'', producer John Copeland convinced them to allow ''Babylon 5'' to be shot on [[Super 35|Super 35mm film stock]]. "The idea being that we would [[telecine]] to 4:3 for the original broadcast of the series. But what it also gave us was a negative that had been shot for the new 16×9 widescreen-format televisions that we knew were on the horizon."<ref name="Copeland74">{{cite web |title=Interview with John Copeland: page 4 |last=Copeland |first=John |date=June 4, 2008 |url=http://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_09_3 |publisher=B5Scrolls |access-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127220927/https://b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_09_3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Quote box |quote=The widescreen conversion thing was executive short sightedness at its finest!!! We offered to do ALL of ''Babylon 5'' in widescreen mode if Warner Bros would buy us a reference monitor so we could check our output (only $5000 at the time). Ken Parkes (the "Business affairs" guy) and Netter (penny wise, but pound foolish) said no! So we did everything so it could be CROPPED to be widescreen! Each blamed the other by the way. Doug Netter said, "Ken Parkes said no". Ken Parkes said, "Doug Netter said no". SHEESH!!! So for $75 an episode they could have had AWESOME near Hi-Def. |source=— Ron Thornton, 2008<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Ron Thornton: page 4 |last=Thornton |first=Ron |date=February 10, 2008 |url=http://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_01_6 |publisher=B5Scrolls |access-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127220927/https://b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_01_6 |url-status=live }}</ref> |align=right |width=40% |salign=right}}

Though the CG scenes, and those containing live action combined with digital elements, could have been created in a suitable widescreen format, a cost-saving decision was taken to produce them in the 4:3 aspect ratio. When those images were prepared for widescreen release, the top and bottom of the images were simply cropped, and the remaining image 'blown up' to match the dimensions of the live action footage, noticeably reducing the image quality.<ref name="Copeland74"/><ref name="Cooper">{{Cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/22/babylon-5-digital-video-quality/ |title='Babylon 5' is great, so why does it look so bad? |last=Cooper |first=Daniel |date=June 22, 2018 |website=Engadget |access-date=September 14, 2019 |archive-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414002128/https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/22/babylon-5-digital-video-quality/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The scenes containing live action ready to be [[Digital compositing|composited]] with [[matte paintings]], [[Computer animation|CG animation]], etc., were delivered on tape already telecined to the 4:3 aspect-ratio, and contained a high level of [[Film grain|grain]], which resulted in further [[image noise]] being present when enlarged and stretched for widescreen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Ron Thornton: page 5 |last=Thornton |first=Ron |date=February 10, 2008 |url=http://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_01_6 |publisher=B5Scrolls |access-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127220927/https://b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_01_6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

For the purely live-action scenes, rather than using the film negatives, according to Copeland, "Warners had even forgotten that they had those. They used [[PAL]] versions and converted them to [[NTSC]] for the US market. They actually didn't go back and retransfer the shows."<ref name="Copeland75">{{cite web |title=Interview with John Copeland: page 5 |last=Copeland |first=John |date=June 4, 2008 |url=http://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_09_4 |publisher=B5Scrolls |access-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127220927/https://b5scrolls.com/#Screen1_09_4 |url-status=live }}</ref> With the resulting [[aliasing]], and the [[progressive scan]] transfer of the video to DVD, this has created a number of visual flaws throughout the widescreen release. In particular, quality has been noted to drop significantly in composite shots.<ref>{{cite web |title=Babylon 5 – The Complete First Season |last=Ordway |first=Holly E. |date=November 5, 2002 |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4929/babylon-5-the-complete-first-season/ |publisher=DVDTalk.com |access-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915222450/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4929/babylon-5-the-complete-first-season/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/02/11/babylon-5-the-complete-fourth-season |title=Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season |last=Non |first=Sergio |date=February 11, 2004 |publisher=IGN.com |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225103302/https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/02/11/babylon-5-the-complete-fourth-season |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020 a new remastered version was created (as detailed above)<ref>{{Cite web |title='Babylon 5' gets remastered and is now available to rent or buy online |date=February 3, 2021 |url=https://www.space.com/babylon-5-remastered-streaming-amazon-itunes-hbo-max |publisher=[[Space.com]] |access-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303144314/https://www.space.com/babylon-5-remastered-streaming-amazon-itunes-hbo-max |url-status=live }}</ref> which restored the original picture quality and repaired the damage to the CGI scenes, although this also involved reverting to the original 4:3 aspect ratio. The negatives were scanned at ultra HD quality and then down converted to HD and upscaling programs were used to enhance the CGI to HD at the same time.