Trekkies rejoice! Star Trek.com is reporting that Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-Rays are due to hit store shelves in 2012:
Star Trek: The Next Generation will be released in high-definition Blu-ray, starting in January with a sampler of several popular episodes, followed by a season-one set to be released later on in 2012, and subsequent seasons beaming down after that.
CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. And all of the work is being done in conjunction with respected, longtime Star Trek figures Denise and Michael Okuda, who are on board as consultants.
Now fans will be able to see the individual fibers of Riker’s manly beard, as well as the latex and glue around every bumpy nose piece on the aliens in stunning 1080p HD. Here’s a teaser trailer: