Rating: 
Summary: xena all the way.......
Review: I just bought the season one of xena and i love every episodes of it now i can't wait to buy the second season on dvd.....i hope that it'll come soon.
Rating: 
Summary: OK Fine By Me
Review: Ok, I was a little hesitant after reading some of the negative comments previously submitted, but I bought it anyway. And I haven't been disappointed. I don't have top-of-the-line equipment (I watch it on a TV with a regular DVD player), and there were some grainy scenes (usually in scenes with dull lighting), but they were few and far between. And I didn't have any problems with the audio, either. The only real complaint I have (and maybe it's a small one), is that at least a couple of episodes (Prometheus, Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts) left me with the nagging suspicion that some of the original material had been cut out (I'm thinking 10 seconds worth or more). I don't know why. And that's just what I noticed; perhaps all the episodes were cut short. Or not. Still, it nags me.But I'm still glad I bought it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy it :(
Review: I've tried 2 different pressings of this release and both had the so-called grainyness problems. What this is I believe is excessive MPEG compression when these were transferred at the studio from film to digital media. DVDs have a certain amount of video compression which varies from movie to movie (so-called Superbit movies have the least compression). The more compression, the more "grainy" feel you'll get to the video. Another way to describe excessive compression is that it looks like someone stretched a piece of semi-transparent fabric over the camera lens. Anyhow, this is a 6 disc set, and I suspect that in order to get all the first season on to the DVDs they had to use more compression than is acceptable to people used to high video quality. I used a Yamaha DVD-CX1 high end DVD player and a Panasonic CT34WX52 16x9 format HDTV with component video inputs, and the DVD player has progressive scan. However this is NOT a progressive scan bug. If you're using component video you WILL see the problem. Some scenese are much much worse than others, but on the first 2 discs many of the scenes looked like someone had stretched gauze over the camera lens. What a shame. The studio took a great body of work like this and produced something that's expensive yet looks like someone downloaded it over the Internet, or recorded it on a defective VHS recorder. Sound was good on the 2 discs I checked, but the video scintillation makes it unwatchable no matter how much I like Xena :(. Please, please please, re-release this in an acceptable format.
Rating:
Summary: Xenites Reunite!
Review: I read all of the negatives reviews and don't understand where they come from. The picture looked absolutely fine to me. The sound was great & the packaging was cool. I do not have top of the line television or DVD player - can't wait for season two!!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor picture quality ruins the experience
Review: I was thrilled to receive my Xena Season 1 DVDs, but have also found the poor picture quality really irritating. I'm also using a brand-new, high-end progressive scan DVD player, but with an older, "interlace" TV. I realize progressive scan is basically meaningless in this context; I guess that makes all the difference. The darker scenes are so grainy as to be unwatchable -- as in, I literally can't make out the actors' faces -- but even the bright, outdoor scenes look like they were filmed with a coating of vaseline over the lens. I also noticed the lack of audio-video synchronization in "The Titans." Of course, I'm chalking it all up to the general sense of cheesy fun that pervades this series, particularly the early seasons. Overall, I'm still glad I bought the DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: grainy yes - and
Review: Yes this was grainy in some parts and I watch off my computer. But, did NO ONE ELSE notice that in some parts of "The Titans" it was off in terms of sound and picture? That was truly irritating! I think this started about half way through - I watch the face expression of our heroes and they mouth the word, but the word does not come until a split second later....very distracting.
4 stars because it was a great show and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good but needed a great setup to work right
Review: I picked up this collection, since Im a big Xena fan, and immediately noticed the problems that people were complaining about for the graininess, and I also had some blurring problems on character's skins while watching the DVD on my 10 year old GE 25" TV and using my PS2 as a DVD player. I knew this might change when I got my new TV setup of a Sony 32"HV600 HDTV and a Panasonic DVD Player/Recorder EM50 with component cable hook-up. Sure enough the blurriness problem went away, and though you could still see some graininess in some of the scenes, it wasnt that bad, and maybe attributed to what film the original season first used til midway through the second season. So, many of the problems might just be what you are using to watch the series. It is unfortunate that they couldnt have cleaned up this collection better but I still found the DVD's worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: excellent quality
Review: I recently brought this dvd boxset,i was concerned about how the picture quality would be after reading the other reviews, but i have not experieced any picture problems,all the dvds play picture perfect,i have got a fairly new dvd player,it is also worth investing in a decent scart plug this can make all the difference to picture quailty. excellent cant wait for series two to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: poor quality is the result of poor authoring, not the source
Review: Yes, it is true that season 1 was shot using 16mm film, and this film is of lesser resolution than 35mm and thus very grainy. It is also true that if one compresses such a source, one will get compression artifacts that will make the picture look even worse. However, the job of the DVD authors is to provide OPTIMAL compression, so the picture is as close to the original as possible. And if the DVD is to be digitally mastered, the picture quality has to be improved upon (not deteriorated!) to make it look as best as possible. There are ways to do this with any film source, if enough time is given. I have seen things restored from such poor quality that it was hard to believe. And besides, the time it took to get this DVD set out eliminates lack of time as an excuse. Otherwise the DVD is not bad. The sound is adequate, and the packaging is nice. However, the picture quality is what is important. I only hope that this set will get a re-release so that the fans of this exellent show will not have to settle for this. I recommend that all complaints be taken to Sam Raimi directly. Xena Not Dead!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT picture quality on TV, poor on computer...
Review: I was elated to finally receive Xena's Season 1 DVD box set, but was concerned due to all of the bad reviews regarding the picture quality. After some tests, I thought I'd share my experiences. I found *absolutely nothing* to complain about when watching the discs on a TV with a brand-new, high-end, progressive scan DVD player. The picture was as crystal clear as any other DVDs made from 16mm film (i.e. Buffy Season 1) that I have seen. Now, watching these DVDs on my laptop was a different story. Yes, they were grainy. Yes, it was so awful, it was hard to watch. I can see how people became so angry if this is what they saw when seeing these for the first time! For comparison's sake, I tried Buffy Season 1 on my laptop, and while it was also grainy compared to viewing on TV, it wasn't as bad as Xena. So, I would say, that if you plan on watching these solely on a computer or maybe an older DVD player, you may want to think carefully before you purchase. But, if you have a higher-end system and plan to watch on your TV, I'm sure you won't be disappointed! Also--the 5-channel digital sound was amazing! Woohoo! Xena at last!!
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