My X-Files Blu-ray Homepage
Further Reading
Check out
Matt Kendrick's Facebook Posts or the
Jim Hardy Interview.
Season 8 "Black Crush" Problem
The Season 8 Blu-rays are defective with some type of rendering/encoding/authoring problem that can manifest as black crush on some TV and Blu-ray hardware.
Click here to read full details about the problem, to see screenshots of the problem, as well as a template email to sign up for replacement discs.
Various Fox Customer Care emails seem to indicate that Fox is now replicating a new batch of Season 8 discs with a ship date on or around January 25th, 2016 for the US, and March for non-US countries. You can sign up for replacements no matter what country you live in, and no matter where you purchased the Blu-rays, by emailing
foxconnect@orderassistance.com if your copy of Season 8 is affected.
The X-Files DVD and Blu-ray Comparisons
The X-Files has now been remastered in HD and is available on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray release is a vast improvement over the DVDs in picture quality especially. Season 1 through 4, which were originally aired in 4:3, are now presented in 16:9 for this Blu-ray release. 4:3 effects shots have been upscaled, and some missing negative film that couldn't be found during the remastering has also been upscaled throughout the seasons.
I've been reading a lot of comments online, and I have to agree with comments such as "apart from the shots they had to upscale, it looks like it was shot yesterday." Watching X-Files on Blu-ray is really a fresh and invigorating experience for a fan of this show. Part of the reason the show looks so good on Blu-ray is that Fox didn't make any compromises on video bitrate. They even went to an extra seventh disc for season 2 in order to avoid the greater compression that would be required to fit the season's last episode onto disc six. (Season 2's original DVD release also had 7 discs, before the later re-issue of only 6 discs.) The Blu-ray packaging lists the bitrates with five seasons at 24 MBPS, three at 25 MBPS and one at 23 MBPS. Each episode - with all English audio tracks - has a file size between 9+ and 11 gigs.
For a review of X-Files on Blu-ray, check out
Bill Hunt's review over at The Digital Bits.
The following comparisons were created to compare framing, color grading, saturation and brightness/contrast between the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the X-Files. While they do reveal the detail of the HD Blu-ray version, they aren't intended to be full-size detail comparisons.
Warning: Each page has a lot of images! As mentioned, they are not full-size comparisons and I have compressed them. They're meant to illustrate the changes between DVD and Blu-ray, not to illustrate the amazing picture quality of the Blu-rays. Disclaimer: The DVD images may appear slightly softer than they really are, as they were slightly scaled in order to do this in the most efficient way possible. Again, the main goal was to look at the framing and the color grading especially.
Screenshots
Full-size Comparisons
By request, I've started adding some full-sized comparisons. Unlike my more comprehensive sets of comparison images, these comparisons are specifically meant to show the quality of the Blu-ray image compared to the DVD image. As such, these are uncompressed, full-size images. Three images are presented for each comparison: the actual resolution DVD image, the DVD image upscaled to 1080p, and then the Blu-ray image.
View the full-size comparisons here.
Opening Credits Tagline Inventory
At the end of the opening credits of every episode of The X-Files, the tagline "THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE" appeared - until everything changed when a unique tagline appeared in the first season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask." It became part of the show's mythology to feature unique taglines on some episodes. Unfortunately, the show's original DVD releases didn't always include the unique taglines. The subsequent "Mythology" DVD releases corrected the episodes that were included on them.
With The X-Files released on Blu-ray, fans hoped that everything would finally be correct as per the original airings. Sadly, two episodes are missing their unique tagline on Blu-ray - "Redux" and "4D." Thanks to HoNuts on Blu-ray.com for checking all the episodes!
| # | Episode | Tagline | DVD | Mythology | Blu-ray |
| #1X23 | The Erlenmeyer Flask | TRUST NO ONE | YES | YES | YES |
| #2X06 | Ascension | DENY EVERYTHING | NO | YES | YES |
| #2X25 | Anasazi | ÉÍ 'AANÍÍGÓÓ 'ÁHOOT'É | YES | YES | YES |
| #3X10 | 731 | APOLOGY IS POLICY | YES | YES | YES |
| #4X01 | Herrenvolk | EVERYTHING DIES | YES | YES | YES |
| #4X04 | Teliko | DECEIVE, INVEIGLE, OBFUSCATE | YES | N/A | YES |
| #4X10 | Terma | E PUR SE MOUVE | YES | YES | YES |
| #4X24 | Gethsemane | BELIEVE THE LIE | YES | YES | YES |
| #5X02 | Redux | ALL LIES LEAD TO THE TRUTH | NO | YES | NO |
| #5X14 | The Red and the Black | RESIST OR SERVE | YES | YES | YES |
| #5X20 | The End | THE END | NO | YES | YES |
| #6ABX03 | Triangle | DIE WAHRHEIT IST IRGENDWO DA DRAUßEN | YES | N/A | YES |
| #6ABX19 | The Unnatural | IN THE BIG INNING | YES | N/A | YES |
| #7ABX04 | The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati | AMOR FATI | YES | YES | YES |
| #7ABX11 | Closure | BELIEVE TO UNDERSTAND | YES | YES | YES |
| #9ABX02 | Nothing Important Happened Today II | NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED TODAY | YES | YES | YES |
| #9ABX05 | 4D | EREHT TUO SI HTURT EHT | NO | N/A | NO |
| #9ABX08 | Trust No 1 | THEY'RE WATCHING | YES | YES | YES |
| #9ABX14 | Improbable | DIO TI AMA | YES | N/A | YES |
Blu-ray Notes
Some call it nitpicking - I call it attention to detail. This is not a complete list - I've only started. This list contains the most important general items. Keep reading for more lists of specific types of items.
| # | Episode | Note |
| All | All | The font used for the words "THE X FILES" in the show's official, iconic logo - Industria - has been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what font it was. |
| All | All | The fonts used in the Emmy Award-winning opening credit sequence - squished Helvetica Regular (names) and Helvetica Light (tagline) - have been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what the fonts were. |
| All | All | The text on the FBI photo in the opening credit sequence has been changed from "#X69" to "EX69" |
| All | All | The font used for all location titles as well as credits - ITC American Typewriter Medium - has been replaced, because the remastering company didn't know what font it was. |
| All | All | The footage from "Squeeze" in the opening credits could have been sourced from that episode. Blu-ray credits, Blu-ray Squeeze, Blu-ray Squeeze Adjusted. |
| Season 1 | All | The opening credits are not the original Season 1 opening credits. They're actually the Season 2 opening credits. The DVDs had the same problem. You can watch the original Season 1 opening credits on YouTube. |
| #1X79 | Pilot | The background "X" in the opening title card is stretched, despite the same "X" in the season opening credits appearing more accurate. |
| #1X07 | Ice | Text spacing of location text seems to be eyeballed instead of being evenly spaced as it should be. It's also possible a template was used that wasn't spaced evenly, as I haven't seen a 3-line location title with correct spacing yet. |
| #1X08 | Space | At the start of the episode, the WXDL overlay identifying Colonel Belt is missing during the news report. |
| #5X12 | Bad Blood | In the end credits, the role of "Funeral Director" is incorrectly credited as Jerry Springer. (Jerry Springer had previously appeared earlier in the season, in "The Post-Modern Prometheus.") The role should have been credited to Forbes Angus, as it was correctly listed on the DVDs. |
| #6ABX03 | Triangle | In the opening credit sequence, the "CREATED BY CHRIS CARTER" credit is missing. |
| #7ABX12 | X-Cops | This episode was shot on BetaCam to achieve a certain style. As such, the entire episode is upscaled, and the upscaling methods do not work well here. But even worse, the color grading, brightness and contrast is completely wrong on Blu-ray. It should have looked just like it does on the DVD, as the episode was NOT meant to look cinematic. It was meant to look like an episode of the reality TV show "COPS," which it no longer does. |
| Season 8 | All | The entirety of Season 8 has incorrect black levels. Click here for complete details. |
Blu-ray 16:9 Framing Problems
Seasons 1 through 4 are presented in an expanded 16:9 frame instead of their original 4:3 aspect ratio. In some cases, this has caused goofs because things are visible on the sides that shouldn't be.
| # | Episode | Note |
| #2X14 | Die Hand die Verletzt | In a scene of a girl doing a dissection in a classroom, she's supposed to be alone (with the teacher, and then the teacher leaves), but at 24:06, a crew member - and a light - can be seen on the left side of the frame. |
| #3X15 | Piper Maru | The ship is supposed to be in the middle of the ocean, but when the divers jump into the ocean at 0:42, you can see land and docks in the background on the left side of the frame. At 0:58, you can see a tire on a dock and a vehicle on the right side of the frame. |
Blu-ray Audio Issues
| # | Episode | Note |
| #4X10 | Terma | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
| #6ABX01 | The Beginning | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
| #7ABX04 | The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
| #8ABX02 | Without | There is a short piece of awkward audio at the top of the episode, a leftover from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
| #9ABX11 | Providence | There is one frame of stray video and a couple seconds of stray audio after the opening credits, leftovers from a "Previously" recap that was not included on the Blu-rays (some recaps were included, others weren't). |
Blu-ray Typos
| # | Episode | Note |
| #1X08 | Space | In the closing credits, there are 2 typos in the NASA disclaimer message. |
| #4X12 | Kaddish | In the closing credits, the production number is incorrectly listed as "#4X012" instead of "#4X12" - it was listed correctly in the DVD version. |
| #4X17 | Tempus Fugit | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
| #4X18 | Max | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
| #4X19 | Synchrony | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
| #4X20 | Small Potatoes | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
| #5X01 | Unusual Suspects | In the closing credits, there is at least 1 typo. |
| #8ABX01 | Within | In the closing credits, there are 3 typos in the "The Producers wish" message. |
| #8ABX02 | Without | In the closing credits, there is 1 typo in the "The Producers wish" message. |
Blu-ray Fixes
To the credit of the company who remastered The X-Files in HD, Illuminate, it's really great to see some errors from the DVDs corrected on the Blu-rays.
| # | Episode | Fix |
| #6ABX03 | Triangle | The Blu-ray corrects the location title from "SARAGASSO SEA" to "SARGASSO SEA." |
| #6ABX03 | Triangle | The Blu-ray adds the missing final card of the end credits, which has the episode's production number. |
| #7ABX09 | Signs and Wonders | At 8:27 on the DVD, a boom operator is seen on the left side of the frame. On the Blu-ray, a subtle zoom in and zoom out eliminates the crew member from frame. |
The X-Files Goofs
Some goofs appear on both the original DVDs and the new Blu-rays, although they're generally more noticeable on the Blu-rays.
| # | Episode | Note |
| #1X13 | Gender Bender | While care was taken to make sure all vehicles that got close enough to the camera had Massachusetts license plates, you can spot some incorrect license plates with the detail of the Blu-rays. The new 16:9 framing makes the most noticeable one more obvious - at 9:10, a Ford truck with a BC, Canada license plate (where the show was filmed) can be seen on the right side of the frame. |
| #2X22 | F. Emasculata | As Mulder walks up to the phone booth at 17:50, on the left side of the frame, a helicopter is seen on the ground with its blades spinning - this is the helicopter that lands 25 seconds later. |
Contact
If you have comments, suggestions or any information to add, or if you want to see more X-Files content here, please feel free to
contact me. If you find this page useful, please consider
making a small donation. It takes a lot of work to put together all these screenshots and information.
I'm a graphic designer, a writer, a proofreader and I have an eye for detail. Feel free to
contact me for quality control, beta testing and to avoid embarrassing typos.
