HBO Announces HD Remaster of The Wire

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HBO has announced its new HD remaster of The Wire.

Confirming remaster rumours that surfaced a few months ago, all 60 episodes have been remastered in 16:9 full-frame HD from the original 4:3 format.

The remastered series debuts December 26 on HBO Signature and HBO Go. The entire series will air consecutively on HBO Signature, starting at noon on December 26. With one season playing per day, the marathon will wrap up on December 30.

The HD remaster will be available to own on Blu-ray in summer 2015, but can be purchased digitally earlier on January 5 through iTunes, Google Play, Xbox Video and Vudu.

While this development may widen the audience for the TV series, creator David Simon fears that the impact of certain scenes may be lost in the move to the 16:9 format. "There are scenes that clearly improve in HD and in the widescreen format," he says in ablog post, "But there are things that are not improved. And even with our best resizing, touchups and maneuver, there are some things that are simply not as good. That’s the inevitability: This new version, after all, exists in an aspect ratio that simply wasn’t intended or serviced by the filmmakers."

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