Star Trek : The Next Generation ( Blu - ray ) Star Trek : The Next Generation was remastered from the original camera negatives for release on Blu - ray , beginning in with a " " of three episodes . Complete season sets were later released – beginning with the first season in – at a planned schedule of two season releases per year through 2015 . Apart from the restored episodes , many of which with originally edited out footage reinserted , resulting in extended episodes , the Blu - ray releases also contained all the special features ( albeit un - restored in standard definition ) , originally included in the , supplemented by newly produced ones in high definition . The new special features were directed and produced by Robert Meyer Burnett , who referred to these as " value added material " ( VAM ) , and Roger Lay , Jr . The Value Added Material ( VAM ) controversy . In April 2013 a start was made with the release of feature length two - part episode single - discs . It was with the release of the first one , " The Best of Both Worlds " , that it became evident that these issues would contain newly made special features , that were not to be included in the regular boxed season releases , much to the dismay of fans . Director and editor of this material for the Blu - ray releases , Burnett , has justified the decision as follows , " On both TNG and " " , Roger and I have stretched our budgets far , FAR beyond what they can accommodate in terms of content . Frankly , because we ' re fanatics , we ' re basically taking dollars out of our own pockets to create more and better VAM . As far as TNGS3 was concerned , I just DECIDED to make the documentary 90 minutes instead of 60 . I asked Roger and he agreed . Ira Behr ' s interview was so compelling , and he only worked one season on TNG , we both felt we had to use as much of it as we could , so we needed that extra 30 minutes . But what people must understand is . . . each MINUTE of VAM has a dollar value associated with . There ' s only a finite amount of money budgeted for each title . There simply isn ' t any more . We ' re given a set budget for each season and are expected to work within that budget . To go over is unprofessional in the extreme . And if you read between the lines , you can see CBS has gone way , WAY above and beyond to accommodate the VAM . Way , WAY beyond . . . " Now . . . when the decision was made to create the " BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Movie " for the Fathom Event , and then CBS wisely decided to make that a stand - alone release available to hopefully attract new customers , suddenly there ' s a new budget , and money allocated to create a product which didn ' t previously exist . So Roger and I jump all over that and CBS gave us a budget which allowed us to create a new commentary and half - hour documentary which wouldn ' t otherwise exist . Which adds to the overall value of the single - disc " BEST OF BOTH WORLDS " movie . Fans need to understand nothing was taken away from the individual season discs . . . because the BOBW doc wasn ' t a part of that . Our Season Three VAM is absolutely the best we could have possibly done with our budget . CBS could have decided to release a vanilla BOBW disc , but we ' re like . . . HEY ! WAIT A MINUTE ! Can we do some more VAM ? To CBS ' s credit , they agreed . . . but I ' m sure someone was thinking . . . , " Those fuckin ' guys . . . don ' t they ever stop ? " Well . . . no . . . we don ' t . " To aggravate matters , for fans at least , CBS made the decision , prior to the release of TNG Season 3 Blu - ray , to employ the so - called " retailer exclusive " format . The format entailed that preferred retailers , most notably the chain store Best Buy , would receive BluRay versions that contained special features , not included on the regular release , something that flew straight in the face of CBS ' express promise at the start of the project , that costumers would receive all available material on their purchases . Indeed , the format was employed with the release of the third season , when the fifteen - minute visual effects special " " The Trek Not Taken " " was not included on the regular release , but only available to customers at Best Buy . Not only this , but the format was extended to the ENT Season 1 Blu - ray release of , which ran concurrently with that of " The Next Generation " , as well . Partner website has reported that the format did not apply to the German releases , though the " The Trek Not Taken " - special had to be downloaded separately by customers of TNG Season 4 Blu - ray at the German CBS " Star Trek " website , as was required with the " Enterprise " - special . To add insult to injury , neither special was made available to customers anywhere else in the world . It appears however , that CBS did not follow - up on this format at least , as these two releases are to date the only ones where the format was applied . The feature - length releases though , continued to include exclusive special features . Production . In explaining why it was unlikely that either or would receive Blu - ray releases , the website TrekNews interviewed Robert Meyer Burnett , the creator of the special features for the set . He described the remastering process of " The Next Generation " , detailing the creation of the Blu - ray high - definition remasters involved a complicated rebuild of the entire show from the ground - up in high - definition , something which had never been done before . The process meant that all episodes of the show went through a new post - production process at a cost of over 12 million dollars , which included tracking down all original negatives , a complete re - scanning , full 7 . 1 DTS sound remastering and the creation of new CGI effects . Burnett further explained that both " Deep Space Nine " and " Voyager " would be further complicated by their extremely heavy use of CGI , which would necessitate the re - creation of many assets from scratch due to them being lost , at extreme cost . Ultimately , the reception of fans to the " The Next Generation " blu - ray releases was lukewarm , due to the discs being released at the same time that the use of streaming media began skyrocketing in popularity , as well as the high price - point and resentment from fans who were wary of purchasing the series in another format following releases on VHS , laserdisc and DVD . Releases . German release . The Blu - ray release in Germany included a special collectible pin with each set . After the release of all seven seasons , purchasers could enter special codes at the German " Star Trek " website to receive a free case for the collection . The initial release of the Season 1 set had the included pin in a small plastic bag , which allowed the metal pin to damage the front of the steelbook case . Buyers were able to request a replacement case through the German " Star Trek " website , and future releases were changed to include the pin in a small box . The seven seasons also featured spanning spine artwork when shelved together .