During the part of the opening (specifically, where there is only text
and stars) and ending credits of Star Trek The Next Generation, as
well as the ending credits of Deep Space 9 and Voyager there is a
blue-ish tint on the left edge of the screen almost as if light is
seeping in onto the film. The only mention of it that I could find via
google was in this forum:
http://forums.dvdfile.com/showthread.php?t=27677

I'd like to know the following:
1. What caused this distortion? (I would like specifics, not just a
single sentence answer like "It's a product of early special effects
techniquies")
2. Was it present in the original tv episodes or is it just on the
dvds? (I seem to recall it being there, perhaps not as evident, but I
am unsure.)

Optionally, I would be curious to know:
3. Why do you think Paramount didn't fix this fairly obvious problem
when releasing the series onto dvds?
4. Are there other series that have this same problem other than the
ones that I mentioned?

Look at the link below for a screenshot I made of what I am referring to:
http://novae-res.org/colortint.jpg Thanks!

Hi,

   I don't recall noticing this in the past, and I have no Trek
episodes at my disposal to consult on my own. So I'll have to ask a
question.

   Is the background image identical in all instances that it appears?
If so, then my guess would be that it's a single shot which was
prepared early in the production of Next Generation, and then used
repeatedly not only in Next Gen', but also in spinoff series. It then
becomes plausible that there was a technical "error" comitted by the
effects house which created that shot.

   Next Gen' was initially produced not less than twenty years ago,
and at that time effects were still generated using what I call
"classical" techniques, which is to say, pre-CGI, all on film from the
get-go. (CGI was in use to some extent at that time, but it was still
less than photo-realistic.) It's possible (though I can by no means
gaurantee this) that as the layers of moving star elements were laid
onto the image in successive exposures, the film itself was
inadvertently allowed to be exposed to ambient light outside the
protective opaque body of the effects camera. If this is the case,
then the undeveloped negative would be largely safe for a brief period
of time as long as it remained tightly wound. But there would've been
some clouding of the emulsion near the edge which was fully exposed to
the light. If this is what actually happened, I can easily see the
shot being deemed usable once it was developed and the clouding found
to be no greater than what is present.

qed100: You were correct. After comparing the first frame of the
ending credits of TNG, DS9, and Voyager I have found that there are a
few constant background stars that do not move throughout the entire
credits which are identical in all three series. In my naivety I
assumed that they would have made new shots for each series, but I
imagine it's far more simple today to whip up a moving star field than
it was 15+ years ago.

I watched quite a bit of syndicated TNG on television and I don't
think I noticed the blue tint until after I saw it on the dvds.
Perhaps the transfer to dvd made it more visible? Supposedly they were
"digitally enhanced" but considering how easy it was to mess with the
brightness / contrast / etc.. in photoshop to make the tint disappear
completely I have a hard time believing they put a lot of effort into
it. Either that or they spent so much time cleaning up the actual film
that they ignored the credits completely [Yeah right ;-)]

Regarding what caused it originally, I'm no film expert but what
you've told me makes sense, though I don't profess to understand it
completely. Would what you describe account for the fact that only one
edge of the film is effected?

Thanks for your answer!