List of International BDs with Better PQ, AQ, and/or More Extras

[Early Memphis]

So if you guys think that the JP Sky Cap is best, just for my own cap edification : is this considered to be a very slight edge or more pronounced?

[tcdrek]

Originally Posted by Early Memphis

So if you guys think that the JP Sky Cap is best, just for my own cap edification : is this considered to be a very slight edge or more pronounced?

Yeah...I think the DE version is good enough for me (i.e. better than the US version) to quit searching for a JP copy that's not over 12,000 yen. Thanks for the link, Tech-UK.

Also, anyone know if the DE release has an English language menu option?

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by tcdrek

Yeah...I think the DE version is good enough for me (i.e. better than the US version) to quit searching for a JP copy that's not over 12,000 yen. Thanks for the link, Tech-UK.

Also, anyone know if the DE release has an English language menu option?

I don't do well with caps. I thought the US caps looked better than the DE caps and the JP caps ... maybe a smidgeon better, but ...?

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by tcdrek

Yeah...I think the DE version is good enough for me (i.e. better than the US version) to quit searching for a JP copy that's not over 12,000 yen. Thanks for the link, Tech-UK.

Also, anyone know if the DE release has an English language menu option?

No problem.

The DE release isn't bad, as you said, its good enough when you consider the price of the JP release and it being region A locked (for those like me with non region free playback), plus the audio is lossless over the US/UK release.

Might consider it when it hits €9 or less.

[welcometothepartypal]

Does any body happen to know if the Twilight Time version of THE MECHANIC is better then the German one? From reading reviews it seems like they were from the same master.

Edit: Never mind the TT is the one to get.

[tcdrek]

Originally Posted by Early Memphis

I don't do well with caps. I thought the US caps looked better than the DE caps and the JP caps ... maybe a smidgeon better, but ...?

Really? Look at cap #5 and use the zoom function on the floating carrier. There's a slight difference between the DE and JP, but both look less muddled than the US one. But the color banding in cap #2 does look kinda bad in the DE release though.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by tcdrek

Really? Look at cap #5 and use the zoom function on the floating carrier. There's a slight difference between the DE and JP, but both look less muddled than the US one. But the color banding in cap #2 does look kinda bad in the DE release though.

Yeah, all three have their pro's and con's.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Yeah, all three have their pro's and con's.

I'll stick with the U.S. release in the hopes of a re-release with AVC and lossless in the future.

[wesslan]

Update

War of the Arrows
US - AVC 16939 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2321 kbps 16-bit (Region free)
KO - AVC 26144 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2522 kbps 24-bit, inaccurate subtitles (Region A locked)
UK - AVC 30003 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2397 kbps 16-bit, cut a few seconds (horsefall) (Region free)

Crying Freeman
US - No release
FR - AVC 23965 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2296 kbps 16-bit, no English subs (Region B locked)

Removed french hd track since english is original and on the disc. Not sure what they mean by dubtrack comment so removed that since only two actors is dubbed by directors choice: Julie Condra's voice-over has been dubbed by Deborah Kara Unger to giver her a deeper feminine voice with a more erotic dimension (said director Christophe Gans in his audio commentary). Tchéky Karyo's voice has been subbed by Ron Perlman, probably likely because he was not supposed to play a French detective so his accent would have been too heavy.

Taxi (1998)
US - No release
FR - AVC 27936 kbps, French DTS-HD MA 5.1 2251 kbps 16-bit (Region free)
UK - AVC, DTS-HD MA 5.1 (same transfer as FR)

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by wesslan

Update

War of the Arrows
US - AVC 16939 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2321 kbps 16-bit (Region free)
KO - AVC 26144 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2522 kbps 24-bit, inaccurate subtitles (Region A locked)
UK - AVC 30003 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2397 kbps 16-bit, cut a few seconds (horsefall) (Region free)

Crying Freeman
US - No release
FR - AVC 23965 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 2296 kbps 16-bit, no English subs (Region B locked)

Removed french hd track since english is original and on the disc. Not sure what they mean by dubtrack comment so removed that since only two actors is dubbed by directors choice: Julie Condra's voice-over has been dubbed by Deborah Kara Unger to giver her a deeper feminine voice with a more erotic dimension (said director Christophe Gans in his audio commentary). Tchéky Karyo's voice has been subbed by Ron Perlman, probably likely because he was not supposed to play a French detective so his accent would have been too heavy.

Taxi (1998)
US - No release
FR - AVC 27936 kbps, French DTS-HD MA 5.1 2251 kbps 16-bit (Region free)
UK - AVC, DTS-HD MA 5.1 (same transfer as FR)

Done.

[wesslan]

Sword with no Name, The
US - AVC, Korean Dolby TrueHD 2.0
UK - AVC 27997 kbps, Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1 1959 kbps 16-bit

Automata
US - AVC 23,75 Mbps, Dolby TrueHD 5.1
SE - AVC 36658 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 3987 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by wesslan

Sword with no Name, The
US - AVC, Korean Dolby TrueHD 2.0
UK - AVC 27997 kbps, Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1 1959 kbps 16-bit

Automata
US - AVC 23,75 Mbps, Dolby TrueHD 5.1
SE - AVC 36658 kbps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 3987 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

Done.

[sidetracked1]

Hi all,

So sorry, I don't want to divert this thread, but I do want to contribute, and I'm stuck. I'm on mac, have a blu-ray burner and MacGo's blurayplayer app. BRs play fine.

As advised here, I downloaded 'mediainfo' as a way of getting all the needed tech details on a BR. I also got the well reviewed 'invisor' which is supposed to be the same thing with an easier interface. Both worked fine when tested on mp3 files or photographs.

What I'm completely stuck on is how to get them to analyze a commercial BR. Not sure what file to tell it to read, etc. Just looked for directions on google for 2 hours with no success.

Do I have to convert the BR somehow? Or can these programs read right off the disc? If they can, what file do I ask it to open? (When I try to read the BDMV folder, basically nothing happens)

I'm really sorry to ask this here, but wasn't sure where else to go - open to advice (including 'to hell'). If it's more appropriate to send a pm that's fine too, although there may be other old fogies like me following this thread who would like to pitch in, but may get stuck in the attempt.

Thanks in advance for any information.

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by sidetracked1

Hi all,

So sorry, I don't want to divert this thread, but I do want to contribute, and I'm stuck. I'm on mac, have a blu-ray burner and MacGo's blurayplayer app. BRs play fine.

As advised here, I downloaded 'mediainfo' as a way of getting all the needed tech details on a BR. I also got the well reviewed 'invisor' which is supposed to be the same thing with an easier interface. Both worked fine when tested on mp3 files or photographs.

What I'm completely stuck on is how to get them to analyze a commercial BR. Not sure what file to tell it to read, etc. Just looked for directions on google for 2 hours with no success.

Do I have to convert the BR somehow? Or can these programs read right off the disc? If they can, what file do I ask it to open? (When I try to read the BDMV folder, basically nothing happens)

I'm really sorry to ask this here, but wasn't sure where else to go - open to advice (including 'to hell'). If it's more appropriate to send a pm that's fine too, although there may be other old fogies like me following this thread who would like to pitch in, but may get stuck in the attempt.

Thanks in advance for any information.

"MediaInfo" probably won't do it, if it's bitrates you're after. I think the piece of software you're looking for is "BDInfo", it's fairly self-explanatory. (Looks like it might be PC only though, no clue what would do it on a Mac, I'm not rich enough to afford one.)

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It's no rumour, the movie is available in 4K on Sony's 'prestige pack' hard drive add-on thingy (and I'm guessing the US-based 4K Unlimited download service too). Do you like the movie that much though?

It's on the US store as I understand it. God knows why we don't have it here

[sidetracked1]

Originally Posted by Buzz201

"MediaInfo" probably won't do it, if it's bitrates you're after. I think the piece of software you're looking for is "BDInfo", it's fairly self-explanatory. (Looks like it might be PC only though, no clue what would do it on a Mac, I'm not rich enough to afford one.)

Hmmm... mediainfo was what HD Goofnut and one other member had suggested for Mac, but I'm open if anyone knows an alternate (or how to make mediainfo work)

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by sidetracked1

Hmmm... mediainfo was what HD Goofnut and one other member had suggested for Mac, but I'm open if anyone knows an alternate (or how to make mediainfo work)

Fair enough, the PC version only gives overall bitrate information, rather than individual track's bitrates, perhaps Incursor is different.

As a general rule, if it's the film file you want, then look for the largest file (by filesize) and open that. You'd probably need to rip it to your PC first, but I don't think we're allowed to discuss ways of doing that.

If that doesn't work, or the film use seamless branching (where the film has been split into multiple individual files and then reassembled using a playlist, it's handy for multiple cuts of a film on one disc) you may have to look at the MPLS files and work out which playlist belongs to the film. You can generally do so based on length. I have a piece of software called tsMuxer which can reencode the smaller files into one big ts file from an MPLS file, it's free and is available on Mac. The trouble is you need the right MPLS file, and that could just be a case of trial and error, as I know of no software on a Mac that can inspect them. I'm sure it exists, I just don't know what it is, so somebody else would probably be better placed to help.

[Cevolution]

The Ring 2 (2005)

JP - AVC, DTS-HD MA 5.1, English subs (region free)

[Pieter V]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

The Ring 2 (2005)

JP - AVC, DTS-HD MA 5.1, English subs (region free)

From Amazon Japan



(Source: Amazon Marketplace)

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

From Amazon Japan



(Source: Amazon Marketplace)

I purchased it from CDJapan, but yes that's what the cover and disc look like.