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

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Aye. Pennies, peanuts, cheap as chips, lol

I have never felt less British

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Oooh, that Groundhog Day disc is mine, all mine!

It's buttons to pick up.

Yeah, it's like £8 at amazon.jp. Trouble is the postage will probably be something outrageous like £27.

Scratch that, I can't seem to log in there. Where are you getting it from, Mr Scum? I can't see it on YesAsia.

[tama]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah, it's like £8 at amazon.jp. Trouble is the postage will probably be something outrageous like £27.

Scratch that, I can't seem to log in there. Where are you getting it from, Mr Scum? I can't see it on YesAsia.

I think Everyone is getting it at CDJapan. I did and it came out to less then $20.00.

[Sky_Captain]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah, it's like £8 at amazon.jp. Trouble is the postage will probably be something outrageous like £27.

Scratch that, I can't seem to log in there. Where are you getting it from, Mr Scum? I can't see it on YesAsia.

CDJapan.

£12.30 delivered. I had 24 points in my account, mind. That reduced my postage cost an inconsequential smidge.

[Geoff D]

Thanks gents, I just noticed Goofnut's post in the other thread. I had some paypal funds left over, nice easy checkout, job done, not bad for £12-ish!

[Bad Sandwich]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Hardly. I'm not some Criterion evangelical. I import discs for better encodes and lossless audio all the time. I just believe in not wasting money.

That was less a swipe at you or anyone in particular and more a dumb generalized joke

[Cevolution]

I decided to pick up Groundhog Day from CdJapan as well. I had enough points to practically cover the cost of the title. I paid ¥30, plus ¥1200 for express shipping.

[GLipeBlu]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Seriously, that looks exactly like if a sharpening filter was applied.

I mean, sure, sharpening can harshly enhance grain, but it also introduces other side effects (like haloing) which aren't present on the Arrow disc, so I don't think that's the issue here. And hey, look at this, neither release is perfect. I found macro-blocking on both:

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/multi_comp

Do I win a cookie?

[RD1973]

Godzilla 2014: Has anyone compared the TOHO disc from Japan against the US disc? Is the picture just as dark?

Interstellar: I read somewhere that the international release (WB) might have a different transfer than the US (Paramount). Has this been confirmed, or is it the same transfer everywhere?

Thanks in advance.

[Pieter V]

Originally Posted by RD1973

Interstellar: I read somewhere that the international release (WB) might have a different transfer than the US (Paramount). Has this been confirmed, or is it the same transfer everywhere?

Thanks in advance.

Same transfer, same bitrates. Everything is the same.

[RD1973]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

Same transfer, same bitrates. Everything is the same.

Great, one less disc to buy.

Does anyone know about the TOHO Godzilla disc?

[Nocturnaloner]

The Chuck Norris flick Good Guys Wear Black is only available from AU, or in a Spanish box set:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Good-...Blu-ray/49391/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Chuck...lu-ray/127625/

Just bought Good Guys Wear Black, and Beastmaster from JB Hi-Fi.

Something something region-free.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by GLipeBlu

Yes, the Arrow has compression artifacts, but it does a much better job of resolving the original film source than the Criterion. You may think the difference negligible, and perhaps in motion and at normal viewing distance (depending on the size of your display) it is, but the Arrow is a better encode, period. It's not even arguable.

Here's another example:

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/multi_comp

Notice how the Criterion blurs and obscures the grain structure, thereby removing detail inherent to the image. Again, in normal viewing conditions these difference are likely subtle, but if you want the absolute best quality release picture wise, the Arrow is the way to go.

Arrow's video encodes are usually better than rival editions from other labels. They almost always use a BD-50 and aren't afraid of using its entire capacity. One of their regular compressionists is a member of this forum. The best encodes I regularly see are either from Japan or the ones that were being pushed out by Fox (almost always authored by Deluxe Digital) and Paramount a few years ago.

The major studios had huge advantages since they were often using state-of-the-art AVC hardware encoders. I don't know what went wrong at WB (GDMX) and Lionsgate, their encodes were consistently softer for some reason. The smaller labels are often compressing video via software that often needs finesse and fine-tuning.

Compression fidelity is not a priority anymore at the Hollywood studios in 2015. European and Asian distributors are far more cognizant of the issues.

[Tuco_76]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

(...)The smaller labels are often compressing video via software that often needs finesse and fine-tuning.
(...)

Thanks for this background nfos, much appreciated! As for the software compression/fine-tuning, Coherence DE is the 3rd title I own by now encoded with x264, settings are sub par though. Tune "Film" is set, which is good.
Compression preset "veryfast" (or even worse) was used, which is not so good as it uses Subpixel motion estimation=2, while at least 6 is needed for Psy-RD, an optimization which helps retain detail.

The other 2 releases Metalhead and Singapore Sling are done with better (slower) presets, though tune "Film" is not set

[Geoff D]

Although certain labels do have a very good idea of what they're doing re: compression, there are others which seem to be utterly clueless. To me it seems like the smaller indies (Arrow) and big 6 studios are still putting out good solid product, whereas the mid-to-high level indies (Shout!, Criterion) and mid level studios/distributors (Lionsgate, eOne, StudioCanal) are the ones who are scrimping on stuff like decent compression. For the big studios this stuff is a matter of course, and the smaller guys are trying their damnedest to put out as good a product as they can on order to make an impact, but it seems as if those mid-level operators are caught between quality and quantity.

[StingingVelvet]

To be fair if you watch the Criterion versions of most of these without any knowledge of an Arrow release they look Amazing. Thief is a 5-star transfer from Criterion, even if the Arrow release a year later shows slightly improved grain detail. It's like the best pasta in New York tasting great even if an Italian master could do it one better... you still love that New York plate.

For those of us wary of multi-region players Criterion does an excellent job. My Thief disc is no less precious to me now than it was before.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

To be fair if you watch the Criterion versions of most of these without any knowledge of an Arrow release they look Amazing. Thief is a 5-star transfer from Criterion, even if the Arrow release a year later shows slightly improved grain detail. It's like the best pasta in New York tasting great even if an Italian master could do it one better... you still love that New York plate.

For those of us wary of multi-region players Criterion does an excellent job. My Thief disc is no less precious to me now than it was before.

I certainly do not share this sentiment. I want the best possible PQ, period.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I certainly do not share this sentiment. I want the best possible PQ, period.

I'm not saying you shouldn't. What I am saying is the existence a year later of a very slightly better looking release doesn't mean Criterion's release is not a 5 star transfer. It is. People were thrilled with it when it was the only one on the market, and I don't think that has to change because a very slight grain improvement only visible when paused on a huge screen has come out.

Not mocking the improvement, it is there, and better PQ is always good. I'm just saying there are degrees of improvement and the Criterion disc still looks amazing. We're not talking Scream Factory levels of being shown up here.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

For those of us wary of multi-region players Criterion does an excellent job. My Thief disc is no less precious to me now than it was before.

Why are you wary of region-free players?

I have one, but typically I just do a full rip of the region B disc that removes the coding and re-burn it so I don't have to worry about what plays where.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Why are you wary of region-free players?

I have one, but typically I just do a full rip of the region B disc that removes the coding and re-burn it so I don't have to worry about what plays where.

It's another hole to dive down, it's more expensive, it's going to be harder to find a new one in 20 years, I'll be getting a 4k player soon anyway and a host of other reasons.

Also I wouldn't have re-bought Thief for the Arrow version anyway. The Criterion version looks brilliant.