The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[Naiera]

That Clannad collection isn't the only complete collection that's been re-authored. No way they'd spend money they don't need to spend on new encodes, though

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by chronoclast

Did the original discs have any video problems or errors? They were released back in 2011 and 2012 when Sentai's encodes and quality control were generally not very good.

I heard that the original discs were pretty dismal looking, though that was just someone's opinion I saw once on a forum, I don't have the discs myself to come up with my own opinion (I have the JP discs if someone was desperate to compare)

[BlaizeV]

Got Maiden Japan's Xabungle SD-BD in today and popped in disc 1 to see the video quality and it's abit underwhelming and unfortunately I'm pretty sure this isn't the best master available.

Comparing to 'other sources' this set seems to be left wanting and is perhaps using the Laserdisc Masters?, the washed out look and general softness to the image certainly points in that direction. Others would probably need to confirm but I'm guessing that Japan gave Maiden Japan a worse looking master compared to the Jap DVDs in order to stop yet again stupid reverse importation.

[professorwho]

Well, it’s Sunrise- I don’t know why they seem to hate Maiden Japan, as both Ideon and Xbungle and maybe some others are SD (but now Ideon isn’t). Sunrise has been good, albeit slow, to every other publisher here, so who knows at this point...

[husky1993a]

Originally Posted by pikagreg

Is this with the sub or the dub? I never did check out the Funi disc since I had watched the Korean import a few months prior. I mostly bought the Funi version for the dub.

I know this is a late response, but I checked both of my discs and I don't hear a difference?

[professorwho]

Someone who owns both discs PM'd me on Twitter and told me that they couldn't tell a difference in terms of listening.

The only difference is the Bandai disc is 48kHz at 16-Bit, whereas FUNi is 96kHz at 24-Bit, so if anything, technically it's an improvement, but as I don't have it, I can't say if it realistically is any better (though I'd bet it is by the specs).

[chronoclast]

Originally Posted by Sylontack

I heard that the original discs were pretty dismal looking, though that was just someone's opinion I saw once on a forum, I don't have the discs myself to come up with my own opinion (I have the JP discs if someone was desperate to compare)

From what I've seen watching on my 3D-LUT calibrated TV, I think the new Clannad discs look as good as any modern Sentai encode. Even checking by frames, there's no artifacting and just a slight bit of occasional banding. Aliasing is everywhere but that's a source issue. That person that said it was dismal looking may have been talking about the aliasing.

Whether it's a new encode or not, it looks solid IMO.

The subtitles are locked for what it's worth. The original discs may not be locked.

[professorwho]

That same person on Twitter gave me the stats for Liz to Aoi Tori (Liz and the Blue Bird):



1080p 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
29836 kbps AVG (29.83 mbps)
37777 kbps MAX (37.77 mbps)

LPCM 5.1 48kHz 24-Bit
DTS Headphone:X 48kHz 24-Bit
DTS-HD MA 2.0 48kHz 24-Bit

(and the commentaries are in lossless DTS, WTF Pony Canyon, do you want that to eat up the bitrate?)

[Fayth]

Has anyone compared the JP Steins;Gate collection to the Funi one? The funi one is so bad that I would import the JP version and use the Funi subs if I can get a good jump in quality.

[StefaanD]

Originally Posted by professorwho

(and the commentaries are in lossless DTS, WTF Pony Canyon, do you want that to eat up the bitrate?)

Yeah saw this too. But nothing wrong with this release at all. Saw it yesterday and noticed nothing regarding banding, ghosting or any other problems.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by StefaanD

Yeah saw this too. But nothing wrong with this release at all. Saw it yesterday and noticed nothing regarding banding, ghosting or any other problems.

That’s good to hear. Koe no Katachi had banding that was baked into the master, and was hard for mp3dom to remove, so there’s still some on the Dynit BD.

I was thinking it’d be similar, as Liz has basically the exact same staff, but that’s good to hear.

[pikagreg]

Were the UK sets of Assassination Classroom the same as the Funi sets? That Anime Limited box set of both seasons is super tempting.

[professorwho]

Same discs

[TootallMcgraw]

What are the UK sets of Durarara X2 like? I've heard the X2Shou is good but what are the other 2 like? Is it a big step down from Aniplex's releases or just a minor decrease in quality?

[professorwho]

I’ve mentioned it before elsewhere, but...

Shou is good, as Justin Sevakis did the encode. Probably on-par with Aniplex, but at a lower bitrate.

Sets 2 and 3 have lossy Dolby Digital audio at an even lower Bitrate than the DVDs. Not sure about PQ, but skip if possible.

[klasma]

Originally Posted by professorwho

The only difference is the Bandai disc is 48kHz at 16-Bit, whereas FUNi is 96kHz at 24-Bit, so if anything, technically it's an improvement, but as I don't have it, I can't say if it realistically is any better (though I'd bet it is by the specs).

Yeah, if the source mix is the same and proper downsampling was applied, anything above 48kHz/16bit can't make any humanly perceptible difference. Those higher formats are useful during mixing and sound processing, but as a consumer format they are just marketing.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by klasma

Yeah, if the source mix is the same and proper downsampling was applied, anything above 48kHz/16bit can't make any humanly perceptible difference. Those higher formats are useful during mixing and sound processing, but as a consumer format they are just marketing.

Agreed. That's why I said I didn't know if there'd be a realistic difference. From a technical standpoint, 96kHz at 24-Bit is better, but can the human ear hear any difference? Probably not. Maybe there's like 1 or 2% of audiophiles who could, but even that's a guess.

[klasma]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Agreed. That's why I said I didn't know if there'd be a realistic difference. From a technical standpoint, 96kHz at 24-Bit is better, but can the human ear hear any difference? Probably not. Maybe there's like 1 or 2% of audiophiles who could, but even that's a guess.

It's just not possible. Most adults can't hear anything above ~15 kHz (I once broke my amp by trying to hear sinus waves above 15.3 kHz, pushing up the volume for too long), and no human can hear even close to 24 kHz, which is what a 48 kHz sampling rate corresponds to. 16-bit allows for a dynamic range of about 96 dB, which is more than anyone would want in their living room.

Here is a nice graph to put things in perspective:

[husky1993a]

Originally Posted by klasma

It's just not possible. Most adults can't hear anything above ~15 kHz (I once broke my amp by trying to hear sinus waves above 15.3 kHz, pushing up the volume for too long), and no human can hear even close to 24 kHz, which is what a 48 kHz sampling rate corresponds to. 16-bit allows for a dynamic range of about 96 dB, which is more than anyone would want in their living room.

Here is a nice graph to put things in perspective:

Another fun fact about why 48kHz is used for film/TV: it's easier to sync with digital video footage at 48 than 44.1 .

[Gouki]

And a lot of people are either using TV speakers or, groan, a sound bar.