The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[Nostalgic Twilight]

I decided to create a few screenshot comparisons for Discotek's KOR OVA/Movie set. In the end, I went with three shots for each OVA and three for the movie. In a few of these, there is some moderate aliasing present for the AnimEigo shots. You can ignore that, as it is artificially introduced by VirtualDub. I thought I selected frames that didn’t exhibit the issue but I noticed a few still got through after I bicubically resized the images.

Bitrate analysis for OVAs:



Bitrate analysis for the movie:



Screenshot comparisons:
White Lovers
Hawaiian Suspense
I was a Cat, I was a Fish
Hurricane! Akane the Shape-changing Girl
Stage of Love = Heart on Fire! Spring is for Idols
Stage of Love = Heart on Fire! Birth of a Star
An Unexpected Situation
Message in Rouge
The Movie: I Want to Return to That Day
(The cropping for the film is a little more extreme than I anticipated, but what we can still see of the image is so beautiful!)

Backup Gallery

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Yes, it has glitched frames, ala the UK replacement disc of Your Name. Except here it was 2;

Just checked my JP BDMV rip I made when the movie originally came out and these aren't present, so this one is an issue with your setup. Banding is unfortunately a common thing with certain KyoAni works, but that late night scene you pointed out at the 1hr 40m mark really is just the worst case scenario from what I remember. Also I don't think there is a grain filter? Pretty sure it's just video noise. In fact, that's another common thing with KyoAni works as Euph also very much has this problem too.

On the plus side, the Violet Evergarden BDMV seems to have massively reduced noise and banding compared to their other works.

[Yuripa]

ACCA 13 Compact JP re-release.

Little note about this release, all 12 episodes are burned on One BD50 disc.
No English subtitles, the previous 3 BD-boxs have English subtitles.
Only one audio track, but it's a strong 2.0 PCM 24Bits 2304Kbps.

Bitrate viewer (episode 1) :


Screengrabs (episode 1 & 2) : https://imgur.com/a/Vqi3K9G
MediaInfo (episode1) : https://pastebin.com/DZs88Rci

Strong release, because the show is very grainy, no sign of banding or minors ones.
Nothing to report on the audio side.
Sad that the English subs did not get ported from the previous BD-boxs.

Good reminder : Best anime serie of 2017 + one of the best OP of all time.

[NLScavenger]

A Silent Voice – Dynit BD (IT) vs Pony Canyon BD (JP) vs Anime Limited BD (UK)

tl;dr Dynit BD has best picture quality.

After the cruel and senseless arson attack on KyoAni, I wanted to revisit and celebrate A Silent Voice, which IMO is one of the most beautiful animated features from recent years, but I also wanted to revisit it in the best possible way. That's why I ordered the Blu-ray made by Dynit: a distributor that is revered for their high quality releases.

As beautiful as A Silent Voice is, one problem is that a lot of color banding is visible throughout the entire movie, perhaps due to the way the film was mastered. The degree of banding varies from mild to moderate most of the time, but there are moments that exhibit severe banding, such as the fireworks festival scene. While the banding is within acceptable parameters, it nonetheless detracts from the viewing experience sometimes.

The JP and UK BDs feature similar looking encodes that present the film with “warts and all”. I don’t consider that to be a wrong approach, but I also believe some measures could have been taken to smoothen the color gradients, which is the approach that Dynit took.

mp3dom and co. have done a respectable job in cleaning up the banding without harming the detail, but the more moderate and severe instances of banding could not be removed entirely. There is still a lot banding present, but it's less noticeable. Even the rough looking fireworks festival scene has seen some improvements.

There was also some grain added to help mask the banding. While the added grain is noticeable when you put the screenshots next to each other, the grain texture has a fairly subtle feel to it in motion and it blends in well with the footage.

The banding could perhaps be eradicated if the film were to be remastered, but in the absence of a better master, the Dynit BD is the superior presentation. It's overall a decent upgrade and I would it recommend to fans who speak Japanese or are more tech-savvy.

It should come as no surprise that the IT BD is not an English friendly release, but remuxing the audio/subtitles from the UK BD is a cinch because the timing of the M2TS is identical (UK BD has one extra frame at the end though). The JP BD M2TS has the same runtime as the IT BD, but I don’t know if the timing is identical. Those who know Japanese will be relieved to learn that the Italian subtitles can be deactivated, which is how I watched this Blu-ray.

N.B. all the on-disc extras have been stripped away from the IT Standard Edition BD. The IT Special Edition BD has the same Japanese extras as the UK BD, plus an Italian cover of 'Koi wo shita no wa'.


Screenshots Dynit BD (Alternate link)


Screenshots Pony Canyon BD (Alternate link) - source: Kyoani.de and professorwho

Yeah, I know, one of the JP BD screenshots is missing.

Screenshots Anime Limited BD (Alternate link)


Disc stats:

Dynit BD – BDInfo & bitrate viewer report

Disc Title: A Silent Voice
Disc Label: KOE_NO_KATACHI_STD
Disc Size: 40,361,205,138 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00004.MPLS
Size: 38,788,679,040 bytes
Length: 2:09:42.775
Total Bitrate: 39.87 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 31872 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Italian / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  2891 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  2843 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitle: Italian / 31.013 kbps
Subtitle: Italian / 38.465 kbps
Subtitle: Italian / 1.734 kbps

AVG: 31872 kbps | MAX: 57616 kbps

Pony Canyon BD – BDInfo & bitrate viewer report – source: Kyoani.de and professorwho

Disc Title: KOENOKATACHI
Disc Size: 48.183.729.294 bytes
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: No
Playlist: 00000.MPLS
Size: 45.547.530.240 bytes
Length: 2:10:03.796
Total Bitrate: 46,69 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 26911 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1562 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 6912 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 835 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / 16-bit)
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 6912 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 875 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitle: Japanese / 50,770 kbps

AVG: 26901 kbps | MAX: 32313 kbps

Anime Limited BD – BDInfo & bitrate viewer report

Disc Title: A Silent Voice
Disc Label: A SILENT VOICE
Disc Size: 43,921,182,171 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00000.MPLS
Size: 36,915,766,656 bytes
Length: 2:09:42.816
Total Bitrate: 37.95 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 24908 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3672 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3672 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitle: English / 21.429 kbps
Subtitle: English / 1.424 kbps
Subtitle: English / 22.525 kbps

AVG: 24908 kbps | MAX: 47855 kbps

[Ccharmanderk]

Originally Posted by professorwho

There's one sequence that gets close to Re:Zero levels of terrible.

Professorwho, you're a cool guy, and you're a knowledgeable individual, but I think you need to stop throwing that comparison around so often because I don't think it's as applicable as you think it is.

Re:Zero was as bad as it was because a half-assed Flash-based streaming encode at an anemic bitrate was somehow miles better, not simply because it had outstanding banding and macroblocking issues. It was an exceptional case because it somehow compared poorly against the actual bottom-standard, and most anime Blu-rays, even some of the worst from Funimation, are better than what you can find on a typical streaming site.

If you're gonna compare a release to Re:Zero, it had better look godawful or it's not a fair comparison.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Ccharmanderk

If you're gonna compare a release to Re:Zero, it had better look godawful or it's not a fair comparison.

I stand by my statement that the JP BD of A Silent Voice is really bad. Is it as bad as Re:Zero? No. However, it does have certain shots which are extremely poor, thus the correlation to it.

I use that comparison as it's one that many people who don't even browse this thread know about. Yes, R:Z was because of a terrible master used for the BD, but here, the final home video master was used, so while R:Z's FUNi BD could be fixed by using a different master, unless the original master of ASV was de-banded like what mp3dom did in the comparison above, there is no fix, and even the de-banding must've been a tough challenge.

I am extremely sensitive to banding- more so than a lot of people, so it really stood out. For most people the JP BD is acceptable, and it was for me until I had to capture shots for Scavenger, where going frame-by-frame revealed way more artifacting than I remembered.

[BigOnAnime]

Well, you could also use the US BDs for Psycho-Pass and Serial Experiments Lain for better examples of bad banding that aren't at Re:Zero levels of bad.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by professorwho

I stand by my statement that the JP BD of A Silent Voice is really bad.

I very much disagree.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Naiera

I very much disagree.

Which is perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.

I seem to be more accepting of Ritrovata's poor colour grading of live action films than most, which could be viewed as a controversial opinion. Everyone has the things which they like or don't so it's fine you disagree. Nobody is forcing anybody to concede and give in to another's opinion, which itself is subjective.

[Naiera]

Muh fwiend says I have to watch Sword of the Stranger, because it has teh shibe.

I haven't paid attention to that one AT ALL, because I generally don't do period piece samurai stuff, so can someone please let me know if I should get the BV release or the FUNi release?

[professorwho]

The FUNi release has one issue- there's like 3 or 4 lines of Chinese dialogue which aren't subbed on the disc. However, there is a replacement disc for it that they never made public... you just have to email them about it.

So I'd say Bandai, just to be safe.

[gundamcero]

Originally Posted by professorwho

The FUNi release has one issue- there's like 3 or 4 lines of Chinese dialogue which aren't subbed on the disc. However, there is a replacement disc for it that they never made public... you just have to email them about it.

So I'd say Bandai, just to be safe.

That is only a problem when watching the dub though so I'm good.

[pikagreg]

Originally Posted by professorwho

The FUNi release has one issue- there's like 3 or 4 lines of Chinese dialogue which aren't subbed on the disc. However, there is a replacement disc for it that they never made public... you just have to email them about it.

So I'd say Bandai, just to be safe.

Funi ended up fixing these at some point. I bought my copy on Amazon and pre-emtively emailed Funi asking for a replacement disc. They ended up sending me one and when I checked my original disc, it ended up being a fixed version already lol

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by gundamcero

That is only a problem when watching the dub though so I'm good.

I haven't seen the film in years and I've never seen it dubbed, so I didn't know.

I think they weren't subbed even with the "full" subtitles either, but this is me just potentially remembering things. Though, don't take my word for it.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Rhys2753

Weird no one has pointed this out. With the english dub, some characters are speaking chinese as part of the film. The Bandai DVD had subtitles during the english dub for this, but Funimation's release has no subs for this, you have to switch audio tracks to understand what characters are saying which makes watching this amazing movie a pain in the ass. I think they should reissue since this is a glaring flaw in QC.

https://fandompost.vbulletin.net/for...ger#post595464

I recommend looking at the next few posts in that thread too.

[BigOnAnime]

I'm used to seeing banding, especially on streams (Ex: K-On! on HIDIVE has a good amount of banding, especially in darker scenes), but it can be quite distracting when it's bad enough, like the following in these Twitter threads of mine.
https://twitter.com/BigOnAnime/statu...81510354583552
https://twitter.com/BigOnAnime/statu...77595954438144 (How do you get very visible color banding in bright scenes?)
https://twitter.com/BigOnAnime/statu...09588476825601 (NSFW)

I looked at a few of those A Silent Voice screenshots, and they're not at this level of bad, or say, FUNi's releases of Shakugan no Shana (Geneon DVDs for S1 have it too, though not as much, likely in the source), Psycho-Pass (IIRC, banding is in the source), or Serial Experiments Lain. It's the kind that I can tolerate. Banding like what's in those Twitter threads? Rather distracting, especially Kamisama Kiss 2. Still don't get why S2 has streams that are that bad when S1 looked like this.
https://twitter.com/BigOnAnime/statu...93495870894081

I'm hoping the BDs for S2 look more like that screenshot from S1 rather those those very ugly streams.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by cfx

It's a major reason I'm glad I'm not interested in UHDs, since this issue plagues so many of them for ex. Batman and Batman returns; obviously improved scans, but worthless to me due to the revisionist color, and to a lesser degree, revisionist audio.

I don't know about Returns, but the colors in Batman 1989 are much closer to the release prints. The previous Blu-ray was too bright and had a very strong pink tint.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by cfx

While I have no idea what I'm looking at there in that link, the last sentence puzzles me since on caps-a-holic the remastered Batman looks far brighter and oversaturated in color compared to the old one?

I've added a link to show that there are hints of teal/cyan present in some shots. The old BD looks brighter, or should I say washed out, in the caps-a-holic shots.

[NLScavenger]

Spanish anime distributor Selecta Vision asked their twitter followers which aspect ratio they prefer for classic series. As I'm typing this, 48% voted for widescreen. Shaking my head.

https://twitter.com/SelectaVision/st...96916619698178

[Gouki]

OAR getting butchered into 16:9 is one of my sore spots, but be careful talking about it here because you'll get yelled at.