The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[jala12]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

1080p 23,976fps

It's a decent release right? There's no NA option so I picked the HK release up from a video store.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by jala12

It's a decent release right? There's no NA option so I picked the HK release up from a video store.

Yeah, it's a decent release.

[jala12]

Thanks. One more inquiry: how does the HK release of 5cm per second compare to the NA release?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Robbl

How is that a trade off? Afaik, 16bit is capable of up to ~95dB. Unless you want to blow your ears off it's a non issue.

I know. I’m just saying that it’s from a technical perspective worse. Even though I am no audio expert and cannot hear any difference between 16 and 24-Bit. I’m saying it’s a trade off as 24-Bit requires a higher bitrate and that would lower the video bitrate.

[Enigmo_1]

Yikes...we're doomed...

So, idk if it's already been discussed, but Slayers had a Spanish Blu-ray release by Selecta Vision some time ago and it wasn't from a HD scan of the film. Just filtered upscales of what I imagine was an old tape master of SD film scans.

Aaaaaand...just this past December, Japan began releasing the Blu-rays and this is what they look like:

[Show spoiler]

From what I can tell, they just used Selecta Vision's crappy filtered upscale of low quality footage.

This makes me really worried... Especially since Selecta Vision are remastering the original Dragon Ball and if it's just a crappy filtered upscale like Slayers, then there's little chance of Japan ever doing a higher quality remaster. Like with Slayers, they may just release a crappy upscale done by a foreign company that didn't have access to the original film.

[Lambadelta]

Originally Posted by Enigmo_1

Yikes...we're doomed...

So, idk if it's already been discussed, but Slayers had a Spanish Blu-ray release by Selecta Vision some time ago and it wasn't from a HD scan of the film. Just filtered upscales of what I imagine was an old tape master of SD film scans.

Aaaaaand...just this past December, Japan began releasing the Blu-rays and this is what they look like:

[Show spoiler]

From what I can tell, they just used Selecta Vision's crappy filtered upscale of low quality footage.

This makes me really worried... Especially since Selecta Vision are remastering the original Dragon Ball and if it's just a crappy filtered upscale like Slayers, then there's little chance of Japan ever doing a higher quality remaster. Like with Slayers, they may just release a crappy upscale done by a foreign company that didn't have access to the original film.

I already posted about both releases as I own both.

No they didn't use selecta's since Selecta's has a colour boost, and some other things like fake noise added.

[Enigmo_1]

Originally Posted by Lambadelta

I already posted about both releases as I own both.

No they didn't use selecta's since Selecta's has a colour boost, and some other things like fake noise added.

So what..other than adding fake grain and colour boosting, they decided to replicate the entire filtering process?

[svenge]

Originally Posted by jala12

Thanks. One more inquiry: how does the HK release of 5cm per second compare to the NA release?

The NA release's video is a 1:1 port of the JP "Global Edition" release, so get that one if you can.

[Lambadelta]

Originally Posted by Enigmo_1

So what..other than adding fake grain and colour boosting, they decided to replicate the entire filtering process?

When it comes to actual movement the JP release is very slightly better than Selectas, and doesn't have a slight ringing.

Honestly though for the price difference if you wanted slayers on BD then Selectas would serve the purpose.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

I posted screenshots of the UK BD last year, but those should be gone now. I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

Ninja Scroll UK BD screenshots

Same frames as the caps-a-holic comparison

And a screenshot that matches one of professorwho's screenshots

[professorwho]

Interesting. So it has the bumped up brightness.

So if anyone here who doesn't have it yet is debating on which one to order, I'd say Sentai's second version- here- is the one to pick up, due to the corrected brightness. Or the JP BD, but there's no subs, so you'd have to mux some in.

[professorwho]

Broken Blade
(Sentai Filmworks, USA)

Video:
1080p MPEG-4 AVC
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
23.976 fps

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

(Part 3)

(Part 4)

(Part 5)

(Part 6)

Audio:
JP DTS HD-MA 5.1 48kHz 24-Bit
EN DTS HD-MA 5.1 48kHz 24-Bit

Okay, Broken Blade has a lot of high bitrate spikes. Which is good. This set of OVAs (yes, OVAs, not films as Sentai calls them- they were made as OVAs, but were shown theatrically before home video to rake in more money) has a lot of detail, thus a high bitrate is a no-brainer. Instead, the bitrate was kept to Sentai's average territory, but was compensated with by various high spikes. I have no idea why they did a 4-2 split, as each episode is roughly 50 minutes, so doing 2 BD-50s with 3 parts each would be a better result- I imagine bitrates would average in the high twenties, if not low thirties.

There is good clarity and detail, with very minor banding showing up every so often. It's a minor complaint, really.

The audio is in DTS HD-MA 5.1 and is perfect. Zero compression issues. I don't know how well it utilizes 5.1 surround, but I'd assume it's good enough.

Finally, the site's review for it is hilarious because the reviewer doesn't even mention the encode, and goes on instead about the purdy visuals:

If you need to see what reference quality high definition anime animation looks like in a sterling Blu-ray release, look no further than Broken Blade. This is one fantastic looking set of OVAs, with gorgeously saturated color, brilliantly sharp line detail and a high and consistent level of clarity. Broken Blade offers some really sumptuously rendered backgrounds and character designs, and the care and devotion that has been lavished on this project pops off the screen with amazing vividness. The animators have done a spectacular job detailing the quasi-desert worlds of Krisna (landscapes that are oddly redolent of Frank Herbert's Dune at times), and even "small" moments, like a bird flitting away from a devastating battle scene, are handled with precision and finesse. This is both a fantastic looking anime as well as a sterling high definition presentation.

[Naiera]

The UK release is identical, by the way.

[professorwho]

I figured, I just listed that it's the USA release because we have people from Europe here, and it's good for preservation's sake.

[kk1]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Interesting. So it has the bumped up brightness.

So if anyone here who doesn't have it yet is debating on which one to order, I'd say Sentai's second version- here- is the one to pick up, due to the corrected brightness. Or the JP BD, but there's no subs, so you'd have to mux some in.

Which is still $7 at Sentai https://shop.sentaifilmworks.com/pro...lly-remastered

[kevers7290]

If given the choice between the UK and AU release of Tokyo Godfathers, which is the lesser of two evils? I realise that both are flawed. If I understand correctly, the AU release is windowboxed and while the UK is not, the grain has been DNR'd(?).

[professorwho]

Yup. Not sure if the UK one is DNR'd, but it's either that (DNR) or really bad compression.

Plus, the UK one has lossless audio, whereas the AU one doesn't.

[NLScavenger]

The Tatami Galaxy - UK BD

Episode 1 screenshots

Audio:
Japanese PCM 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit with optional English subtitles

Bitrate viewer report:

AVG: 29952 kbps | MAX: 47900 kbps

I'm pretty sure this is a mediaOCD job. It has the usual region lock screen and the encoding settings were left behind

Encoding settings

Writing library      : x264 core 146 r2538 121396c
Encoding settings    : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=24 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=30000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=31000 / vbv_bufsize=30000 / nal_hrd=vbr / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Subtitles are in everyone's favorite color:

[Show spoiler]

I personally don't mind yellow subtitles.

[professorwho]

It is

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

The Tatami Galaxy - UK BD

[/code]Subtitles are in everyone's favorite color:

[Show spoiler]

I personally don't mind yellow subtitles.

They sure are better than Sentai's, regardless. More appropriate size, easier to see because of thickness and outline.