The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by slerch666

For me, the price difference meant I didn't and don't care about the banding on these.

Debated buying the Japanese BDs used at some point in the future if the prices drop enough to justify it. That's a big IF.

Same. I just couldn't justify the $1000+ for the Aniplex releases (beautiful though they may be) so I cheaped out on the MVM releases. I did break my own rule of "consistent spines" after I got really impatient waiting for the Kizu trilogy, though. No regrets.

[Rozay]

I've read that the Funi release of SE Lain is pretty crummy, I'm guessing the Japanese set is better? Noticed it has the English dub.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Rozay

I've read that the Funi release of SE Lain is pretty crummy, I'm guessing the Japanese set is better? Noticed it has the English dub.

Yes, FUNi Lain has lots of banding and is smeary AF, removing the grain on the JP release almost completely.

[Rozay]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Yes, FUNi Lain has lots of banding and is smeary AF, removing the grain on the JP release almost completely.

Funi strikes again

Thanks for the confirmation.

[BigOnAnime]

If you want to know how the Japanese release of Lain looked like, here's a comparison with the original Geneon DVDs. There used to be comparisons against FUNi's release but they don't work anymore.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...9#post16314499

Also the Japanese release already didn't have much film grain, I don't recall the comparisons showing FUNi's release had a more blurry image, just it had far more banding.

[professorwho]

The bit at the end of the site's review of it is laughable:

Note: It should be mentioned that some of the online chatter is devoted to the fact that the first BD, which contains episodes 1 thru 9, is a BD-50, while the second BD, containing episodes 10 thru 13, is a BD-25 (our specs can't accommodate this anomaly, hence the listing above showing only BD-50). Some feel that the episodes have been "crammed" onto the discs, but that's simply not the case. The first disc runs about 3 and a half hours, far less than a BD- 50 can accommodate at a more than amply decent bitrate, and the second disc is barely an hour and a half, again well within the capabilities of a BD-25. Whatever issues this set has is not due to the amount of content on the discs, at least in my considered opinion. Would things have improved had we been given, say, six episodes on one disc and seven on another, both on BD-50s? Maybe, but I think you'd be hard pressed to make a really serious case that quality would have been improved dramatically by such an approach.

lol

[kk1]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Probably? Try looking at it on another screen.

OK I can see it on my phone. Didn't realize my plasma "fixed" banding like that, maybe I should save some money and just get the cheaper releases

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by kk1

OK I can see it on my phone. Didn't realize my plasma "fixed" banding like that, maybe I should save some money and just get the cheaper releases

Hmm... maybe I should get a Plasma TV if I can find one at a good price (along with the PVM I'm dreaming about getting)...

[FeelsBDMan]

That's weird I'm not seeing a significant amount of banding on my monitor for UK/AU Bakemonogatari, it's QHD and colour calibrated for correct white point, gamma and low DE so I don't think it's that.

The Aniplex is better no doubt but considering the price difference ($20 USD vs. $150 USD) yeah I'll take it to be honest.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by FeelsBDMan

The Aniplex is better no doubt but considering the price difference ($20 USD vs. $150 USD) yeah I'll take it to be honest.

With a price difference that big, I don't blame you.

[FeelsBDMan]

Ah, don't get me wrong though I love Aniplex releases though.

But it does make it harder to pay their premiums when they charge double, triple or in this case almost eight times their competitors. And it's not like companies like Sentai and Anime Limited aren't doing pretty solid PQ these days.

[professorwho]

You guys ever wonder what Q-Tec's FORS process would look like with an HD scan of a 35mm dupe negative of a 1954 black and white live action film masterpiece? Then check out Seven Samurai. In the comparison, Criterion is first, then hover over to see Q-Tec's mess for Toho.

Criterion used the same elements, so it's a fair comparison. If you guys thought Q-Tec was just ruining anime, you'd be wrong... they're ruining masterpieces of Japanese, and even world cinema!

Thankfully, Toho stopped using them after a while, but I believe they still work on other live action films.

(Also, there's a hilarious article with the Q-Tec guys talking about how great their BD of Blue Submarine No. 6 is. It's in Japanese, so unless you Google Translate it- or can understand most of it like me- then it's of little value here.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by professorwho

You guys ever wonder what Q-Tec's FORS process would look like with an HD scan of a 35mm dupe negative of a 1954 black and white live action film masterpiece? Then check out Seven Samurai. In the comparison, Criterion is first, then hover over to see Q-Tec's mess for Toho.

Criterion used the same elements, so it's a fair comparison. If you guys thought Q-Tec was just ruining anime, you'd be wrong... they're ruining masterpieces of Japanese, and even world cinema!

Thankfully, Toho stopped using them after a while, but I believe they still work on other live action films.

(Also, there's a hilarious article with the Q-Tec guys talking about how great their BD of Blue Submarine No. 6 is. It's in Japanese, so unless you Google Translate it- or can understand most of it like me- then it's of little value here.

Feck sake. Even Ritrovata does better jobs than that (just don't let them color time).

[professorwho]

I forgot to mention, the guy at Q-Tec when interviewed about remastering Seven Samurai said that they just let FORS do its own thing, except they noticed that in the scenes with rain, the dirt removal removed the rain, so they had to MANUALLY FIX IT with a rEal pErS0N! Yeah... they're that lazy.

They said a similar thing about Death Note's Japanese upscale. "There was so much grain we had to manually look over the upscale"

Wow.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by FeelsBDMan

But it does make it harder to pay their premiums when they charge double, triple or in this case almost eight times their competitors.

What are these prices you’re referring to? Where does one get all of Bakemonogatari for $20?

[FeelsBDMan]

Originally Posted by Naiera

What are these prices you’re referring to? Where does one get all of Bakemonogatari for $20?

The Australian release is going for $29 AUD (~$20 USD) right now at JB HiFi and if you got in a bit early it was actually $24 (~$15 USD). I believe the MVM set was going for that cheap at one point as well.

There's a difference I see but honestly my monitor isn't showing an enormous one.

[Naiera]

It’s probably a bit more fair if you compare MSRP or at least the usual going rate instead of superduperamazeballs deals.

[Ccharmanderk]

Originally Posted by professorwho

You guys ever wonder what Q-Tec's FORS process would look like with an HD scan of a 35mm dupe negative of a 1954 black and white live action film masterpiece? Then check out Seven Samurai. In the comparison, Criterion is first, then hover over to see Q-Tec's mess for Toho.

Criterion used the same elements, so it's a fair comparison. If you guys thought Q-Tec was just ruining anime, you'd be wrong... they're ruining masterpieces of Japanese, and even world cinema!

Thankfully, Toho stopped using them after a while, but I believe they still work on other live action films.

(Also, there's a hilarious article with the Q-Tec guys talking about how great their BD of Blue Submarine No. 6 is. It's in Japanese, so unless you Google Translate it- or can understand most of it like me- then it's of little value here.

Jesus. The amount of detail that's just been wiped away wholesale in the Japanese Blu-ray is horrifying. Seven Samurai is one of my favorite films so seeing it getting such a disastrous release in any form makes my skin crawl.

Originally Posted by professorwho

I forgot to mention, the guy at Q-Tec when interviewed about remastering Seven Samurai said that they just let FORS do its own thing, except they noticed that in the scenes with rain, the dirt removal removed the rain, so they had to MANUALLY FIX IT with a rEal pErS0N! Yeah... they're that lazy.

They said a similar thing about Death Note's Japanese upscale. "There was so much grain we had to manually look over the upscale"

Wow.

Proving moreover that automated machine restoration is a sh*tshow no matter how you try to slice it. Always, always, always ensure you have actual human beings overseeing and tweaking things to ensure the best possible outcome, and do as much manual work as you can muster.

[kk1]

Originally Posted by professorwho

You guys ever wonder what Q-Tec's FORS process would look like with an HD scan of a 35mm dupe negative of a 1954 black and white live action film masterpiece? Then check out Seven Samurai. In the comparison, Criterion is first, then hover over to see Q-Tec's mess for Toho.

Criterion used the same elements, so it's a fair comparison. If you guys thought Q-Tec was just ruining anime, you'd be wrong... they're ruining masterpieces of Japanese, and even world cinema!

Thankfully, Toho stopped using them after a while, but I believe they still work on other live action films.

(Also, there's a hilarious article with the Q-Tec guys talking about how great their BD of Blue Submarine No. 6 is. It's in Japanese, so unless you Google Translate it- or can understand most of it like me- then it's of little value here.

Are there no film buffs in Japan decrying this? Don't understand why anyone is still using Q-tec

[BigOnAnime]

They're probably cheap, so it saves money. Doing proper remasters is more time-consuming and expensive.