The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread - Page 198 - Blu-ray Forum

Nostalgic Twilight · 05-31-2019, 09:58 PM

I also received Maiden Japan's Glass Mask BD. I've never seen this show before, but I am quite anxious to check it out. It sounds interesting and is from my favorite time period of anime.

Blu-ray screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/wsJ3bz7

Bitrate analysis of episode one:

And here's another one I haven't seen, Princess Tutu. I know that someone was asking for screenshots from Sentai's BD (BigOnAnime?), so here are a few:

Screenshot gallery: https://imgur.com/a/dsELNeh

Bitrate analysis for episode one:

Logan Jones · 05-31-2019, 11:07 PM

Thanks for providing the comparison screenshots.

After looking at Princess Tutu (which is obviously an upscale,) I noticed it didn't have that smeary, overly-filtered look like Negima! This leads me to ask, why do so many companies like q-tec do that smeary filtered crap? Do they not know that it looks BAD?

professorwho · 05-31-2019, 11:12 PM

Q-Tec does that because they think they it looks good. Plus, they keep being used for upscales because they do other things in anime production (like sync video to audio, and encode/author discs- a lot of Aniplex discs are done that way and they're good at that) so why not do it all under one roof? Saves money. At the end of the day, it's a business, sadly.

Pyoko · 06-01-2019, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logan Jones

Do they not know that it looks BAD?

I've been asking myself this question ever since the first appearance of WarpSharp on the anime scene.

Thanks for the screenshots of Princess Tutu and Glass Mask, Nostalgic Twilight! Tutu looks a tad noisy with some ringing but at least it's a straight upscale.

I wonder how long before we see a professional upscale using some form of neutral-network/machine-learning technique. I think clean, low-res digital anime would be an optimal candidate for successful use of that technology.

Kyle15 · 06-01-2019, 03:57 PM

Jeez unless I'm not looking hard enough Princess Tutu looks really good! Now how about they lay off their smear button for everything else? lol

kk1 · 06-01-2019, 05:55 PM

Good lord Negaima!? what a mess.

professorwho · 06-01-2019, 06:12 PM

It’s a shame Negima!? is that way. It’s a beautiful show in its direction and cinematography, but being in that “transition period” between SD and HD it’s never looked good on home video.

Dino-Killer 912 · 06-02-2019, 02:59 AM

I just found GANTZ:O has so much grain. Maybe this is deliberately to imitate the live action film?

Jeo · 06-02-2019, 03:03 AM

Info and screenshots taken from episode 1.

Bitrate:

MediaInfo:

[Show spoiler]

Screenshots:

professorwho · 06-02-2019, 03:48 AM

Outside of some minor banding, that looks very nice indeed! (Silver Spoon)

Also, quick question- what is the best way to upscale DVD content to 1080p and capture it (if on a player)? I have a cool idea for a project and if I find a good way to work it, I may end up creating my own custom Blu-ray for a certain special series.

jsevakis · 06-02-2019, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyoko

I wonder how long before we see a professional upscale using some form of neutral-network/machine-learning technique. I think clean, low-res digital anime would be an optimal candidate for successful use of that technology.

There's been quite a bit of work on this, and a still image neural network upscaler has been ported for video use, but it's currently too slow to even bother with testing it out. Someday!

BigOnAnime · 06-02-2019, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

I received Sentai's BDs of Negima! and Negima!? today and decided to take a look at them.

First up is Negima! All I can say about this is even considering all the issues with Funi's DVD, the upscale on Sentai's BD sure isn't very pretty.

Bitrate analysis for episode one:

Screenshot comparisons: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/803/
(I captured the wrong frames for shots 2 and 4. My bad.)

Was this on 6 discs, as in, the original singles? I take it they have alternate angles? Going off ANN's release info, seems FUNi did eventually drop the disc count with this set (any re-release from FUNi that had less discs than the singles dropped the alternate angles), so video quality on that would likely compare more favorably.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/enc...s.php?id=15284

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

And here's another one I haven't seen, Princess Tutu. I know that someone was asking for screenshots from Sentai's BD (BigOnAnime?), so here are a few:

Screenshot gallery: https://imgur.com/a/dsELNeh

Bitrate analysis for episode one:

I take it you don't have the DVDs to compare? It's not a smeary mess, thank gawd. I do really wonder how the DVDs compare though. It looks like we don't have another Kaleido Star on our hands at least it seems.
https://fandompost.vbulletin.net/for...box#post408168

Nostalgic Twilight · 06-02-2019, 11:36 AM

Yep, I have the original Negima! box that collects all the singles which use alternate angles. And nope, Princess Tutu was an impulse buy and I’ve never owned the DVDs.

Robbl · 06-02-2019, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeo

Info and screenshots taken from episode 1.

Bitrate:

MediaInfo:

[Show spoiler]

Screenshots:

Why is it 24fps instead of 23.976? Is the audio sync ok?

NLScavenger · 06-02-2019, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robbl

Why is it 24fps instead of 23.976? Is the audio sync ok?

It is 23.976 (see mediainfo), but bitrateviewer doesn't always display the correct framerate.

Yuripa · 06-02-2019, 02:04 PM

For Silver Spoon it would be nice to verify the gamma/brightness since that release is of-course not a AoA/AoJ clone and have been authored by a UK authoring house if i'm correct.

A member of AL said the gamma/brighntess issue is still not fixed at the moment, so maybe that release also have a wrong color level (like the Code Geass movies, Amachu, etc.)

professorwho · 06-02-2019, 05:38 PM

Found some screencaps of the JP City Hunter Box from Aniplex. Can't validate if they're taken correctly (I assume they may not have been, due to compression artifacts in a few of the caps, though maybe the BD has them, I'm not sure). Still, it looks like the restoration done was great, so even if these were taken "wrongly," then we're in good hands in regards to the Discotek BD.

A few highlights (all from Episode 1):

(I re-uploaded them to Imgur, so as to consolidate them in one place. Here's the page with the ones I found)

NLScavenger · 06-02-2019, 05:57 PM

^Screenshots captured from the actual BD and not a rip (source): http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/5ij3...1pw0u40de7zj15

chronoclast · 06-02-2019, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

And here's another one I haven't seen, Princess Tutu. I know that someone was asking for screenshots from Sentai's BD (BigOnAnime?), so here are a few:

Screenshot gallery: https://imgur.com/a/dsELNeh

I'm surprised Princess Tutu isn't a Q-tec upscale since King Records have normally opted for them for past upscales like FLCL and Stellvia. Outside of some banding and minor ringing, it looks pretty good.

Zhou · 06-03-2019, 12:53 AM

Speaking of Princess Tutu, I finally found the time to start watching it on Blu-ray, and while I think the upscale looks good, I was bothered by the constant ghosting and the occasionally jerky motion during scrolling scenes. Is the Japanese release interlaced as well?

Edit: I just watched episodes 2-4, and what's odd is that they don't have the same ghosting/jerky scrolling problems as the first one. I even watched some scenes frame by frame to see if I could spot some blended frames like the ones I found in episode 1, but I couldn't find any. I tried to look up some info on the Japanese release, and it looks like it's 1080i as well, because some of the CG shots and digital effects were done at a higher framerate than 24 fps.

06-02-2019, 03:03 AM	#3949
Jeo Active Member Top contributor Member since:Aug 2016 Location:Scotland 4K collection:68 Blu-ray collection:1107 DVD collection:73 Trading Score:1	Silver Spoon, Season 1 (UK, Anime Ltd.) Info and screenshots taken from episode 1. Bitrate: MediaInfo: [Show spoiler] Screenshots:

06-03-2019, 12:53 AM	#3960
Zhou Active Member Member since:Apr 2019	Speaking of Princess Tutu, I finally found the time to start watching it on Blu-ray, and while I think the upscale looks good, I was bothered by the constant ghosting and the occasionally jerky motion during scrolling scenes. Is the Japanese release interlaced as well? Edit: I just watched episodes 2-4, and what's odd is that they don't have the same ghosting/jerky scrolling problems as the first one. I even watched some scenes frame by frame to see if I could spot some blended frames like the ones I found in episode 1, but I couldn't find any. I tried to look up some info on the Japanese release, and it looks like it's 1080i as well, because some of the CG shots and digital effects were done at a higher framerate than 24 fps. Last edited by Zhou; 06-03-2019 at 02:57 AM.

05-31-2019, 09:58 PM	#3941
Nostalgic Twilight Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2015 Location:USA Blu-ray collection:436 DVD collection:390 Trading Score:20	I also received Maiden Japan's Glass Mask BD. I've never seen this show before, but I am quite anxious to check it out. It sounds interesting and is from my favorite time period of anime. Blu-ray screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/wsJ3bz7 Bitrate analysis of episode one: And here's another one I haven't seen, Princess Tutu. I know that someone was asking for screenshots from Sentai's BD (BigOnAnime?), so here are a few: Screenshot gallery: https://imgur.com/a/dsELNeh Bitrate analysis for episode one:

05-31-2019, 11:07 PM	#3942
Logan Jones Member Member since:Aug 2018 4K collection:9 Blu-ray collection:131	Thanks for providing the comparison screenshots. After looking at Princess Tutu (which is obviously an upscale,) I noticed it didn't have that smeary, overly-filtered look like Negima! This leads me to ask, why do so many companies like q-tec do that smeary filtered crap? Do they not know that it looks BAD?

05-31-2019, 11:12 PM	#3943
professorwho Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Apr 2017 4K collection:229 Blu-ray collection:982 Blu-ray reviews: 64 Trading Score:7	Q-Tec does that because they think they it looks good. Plus, they keep being used for upscales because they do other things in anime production (like sync video to audio, and encode/author discs- a lot of Aniplex discs are done that way and they're good at that) so why not do it all under one roof? Saves money. At the end of the day, it's a business, sadly.

06-01-2019, 03:57 PM	#3945
Kyle15 Blu-ray Duke Top contributor Member since:Jan 2011 Location:Alabama 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:393 DVD collection:8 Trading Score:5	Jeez unless I'm not looking hard enough Princess Tutu looks really good! Now how about they lay off their smear button for everything else? lol

06-01-2019, 05:55 PM	#3946
kk1 Blu-ray Ninja Member since:May 2015 Blu-ray collection:610	Good lord Negaima!? what a mess.

06-01-2019, 06:12 PM	#3947
professorwho Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Apr 2017 4K collection:229 Blu-ray collection:982 Blu-ray reviews: 64 Trading Score:7	It’s a shame Negima!? is that way. It’s a beautiful show in its direction and cinematography, but being in that “transition period” between SD and HD it’s never looked good on home video.

06-02-2019, 02:59 AM	#3948
Dino-Killer 912 Active Member Top contributor Member since:Apr 2015 Location:China 4K collection:134 Blu-ray collection:604 Trading Score:1	I just found GANTZ:O has so much grain. Maybe this is deliberately to imitate the live action film?

06-02-2019, 03:48 AM	#3950
professorwho Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Apr 2017 4K collection:229 Blu-ray collection:982 Blu-ray reviews: 64 Trading Score:7	Outside of some minor banding, that looks very nice indeed! (Silver Spoon) Also, quick question- what is the best way to upscale DVD content to 1080p and capture it (if on a player)? I have a cool idea for a project and if I find a good way to work it, I may end up creating my own custom Blu-ray for a certain special series.

06-02-2019, 11:36 AM	#3953
Nostalgic Twilight Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2015 Location:USA Blu-ray collection:436 DVD collection:390 Trading Score:20	Yep, I have the original Negima! box that collects all the singles which use alternate angles. And nope, Princess Tutu was an impulse buy and I’ve never owned the DVDs.

06-02-2019, 02:04 PM	#3956
Yuripa Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Oct 2016 Location:EU (Belgium) Blu-ray collection:229 DVD collection:1 Trading Score:2	For Silver Spoon it would be nice to verify the gamma/brightness since that release is of-course not a AoA/AoJ clone and have been authored by a UK authoring house if i'm correct. A member of AL said the gamma/brighntess issue is still not fixed at the moment, so maybe that release also have a wrong color level (like the Code Geass movies, Amachu, etc.)

06-02-2019, 05:38 PM	#3957
professorwho Blu-ray Champion Top contributor Member since:Apr 2017 4K collection:229 Blu-ray collection:982 Blu-ray reviews: 64 Trading Score:7	Found some screencaps of the JP City Hunter Box from Aniplex. Can't validate if they're taken correctly (I assume they may not have been, due to compression artifacts in a few of the caps, though maybe the BD has them, I'm not sure). Still, it looks like the restoration done was great, so even if these were taken "wrongly," then we're in good hands in regards to the Discotek BD. A few highlights (all from Episode 1): (I re-uploaded them to Imgur, so as to consolidate them in one place. Here's the page with the ones I found)

06-02-2019, 05:57 PM	#3958
NLScavenger Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Dec 2013 Location:Netherlands 4K collection:20 Blu-ray collection:831 Trading Score:9	^Screenshots captured from the actual BD and not a rip (source): http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/5ij3...1pw0u40de7zj15

Best Anime Deals