The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[vincentric]

OK, so words can't quite describe how truly awful the old FMA DVD singles are. As BOA pointed out in the previous page, they used alternate angles for the credits issue. There are two angles with 4eps in each one at 3.6GB per angle. In other words they are stuffing 8eps worth of video and audio data into only around 7GB, even for a DVD, that is quite pathetic to say the least -



Goes without saying that the DVD image looks beyond piss poor when upscaled -

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5791/2...fe8baa04_o.png

For a quick comparison, here's how the BD looks -

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5821/2...a8bbaac2_o.png

I'll do some more comparisons shortly (and get some BD stats up), just have to finish up a project for work first.

[vincentric]

Got more of those comparisons up. I see more banding in the BDs than I would have liked but is nonetheless a nice upgrade over the crappy DVDsingles.

01 fma dvd singles | fma bd

02 fma dvd singles | fma bd

03 fma dvd singles | fma bd

04 fma dvd singles | fma bd

05 fma dvd singles | fma bd

06 fma dvd singles | fma bd

Most of the episodes in the BDs are each given around 4.5 - 4.6GB of data except for a few in disc 3 which hover around 5 GB -

[vincentric]

Checked out some Valvrave. Looks pretty good. Darker scenes and fast moving action scenes are all pretty much free of banding and compression blocking. Couldn't really detect any problems aside from some slight, but noticeable, instances of aliasing throughout the show that can likely be traced back to the digital source -









The first four eps in disc 1 are using 26.5 GB of total data, around 6.6 GB per ep -



That average amount per ep isn't bad at all considering that it's a monolingual release.

[vincentric]

Thought I'd continue a dorky FLCL pq discussion from the haul thread over here instead.

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

Which DVD's, Synch-Point's (Which had some artifacting issues-wish the FLCL Mania thread was still around for that "Zeh goggles" screencap....), or FUNi's? Sadly have never seen good big screenshots for FUNi's DVD. Saw some smaller ones that looked good, maybe they're like what was on iTunes which I remember people in the Mania thread praising (And it was not what the BD's were like).

(Also I prefer people shortening my username to BOA.)

Will try borrowing the Funi DVD from a co-worker shortly (today hopefully, if not, probably on Monday). There's a review for the Funi BD over at Blu-ray Definition with decent quality jpg caps that I plan to use for some comparisons with the DVD. Edit: Just from looking at those FLCL BR Def pics, it looks absolutely horrible similar to the fugly Shana BD encode. Edit 2: I'll also try to compare some shots from the link you provided here.

[Naiera]

[Mangaranga]

Received my HOTD CE today. I purchased it mainly hoping for a new encode and thankfully it got one (McCray job). Initial impressions show that it addresses the main problems I had with the older release like aggressive banding during fade ins/outs, gigantic subtitles and incorrect brightness. I don't plan to do any extensive screenshot comparisons, but these two comparisons just show how poor the old encode could be during fast moving scenes. Subtitles have been changed to the current standard smaller yellow subs and minor changes have also been made to them.

[pikagreg]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

Received my HOTD CE today. I purchased it mainly hoping for a new encode and thankfully it got one (McCray job). Initial impressions show that it addresses the main problems I had with the older release like aggressive banding during fade ins/outs, gigantic subtitles and incorrect brightness. I don't plan to do any extensive screenshot comparisons, but these two comparisons just show how poor the old encode could be during fast moving scenes. Subtitles have been changed to the current standard smaller yellow subs and minor changes have also been made to them.

I had huge buyer's remorse for this set but any upgrade is good news to me

[vincentric]

I wonder if they gave Majestic Prince a new encode for the complete collection? I remember the dual volume release looking like crap. The complete collection looks to be using the same episode and disc count though so I wouldn't be surprised to hear if it's the same encode being recycled.

I should be able to take some FLCL comparisons after work (overtime's killing me).

[svenge]

Meh, I think I'll keep my Synch-Point "Ultimate Edition" DVD box.

[vincentric]

Got those FLCL comparisons.

01 funi dvd | funi bd

02 funi dvd | funi bd

03 funi dvd | funi bd

04 funi dvd | funi bd

05 funi dvd | funi bd

06 funi dvd | funi bd

07 funi dvd | funi bd

08 funi dvd | funi bd

09 funi dvd | funi bd

10 funi dvd | funi bd

11 funi dvd | funi bd

12 funi dvd | funi bd

13 funi dvd | funi bd

My quick .02. The Blu-ray looks more aliased here and there but it also looks more clear and detailed. In spite of the crappy upscale, I'd take the Blu-ray over the DVD but I dunno, that's just me. I'll let you all decide for yourselves.

Edit: Several of the Flickr links got messed up for some reason, had to delete and repost, apologies for that.

[Naiera]

Heh, yeah, no doubt about which is the better looking release, in spite of a somewhat bungled upscale job.

[Sylontack]

So anyway now that I'm back home, if anyone still wants to shoot some timestamps (by episode, not by disc as the counts would be different) and screenshots for the Aniplex of America Bakemono and Nisemono sets my way I'd be happy to provide matching shots to compare the MVM/Hanabee release to the AoA release.

[Norbie]

Originally Posted by vincentric

... My quick .02. The Blu-ray looks more aliased here and there but it also looks more clear and detailed. In spite of the crappy upscale, I'd take the Blu-ray over the DVD but I dunno, that's just me. I'll let you all decide for yourselves...

The differences between the DVD and the BD are even more pronounced when watching on a tv screen 32inch or greater.

Despite the blu-ray being an upscale I still greatly prefer it over the DVD.

[Naiera]

There's no law that says upscales are supposed to be inferior to the DVD.

[vincentric]

I should quickly mention my video tech spec. Nothing special but pretty decent. Have got a 50'' pioneer kuro and a 40'' sony bravia, both are isf calibrated (I calibrated the sony myself as best I could). The Kuro has deep color output that will alleviate color banding so I do most, if not all of my video testing on the Sony which will reveal picture quality weaknesses not seen on the Kuro.

Originally Posted by Sylontack

So anyway now that I'm back home, if anyone still wants to shoot some timestamps (by episode, not by disc as the counts would be different) and screenshots for the Aniplex of America Bakemono and Nisemono sets my way I'd be happy to provide matching shots to compare the MVM/Hanabee release to the AoA release.

Would help but don't own either of those titles.

[jonno394]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows how the video quality of the Blue Exorcist movie release from Manga UK compares to the Aniplex of America version. I've heard the series sets video quality is pretty much identical. Thanks.

[vincentric]

^TLDR, they pretty much are.

Page 2 of this thread contains a lot of info. Also posted some comparison shots here.

[jonno394]

Yeah id seen all that but that relates to the series. I'm just curious if the movie is the same.

[vincentric]

Ah, apologies, am sleepy but mostly my speed reading skills just suck.

I plan to import the movie from AmzUK (just waiting on a lower price). I can throw some stats and screens up from it, and someone who owns the AoA version could possibly do the same for comparison. But until then, someone else who knows the answer for sure will have to chime in ahead of time.

[vincentric]

Had an in depth look at UK and Funi versions of Bebop. There are four main differences - UK version renders the line work in more detail. Funi version contains more grain though am not sure how much of it is natural or artificial. UK version is brighter and more washed out but not in every episode, I'll mention which eps in more detail shortly. Funi version has less visible blocking and banding but I think that's because they're being masked by some artificial grain that Funi may have added.

The eps that I saw with no brightness differences were in 16 (comparison 5 and 8), 17 (comparison 7), 20 (comparison 6 and 13), 26 (comparison 4 and 10). I didn't check every episode so it's possible there may be more eps that have matching brightness. Just to quickly note, ep 20 is an upscale.

01 funi bd | uk bd

02 funi bd | uk bd

03 funi bd | uk bd

04 funi bd | uk bd

05 funi bd | uk bd

06 funi bd | uk bd

07 funi bd | uk bd

08 funi bd | uk bd

09 funi bd | uk bd

10 funi bd | uk bd

11 funi bd | uk bd

12 funi bd | uk bd

13 funi bd | uk bd

Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the UK version's more detailed line work above all but I'll leave it up to you all once again to decide what looks best.

Here are the stats before I forget. Funi eps are split 9-9-8 across three discs. On average, each of the 26 eps contains 3.3 GB of data for the video and 1.1 GB for the audio -

[Show spoiler]

UK eps are split 7-6-7-6 across four discs. Each of the 26 eps here average 4.2 GB of data for the video and 1.1 GB for the audio -

[Show spoiler]