The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

That's a weird way of spelling "Musashi Gundoh".

You're not wrong there. Discotek, PLEASE release it. I would be glad to help you out on the release if you get the rights.

[BigOnAnime]

Still worth mentioning that on a price per episode basis, it's not bad. With 162 episodes + 3 movies, that comes down to $4.84 per episode, or, around the kind of pricing you pay for the first releases of things brand new. The first Sailor Moon Crystal LE, I paid $63 for 14 episodes, or $4.5 per episode. The LE for S1 of Chu2koi, that cost me $79 for 13 episodes, or $6.07 per episode. Free!: Dive to the Future LE, I paid a little over $57, or $4.38 per episode.

[professorwho]

I'm not even talking about the price per episode basis, I'm just saying that the quality of the presentation is not worth the price.

[professorwho]

Q-Tec is handling the Akira 4K remaster because of course they are;

(Translations are mostly from Google Translate and may not be 100% perfect, so I've slightly altered the wording)

しかし、そこで「数十年前に作られた旧作アニメを4K解像度に引き延ばす意味なんてあるのか？」といった疑 問を抱く人も少なくないだろう。これについて、4Kリマスター版『AKIRA』のリマスター作業を担当した 株式会社キュー・テック ポストプロダクション事業部 映像部 チーフテクニカルアドバイザー／シニアカラリストの今塚 誠氏は次のように語る。

However, many people may wonder "is there any advantage to anime made decades ago in 4K?" Regarding this, said Imazuka Makoto, Chief technical advisor/senior colorist at Q-Tec (Post Production Video Department) who was in charge of the 4K remaster of AKIRA.

◆「フィルムルック」の映像表現にこだわった4Kリマスター版

これまでも数度にわたりデジタルリマスター版が作られてきた『AKIRA』だが、今回の4Kリマスターでは 、大きな方針として「フィルムルック」であることにこだわったという。

「『AKIRA』は、（一般的な劇場アニメと比べて凝った画作りをしているため）重ねているセルの枚数が異 様に多く、結果として全体的にややボケた画になっています。そこで過去のBD、DVDではデジタル処理で見 え方を鮮明にしているのですが、4K解像度でそれをやると画が壊れてしまうんですね。そうした問題も踏まえ 、今回は基本的にはフィルムらしさをそのまま再現するという方向でリマスタリングを行っています」（今塚氏 ）

ここで今塚氏の言う「フィルムルック」のカギとなるのが、映像の粒子感。フィルム特有のザラザラとした点状 のノイズには映像に空気感を付与し、良くも悪くもノイズレスなデジタルアニメにはない味を生み出す効果があ る。

「ただし、4K解像度ではこのフィルムの粒子がそれまでと比べてより鮮明に取り込まれるため、実はある程度 は除去しています。リマスター作業の最初に行ったのは、この粒子補正という作業。映像を通して再生し、最も 心地よく感じられるパラメーターを探るところから始めました」（今塚氏）

そこから、フィルム上のゴミの除去や、ブレの補正などを実施。現在はこれらの作業をある程度自動化する仕組 みが実用化されているものの、2,000カットを超える『AKIRA』の映像を細かく、適切に修正していく 作業にはとにかく時間がかかったそうだ。

「ゴミの除去には専任スタッフ2名が3か月かかりきりになっています。なお、『AKIRA』は映像が細かく 動く上、先ほどもお話ししたよう多くのセルを重ねていますから、全てのゴミを取りきるのは現実的ではありま せん。チームとしての方針を定めて、目に付くゴミを中心に丁寧に取り除いていきました」（今塚 氏）

今回、取材に先駆けて実際にできあがった映像を一足早く確認させていただいたが、その映像は確かに最新のデ ジタルアニメとは異なる、良い意味で温かみのあるものだった。「全てのゴミを取りきるのは現実的ではない」 とされたフィルム上のゴミや傷についても、これまでのデジタルリマスター版と比べて、明らかに少なく感じら れた。

◆ 4K remaster version that sticks to the visual expression of "Film Look"

"AKIRA" has been remastered several times, but in this 4K remaster, the main policy is "film look". He said he was particular about something.

"AKIRA" has an unusually large number of overlapping cells (because it makes more elaborate images compared to general theater animations), resulting in a slightly blurred image overall. So, in the past BDs and DVDs, we used digital processing to make the appearance clearer, but if you do it at 4K resolution, the image will be destroyed. We are doing remastering in the direction of reproducing it as it is. ” (Imazuka-san)

"The key to the filmic look," said Imazuka-san here, "is the graininess of the image. The gritty, dot-like noise peculiar to film has the effect of adding a feeling of air to the image and creating a taste that is good or bad, which is not found in noiseless digital animation.

"However, at 4K resolution, the grain of the film has been captured more clearly than before, so in fact, I have removed it to some extent. The first thing I did in the remaster was grain correction. Through the image, we started by playing back and searching for the most comfortable parameter.” (Imazuka-san)

"From there, we removed dust on the film and corrected blur. Currently, a system that automates these tasks to some extent has been put into practical use, but it seems that it took a long time to fine-tune and appropriately correct the image of "AKIRA" that exceeds 2,000 cuts*.

*(I am adding this in- anime is divided up into cuts or shots, so Akira in this case has over 2000 individual shots or animation cuts)

"Two dedicated staff members have taken three months to remove the dust." In addition, "AKIRA has a lot of cells, as I mentioned earlier, and because the image moves in detail and all the dust is removed. It is not realistic to remove all of the above, so we have established a policy as a team and carefully removed the dust that is noticeable." (Imazuka-san)

"This time, I was able to confirm the footage that was actually produced prior to the interview, but it was certainly different from the latest digital animation, and it was warm in a good sense. Even the dust and scratches on the film, which were said to be “not realistic to remove all dust”, were clearly felt compared to the digital remastered versions so far.

Additionally there is some stuff about HDR in the article (fully in Japanese), but I figured that talking about the grain is most important here.

I have a feeling it won't be as scrubbed away as Space Adventure Cobra, but this is Q-Tec we're talking about- anything goes there. I mean, they were chosen for some reason to destroy Seven Samurai, so anything can happen.

[NLScavenger]

We'll see about that. I canceled my pre-order last week.

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders – Madman / Manga UK BD

[Show spoiler]Screenshots


Don’t have screenshots from the JP BD to compare to, but the colors are different from a 2014 Crunchyroll WEB-DL. I suspect Madman received intermediates from VIZ Media USA with the color standard conversion mistake.

Left to right: BD / CR




Audio & subtitles
- Japanese 16-bit DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional subtitles
- English 16-bit DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional signs

BDInfo

Disc Title: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Set 2 Disc 1
Disc Label: JOJO_BIZARRE_ADV_SET2_DISC1
Disc Size: 49,680,303,702 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00000.MPLS
Size: 49,323,133,440 bytes
Length: 3:34:54.172
Total Bitrate: 30.60 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 25321 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1719 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1715 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitle: English / 2.304 kbps
Subtitle: English / 33.589 kbps

x264 settings (some episodes retain the encoding settings)

Writing library: x264 core 155 r2901 7d0ff22
Encoding settings: cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=1 / keyint=23 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=23 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=22000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=35000 / vbv_bufsize=30000 / nal_hrd=vbr / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60

Bitrateviewer graphs
Episode #1


Episode #2


Episode #3

Two shots with corrupted frames in episode #24

[Show spoiler]

I managed to repair these issues. I re-encoded the first shot from a different source in "not sure if Blu-ray compliant" settings, but it plays fine in MPC-HC / MPV.

The second shot was easy to repair since it's just the ending. I could just simply remux the frames from ep#23 because the GOP (group of pictures) structure starts on the same frame and it has same length.

[Logan Jones]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Q-Tec is handling the Akira 4K remaster because of course they are;

(Translations are mostly from Google Translate and may not be 100% perfect, so I've slightly altered the wording)



Additionally there is some stuff about HDR in the article (fully in Japanese), but I figured that talking about the grain is most important here.

I have a feeling it won't be as scrubbed away as Space Adventure Cobra, but this is Q-Tec we're talking about- anything goes there. I mean, they were chosen for some reason to destroy Seven Samurai, so anything can happen.

I did not mean to assume that the YT video of the 4K Akira trailer was an indicator that the video quality would be a DNR hit-job, I'm just hoping it will not be so, since this is Q-tec doing the remaster. I mean, if they screw up the image on one of the best anime films of all time, I'll be very bummed. And quite peeved.

[wesslan]

These new 4K remasters from japan is interesting. Japan was probably one of the first country that really let blu-ray get their much needed bitrates so both anime and regular movie have looked very good compared to other countrys discs. And they have always had the least dnr scrubbing going on. It took many years before west/US got up to 35k bitrates and let the video breath. And then these 4K animes starts to arrive with healthy bitrates, maxed out space but often too clean images/destroyed details/dnr scrub like ghost in the shell Innocence. I'm just baffled how they landed here and can keep going.

Is this examples that Japan is behind on 4K/UHD mastering technology or are they just making assumptions all customers now want a completely different "clean" picture?

It's kind of like the hong kong 4K UHD market where they drive the contrast to 200% and it's a stylistic choice that almost hurt my eyes with all the cranked sharpness.

What if Q-tec will give us all ghibli movies next.....

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

We'll see about that. I canceled my pre-order last week.


Two shots with corrupted frames in episode #24

[Show spoiler]

I managed to repair these issues. I re-encoded the first shot from a different source in "not sure if Blu-ray compliant" settings, but it plays fine in MPC-HC / MPV.

The second shot was easy to repair since it's just the ending. I could just simply remux the frames from ep#23 because the GOP (group of pictures) structure starts on the same frame and it has same length.

Neither of these are present on the US BD, so it's probably a problem introduced when Madman repurposed the disc. Wouldn't be the first time as Your Name v2 also had a two corrupt frames.

[professorwho]

I ordered City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes and Konosuba Season 1. I'll post screenshots and stats when they arrive.

[NLScavenger]

SSSS.GRIDMAN - Funimation BD (US/UK/AU)

Screenshot comparison with Pony Canyon BD (JP)

https://slow.pics/c/jOGFWknG

Funi BD


Pony Canyon BD


BDInfo episode #1

Disc Title: SSSS_Gridman_D1
Disc Label: SSSS_Gridman_D1
Disc Size: 48,711,229,723 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00009.MPLS
Size: 6,748,569,600 bytes
Length: 0:23:42.087
Total Bitrate: 37.96 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 30999 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1750 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -29dB)
Audio: Japanese / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1154 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 2.0 / 48 kHz /   192 kbps / DN -27dB)
Subtitle: English / 46.334 kbps
Subtitle: English / 4.747 kbps

Pony Canyon BD episode #1 bitrate



That's pretty good for a Funi release. Not 100% perfect, but neither is the Pony Canyon release (see comparison #13)

Notes:
- optional subs
- only episode #1, #8 and #12 use Japanese telop credits. Other episodes have translated telop credits.
- To sync JP BD audio tracks to the Funi BD, remux audio with a delay of +1001ms (i.e. delay of 24 frames in 23.976fps). In addition to a regular 2.0 track, the JP BD also has DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS Headphone:X and audio commentary tracks.

[Mangaranga]

Call me crazy, but is anyone else seeing a slightly warmer tint to Funi's encode? I observed the same with Steins;Gate 0 and thought it was down to the debanding applied for the Japanese BD, making it look more green in comparison, but I'm seeing the same here.

[professorwho]

It's a shame the JP 5.1 track wasn't ported over, as I believe it was a native 5.1 mix.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

Call me crazy, but is anyone else seeing a slightly warmer tint to Funi's encode? I observed the same with Steins;Gate 0 and thought it was down to the debanding applied for the Japanese BD, making it look more green in comparison, but I'm seeing the same here.

I see it too. Check comparison number 2- the tinting is slightly different. Not better or worse, but just slightly different.

[Gumi]

Yeah, wish they would of brought over the 5.1 mix. Good to hear that the Funi release isn't crap though.

[NLScavenger]

Yeah, it's a shame about the 5.1 mix. I'm gonna do a remux with 5.1 tracks. I also recently remuxed the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders UK BD with the 2.1 tracks from the JP BD (used FLAC rips, but I re-encoded them to DTS-HD MA)

The Gridman DTS Headphone:X mix is by the way terrible.

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

Call me crazy, but is anyone else seeing a slightly warmer tint to Funi's encode? I observed the same with Steins;Gate 0 and thought it was down to the debanding applied for the Japanese BD, making it look more green in comparison, but I'm seeing the same here.

I noticed it too. Wonder what's causing it.

[Gumi]

Hows does the stereo mix compare to the 5.1 mix? Also that DTS X headphone stuff sounds way to gimmicky.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by Gumi

Hows does the stereo mix compare to the 5.1 mix? Also that DTS X headphone stuff sounds way to gimmicky.

There's not much of a difference between the 5.1 and stereo mix, at least for episode #1. The 5.1 mix is very front-heavy and surrounds are utilized sparingly.

[Gumi]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

There's not much of a difference between the 5.1 and stereo mix, at least for episode #1. The 5.1 mix is very front-heavy and surrounds are utilized sparingly.

Does the LFE channel add a good oomph to mix?

[cicada88]

Does anyone have any info on the Japanese Urusei Yatsura Blu-Ray boxsets PQ? I think there are 3 total sets.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by cicada88

Does anyone have any info on the Japanese Urusei Yatsura Blu-Ray boxsets PQ? I think there are 3 total sets.

They look pretty good. Essentially untouched 16mm prints with zero work done on them. Encoding is surprisingly good for 12 episodes per disc of very grainy content.

Caps are here.