The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[vincentric]

Checked out Death Note.

The upscale contains some smearing and aliasing artifacts but for the most part the line detail is intact, crisp and clear.

They also did a good job de-interlacing the picture. Only saw a few combing artifacts here and there (comparison 3), and and outside of scenes that used ghosting on purpose as a stylistic effect (comparison 4), I did not see any ghosting artifacts.

The banding is also minimal. Some of it carries over from the dvd, some of it is slightly more pronounced than the dvd (comparison 5), but overall nothing severe or even moderate.

The biggest problem that this release has going for it is compression. I saw one too many scenes where the video was a bit... bit starved. Nothing too severe but moderate enough to be distracting at times. Nonetheless, the compression in the BD is still obviously much improved over DVD (comparison 8).

Long story short, this release isn't perfect but it looks like they got it right for the most part. It is, by and large, a very nice upgrade over DVD.

(not sure if it matters, but the dvd version I used for comparison was the individual r1 9 volume set) -

01 - DVD | BD

02 - DVD | BD

03 - DVD | BD

04 - DVD | BD

05 - DVD | BD

06 - DVD | BD

07 - DVD | BD

08 - DVD | BD

09 - DVD | BD

The 37 eps in the BD release are split 8-8-7-7-7 across five discs. Disc 1 is using 37.6GB of data for the first 8 eps | around 33 GB for the video and 4.6 GB for the audio -

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Thanks for the comparison. Goodness, some of those DVD shots look even worse than I remembered!

I'm definitely glad I picked this up.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

Goodness, some of those DVD shots look even worse than I remembered!

Yeah, old Viz DVDs... Only FUNi could do it worse

[BigOnAnime]

Huge thanks for the comparison, I was wondering if it would ever happen at all, and I was going to be wary until I saw a comparison (like plenty of upscales). Anyway, after having a proper comparison to go by, I now prefer the BD overall I feel, though the BD looks a bit worse at times in my eyes. If only this show was recomposited in Japan, that'd be the best result. Gotta love digital, it's forever locked in the resolution it was made in.

[Girls With Guns]

The BD images look 1000% better to me, it's just so much easier on the eyes to look at. I don't need to nit-pick over the minor flaws in an BD upscale - as long as the overall image is clearer and sharper than the DVD image, I'm good. It's that overall fuzzy blurriness of DVD video in motion I can't stand to watch - it's actually very tiring on my eyes. I'm extremely happy I waited to get the series on Blu.

[mikezilla2]

so did they lock the death note BD?

[Naiera]

Viz locks their stuff.

Akame ga Kill has some of the worst banding I can remember. Otherwise, it's a good-looking show. Too bad Sentai screwed up yet again.

[BigOnAnime]

Looking at Akame ga Kill! comparisons on screenshotcomparison, based off how many are talking about banding, seems it may unfortunately be a source issue. Though even if it is, wonder how much worse Sentai may have made it.

[vincentric]

I may wait for the RS holiday sale to pick up Akame.

Originally Posted by mikezilla2

so did they lock the death note BD?

yessir, region a.

Quickly checked the data amount for the other Death Note discs.

Disc 2 eps 9-16 is 37.8 GB.

Disc 3 | eps 17-23 | 37 GB

Disc 4 | eps 24-30 | 37.1 GB

Disc 5 | eps 31-37 | 30.1 GB

[Naiera]

Akame's a very good show though. Goes down smooth. Most of the time

[Girls With Guns]

I watched about 6-7 episodes of Akame and finally dropped it... didn't care for it too much at all...

[Naiera]

Much less banding on Nozaki-kun, and I don't think it's all due to the nature of how the show looks. More bitrate and they might be onto something.

Stellvia says 1080i video on the box, but it's actually 1080p23.976. Too bad the upscale is no better than RahXephon, but I knew the risks. I'd hoped it looked more like Read or Die, of course.

[Magikor]

It may have been answered here already, so I apologize for the duplicate question if it is, but...

Can anyone comment on the PQ of Moribito on BD? I've heard from a couple sources that it's not much of an upgrade from the DVDs.

Thanks!

[PissedOffPeoN]

I think it looked and sounded better then dvds for being an upconvert, the colors were alot nicer.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

^^^

Moribito is actually HD native.

[PissedOffPeoN]

Oh really? did not know that. thanks for replying .

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Originally Posted by Magikor

Can anyone comment on the PQ of Moribito on BD? I've heard from a couple sources that it's not much of an upgrade from the DVDs.

While it may seem a little soft at times, Moribito is a HD native production (as I posted above), so I definitely recommend the BDs. Colors and background details are greatly improved over the DVD release. Also, the general consensus is that, while it has issues of its own, Viz's BD release is much better than Media Blasters' version.

[Magikor]

Thanks for the info guys! Will be checking the BD's out then

[BigOnAnime]

If you want a comparison, there's this. He compares the JP BD's to VIZ's and Media Blaster's releases.
http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/...l=1#post267740

[Magikor]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

If you want a comparison, there's this. He compares the JP BD's to VIZ's and Media Blaster's releases.
http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/...l=1#post267740

Ah, that's very helpful as well. Thanks!