The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[Naiera]

I’ll probably go US or JP.

[pikagreg]

I don't remember how bad it looked but the original US Maquia set had hard subs and two diff video files between sub/dub and the Nozomi/Eleven Arts LE set was reauthored.

[SpazeBlue]

I've been meaning to do mini-reviews for a few recent Blu-rays that I've gotten (which includes Maquia). I guess I'll get around to that soon.

[The Collector FX]

So buy the Nozomi/Rightstuf Limited Edition between the two?

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by The Collector FX

So buy the Nozomi/Rightstuf Limited Edition between the two?

Seems like it.

[dubudavid]

I just got my Nozomi/Rightstuf edition yesterday, I think it looks quite good. The few qualms I have are that there are only SDH subtitles for the dub and not an actual "translation" track, and some of the bonus features like trailers/promos aren't subbed, but otherwise I think it's a nice package for one of my recent favorite anime movies.

[DatLOLBoi]

Originally Posted by Misioon_Odisea

Has anyone compared side-to-side the previous Discotek release of Panda! Go, Panda! with the recent one by GKIDS? I haven't found footage of the Discotek disc so far, and I would like to see if there are any stark differences between the remasters utilized for the two discs. If there's not a big difference, are there other aspects to be found where the presentations differ, besides the English dub now being lossless on the new disc?

The extras are the same outside of the trailers section having the new GKids trailer that they did. However, the GKids BD has a lot better colors and seems to be a new scan compared to both the Discotek and JPBD. I don't have the Discotek BD myself, but from what people who do own it have told me, it's basically the same as the JPBD, so I'd say to stick with the GKids release. Also, some images below showing off just how great it looks. (Edit: forgot to mention, but all the tracks are DTS-MA audio and not only are the JP and ENG versions included, but the Spanish dub is included as well)

[Misioon_Odisea]

Originally Posted by DatLOLBoi

The extras are the same outside of the trailers section having the new GKids trailer that they did. However, the GKids BD has a lot better colors and seems to be a new scan compared to both the Discotek and JPBD. I don't have the Discotek BD myself, but from what people who do own it have told me, it's basically the same as the JPBD, so I'd say to stick with the GKids release. Also, some images below showing off just how great it looks. (Edit: forgot to mention, but all the tracks are DTS-MA audio and not only are the JP and ENG versions included, but the Spanish dub is included as well)

The new remaster does look pretty good. It seems that it can be placed on the list of good recent remasters for vintage Anime, particularly compared to some titles where excessive and careless DNR was applied and practically turns the image into a blurry and smeared mess with wiped out detail and line work, which doesn't looks to be the case here. I do find it very strange however to see the Discotek release being left so underreported with barely anything written about it online, but thank you either way for the information about this title and the screen captures provided.

[DatLOLBoi]

Originally Posted by Misioon_Odisea

The new remaster does look pretty good. It seems that it can be placed on the list of good recent remasters for vintage Anime, particularly compared to some titles where excessive and careless DNR was applied and practically turns the image into a blurry and smeared mess with wiped out detail and line work, which doesn't looks to be the case here. I do find it very strange however to see the Discotek release being left so underreported with barely anything written about it online, but thank you either way for the information about this title and the screen captures provided.

You're welcome! I think the main reason that not much is known about the Discotek release is due to how it was not only one of their first Blu-ray releases, but also wasn't really pushed much by them. Most I had heard about that release was that I saw it on sale for cheap once on Rightstuf prior to the GKids release

[SpaceDandy]

Memories (France - DYBEX)
Authoring: AVMedia Barcelona
Gallery

Bitrate: Avg: 32.5, max: 48.8 Mbps

MediaInfo

[Show spoiler]

General
File size                                : 32.5 GiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 40.6 Mb/s

Video
ID                                       : 1
ID in the original source medium         : 4113 (0x1011)
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 3 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 33.3 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 36.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.669
Stream size                              : 26.7 GiB (82%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
ID in the original source medium         : 4352 (0x1100)
Format                                   : DTS XLL
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name                          : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 3 847 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Stream size                              : 3.08 GiB (9%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
ID in the original source medium         : 4352 (0x1100)
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 631 MiB (2%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #3
ID                                       : 4
ID in the original source medium         : 4353 (0x1101)
Format                                   : DTS XLL
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name                          : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 1 904 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Stream size                              : 1.53 GiB (5%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #4
ID                                       : 5
ID in the original source medium         : 4353 (0x1101)
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 1 h 54 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 768 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 631 MiB (2%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Text #1
ID                                       : 6
ID in the original source medium         : 4608 (0x1200)
Format                                   : PGS
Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                            : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration                                 : 1 h 52 min
Bit rate                                 : 28.3 kb/s
Count of elements                        : 1925
Stream size                              : 22.7 MiB (0%)
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Text #2
ID                                       : 8
ID in the original source medium         : 4609 (0x1201)
Format                                   : PGS
Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                            : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration                                 : 39 min 53 s
Bit rate                                 : 394 b/s
Count of elements                        : 10
Stream size                              : 115 KiB (0%)
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 00
00:00:09.426                             : en:Chapter 01
00:12:07.601                             : en:Chapter 02
00:19:27.875                             : en:Chapter 03
00:25:47.671                             : en:Chapter 04
00:34:20.058                             : en:Chapter 05
00:44:30.125                             : en:Chapter 06
00:55:35.457                             : en:Chapter 07
01:07:19.785                             : en:Chapter 08
01:17:20.677                             : en:Chapter 09
01:24:46.122                             : en:Chapter 10
01:36:08.053                             : en:Chapter 11
01:42:37.985                             : en:Chapter 12

Infinitely superior to the JP BD. Retains more details and a consistent grain throughout the movie. No video noise either, unlike the JP BD.
Now, it's up to one's preference if they prefer the US BD in comparison to the FR BD, See Rose's rose on her chest. French release may have more details but the US release may be more visually pleasing on those few scenes made with digital compositing.

[SpaceDandy]

There's already french drama over Memories, where some prefer the Yamato Video filtering style. People, don't be french.

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

JP BD Full Frame Disc

Since this was already widely covered, just adding in a few comparison from another release.

Crusher Joe [full frame] (France - Dybex)
Authoring: AVMedia Barcelona
Tiny gallery

Bitrate: 35 Mbps CBR (not padded)

MediaInfo:

[Show spoiler]

File size                                : 35.6 GiB
Duration                                 : 2 h 15 min
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 37.6 Mb/s
Movie name                               : CRUSHER JOE

Video
ID                                       : 1
ID in the original source medium         : 4113 (0x1011)
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 2 h 15 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 35.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.704
Stream size                              : 31.7 GiB (89%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
ID in the original source medium         : 4352 (0x1100)
Format                                   : DTS XLL
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name                          : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 2 h 15 min
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 2 516 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Stream size                              : 2.38 GiB (7%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
ID in the original source medium         : 4352 (0x1100)
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 2 h 15 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 509 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.43 GiB (4%)
Title                                    : Surround 5.1
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Text
ID                                       : 4
ID in the original source medium         : 4608 (0x1200)
Format                                   : PGS
Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                            : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration                                 : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate                                 : 30.8 kb/s
Count of elements                        : 3060
Stream size                              : 29.1 MiB (0%)
Language                                 : French
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No
Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 01
00:06:24.175                             : en:Chapter 02
00:12:58.527                             : en:Chapter 03
00:23:10.180                             : en:Chapter 04
00:31:36.519                             : en:Chapter 05
00:39:30.159                             : en:Chapter 06
00:52:15.590                             : en:Chapter 07
01:07:11.944                             : en:Chapter 08
01:21:55.327                             : en:Chapter 09
01:32:39.762                             : en:Chapter 10
01:41:06.935                             : en:Chapter 11
01:58:56.546                             : en:Chapter 12

They all look mostly the same, albeit most of those screens were taken in static scenes so it is hard to judge when there's a lot of action. Probably on harder scenes the JP and FR BD would perform better. Comparison. I chose mostly difficult scenes in the gallery above.

[Prince_7]

"French drama" is a bit of an exageration, it's just a single disapointed random idiot

[NLScavenger]

Doesn't the Discotek BD of Memories have the option to view the original version of Magnetic Rose?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Doesn't the Discotek BD of Memories have the option to view the original version of Magnetic Rose?

Yes

[SpazeBlue]

I know it's not Blu-ray, but does anyone know how the Media Blasters DVDs of Fushigi Yugi compare to the Pioneer/Geneon ones? I think I heard somewhere that the older DVDs are hardsubbed, while the newer ones are not, though I'm not sure if that's true or not.

[NLScavenger]

Love Live! School Idol Project season 1 - 2019 9th Anniversary Box JP BD & NISA BD

Comparison (expires on August 13 2024)

2019 9th Anniversary Box JP BD


NISA BD


These look similar to one another unlike season 2 and the movie NISA BD where the color saturation is off because of a color space conversion issue. A good thing that the color space conversion issue is a thing of the past now with MediaOCD. Despite the color space conversion issue, the movie disc is still worth picking up for the fact that it uses the international version where the cover of 'As Time Goes By' was replaced because of a rights issue.

BDInfo 2019 JP BD disc 1 (episodes 1-3)

Disc Title: Love Live! 9th Anniversary Blu-ray BOX Disc1
Disc Label: BDROM
Disc Size: 27,943,479,818 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00001.MPLS
Size: 21,711,220,608 bytes
Length: 1:11:21.860
Total Bitrate: 40.56 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 36352 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitle: English / 92.225 kbps

Bitrate graph episode 01


BDInfo AU BD episode 01

Disc Label: Love Live! School Idol Project 1st Season Disc 1
Disc Size: 48,017,720,561 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00000.MPLS
Size: 5,300,338,560 bytes
Length: 0:23:40.794
Total Bitrate: 29.84 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 24903 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitle: English / 57.811 kbps
Subtitle: English / 16.849 kbps

[briwas101]

This may have been posted already, but does anyone know if the Grisaia complete series collection has improved video over the previous releases?
The individual releases had 2 discs each for a total of 4, while the new collection uses 5 discs. Please tell me they improved it...

[CrashOveride95]

Did this cause I could but here's some comparisons of the VAP laserdisc boxset of Lupin Part 1 vs. the recently released Discotek BD

https://imgsli.com/MTIxMTQ0

Obviously there's absolutely no contest, but I find it interesting the color timing and framing differences, and the annoying frameblending and ghosting which plagued so many Japanese telecines of the period

[SpazeBlue]

:

Originally Posted by emmet otter

Just got Ako2 yesterday so im sharing a few screencaps

[NLScavenger]

Penguindrum - UK BD vs JP BD vs ITA BD vs AU BD vs US BD

Comparison (expires on August 17 2024)

Anime Limited UK BD


King Records JP BD (2011 release)


Dynit ITA BD


Siren Visual AU BD


Sentai Filmworks US BD


Previous international releases (US/AU/ITA) were not derived from the 1920x1080 materials that were used for the JP BD and the 2021 UK BD, but they were instead sourced from 1440x1080 HDCAM tapes because of the 2011 disaster and the HDCAM-SR tape shortages. HDCAM tapes have filtered chroma which is particularly noticeable in the reds and blues that exhibit blurriness and ringing as a result, though this problem was mitigated on the ITA BD to a certain extent. Also, the ITA BD is presented in 23.976p unlike the interlaced US and AU BDs. The talk about filtered chroma and interlacing ultimately doesn't really matter with the US BD when the encode is so freaking horrible. Holy crap.

The picture quality of the UK BD is comparable with the JP BD; actually, the UK BD appears to be slightly better encoded even. Banding is the same on both and that's the one area where the ITA BD has an advantage.

There are two issues with the UK BD; the occasional issue with subtitle line breaks and extras that were re-encoded from the atrocious US BD. But these are issues that I can live with.

UK BD BDInfo - Episode 02

Disc Title: PENGUINDRUM D1
Disc Label: PENGUINDRUM D1
Disc Size: 38,061,009,811 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: Episode 02
Size: 4,646,195,904 bytes
Length: 0:23:40.585
Total Bitrate: 26.16 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 20816 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitle: English / 10.250 kbps
Subtitle: English / 53.350 kbps

JP BD BDInfo - Episode 02

Disc Title: MAWARU-PENGUINDRUM 1
Disc Label: MAWARU PENGUINDRUM 1
Disc Size: 14,227,975,871 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: Episode 02
Size: 4,252,944,384 bytes
Length: 0:23:40.794
Total Bitrate: 23.95 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 18168 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit

ITA BD bitrate - Episode 02

MPEG-4 AVC 34981 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
JP/ITA DTS-HD MA 2.0 24-bit

AU BD BDInfo - Episode 02

Disc Title: Mawaru-Penguindrum
Disc Label: Mawaru Penguindrum D1
Disc Size: 32,789,081,257 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00003.MPLS
Size: 6,132,725,760 bytes
Length: 0:23:41.987
Total Bitrate: 34.50 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 30085 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2138 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitle: English / 8.594 kbps
Subtitle: English / 48.748 kbps

US BD bitrate - Episode 02

MPEG-4 AVC 10711 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
JP/ENG DTS-HD MA 2.0 24-bit