The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[peppapigstan]

Lupin Part II's HD transfer is a genuine remaster and not an upscale like it was rumored to be:


"For this work, during the HD master production from the original 16mm film, color repair due to aging of the film, removal of dust and scratches,
The entire film has been digitally processed to reduce the flicker of coarse particles.
As a result, there are some parts of the background that appear to be blurred. Thank you for your understanding."

Also, no credit to Q-TEC is given, nor is the FORS logo on the box or disc

[jmoral14]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

I was copied in on a post on twitter asking about the quality of Anime Limited's (AL from here on) release of Kill La Kill here in the UK. Being the crazy man I am, I own both the US and UK releases, so I've done some comparisons for the first episode.

First of all, let's get the differences and the bad stuff out of the way. Aniplex's BD features two 24bit PCM audio tracks at a constant 2.3mbps whereas AL's disc has 16bit JP/24bit English DTS HD MA tracks. AL's Episode 1 suffers from a mono Japanese language track, exactly the same issue that plagued almost every episode on their Gurren Lagann release. This is only the case for the first episode this time around however as it does not seem to crop up again in the later episodes/sets. The only other mark against AL's release is the fact that the sign subtitles for disc 1 (episodes 1 - 4) are hardsubbed and cannot be removed. (AoA for comparison). Data wise, both releases are spread across five dual layer discs. Aniplex's files weigh in at their standard size of 7gb+ whereas AL's encodes are ~6.1gb each.

With that out of the way, let's move onto the screenshot comparisons.

I'm sure other people with better knowledge may dig a bit deeper than myself, but for the most part Anime Limited's release holds up pretty well in my eyes. Kill La Kill has some sort of grain filter applied to it, and it's evident that some of this has been smoothed out during encoding causing an ever so slightly softer image in places. There's no issues with difference in brightness/contrast like the UK releases of Fate/Zero and Sword Art Online II (Both of which were authored by Madman in Australia whereas this was done in the UK), however I did notice in a few fast moving scenes near the end of the episode that some of the red line art looks both sharper and more vibrant compared to Aniplex's release (See screenshots 7 & 8). Both releases have quite noisy video and AL's understandably suffers slightly moreso in this area. Banding wise - there was literally this one instance where I noticed it, and even then I had to really look for it.

Issues with the first four episodes aside, I think this one appears to hold up pretty well compared to the US/JP releases. Whilst I'll still be going to my AoA sets for any future viewings of the series, at this time I could really only recommend that for diehard fans of the series who demand the absolute best quality available. Standard edition releases of the show are being released here at ~£20 per part (over three parts), so for the difference in price and the fact that the quality is still good, I have no problems recommending those.

Just a small note here as well in case anyone is wondering, these sets are 100% locked and there doesn't seem to be a workaround. Funnily enough, when I set my Blu-ray player to region A it wouldn't even play the disc at all. The only other title that's done this is for me is Discotek's Jigen's Gravestone release.

What is it about the way the releases of Kill La Kill outside of Italy were encoded that darkens certain brighter shades of red?

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by jmoral14

What is it about the way the releases of Kill La Kill outside of Italy were encoded that darkens certain brighter shades of red?

Good god, I did not expect I'd have to read back an old ass post of mine today. Would love to revisit the UK encode and see if it really was fine in hindsight, but I don't own the discs anymore.

To answer your question, you're likely referring to this? (Specifically 4/5/6)
If so, it's the result of the Japanese encode having a lowpass filter applied to it.

The idea is that it cuts off certain frequencies to make more complex sequences easier to encode, usually resulting in said scenes being "blurred". It probably has it's uses for lower bitrate content, but I have no idea why Japanese companies use it when they're running encodes at 30+mbps. Apparently certain professional authoring tools have it enabled by default, and it's actually become so widely used in recent years, amongst a lot of the Japanese publishers, and even Funimation and Sentai using it on every release. It's actually in part, one of the big things that have contributed to BDs becoming worse than web more and more often nowadays.

[jmoral14]

My apologies, I was just really curious since I saw comparisons online was baffled by the difference, and your post in this thread popped up in Google. I appreciate you taking the time to answer!

[BigOnAnime]

Any comparisons for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War to support this claim? This is a VIZ release so it's usually up in the air.

Released on Blu-ray by VIZ Media, Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Part 1 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release provides a native high-definition presentation of the series animation. The native high-definition animation is in contrast to the original series (mostly comprised of upscaled animation from standard definition on the Blu-ray disc format). The new sequel saga has a more robust looking appearance as a result. The animation is colorful and vibrant and the aesthetic is well highlighted with the encoding by distributor VIZ.

Even with a significantly more robust looking high-definition presentation compared to upscaled seasons of the original Bleach anime saga, the new saga still retains a somewhat soft visual appearance. The animation is somewhat softer looking compared to the most visually robust anime productions. The encoding also has some issues with occasional banding and the video can look a bit noisy at times, too. Though not a perfect presentation, it is still a decent high-definition encode and one that will satisfy most fans.

Fans of physical media will continue to appreciate the fact that the Blu-ray disc format offers the best possible presentation quality achievable. The Blu-ray disc format allows for higher video-bitrates in comparison to streaming video services – which typically offer more compressed video bit- rates. Though the presentation difference is sometimes only a modest improvement at best, there is still comfort in knowing one has access to the best video presentation on the market.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bleac...351547/#Review

At first glance it seems okay, though I see blocking in say this screenshot.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...547&position=7

(Again, why must nearly all of his reviews talk about streaming vs. Blu-ray on a website named Blu-ray.com? I've said it adnaseum, but it continues to be ridiculous.)

[BlaizeV]

What does Night Head Genesis look like on BD? Decent upscale or should I just go for the much cheaper DVD?

[NLScavenger]

Bocchi The Rock comparison between USA/AU BD and JP BD https://slow.pics/c/p4KumAaj

Whoever took those screenshots did not realize that the AU BD is the imported US BD with age rating sticker. Releases on Madman's B2B site with a catalog number starting with FG and not ending with AU are imported stock. The catalog number is FG-10929.

Anyway, the CR BD has the deband detail loss and chroma location issue.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Bocchi The Rock comparison between USA/AU BD and JP BD https://slow.pics/c/p4KumAaj

Anyway, the CR BD has the deband detail loss and chroma location issue.

Where should I be looking as I'm not really seeing much difference, or should I be looking on a 1080P monitor (my 11 year old laptop is 1366x768, ugh)?

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

Where should I be looking as I'm not really seeing much difference, or should I be looking on a 1080P monitor (my 11 year old laptop is 1366x768, ugh)?

For detail loss from deband, see the background in comparison #6. Their deband filter tends to smudge details in dark areas.

See comparison #5 for chroma location issue.

CR BD (The pink is bleeding through the line between her jacket and guitar bag)


JP BD

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Bocchi The Rock comparison between USA/AU BD and JP BD https://slow.pics/c/p4KumAaj

Whoever took those screenshots did not realize that the AU BD is the imported US BD with age rating sticker. Releases on Madman's B2B site with a catalog number starting with FG and not ending with AU are imported stock. The catalog number is FG-10929.

Anyway, the CR BD has the deband detail loss and chroma location issue.

There's also this comp that's been around for a while with separate luma and chroma comps.

https://slow.pics/c/tjcrOWGz

[Citizen Bane]

Are the JPBD releases typically the best looking option and thus worth the premium? If not is there any kind of master list that compares all releases and lists which ones are the best? I'd even settle for a list that just tells me which BDs have hard subs or not so I know which ones to avoid. That way I can rip them to my own library and have the option to use my subs of choice.

[Total Procall]

Originally Posted by Citizen Bane

Are the JPBD releases typically the best looking option and thus worth the premium? If not is there any kind of master list that compares all releases and lists which ones are the best? I'd even settle for a list that just tells me which BDs have hard subs or not so I know which ones to avoid. That way I can rip them to my own library and have the option to use my subs of choice.

Not really. For older animation on film in particular, they love DNR'ing the shite out of their transfers.

[SpaceDandy]

Via DestyNova42 on Twitter: The Big O, France vs USA.

Not all frames are matched unfortunately. Sentai print appears to suffer from common issues they had in 2016-17: sharpening/ringing and zoomed out master, leading to resizing artifacts and a loss of detail. US also has aliasing that the FR BD does not have (or fix?) - e.g the gold wire on the table of the first comparison.

[TThomas]

KSM Anime / Plaion Pictures Germany recently released
"Missis Jo und ihre fröhliche Familie" (Wakakusa Monogatari: Nan to Jou Sensei, the Sequel to "Little Women" on Blu-ray
https://x.com/AniSenior/status/1795797141127909524

Unlike the German 2014 Blu-ray for the first series (a bad upscale with the whole series on a single disc), this is a true remaster that comes as 5x BD50
However it's GerDub only, without Japanese audio, and cropped to 16:9 like most other Nippon Animation remasters.

[NLScavenger]

A Place Further Than The Universe - GBR/USA BD vs JPN BD
• Comparison
• Gallery

Borrowed JPN BD episode 02 screenshots from another comparison.

BDInfo Disc 1 (7 episodes)

Disc Title:     A Place Further than the Universe - Disc 1
Disc Label:     A_PLACE_FURTHER_THAN_DISC1
Disc Size:      45,474,231,710 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00000.MPLS
Size:           44,650,407,936 bytes
Length:         2:46:16.174
Total Bitrate:  35.81 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 27,990 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio:          English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3696 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitle:       English / 49.90 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 8.21 kbps

BDInfo Disc 2 (6 episodes with higher video bitrate)

Disc Title:     A Place Further than the Universe - Disc 2
Disc Label:     A_PLACE_FURTHER_THAN_DISC2
Disc Size:      47,322,308,306 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00000.MPLS
Size:           44,985,513,984 bytes
Length:         2:22:31.042
Total Bitrate:  42.09 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 33,991 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio:          English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3718 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitle:       English / 45.43 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 9.31 kbps

Episode 2 bitrate graph

[SMD88]

What is the Flying Dog NOIR BD box like, quality wise? I completely forgot that it was released in Japan and expected the finishit release to be an upscale. Looking at the review for the US version, it mentions DNR and softness. Victor have fairly good with not killing grain (apart from IDEON!), so especially as it was a BD from before grain had to be eradicated from the world of anime BDs, I am curious about the quality.

It is not cheap to buy used, but i would rather spend AU$500 on a Jp set than give than give that bastard US company money.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

Lupin Part II's HD transfer is a genuine remaster and not an upscale like it was rumored to be:


"For this work, during the HD master production from the original 16mm film, color repair due to aging of the film, removal of dust and scratches,
The entire film has been digitally processed to reduce the flicker of coarse particles.
As a result, there are some parts of the background that appear to be blurred. Thank you for your understanding."

Also, no credit to Q-TEC is given, nor is the FORS logo on the box or disc

Q-TEC and FORS need to die a painful death, over and over for every single BD master they ruined.

As for Lupin Part II, I still keep hoping Discotek are beavering away at new HD master. Just as they did for the '71 original. That show deserves it. I would love the '77 series in that same quality. They did an outstanding job with the original and saved a classic series from being ruined forever by idiotic decisions in Japan. I am guessing that TMS had to be behind the terrible BD masters for the '71 and '77 series along with those terrible early 1080i BDs. VAP were not DNR'ing their BDs back then. How I wish that Dirty Pair had been released in that early period. I hate what they did to that show on BD. Also sad that BV never did a HD remaster of the movie for DVD. I am pretty sure the OVAs were HD scans for their DVD releases.

I just wish Discotek would do L.E releases of certain series. Nice packaging to go along with the BDs would be very nice. Try adding a disc or 2 while you're at it! Please, no more 13 episode BD discs!

Too bad Discotek could not include the HD scans of the Pilot Film(s) on the '71 BD release. I think that is held hostage by Amazon Jp?

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

imo the UY/Ranma/Maison Ikkoku HD remasters are pretty good for the time but I wouldn't say they don't hold up that well, older 16mm remasters like GaiGaoGar's or Bakusou Kyoudai's have aged better

The UY/MI and Ranma remasters were perfect and are as good as they will ever look. It is the film masters on disc with no f**king about with the picture. I wish more BDs looked like them.

I will admit that I have not seen GaoGaiGar yet, but I am familiar with enough Flying Dog titles to guess what it will look like. Victor do awesome jobs on their BDs for the most part, titles like Giant Gorg and Xabungle are absolutely gorgeous. They also retain grain, although it is reduced quite a bit. The colours on the Gorg BDs are particularly stunning. I plan on buying the Jp boxes of GaoGaiGar, Mightgain and J-Decker in the coming months.

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by SMD88

What is the Flying Dog NOIR BD box like, quality wise? I completely forgot that it was released in Japan and expected the finishit release to be an upscale. Looking at the review for the US version, it mentions DNR and softness. Victor have fairly good with not killing grain (apart from IDEON!), so especially as it was a BD from before grain had to be eradicated from the world of anime BDs, I am curious about the quality.

It is not cheap to buy used, but i would rather spend AU$500 on a Jp set than give than give that bastard US company money.

If you're not too picky, the FR/ES/DE release delivers acceptable PQ according to (video) reviews. It is in MPEG-2 but the bitrate is sufficiently high to work around the codec limits.

Re The Big O:
JPBD also displays aliasing on the gold lace, akin to Sentai BD, and unlike that new FRBD

[peppapigstan]

Originally Posted by SMD88

What is the Flying Dog NOIR BD box like, quality wise? I completely forgot that it was released in Japan and expected the finishit release to be an upscale. Looking at the review for the US version, it mentions DNR and softness. Victor have fairly good with not killing grain (apart from IDEON!), so especially as it was a BD from before grain had to be eradicated from the world of anime BDs, I am curious about the quality.

It is not cheap to buy used, but i would rather spend AU$500 on a Jp set than give than give that bastard US company money.

It's early 00s 35mm so the grain is fine but present, the FUNi BD probably just has bad encoding.
Also you do realize Q-TEC did the Xabungle, Giant Gorg, & Might Gaine BDs right? Any Sunrise 16mm production will be handled by Q-TEC as far as remasters go, they're Sunrise's go to restoration house