The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[professorwho]

The weirdest part about Zillion was the method of degraining used. Specifically, the luma grain was completely removed, while the chroma grain was half removed (the actual grain itself was, but the splotchy colours surrounding it were not), which makes for a truly bizarre and ugly image. I would personally never advocate for it, but complete grain management and eradication would've been preferable in this particular instance if there had to be any at all, since the idea of it is to have a "cleaner" image, but by keeping the splotchy colours of the chroma grain, it only magnifies them, standing out more than had it been left alone (chroma grain/RGB noise blending in when paired with the natural luma grain).

...it all could've been avoided had they just left it alone, but alas...

[Lourdes]

Den-Noh Coil: Complete Collection
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Den-N...Blu-ray/214276

A handful of subtitle edits (some unnecessary) over the earlier 2*2-disc releases. E26 is a different encode and where the single difference is that one shot at the very end has slightly different framing and no longer has a few seconds of Japanese text https://slow.pics/c/zAmzXlxt. All other video, audio and subtitle tracks are identical.

[NLScavenger]

The US and French BDs of Den-Noh Coil use the broadcast version

[kk1]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

The US and French BDs of Den-Noh Coil use the broadcast version

Do any use the home video version?

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by kk1

Do any use the home video version?

Japan only probably. I don't know what's on the Australian DVD, but I would guess that's also broadcast version.

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by kk1

Do any use the home video version?

All HD international releases do. While this does sound bad, the differences are really far in between and generally unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. I would not use that argument to pass on Dennō Coil.

[kk1]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

All HD international releases do. While this does sound bad, the differences are really far in between and generally unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. I would not use that argument to pass on Dennō Coil.

I own it, just curious if it was wotth tracking down the home video version.

[NLScavenger]

The First Slam Dunk USA BDInfo

Disc Title:     The First Slam Dunk
Disc Label:     THE_FIRST_SLAM_DUNK
Disc Size:      47,598,653,983 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00002.MPLS
Size:           42,546,475,008 bytes
Length:         02:05:21.513
Total Bitrate:  45.25 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 31,999 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          Japanese / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3593 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -23dB)
Audio:          English / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3604 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -21dB)
* Audio:        English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /   192 kbps / DN -27dB
Subtitle:       English / 23.42 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 25.97 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 16.04 kbps
Subtitle:       French / 12.26 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 1.11 kbps

Apparently has better grain retention than JPN BD.

Speaking of GKIDS BDs, Blue Giant curiously has the same audio options as JPN BD (Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 5.1, PCM 2.0). Mars Express has Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Duplitech authored BDs normally only use DTS-HD MA, except when there's an Atmos track with a TrueHD base track.

[jayavictory]

I am indexing which anime features utilized Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, etc based on their Japanese credits scrolls, and this has been nice for clarity. I wondered though, how are people determining whether TV shows/OVAs originally used a JP 5.1 mix when they were broadcasted/released? I'm aware of Moribito, do people know of others? It's hard to find in the forum. Of course, there are other situations where a home media rerelease prompts either a re-record, ex: Patlabor Movie 2, or they create a new mix, not an upmix, for the DVD/BR. Was Cowboy Bebop's 5.1 mix a case of the latter?

[MasterJeff]

Originally Posted by jayavictory

I wondered though, how are people determining whether TV shows/OVAs originally used a JP 5.1 mix when they were broadcasted/released? I'm aware of Moribito, do people know of others? It's hard to find in the forum. Was Cowboy Bebop's 5.1 mix a case of the latter?

Bebop is a remix created later, some notable 5.1 native mixes that I am mostly sure of are Ergo Proxy, Ghost hound, Stand Alone Complex, Eden of the East, The Twelve Kingdoms, Le Chevalier D'Eon, and Darker than Black off the top of my head.
When I'm researching this myself I try to see if any rips of the original digital broadcasts exist/fansubbers talking about the audio, or check the first Japanese DVD (for example I've seen some people think Parasite Dolls is a native 5.1 title when it was remixed for either the later Japanese which touts it as a new remix, or by ADV for the US release and reused for the JP re-release). But the Japanese DVD can be misleading since titles like Dennō Coil aired in stereo but were released in 5.1 on the original Japanese DVD and onwards. But with how soon Japanese DVD and Blu Ray releases come out after airing it could be possible that such series were mixed in 5.1 and downmixed for broadcast.

[BigOnAnime]

Neil reviewed another one of the multi-dub Crunchyroll releases (Classroom of the Elite S2), and anyone notice something?

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release capably presents the sound direction by Satoki Iida (Assassination Classroom, Yuki Yuna Is a Hero). Dialogue is well reproduced and preserved on the release. The soundtrack and score are well highlighted and sounds clear on the release – adding to the series sound quality.

The English dub option does offer a somewhat more expansive surround soundstage with 5.1 surround audio while the Japanese language option is limited to 2.0 stereo. However, audio purists and enthusiasts who prefer to opt for the original language version will be pleased by the lossless encoding for the Japanese language audio selection. The English subtitles are well done and are free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

One of the hallmarks of the Blu-ray disc format is lossless audio encoding. In an era of streaming options, it remains nice to see the lossless audio provided by the physical media format. Blu-ray continues to appeal to home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles seeking the best possible audio presentation quality.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Class...343899/#Review

Zero mention of the other audio and subtitle options... I wonder why (despite him correctly mentioning them in a few other reviews).

Also, I'll leave this here...

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, Classroom of the Elite: Season 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. Color reproduction is excellent on the release. The clarity and detail on the presentation is excellent. An impressive high-definition encode by Crunchyroll.

The Blu-ray release provides a solid presentation benefiting by the quality the format has to offer audiences. The physical media format continues to provide superior video encoding compared to streaming video platforms. Streaming services tend to offer streaming video with lower video bit-rates. For home theater enthusiasts seeking the absolute best presentation quality possible, Blu-ray achieves a higher encode data-rate and more solid compression compared to streaming – which is not only limited by the data being sent by the streaming provider but also by other variables, too (the quality of data as well as how many family members or friends may be connected to various services in your household). Enthusiasts have always appreciated these quality attributes of the Blu-ray format and continue to do so in an era of streaming options.

The state of how anime is treated on this site.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by Gowho

Same issues as Dirty Pair TV with the excessive DNR.

Ahhhh, bugger. Was afraid of that. Orguss was another victim of that time. I am still curious as to why Discotek did not release Orguss 2, license issue? Again, a good release ruined by DNR. Shame, as Orguss and Orguss 2 were both LD dumps on DVD.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by professorwho

The weirdest part about Zillion was the method of degraining used. Specifically, the luma grain was completely removed, while the chroma grain was half removed (the actual grain itself was, but the splotchy colours surrounding it were not), which makes for a truly bizarre and ugly image. I would personally never advocate for it, but complete grain management and eradication would've been preferable in this particular instance if there had to be any at all, since the idea of it is to have a "cleaner" image, but by keeping the splotchy colours of the chroma grain, it only magnifies them, standing out more than had it been left alone (chroma grain/RGB noise blending in when paired with the natural luma grain).

...it all could've been avoided had they just left it alone, but alas...

Guess this is another for the "DVD over BD" list.

Does anyone know if this had a proper DVD master made? Or is it a LD dump? I already have the LDs, don't need them on DVD with screen full of shitty rainbows dot and dot crawl.

Same goes for Samurai Troopers, I think the BDs look atrocious. I am hoping that the SONY DVDs are one of their rare DVD re-masters, in the City Hunter vein.

P.S Having mentioned the dreaded DVD dot crawl further up, I have to mention the DVDs of Mahou Senshi Louie. I am watching it now and am shocked at the terrible dot crawl that infests the characters. I have not compared to my old ADV discs, but I assume they are even worse.

[SMD88]

What is the consensus on TOHO's TOUCH! BD's?

I just finished ripping them and have watched the first "part". I think they look good for the most part, even though they have been heavily DNR'd.

The strange thing is that it seems to change about 40 eps in. There seems to be a weird, blotchy "kind of grain", grain in the backgraound. The ending with the blue background looks very strange as well. Not sure if it is 2nd or 3rd. I have not checked my DVD box to see if it's the same or not. Damned shame they didn't just release TOUCH!, UNTOUCHED!! Like they did with KoR. The TOUCH BDs have a weird darkness as well. I cannot decide if that is due to bad re-mastering, or if it is how it should look. Hair especially, seems to have no detail.

But the screenshots I have seen of the Hiatari Ryōkō HD master, it looks very similar. Pisses me off that Hiatari and NINE both have HD masters, but no BD release. Especially as NINE was not on DVD and Hiatari was yet another shitty LD dump.

[Gowho]

Originally Posted by SMD88

Ahhhh, bugger. Was afraid of that. Orguss was another victim of that time. I am still curious as to why Discotek did not release Orguss 2, license issue?

Orguss was licensed through TMS while they had nothing to do with 02.

I assume they would have to go through Big West for that one.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by Gowho

Orguss was licensed through TMS while they had nothing to do with 02.

I assume they would have to go through Big West for that one.

Ahhh, gotcha. I am still puzzled as to how and why TOEI of all people released the Orguss+Orguss 02 boxset. Why oh why did BV or VAP not do it? I am thinking the DVDs for Orguss were VAP, but I don't have them handy to check. Cannot remember whom released the LDs, either. Can't be bothered getting up to check! Haha.

[samuelkhan999]

Does anyone know if the 4k UK/French/?Australian blu ray of Your Name is better than the Japan 4k or HK 4k? Thanks

[pikagreg]

Originally Posted by samuelkhan999

Does anyone know if the 4k UK/French/?Australian blu ray of Your Name is better than the Japan 4k or HK 4k? Thanks

MediaOCD did the 4K release there so idk if it was "better" but I assume it was good just based on that and it's also only 4K version with the dub on it. Here is a post about it when it came out though idk if anyone did comparisons

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...e#post20612277

[samuelkhan999]

Originally Posted by Prince_7

Your Name - Kimi no na wa - FR/UK 4K UHD BD Animelimited/Alltheanime

Will likely update this later on with a BDinfo scan but mostly wanted to talk about the HDR grade.

In short, it's real good, especially for an early 4K anime conversion.
I've said before that it's quite faithful to the SDR grade, but since then titles like Cagliostro, Violet Evergarden and Belle have come out which match the definition much better.

Your Name 4K is more transformative than I remembered, but not by a ton either.
Going above 100 nits is very frequent in this one, but without going very high either, not until we get to the big stuff like the comet and some explosions.
Otherwise, it's mostly used to give more dynamic range to highlights.

You'd think some scenes would go above 100 nits more often, like the opening sequence while RADWIMPS screams in your ears, but no, these parts remain mostly under 100 aside from the odd highlights.
Same thing goes for the dream sequences, they don't get very bright and feel more comfy.
It makes these scenes feel softer in comparison, which I quite like.

It's overall a great HDR grade, although you don't really get any extra detail from it, just more dynamic range, as it's still a conversion based on an SDR grade.
Your Name being already a fantastic looking movie, this really makes for quite the eye pleasing experience.

Mastering display luminance : min: 0.0050 cd/m2, max: 1000 cd/m2 
Maximum Content Light Level : 777 cd/m2 
Maximum Frame-Average Light Level : 370 cd/m2

Now what about the use of the Rec.2020 colorspace ?
Well, that remains quite subtle. Most of the film stays in the Rec.709 range, but some shots do exhibit blues going beyond that.
Nighttime scenes in particular exhibit this the most.

In the end, that part isn't changed all that much since messing around too much with colorimetry is not a good idea for an animated movie from the digital era, so again, a good thing.

In summary, this UHD release does change a lot of things thanks to its HDR master, but in a way I find to be very thoughtful and controlled.
Your Name being more of a blockbuster title than others, going above 100 nits as much as it does makes sense compared to something like Violet Evergarden let's say, but it seems like Q-tec was still experimenting there and I'm not sure we'll ever see another Q-tec 4K upscale looking like this ever again.

Bear in mind the preview window for Davinci Resolve does not do tonemapping when reviewing HDR content, so it does not reflect what the actual grading look like and should only be used as reference for what the waveforms are indicating.



Waveform gallery : https://imgur.com/a/CASDzUB

Also decided this time to use the Y graph instead of the RGB one as that's easier to read and should be more accurate



Chromaticity gallery : https://imgur.com/a/eoiK6dT

Any ideas if the UK/France/?Australian 4k is better than HK or Japan 4k? I've seen the UK 4k for 16 GBP and I'm thinking of offloading the HK 4k

[pikagreg]

I would assume the sub quality is better on the UK disc either way. The HK subs are likely based on the Amazon stream/early screenings there while the UK disc had updated subs for the original BD