The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

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.

GKIDS BD of Blue Giant appears to have less banding than the Japanese BD:
https://slow.pics/c/rQeuHVTW

GKIDS BD uses home video version with English credits.

Apparently the Atmos track is inferior to the Japanese release

it had more dynamic elements and a better compatibility track (5.1-EX) than USA

-----------------------------

Disc Title:     Blue Giant
Disc Label:     BLUE GIANT
Disc Size:      45,692,394,203 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00002.MPLS
Size:           39,155,625,984 bytes
Length:         01:59:33.166
Total Bitrate:  43.67 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 27,994 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          Japanese / Dolby TrueHD/Atmos Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz /  4550 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -29dB)
Audio:          Japanese / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /  3400 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz /   640 kbps / DN -31dB)
Audio:          Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitle:       English / 17.40 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 22.60 kbps
Subtitle:       Spanish / 18.88 kbps

[pikagreg]

It still feels like these more recent releases have been a lot more competent than some older Shout stuff.

[BigOnAnime]

I'd like to know if the subs on Shout! Factory / Shout! Studios stuff are finally truly readable. White with thin outlines and no shadowing are bad, especially on animation which is full of color they can blend into.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

I'd like to know if the subs on Shout! Factory / Shout! Studios stuff are finally truly readable. White with thin outlines and no shadowing are bad, especially on animation which is full of color they can blend into.

They haven't changed anything for Slam Dunk.

[NLScavenger]

The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots - Discotek Media BD vs Toei BD
Comparison

The encode on the Discotek Media BD is a noticeable improvement over the Toei BD. However, not all is peachy with Discotek's release.

In regards to the English dub, they worked from the same audio source as the DVD release, presumably captured from retail VHS. The problem with that capture is that the right-channel is quieter and distorted in the first 47 minutes for whatever technical malfunction that occurred during the capture. Since the dub is in mono, the most sane solution would have been to discard the right channel, but they didn't for the 2006 DVD:


Having most of the audio come from of the left-channel does not make for a very pleasant viewing experience, so one would think that for the Blu-ray they'd redo the entire track from scratch. Ideally you'd access AIP's materials from MGM's vault if they're available and Amazon-era MGM grants access, or if that's not an option you make a brand new capture from the retail VHS.

Unfortunately they went back to the original capture. Now this would not have been such a terrible idea if they did the sensible thing by finally discarding the right-channel, but no. Somehow they made things even worse by amplifying the hell out of the right channel, which enhances all the distortions. Needless to say, the result is... catastrophic (pun intended)




--------------------------------------------------------


Here's the boring data:

Discotek Media

Disc Title: The Wonderful World of Puss 'N Boots
Disc Label: PUSS N BOOTS
Disc Size: 18,452,040,928 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: Main feature
Size: 17,928,570,816 bytes
Length: 1:20:06.718
Total Bitrate: 29.84 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 24,962 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 / 0.57 kbps
Subtitle: English / 28.15 kbps

Toei BD

[NLScavenger]

...And I just discovered that this has the same issue as Animal Treasure Island where the Blu-ray uses Japanese audio from an optical source. The DVD uses audio from a higher quality magnetic source.

[omarchafa]

Sound! Euphonium Volume 1 VS Sound! Euphonium Season 1 BD Box

I own both sets, and I can now confirm that they are exactly the same encodes.



BD Box on top and Volume 1 BD at the bottom. Ignore the filesize as it probably has an extra audio layer.

[jala12]

How's the Burn the Witch BD? Any issues there since it's a Viz release?

[SMD88]

Was Universal's EAT-MAN box 1080p, or an upscale? I found one shot of the back of the box, but the resolution was obscured by light.

[NLScavenger]

The GKIDS BD of The Boy and the Heron has a better encode than the Japanese release: https://slow.pics/c/Hjxu2NLB

Haven't found comparisons between the UHDs yet.

US BD

Disc Title:     The Boy and the Heron
Disc Label:     THE_BOY_AND_THE_HERON
Disc Size:      46,947,451,234 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00200.MPLS
Size:           32,618,975,232 bytes
Length:         02:03:56.929
Total Bitrate:  35.09 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22,072 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video (1) / 1,298 (22003) kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz /  4944 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio:          English / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -27dB
Audio:          Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz /  5082 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio:          Spanish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -27dB
Subtitle:       English / 19.71 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 14.68 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 11.49 kbps
Subtitle:       Spanish / 12.66 kbps
Subtitle:       French / 12.94 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 0.83 kbps
Subtitle:       Spanish / 0.93 kbps

JP BD

Playlist: 00001.MPLS
Size: 31,234,854,912 bytes
Length: 2:03:51.924
Total Bitrate: 33.62 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 21525 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 / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz / 5084 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: French / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Spanish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Korean / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Japanese / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitle: Japanese / 17.195 kbps
Subtitle: English / 19.764 kbps
Subtitle: French / 22.221 kbps
Subtitle: Spanish / 21.896 kbps
Subtitle: Korean / 14.953 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 18.195 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 17.903 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 17.994 kbps
Subtitle: Japanese / 18.400 kbps

[Gowho]

Originally Posted by SMD88

Was Universal's EAT-MAN box 1080p, or an upscale? I found one shot of the back of the box, but the resolution was obscured by light.

DVD masters upscaled

[Jay123210599]

Which Blu-Ray has the highest quality for Keijo, the one from Japan, the United States, or Germany? Or do all of them have the same quality?

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

The GKIDS BD of The Boy and the Heron [...]

I take it the alternate video track is the "Feature-Length Storyboards" and uses PiP?

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

I take it the alternate video track is the "Feature-Length Storyboards" and uses PiP?

It plays a different m2ts for the opening and credits depending on the selected audio option. Storyboard is not PiP.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by Gowho

DVD masters upscaled

F*ck. Should have known. Would rather an SD-BD set than the upsvaled bullshit. It would HAVE to be better than the over compressed shit that Discotek put out. 24 episodes, and they still could not go past sub-900MB sized episodes. Jesus Christ, they have no idea what the point of SD-BD is.

Also, looking at that link, may I say that "DVD用SDマスターからのアップコンバート映像" are evil, evil words when refering to a BD RELEASE! Damn you, Universal.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by 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.

No TOUCH fans here? After reading about Zillion's shitty degraining method, I am curious as to whether or not TOUCH suffered that same fate.

Also, in preperation for the final City Hunter movie BD coming soon (released the day before my birthday, no less) I started watching my Jp City Hunter BOX again the the other day. I don't own the Discotek release. I forgot how bloody BLUE it looks compared to the far better looking DVD release 20 years ago. I take it that Discotek used the same master as Aniplex with no colour correction or anything on their part?

No doubt CH is a victim of the mob that did the SF MOVIE UHD and from comments I have read, Garou Densetsu movie and OVAs. Sheesh! I cannot remember if 2,3 and '91 have colour timing issues. I deleted the MKV rips because I needed the space for other series/movies I had not watched yet.

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

The GKIDS BD of The Boy and the Heron has a better encode than the Japanese release: https://slow.pics/c/Hjxu2NLB

Haven't found comparisons between the UHDs yet.

US BD

Disc Title:     The Boy and the Heron
Disc Label:     THE_BOY_AND_THE_HERON
Disc Size:      46,947,451,234 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Playlist:       00200.MPLS
Size:           32,618,975,232 bytes
Length:         02:03:56.929
Total Bitrate:  35.09 Mbps
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22,072 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Video:          MPEG-4 AVC Video (1) / 1,298 (22003) kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio:          English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz /  4944 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio:          English / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -27dB
Audio:          Japanese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz /  5082 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio:          Spanish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz /   448 kbps / DN -27dB
Subtitle:       English / 19.71 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 14.68 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 11.49 kbps
Subtitle:       Spanish / 12.66 kbps
Subtitle:       French / 12.94 kbps
Subtitle:       English / 0.83 kbps
Subtitle:       Spanish / 0.93 kbps

JP BD

Playlist: 00001.MPLS
Size: 31,234,854,912 bytes
Length: 2:03:51.924
Total Bitrate: 33.62 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 21525 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 / DTS-HD Master Audio / 7.1 / 48 kHz / 5084 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: French / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Spanish / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Korean / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Chinese / Dolby Digital Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 384 kbps
Audio: Japanese / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitle: Japanese / 17.195 kbps
Subtitle: English / 19.764 kbps
Subtitle: French / 22.221 kbps
Subtitle: Spanish / 21.896 kbps
Subtitle: Korean / 14.953 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 18.195 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 17.903 kbps
Subtitle: Chinese / 17.994 kbps
Subtitle: Japanese / 18.400 kbps

I'll probably grab the Gkids disc in that case, and just print out a custom cover for it. Beating a dead horse but I cannot stand the changed title!

[SMD88]

Ooops, one other thing I meant to ask. Is the LUPIN 50th release of PART III the same as the old "DNR'd to hell and back" release?

It seems that better masters for PART II exist, I watched an "50TH OP/EDCollection" video on you tube the other night. The openings and endings for PART II looked far sharper than the garbage 2009 release. Despite how much I despise their 13 episodes a disc, I keep hoping Discotek can give the 2nd series the same treatment as the '71 series. But they seriously need to fix the pathetically BAD translation their DVDs had. No idea if they used Pioneer's old subs, did their own or if it was a mixture. The subs seemed to get get even worse around the 80th episode mark. "Fujicakes" was one of the final nails for me. Bloody awful. Use honourifics, don't try and add some kind of stupid "translation". It makes for a terrible translation. See Animeigo's URUSEI YATSURA translation for a good example, ugh.

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by SMD88

No TOUCH fans here? After reading about Zillion's shitty degraining method, I am curious as to whether or not TOUCH suffered that same fate.

Yeah, all of the Touch HD masters have issues, unfortunately.

https://slow.pics/c/sMlh9OOt
https://slow.pics/c/dUJdBfmh

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by SpazeBlue

Yeah, all of the Touch HD masters have issues, unfortunately.

https://slow.pics/c/sMlh9OOt
https://slow.pics/c/dUJdBfmh

Wow, how the hell does the HDTV version look so much better in that first comparison? The power lines disappear in several spots on the BD shot. As soon as I saw the first BD episode, I thought the colour looked off. Hair was way too dark for a start, and the colours a bit too saturated. Not the way all Adachi's anime productions have looked.

I did a comparison with my DVD, and I thought the DVD won hands down. How did they screw such a big title up? I am glad I only paid ¥27,000 for the two boxes, brand new. No wonder it did not sell well. I suppose TOHO used that as an excuse to not release the HD remastered NINE and Hiatari Ryōkō! on BD? NINE, especially is a joke as it has been LD only for nigh on 40 bloody years.

Did Miyuki, Slow Step and H2 also get HDTV remasters? I am NOT a fan of Miyuki, but would love the other two on BD. Especially Slow Step as it again, is LD only. Although quite nice LDs as it was released by Toshiba EMI. One of the only companies to continue to release beautiful LD transfers in the 90's with correct 3:2 pulldown encoding. D2 killed anime LD quality quite a bit in the 90's. Far too many anime are still stuck with those same nasty masters on DVD. One of the "best of the worst" examples would have to be 8 MAN AFTER. Ugh!

Edit: Should have mentioned that those HDTV screens look like yet more victims of the "let's give everything a blue tint" remaster. F*ck, Japan, what happened to you?