The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[ProjectB]

So they rerendered Gurren lagann to hd?

[Naiera]

Recomposite is the correct term, I believe. I don't think that's the same as re-rendering

[lambovt]

Originally Posted by Ccharmanderk

My first suggestion is looking these shows up on the site. A number of them have reviews with screenshots, and upscales are relatively easy to spot at a glance (generally softer linework, aliasing and banding will be most prevalent; also keep an eye out for smudged lineart in the poorer upscales such as FLCL). Sentai's upscales are also generally 1080i as opposed to 1080p. Aside from that, it's difficult to say.

Also, small ammendment to my previous post, Motto! To Love-ru is actually native HD, it's the original season that is upscaled. Sorry for the confusion. I'll correct it now.

Thank you! Usually, I look for softness or blurry lines, but a lot of shows from 2009-2010 seem to use softness intentionally so it's hard for me to tell the difference. When I compare these screenshots for Needless (HD Native) and Inuyasha: The Final Act (Upscale) to When They Cry Rei http://i.imgur.com/3QdMcwy.png, I can't tell if Rei is HD native. Is it?

[Ccharmanderk]

Originally Posted by lambovt

Thank you! Usually, I look for softness or blurry lines, but a lot of shows from 2009-2010 seem to use softness intentionally so it's hard for me to tell the difference. When I compare these screenshots for Needless (HD Native) and Inuyasha: The Final Act (Upscale) to When They Cry Rei http://i.imgur.com/3QdMcwy.png, I can't tell if Rei is HD native. Is it?

Rei is native HD, yes.

[lambovt]

Originally Posted by Ccharmanderk

Rei is native HD, yes.

Thanks again! You've been a lot of help!

[PissedOffPeoN]

Originally Posted by ProjectB

So they rerendered Gurren lagann to hd?

Also, Gurren Lagann Japanese box set was the best best set ever conceived plus it was a night and day transfer that fixed soo many issues the DVD had that i never knew from screenshot comparisons

[DaBawss]

I was considering purchasing the Eureka 7 movie. Noticed there are a Bandi Version and a Funimation version. Any major difference in quality to any ones knowledge? I thought it might be a repackage after Funi got the rights, but was unsure.

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by DaBawss

I was considering purchasing the Eureka 7 movie. Noticed there are a Bandi Version and a Funimation version. Any major difference in quality to any ones knowledge? I thought it might be a repackage after Funi got the rights, but was unsure.

From what I remember, the Funimation release fixed the issue with the Japanese audio on the Bandai release. There was a missing audio channel in the Japanese track on the Bandai release (I think). I don't have a source, but I think there's a thread about it on the Fandom Post forums.

[svenge]

Yeah, the Bandai audio glitch was confirmed by a user on Fandom Post.

I can confirm that the Right audio channel has no data in the 5.1 JP track (didn't check the dub) on the Bandai BD (which I haven't gotten around to watching yet and looks like I never will, if I want to watch the film I'll get the JP BD). Don't have the FUNi one.

[Spoofer]

Originally Posted by svenge

Yeah, the Bandai audio glitch was confirmed by a user on Fandom Post.

Beat me to it. ^_^;;

[Ccharmanderk]

I can't recall, but didn't someone say there was an issue with the Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid Blu-ray, or at least the Anime Classics release? Like, skipped frames or something? I intend to upgrade my DVD for the first season to a BD and purchase both Fumoffu and TSR, but I wanna make sure I'm not getting a crap product.

[svenge]

Originally Posted by Ccharmanderk

I can't recall, but didn't someone say there was an issue with the Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid Blu-ray, or at least the Anime Classics release? Like, skipped frames or something? I intend to upgrade my DVD for the first season to a BD and purchase both Fumoffu and TSR, but I wanna make sure I'm not getting a crap product.

I'm pretty sure that it had to do with the OP/EDs being animated at 30fps while the Funimation BD used 1080p24 encoding, leading to dropped frames in those segments. It doesn't affect the main content of each episode, though. It might have been better to have used 1080i60 like the Japanese BDs, but not much can be done at this point.

[Naiera]

Yes, that's the only problem. It's not ideal but it doesn't ruin the release in my eyes. It's not like there are other options.

Yes, the UK release has the same issue. The discs are identical across all three FMP seasons.

[kevers7290]

Aside from the lossless DTS audio, is there any other difference between the JP release of 5cm Per Second and the Discotek release?

[svenge]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

Aside from the lossless DTS audio, is there any other difference between the JP release of 5cm Per Second and the Discotek release?

The JP "Global Edition" and the Discotek release both use the exact same video encode (AVC @ 34853 kbps).

What the Discotek release lacks that the JP release has are the "Voices of a Distant Star" OVA and the "She and Her Cat" short, both of which were released domestically on a single DVD by ADV Films back in 2003. Both the OVA and short were originally created in SD to begin with, and are encoded as such (w/ removable English subtitles) on the JP release.

Basically if you already have the "Voices of a Distant Star" DVD either by itself or in the "Shinkai Collection" 2-pack with "The Place Promised in Our Early Days", there's nothing to be gained by getting the JP release over the Discotek one.

[Naiera]

What's the best Place Promised release? UK or HK?

[svenge]

Originally Posted by Naiera

What's the best Place Promised release? UK or HK?

Hard to say in terms of PQ/AQ, as hard data sources like BDInfo and/or screenshots for the HK release is pretty lacking. Working backwards from the JP and UK discs' known bitrates (both 25 mbps) and accounting for the sizes of the main .m2ts file (22 GB) and fewer audio tracks included for the HK release (1x DTS-HD MA + 2x Dolby 2.0), I'd say HK disc probably also uses about 25 mbps for video.

In terms of bonus features, it's a little more clear-cut. The HK disc is bare-bones, whereas the UK release has most if not all of the bonus features from the ADV DVD plus the "Voices of a Distant Star" OVA and its attendant extras. This review of the UK disc outlines its contents pretty well.

Of course, the price difference is a bit tilted in favor of the HK release so that needs to be taken into account along with if you have any of the previous DVD releases. Obviously the HK disc is Region "A"-locked and the UK disc is "B"-locked, but that shouldn't be a problem for you if I recall correctly.

UK BDInfo

[Show spoiler]

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00000.MPLS
Length:                 1:30:14.158 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   26,596,396,416 bytes
Total Bitrate:          39.30 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        24960 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         3738 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 3738 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
LPCM Audio                      English         2304 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio             Japanese        3655 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 3655 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
LPCM Audio                      Japanese        2304 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           English         44.202 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           English         2.795 kbps

JP BDINFO

[Show spoiler]

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00002.MPLS
Length:                 1:30:20.415 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   22,389,731,328 bytes
Total Bitrate:          33.05 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        25047 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
LPCM Audio                      Japanese        4608 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 4608 kbps / 16-bit
LPCM Audio                      Japanese        1536 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           Japanese        39.215 kbps

[omarchafa]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Gurren Lagann is NOT an upscale, it is a recomposite. That's very different, and why it could easily pass for real high definition.

The best upscales I've seen are Mai-Hime and Otome. FUNi's own FMP upscale is great, too. If only we could get it without the colour conversion/brightness issues it surely has.

What's a recomposite? Is it something like they did with Outlaw Star?

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by omarchafa

What's a recomposite? Is it something like they did with Outlaw Star?

No, Outlaw Star was not digitally animated. These digital shows are fixed resolution, and recompositing is when they go back to the original digital elements and recomposite them in higher definition. There's usually other fixes as well to make sure everything looks how it should iirc. An upscale is a pre-existing transfer that is upped in resolution, which is not the same as a recomposite. This is why Gurren Lagann's blu release looks like it was natively made at a higher resolution.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by omarchafa

What's a recomposite? Is it something like they did with Outlaw Star?

Nope. Outlaw Star was on Cels and shot on 35mm! A rarity for TV anime of the time, the only other I can think of was Turn A Gundam- as that was the last Sunrise series to be done on cels. The Anime Limited release uses the exact files from the Japanese Blu-ray release, which I've seen and is truly a marvel to behold.