Dragon Ball Z on Blu-ray

[ps3bd_owner]

It doesn't look amazing by any means, it's a Dragon Box Z upscale so I shouldn't have expected too much (the comparison did, though).

At least the picture quality wasn't turn to a pile of garbage like the 30th Anniversary with water paint effects. I can't stand that.

[MrChristoph]

Originally Posted by ps3bd_owner

Screenshots from Selecta Visión's Dragon Ball Z Blu-ray Box 1:

[Show spoiler]

There are issues with those shots, but at least the line art is the correct colour and the shading actually looks like shading.

[eledoremassis02]

Everything looks blurred outside line art and edges, maybe it looks better in motion but to me, it kinda killed my interest. I feel like the 30th has a more film-like look (if it could *not talking about the fake grain). This new looks too clean, filtered and digitized.

The 30th is water paint, this new set is Oil Pastels (atleast judging by these caps)



Also for comparison
30th

Dbox


Level

[GeoffOliver]

Honestly, I think the Selecta Vision upscale looks the worst in the bunch. The 30th at least tries to trick us into thinking it looks like film, and the backgrounds look very similar in both.

[ps3bd_owner]

3min Sample: https://ufile.io/q20cga8t

Just as the Dragon Ball Blu-rays, these Dragon Ball Z Blu-rays also have brand new wallpapers made by TOEI.

Disc 1 - Raditz
Disc 2 - Piccolo
Disc 3 - Goku

[Harvey Plissken]

I received word from Selecta Vision through Twitter that even though they don't have the license at the moment, they are very much open to doing that part of the series. This tells me that probably by the time they finish with Z, we can expect a possible GT Blu-Ray release by them.

I hope we can get some kind of update regarding a cheaper, more affordable means to get their Blu-Rays soon. I looked up on eBay and each one is about over $135. I'm hoping to grab those, so I can add the Japanese Broadcast Audio, English subtitles, and Latino dub to them.

[ps3bd_owner]

Originally Posted by Harvey Plissken

I received word from Selecta Vision through Twitter that even though they don't have the license at the moment, they are very much open to doing that part of the series. This tells me that probably by the time they finish with Z, we can expect a possible GT Blu-Ray release by them.

I hope we can get some kind of update regarding a cheaper, more affordable means to get their Blu-Rays soon. I looked up on eBay and each one is about over $135. I'm hoping to grab those, so I can add the Japanese Broadcast Audio, English subtitles, and Latino dub to them.

The best way to import them is via Amazon Spain. eBay will cost more due to sellers possibly thinking it's more valuable than it is and fees.

[veritas]

It would end up costing like 80 bucks for 19 episodes. It seems like your better off in every way to buy the level sets over the first 2 Spain box sets at least.

[Givemebackmygrain]

The SV looks better than the 30th-anniversary set. The fake grain that Funimation used is possibly the worst fake grain filter I have ever seen in my life and the multigenerational film prints that Funi has access to suffer from a severe black crush, especially early on. The Cell arc has less detail than SD Dragon Boxes. Everything looks like a water painting, even across the entire series, and is extremely wobbly. it's disgusting, it does not look filmic at all IMO. it is the worst way to watch DBZ outside the 16:9 sets.

The SV upscales are mediocre overall, but they do have better color separation than Dbox thanks to better source and are better encoded. Next Episode Previews and original JP title cards, make it the second-best home release by default. AI upscaling is going to produce funky results like this but I would take an AI upscale of the Dragon Box masters over any of the botched work that Funimation did with the 30th set. But then again that entirely depends on how the rest of the series is handled.

[ps3bd_owner]

A Dragon Ball fan filtered the Selecta / Dragon Box Z Upscale and it looks so beautifully natural with grain.

FUNimation included a Dragon Box Z upscale of their own on the Season Sets / 30th Anniversary, and that too was very pleasing to see.

As good as FUNimation's Dbox upscale is, SV's upscale with artificial grain looks better.

[Givemebackmygrain]

Yeah, that does look much better than the raw files and I hope SV doesn't mess up the rest of the release so that the entire series can be filtered like that. It genuinely looks good like that, all that's left afterward is some white balancing and color correction, then it could possibly be the best way to watch the series. I doubt Toei or Funi will ever get it right, so this will possibly be as good it gets.

The funny thing is I did try to do a similar thing but to the 30th anniversary set by first removing the shitty grain filter that Funimation put on the footage and then re graining it with a far better grain plugin, similar to the one used in that screenshots, just to try and make it somewhat watchable and appear closer to the Level Sets, but the 30th anniversary is too far gone, it can not be salvaged, those wobbly watery lines are just too intrusive to really fix.

At least good filtering can make the SV upscales look really nice.

[The Collector FX]

Selecta Vision isn't English-friendly though.

[ps3bd_owner]

Yes, the SV release isn't English-friendly, but it needs to be fixed by fans if they want a somewhat proper release.

Almost all audio tracks are just converted from their DVDs to BD without any improvement, except the Valencian dub which I read it's a genuine lossless audio track. I watched an episode with the Spanish dub and the audio quality was very underwhelming (there are fans who preserved audio captures better than this junk).

The dub audio tracks had their dubbed OP/ED replaced with the original Japanese version even though they were dubbed.

And, the picture quality can give a HD-ish look when filtered correctly.

Maybe someone will combine the OP/ED/Eyecatches of the Level Sets with SV's DBZ BD episodes with grain added.

[mikezilla2]

Why Would they Do such a Thing is my Line of Thinking ...

[Gold Ranger]

The Dragon Ball Sets came in from Walmart...
They accidentally send Super.
I'll be swapping them out for the correct ones.
Hopefully shipping there and back won't take too long

[SpaceBlackKnight]

At least the Funi masters (with all their warts) are proper HD scans. At least Selecta's upscales for Z run the correct frame rate (don't get me started on that nasty field blending Selecta's Dragon Ball upscale had).

[GeoffOliver]

I just got in my copy of the 5th steelbook, and I watched the Meredith McCoy interview. Holy shit, the clips they used from the show look FANTASTIC (except a couple quick times when the 16:9 HD master was used). It looks like it’s taken from the raw scans. While it’s a bit soft and the color’s a bit muted, I definitely wouldn’t mind watching the show like that, but I’m biased because I love the look of 16mm, and I think it fits the show. It definitely looks better than the Dragon Boxes with their weird color timing.

[Givemebackmygrain]

Originally Posted by The Collector FX

Selecta Vision isn't English-friendly though.

I thought all of them had English subtitles?

[The Collector FX]

Originally Posted by Givemebackmygrain

I thought all of them had English subtitles?

Selecta-Vision's DBZ isn't English dubbed or subbed.

[GeoffOliver]

I wonder why Toei hasn’t done at least an HD upscale of DB/Z/GT like they have for their other big properties. I don’t think Kai counts at this point since it’s not even available for streaming.