Dragon Ball Z "Seasons" On Blu-ray: News & Discussion

[kidglov3s]

I like this one because on the surface it looks like an OK shot, yet blurriness emerges once again, in comparison to the 2000 DVD. Very similar images, detailwise.



And on the right side of the frame.

[RocktheDragon]

Image comparisons are always telling for a number of reasons.

The first is, it's just always interesting to see the difference.

The other interesting thing is, you rarely get even comparisons. In general they're based off the most unique bad parts of any given thing.

And of course, the last and hardest to generally get people to understand... a still image isn't how something will look in motion.

While not comparing it to these (which, while not looking in depth, kg seems to have done a relatively good job on it, using scenes that people found on their own) my favorite of recent memory is based on the most recent Robocop Blu-ray. Someone found a few seconds that didn't look as good as the rest of the film, and then tried to force the comparison to say that the old Criterion DVD was better.

And TheGreatness, no one is saying 'you' tampered with the shots (or that you did it on purpose) but your shots are worthless for comparison purposes.

I don't think the shots are absolutely worthless for comparison purposes. You even noted that we can see some kind of difference between the various versions. For instance, even without motion the difference between the level sets and current BD release of DBZ is obvious (scrubbing of grain vs. keeping the grain). So yes it's limiting but not entirely worthless. But that's just me.

[kidglov3s]

Looks like Ginyu's mouth got a wacky MSPaint makeover.



The next one (I'm just going through and matching Double Cross to screenshots, not choosing favorites):

[MarcFBR]

I don't think the shots are absolutely worthless for comparison purposes. You even noted that we can see some kind of difference between the various versions. For instance, even without motion the difference between the level sets and current BD release of DBZ is obvious (scrubbing of grain vs. keeping the grain). So yes it's limiting but not entirely worthless. But that's just me.

I was referring to someone ELSES comparison shots (I refer to kg, which i was using as shorthand for kidglov3s.)

When you are trying to actually judge how something looks from release to release, if one of them has been tweaked, then the comparison is worthless.

You might at BEST be able to go 'well this one MIGHT be better.

In the case of the TheGreatness, his screencaps weren't the right resolution, it appears SOME sort of additional filtering was going on (not that I believe he did it on purpose, but something is definitely going on with them.)

Regardless if you like the new sets or don't, you want accurate information so that you can make your point properly.

If he only had a 720p TV and wanted to compare it for people who had that as their normal stuff, then having everything be scaled accurately to 720p would have made sense, but he wasn't making that point (nor were his caps 720p.)

In the case of kg's caps, whether I agree with his conclusion or not, his captures appear to be accurate, and in the case of scaling up DVDs, he's provided enough information that if I or anyone else so choose, can attempt to reproduce his captures with their own disks.

[Cipher]

Looks like Ginyu's mouth got a wacky MSPaint makeover.

See, of the shots you're posting here, I can only think that the Blu-Ray looks better in every way. What's a let-down is how little an improvement it is over the original, poorly encoded/macroblocky DVDs detail and sharpness wise.

[kidglov3s]

his captures with their own disks.

Her,

Here's another one:

[bkev]

Are those outlines in the season image from the art itself or is that haloing a result of poor sharpening filters? It's kind of hard to tell given the comparison seems to have a similar ring around it filled with compression.

[kidglov3s]

Are those outlines in the season image from the art itself or is that haloing a result of poor sharpening filters? It's kind of hard to tell given the comparison seems to have a similar ring around it filled with compression.

Notice how the blur line in the Blu-ray is bigger and blurrier. There is always some degree of blurring on the Blu-ray shots, even in comparison to what should be a complete loser in the 2000 digibeta sourced DVD. It's like everything has this faint heavenly glow about it.

[bkev]

Pardon, I meant compression as in macroblocking/digital artifacts found in the source material itself. Those early DVDs had terrible encoding.

[Gotham22]

Here is a set of comparison shots that I was able to take now that I was finally able to take screenshots of the Blu-rays. I know that they are not at 100% quality, but they weren't saved as JPEGs and they look pretty much the way they played on my computer. What I was really looking for was the cropping and colors. Honestly, these things look good. If they have any downfall it's the cropping :/ Also, these are taken from the first episode of Dragon Ball Z, which is the worst-looking by far in terms of dirt on the film.

Even the japanese footage is zoomed in.

[kidglov3s]

Not too many shots left for ol Double Cross.

[eledoremassis02]

its interesting on how some of the black outlines turn greish on the Bluray

[MarcFBR]

its interesting on how some of the black outlines turn greish on the Bluray

That's actually not that abnormal in animation (greyish and various tints of blue are common in specific cases.)

[Metalwario64]

What's a let-down is how little an improvement it is over the original, poorly encoded/macroblocky DVDs detail and sharpness wise.

Exactly. It's ridiculous that the Blu-ray just barely manages to be an improvement over the crappy Digibeta footage.

Furthermore, I decided to filter the old Single footage using Photoshop's "Smart Blur" and "Unsharp Mask", and this is the result:

[eledoremassis02]

its interesting on how some of the black outlines turn greish on the Bluray

That's actually not that abnormal in animation (greyish and various tints of blue are common in specific cases.)

True but when they are originally black. It seems its from the DNR blending the line art with what ever colors next to it.

Spoiler:

[kidglov3s]

Another one.

[MarcFBR]

its interesting on how some of the black outlines turn greish on the Bluray

That's actually not that abnormal in animation (greyish and various tints of blue are common in specific cases.)

True but when they are originally black. It seems its from the DNR blending the line art with what ever colors next to it.

Yes, but in the comparison you reposted, the lines don't exactly scream BLACK in the DVD version. It's more a case of the eye recognizing it as black.

[eledoremassis02]

Yes, but in the comparison you reposted, the lines don't exactly scream BLACK in the DVD version. It's more a case of the eye recognizing it as black.

I assume it's because of the quality of the DVD is someone could post a Dragon Box equivalent that would help a lot more.

Edit. I think this is better. I does not happen all the time but sometimes it appears it does.

Spoiler:

[MarcFBR]

Yes, but in the comparison you reposted, the lines don't exactly scream BLACK in the DVD version. It's more a case of the eye recognizing it as black.

I assume it's because of the quality of the DVD is someone could post a Dragon Box equivalent that would help a lot more.

Edit. I think this is better

Spoiler:

Eh, I think until we see it with a different DVD we won't agree on this one. In general anyplace on that cap where I see something on the BD side, I see an equivalent issue on the DVD side, suggesting it's because of issues on the film.

[Landcross]

Amazon has new copies available again, but they ship in 1-3 weeks and are back to the 44 dollar list price. Don't know if it's been mentioned, I've been wading through screenshots.