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

[Luso Saiyan]

My point was that, this time, they can use a better transfer than what they were left with in 2007 and maybe not make it look crappy.

They almost certainly will. The problem is that it will be needlessly cropped (still don't understand how people voted for that) and won't have as much quality as the Level sets.

[Rukura]

My point was that, this time, they can use a better transfer than what they were left with in 2007 and maybe not make it look crappy.

They almost certainly will. The problem is that it will be needlessly cropped (still don't understand how people voted for that) and won't have as much quality as the Level sets.

This topic, in a nutshell.

(still don't understand how people voted for that)

Look up clips of both the DBZ anime and videogames on YouTube. All (...ok, most) of them are either stretched or cropped oversatured messed with a million crappy filters. That's the Orange Bricks audience that thinks 16:9 = HD (or that they just have to upscale it on whatever software they downloaded), with no help from FUNimation there, that voted for the series in widescreen.

[qjz123]

Here's some more raw film scans
http://imageshack.us/a/img51/9107/2c0h.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/6384/0ycs.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img20/4937/5dgk.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img855/2175/ppt8.png
Here's Funimation's pic where they compared the raw film scan to their Level sets remaster. They actually removed a good amount of grain.
http://imageshack.us/a/img571/7290/awjm.png
Here's them cropped to 16:9
http://imageshack.us/a/img812/2913/yjzi.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img819/3723/bgbm.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img41/6189/34vx.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img706/8707/d89q.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img547/2585/x1xv.png

[Ajay]

These scans make me very upset. I would do anything for a complete 4:3 Blu-Ray release. I honestly don't mind about those hairs and scratches, they are a total non-issue to me. Giving me the raw scans and zooming where needed to cut off the worn edge of frame would not bother me in the slightest.

From the video, it seems their stabilisation software is pretty much entirely automated so what's the issue there?

[qjz123]

Dragon ball Z season 1 blu ray preorders are already number 30 on amazons top selling anime list http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Movi ... DDK3C1G9#2
That's crazy considering Funimation hasn't even officially announced them yet.

[eledoremassis02]

Dragon ball Z season 1 blu ray preorders are already number 30 on amazons top selling anime list http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Movi ... DDK3C1G9#2
That's crazy considering Funimation hasn't even officially announced them yet.

That means some of us are secretly pre-ordering I'd wait till an official trailer or something

[qjz123]

Dragon ball Z season 1 blu ray preorders are already number 30 on amazons top selling anime list http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Movi ... DDK3C1G9#2
That's crazy considering Funimation hasn't even officially announced them yet.

That means some of us are secretly pre-ordering I'd wait till an official trailer or something

I'm waiting for a trailer or at least some screenshots before I order.

[dbzj14]

I just don't get funi. I mean with the technology where it is now there's really no reason why they couldn't do proper release with both formats. Dual Layer Blu-ray Discs can hold 50gb on them!! Funi could cater to both the diehard fans as well as the casual fan with that kind if disc space available. I can understand their decisions based on the limitations of 8.5gb DVDs, but with 50gb now available I just don't get it. Especially now since Blu-Ray is widely available and the price for a Blu-Ray player is now at the 30$ mark.

My dream release would be:
Japanese audio with Japanese music
English audio with English music
English audio with Japanese music
Ocean dub with English music
Ocean dub with Japanese music
Widescreen and full screen options

Once again, with the huge amount of space available on dual layer Blu-Ray discs I just don't understand why they can't do it. Unless there are licensing issues which I could understand, but still. Maybe I'm asking too much but I think it could very feasible to cater to causal and diehard fans.

[OutlawTorn]

I just don't get funi. I mean with the technology where it is now there's really no reason why they couldn't do proper release with both formats.

It's simple, really. By cropping, FUNimation doesn't have to deal with the "problem areas" containing the most damage to the film, resulting in less time and money spent on remastering the film. Logically, yes, providing both could potentially satisfy most people (there will always be people who will bitch for the sake of bitching) but that would require FUNimation remastering the entire series in 4:3 which, with the film stock they have at their disposal, looks to be something they really do not want to do.

[qjz123]

I just don't get funi. I mean with the technology where it is now there's really no reason why they couldn't do proper release with both formats. Dual Layer Blu-ray Discs can hold 50gb on them!! Funi could cater to both the diehard fans as well as the casual fan with that kind if disc space available. I can understand their decisions based on the limitations of 8.5gb DVDs, but with 50gb now available I just don't get it. Especially now since Blu-Ray is widely available and the price for a Blu-Ray player is now at the 30$ mark.

My dream release would be:
Japanese audio with Japanese music
English audio with English music
English audio with Japanese music
Ocean dub with English music
Ocean dub with Japanese music
Widescreen and full screen options

Once again, with the huge amount of space available on dual layer Blu-Ray discs I just don't understand why they can't do it. Unless there are licensing issues which I could understand, but still. Maybe I'm asking too much but I think it could very feasible to cater to causal and diehard fans.

To offer the series in both 4:3 and 16:9 they would have to include two separate video streams. To do that they would either need to have double the amount of disks or cut the video bit rate in half. The first option would end up costing Funimation more money so that's a no go. The second option would severely degrade the video quality especially with grainy material which doesn't compress well at all. The fact that a dual layer blu ray disc has a capacity of 50gb doesn't matter. Even if there wasn't a capacity issue remastering the series in 4:3 is a lot more work than just cropping off the top and bottoms of the frames which are the most damaged such as this http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9137/onzi.png to this http://imageshack.us/a/img29/6952/0qcg.png.

[Fizzer]

They can get around that as they always have before, though - by trimming off a small border.

[qjz123]

They can get around that as they always have before, though - by trimming off a small border.

What do you prefer?
original
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9137/onzi.png
4:3 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img850/2571/hr4d.jpg
16:9 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img29/6952/0qcg.png

[Ajay]

Contrast change on 16:9 was a bit off putting but honestly, in that context, 4:3 and 16:9 could be equal.

[eledoremassis02]

They can get around that as they always have before, though - by trimming off a small border.

What do you prefer?
original
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9137/onzi.png
4:3 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img850/2571/hr4d.jpg
16:9 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img29/6952/0qcg.png

I find original to be very interesting. I love the film look. 4:9 cropped wouldnt bother me. Can you post a screenshot of the same shot from the level set episode? I'm interested to see how they fixed/cropped the tape marks.

[Ajay]

In true Funi style, we'll probably end up with something not too far from this:



High contrast, some saturation and every white must be WHITE WHITE WHITE.

[qjz123]

They can get around that as they always have before, though - by trimming off a small border.

What do you prefer?
original
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9137/onzi.png
4:3 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img850/2571/hr4d.jpg
16:9 crop
http://imageshack.us/a/img29/6952/0qcg.png

I find original to be very interesting. I love the film look. 4:9 cropped wouldnt bother me. Can you post a screenshot of the same shot from the level set episode? I'm interested to see how they fixed/cropped the tape marks.

Here you go
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/4205/n4iq.png
Here's two more
Raw
http://imageshack.us/a/img15/6995/mnzi.png
Level 1.2
http://imageshack.us/a/img203/7075/sgm0.png
Raw
http://imageshack.us/a/img38/2787/7zng.png
Level 1.2
http://imageshack.us/a/img59/152/tce1.png

[Ajay]

I think I prefer it with the grain intact, honestly. It's so thick with grain that with any denoising they do, it just results in grain that looks more like artifacting than anything.

[qjz123]

I think I prefer it with the grain intact, honestly. It's so thick with grain that with any denoising they do, it just results in grain that looks more like artifacting than anything.

I don't know? I don't think it looks too bad.
http://imageshack.us/a/img571/7290/awjm.png
But I get where your coming from.

[eledoremassis02]

Here you go

Thank you, now I can see where they cropped and fixed the tape marks. I wonder if they cropped (like you did) if it would save as much as converting it 16x9?

Here's an interesting theory. Target has the level sets listed as wide-screen 16x9 (because the black bars are part of the picture?). Could this be the same error everyone esle is making? Of course we must wait for FUNi to say something about it. But it just crossed my mind.

http://www.target.com/p/dragonball-z-le ... A-13775144

[Ajay]

I think I prefer it with the grain intact, honestly. It's so thick with grain that with any denoising they do, it just results in grain that looks more like artifacting than anything.

I don't know? I don't think it looks too bad.
http://imageshack.us/a/img571/7290/awjm.png
But I get where your coming from.

The sky and parts of his eyebrow are the main offenders. They look so smudgy.