Dragonball singles DVD quality?

[csl002]

I don't know why, but the zooming really bothers me. I'm sure, had I not seen the comparisons, I'd be fine, but just knowing how much picture I'd be losing, I could never buy the Blue Bricks.

It sucks, because I've never seen the entirety of Dragon Ball (only about 50 episodes, in fact), but I MUST hold out until a Dragon Ball Dragon Box is released.

Just knowing that perfection is out there... I can't take less >.<

There's really no such thing as a perfect release, and there probably never will be, because the Dragon Boxes have pretty heavily edited colours compared to the original aired version, yet everything else is incomplete/cropped/cut/has-missing-NEPs-and-original-title-cards/DVRed/also-has-edited-colours.

What if it's the original aired version with modified color timing?

I trust the original negative more than old analog TV airings preserved through old recorded media..

[eledoremassis02]

For me..it'll have to be whats cheaper. Which is surprisingly the Blue Bricks. Though right now I'm holding to see if and what price the Dragonball dragon boxes would be.

[Fizzer]

What if it's the original aired version with modified color timing?

I trust the original negative more than old analog TV airings preserved through old recorded media..

I don't think the colour editing just appeared on the original film, it was part of Toei's remastering process. That's why the DBoxes have different colours to all the other releases, including those that haven't been through any sort of remastering process, and the Blu-rays, which I think (though I'm probably wrong) are a faithful remaster of the same source material as the Dragon Boxes.

[eledoremassis02]

The film also ages overtime which can effect the color.

But I also agree with csl002, in regards to trusting old TV rips.

Don't they have character guides that the cel painters used so they have continuity with the colors? Wouldn't those be the most accurate?

[csl002]

The color timing is done on film though. And given that the Dragon Boxes have lots of obvious fading between cuts and reels and such, I'm thinking that Toei might've not touched the colors at all for the Dragon Boxes.

[Fizzer]

I guess only a Toei insider or something could really know. It's really quite interesting to think that the DVD set with the largest deviation in colours might be the most faithful colour-wise, and more correct than what was originally aired in Japan. Since you put it like that, it actually sounds pretty possible too. It would start up a whole philosophical debate about what "correct" is, though. I'd say the correct colours are the ones that the creators intended while doing their creating, but I don't understand why they'd then air different colours on TV after producing the film with the ones they wanted.

[csl002]

Well the process from film to the broadcast master tape to the station's airing settings to the quality and settings of the existing recorded versions all have several factors that could completely whack the colors out.

[Zestanor]

I guess only a Toei insider or something could really know. It's really quite interesting to think that the DVD set with the largest deviation in colours might be the most faithful colour-wise, and more correct than what was originally aired in Japan. Since you put it like that, it actually sounds pretty possible too. It would start up a whole philosophical debate about what "correct" is, though. I'd say the correct colours are the ones that the creators intended while doing their creating, but I don't understand why they'd then air different colours on TV after producing the film with the ones they wanted.

They didn't purposely 'air different colors.' When the episodes aired, the film and the telecine were nearly identical. The colors were the same, (although the telecine process probably affects the brightness of the film.) But now, 20 years later each episode has aged individually. There was no fix-all color filter that Toei could have used for the Dragon Boxes to restore the original colors because, each episode has deteriorated in different directions and at different rates. Different film stocks are the main issue; if they used a low quality stock for an episode, then that episode will have less accurate colors than those around it.

I, for one, really like the red-shifts on the Dragon Boxes. On the Goku vs. Vegeta episodes, I prefer the Dragon Boxes green sky over the singles' blue. It may not have been intentional, but it looks cool.