Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[jaisonas]

...

I do find it entertaining that you cant hold a proper discussion without being a cynical ass. Dont you have to upload videos on youtube from your uncle's toei archives?

[Scsigs]

Thanks, I'll read your essay tomorrow but just from seeing you actually thought Kai was based on manga colours I'm tempted to assume everything else you think is waaaaaaaay off the mark too and so I just shouldn't read lol. I dunno, I'll see.

I said I thought Kai used the manga colors because that's what I heard. Looking at the Full Color manga, that helped me believe it. If it's not, I will note it & correct my knowledge on it. Don't be an obtuse jackass here & get me wrong on other, unrelated things, ok?

I do find it entertaining that you can't hold a proper discussion without being a cynical ass. Don't you have to upload videos on youtube from your uncle's Toei archives?

The reason for pan and scan VHS and DVDs is because people were watching on SD sets that were on average a lot smaller than the modern HD set. You try and watch a movie that has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio on a 13” SD 4:3 TV and you will see why.

FUNimation thought they were doing good on the BD Season sets, by re-framing the picture 16:9, scene by scene. Getting a wider image on the left and right and centering the action in the frame, they were trying to make a modern version that filled up the widescreen. But Z is meant for 4:3. It looks better that way because the 16:9 looked cramped and even truncated in places. You can call the Season Sets an attempt at “modernization,” OR you can call it “re-versioning” as in, making a new version.

The DNR however was not an attempt to modernize, or eliminate film grain. It was to clean up the image to be presentable in HD. As I stated in my comment above, the 30th is a major improvement on the Season Sets. I don’t think it’s a conspiracy to milk the franchise, I think they just learned from their mistakes and did a better job. I would have been fine if they were a little less heavy handed on the video processing and let some of the film imperfections shine through, but at least it is better than it was, and IMO an enjoyable version to watch.

These are just my opinions. I grew up with the old CRT TVs and bought VCR tapes, including Dragon Ball. People wanted full screen home videos because they looked better on their home set. There was sometimes a letterbox option, but you had to either have a projector or a giant CRT TV that weighed about the same as a baby elephant to really enjoy these. Kids today don’t know how spoiled they are...

I said it wasn't the DNR by itself that's the problem or why I say FUNi's repeatedly tried to modernize the show. Did you not read that? It's a mix of that, the smearing, the sharpening, the cropping, & the oversaturation & brightening of colors that makes it look like an attempt to modernize it to make it look like it was animated digitally &/or freshly, even though it wasn't. Cleaning up the film scans is a good thing, but if the rest of the restoration process crosses a line into something else with what else they do, THEN it's modernizing it.
I agree that the 30th anniversary sets were an improvement on the Season BRs. That's definitely true. However, a lot of the problems remain. Though the show isn't cropped & it's not as overly bright as the other set, the rest of the problems remain. Like, though I don't blame people for settling for these masters, as I did, I'm still in the camp of demanding better from FUNi &/or Toei.
My opinions are my own as well. I grew up on CRTs as well. And many companies are doing their best to restore their shows & movies as best they can to preserve them. FUNi's not doing that. They're attempting to revise their masters to make the show look "modern" to appeal to an audience of stupid people who don't understand how film restoration is supposed to be. It's all they've done since 2007 & I hate it.

[Jhanzie]

Thanks, I'll read your essay tomorrow but just from seeing you actually thought Kai was based on manga colours I'm tempted to assume everything else you think is waaaaaaaay off the mark too and so I just shouldn't read lol. I dunno, I'll see.

I said I thought Kai used the manga colors because that's what I heard. Looking at the Full Color manga, that helped me believe it. If it's not, I will note it & correct my knowledge on it. Don't be an obtuse jackass here & get me wrong on other, unrelated things, ok?

I do find it entertaining that you can't hold a proper discussion without being a cynical ass. Don't you have to upload videos on youtube from your uncle's Toei archives?

The reason for pan and scan VHS and DVDs is because people were watching on SD sets that were on average a lot smaller than the modern HD set. You try and watch a movie that has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio on a 13” SD 4:3 TV and you will see why.

FUNimation thought they were doing good on the BD Season sets, by re-framing the picture 16:9, scene by scene. Getting a wider image on the left and right and centering the action in the frame, they were trying to make a modern version that filled up the widescreen. But Z is meant for 4:3. It looks better that way because the 16:9 looked cramped and even truncated in places. You can call the Season Sets an attempt at “modernization,” OR you can call it “re-versioning” as in, making a new version.

The DNR however was not an attempt to modernize, or eliminate film grain. It was to clean up the image to be presentable in HD. As I stated in my comment above, the 30th is a major improvement on the Season Sets. I don’t think it’s a conspiracy to milk the franchise, I think they just learned from their mistakes and did a better job. I would have been fine if they were a little less heavy handed on the video processing and let some of the film imperfections shine through, but at least it is better than it was, and IMO an enjoyable version to watch.

These are just my opinions. I grew up with the old CRT TVs and bought VCR tapes, including Dragon Ball. People wanted full screen home videos because they looked better on their home set. There was sometimes a letterbox option, but you had to either have a projector or a giant CRT TV that weighed about the same as a baby elephant to really enjoy these. Kids today don’t know how spoiled they are...

I said it wasn't the DNR by itself that's the problem or why I say FUNi's repeatedly tried to modernize the show. Did you not read that? It's a mix of that, the smearing, the sharpening, the cropping, & the oversaturation & brightening of colors that makes it look like an attempt to modernize it to make it look like it was animated digitally &/or freshly, even though it wasn't. Cleaning up the film scans is a good thing, but if the rest of the restoration process crosses a line into something else with what else they do, THEN it's modernizing it.
I agree that the 30th anniversary sets were an improvement on the Season BRs. That's definitely true. However, a lot of the problems remain. Though the show isn't cropped & it's not as overly bright as the other set, the rest of the problems remain. Like, though I don't blame people for settling for these masters, as I did, I'm still in the camp of demanding better from FUNi &/or Toei.
My opinions are my own as well. I grew up on CRTs as well. And many companies are doing their best to restore their shows & movies as best they can to preserve them. FUNi's not doing that. They're attempting to revise their masters to make the show look "modern" to appeal to an audience

I did see the part about “smearing tool to remove the grain” and “sharpening tool.” Do you have an official, or reliable l source for this information? I’m not saying it’s not true, it just doesn’t make any sense to me, and I am wondering if it just hearsay. I have also heard that a “fake grain” layer was added to the 30th. Why would FUNi intentionally remove grain and then add it back? It just doesn’t make sense. To me it looks like they did a moderately heavy noise reduction. If you dial back the DNR then you have the Level Sets, which needed a meticulous, manual, frame by frame digital restoration. I know, I know, that is a “proper restoration” if you are wanting to make it look like the original film. But these kind of movie restorations that sell from boutique companies go for $20-30 for 1.5 - 2 hours footage. I would love to see Toei (or Toei contract out to a restoration company) to do a proper 2K scan and restoration from the original film elements and make it available to all their licensed distributors throughout the world, but I also wouldn’t buy DBZ again for $100+ per season. Being that it is an anime and not a live action movie, the more work you put into it yields diminishing returns.

Like I have said, the 30th is pretty enjoyable despite the video process FUNi used to make them. If you have a reliable reference about video process used to make the 30th please share the link!

[jaisonas]

I did see the part about “smearing tool to remove the grain” and “sharpening tool.” Do you have an official, or reliable l source for this information? I’m not saying it’s not true, it just doesn’t make any sense to me, and I am wondering if it just hearsay. I have also heard that a “fake grain” layer was added to the 30th. Why would FUNi intentionally remove grain and then add it back? It just doesn’t make sense. To me it looks like they did a moderately heavy noise reduction. If you dial back the DNR then you have the Level Sets, which needed a meticulous, manual, frame by frame digital restoration. I know, I know, that is a “proper restoration” if you are wanting to make it look like the original film. But these kind of movie restorations that sell from boutique companies go for $20-30 for 1.5 - 2 hours footage. I would love to see Toei (or Toei contract out to a restoration company) to do a proper 2K scan and restoration from the original film elements and make it available to all their licensed distributors throughout the world, but I also wouldn’t buy DBZ again for $100+ per season. Being that it is an anime and not a live action movie, the more work you put into it yields diminishing returns.

Like I have said, the 30th is pretty enjoyable despite the video process FUNi used to make them. If you have a reliable reference about video process used to make the 30th please share the link!

By smearing tool most people here mean heavy DNR which essentially smears the image. Heavy dnr and sharpening usually go hand to hand to bring back some clarity to the image and you can notice it by looking at rainbowing at the edges or the clouds.

You can read some of it on funimation's own blog post https://www.funimation.com/blog/2019/04 ... s-created (you need a vpn if you're not in usa) which they made after everyone complained with the first trailer they showed.
Of course the blogpost itself created 10 times the drama cause they showed the original footage before the noise reduction which is basically what everyone wanted.
After that drama people noticed funimation added on the final release that extra very fine grain, which essentially is just white noise (could as well be just very heavy dithering).

[Jhanzie]

I did see the part about “smearing tool to remove the grain” and “sharpening tool.” Do you have an official, or reliable l source for this information? I’m not saying it’s not true, it just doesn’t make any sense to me, and I am wondering if it just hearsay. I have also heard that a “fake grain” layer was added to the 30th. Why would FUNi intentionally remove grain and then add it back? It just doesn’t make sense. To me it looks like they did a moderately heavy noise reduction. If you dial back the DNR then you have the Level Sets, which needed a meticulous, manual, frame by frame digital restoration. I know, I know, that is a “proper restoration” if you are wanting to make it look like the original film. But these kind of movie restorations that sell from boutique companies go for $20-30 for 1.5 - 2 hours footage. I would love to see Toei (or Toei contract out to a restoration company) to do a proper 2K scan and restoration from the original film elements and make it available to all their licensed distributors throughout the world, but I also wouldn’t buy DBZ again for $100+ per season. Being that it is an anime and not a live action movie, the more work you put into it yields diminishing returns.

Like I have said, the 30th is pretty enjoyable despite the video process FUNi used to make them. If you have a reliable reference about video process used to make the 30th please share the link!

By smearing tool most people here mean heavy DNR which essentially smears the image. Heavy dnr and sharpening usually go hand to hand to bring back some clarity to the image and you can notice it by looking at rainbowing at the edges or the clouds.

You can read some of it on funimation's own blog post https://www.funimation.com/blog/2019/04 ... s-created (you need a vpn if you're not in usa) which they made after everyone complained with the first trailer they showed.
Of course the blogpost itself created 10 times the drama cause they showed the original footage before the noise reduction which is basically what everyone wanted.
After that drama people noticed funimation added on the final release that extra very fine grain, which essentially is just white noise (could as well be just very heavy dithering).

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I did see that Funimation blog post last year, and I was undecided on whether to pull the trigger and buy the set. You had to impulse buy it within a time limit, and basically sight unseen. The screen grabs really don’t give you an idea of how the video looks in motion, either the raw scan or the remaster.

I have a theory that for the 30th they dialed back the DRN compared to the season sets. I think they used just enough to cover the film damage and make a clean picture. I am thinking this because the first few episodes seem to be a little heavier DNR, and also heavier than the animation on the intro and closing songs. So maybe those first few episodes were a little more damaged, but they used the intro from a later episode that was in better shape. That is purely my speculation, although I have heard others say the same thing. At a normal viewing distance the effect of the DNR is not very noticeable on the episodes I have previewed. I need to completely make my way through these Steelbooks and get a better idea though.

[jjgp1112]

I haven't seen the intro but I'd bet anything it's the same intro they used for the Level Sets, which was sourced from Movie 1 (and then later had Movie 2 parts spliced in).

As far as the footage goes, people mentioned that the 30th sets had weird out of focus parts at the exact same points they were in the season sets...which leads me to believe that the 30th sets they literally just recycled the pre-color corrected and cropped Season set masters and presented it as something new to draw in the suckers. And that's why it has shitty DVNR.

[jaisonas]

Yeah there are some very dodgy parts around the cell saga with focus being really weird. Not sure if thats a transfer issue or their automated dnr
pic related:

[Jhanzie]

I haven't seen the intro but I'd bet anything it's the same intro they used for the Level Sets, which was sourced from Movie 1 (and then later had Movie 2 parts spliced in).

As far as the footage goes, people mentioned that the 30th sets had weird out of focus parts at the exact same points they were in the season sets...which leads me to believe that the 30th sets they literally just recycled the pre-color corrected and cropped Season set masters and presented it as something new to draw in the suckers. And that's why it has shitty DVNR.

Well that’s interesting. The intro is from movies one and two? Is there any difference or did they use those because they were in better shape?

As far as the episodes go, each FUNi Blu-Ray set is certainly based on the color corrected master. It wouldn’t make sense not to start there. Each one, (Level Set, Season Set, and 30th) are all a unique crop, and the 30th has more visual information on the top and bottom of the screen than the Season sets (thank goodness!) So they couldn’t just start with the Season Set and futz with it. They had to go back to the full film scans and do a brand new crop. But yes, the biggest issue with the 30th is the use of DRN. If less DRN were used you would see more of the specks, scratches, hair, etc. Using more DNR takes these away but also the natural film grain, making it look less like a film restoration... and less like the level sets. The DNR w/sharpener makes it look more like it was seen originally, on a standard definition CRT TV, bright colors and bold lines. Which is the controversy. A movie that you see in the theatre is restored for BD to look like it was seen in the theater... so a cartoon you saw on TV in the 90’s should be restored HOW? DBZ didn’t look like the Level Sets on TV, as well as the film itself did not LOOK like the animation cells. I would like to see a VIDEO comparison between the color corrected scans and the 30th. Just to see how bad it looked before the video processing.

[Jhanzie]

Yeah there are some very dodgy parts around the cell saga with focus being really weird. Not sure if thats a transfer issue or their automated dnr
pic related:

Hmmm... is this a worst case example? It still looks more in focus than Kai in general. I wonder if the same frame is sharper on the Dragon Box, but I imagine the SD presentation is going to make it harder to compare. My thought is that it is an anomaly on Funimation’s 3rd generation film. If the Level Sets made it that far along that would give a better indication.

[Lightningexpose]

...

I do find it entertaining that you cant hold a proper discussion without being a cynical ass. Dont you have to upload videos on youtube from your uncle's toei archives?

Huh? Anyway, I see you was afraid to answer any of the questions. Fair enough, but since you appear to not actually know what it is you're talking about yet have an interest in this, I don't mind continuing to teach you.

example of 16mm film from 1992 with 2K scan:
https://ptpimg.me/96570s.png

~1080i analogue video from 1990, likely invented and shot in 1988-1989:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... nknown.png

Based on the fact that you somehow thought the 2nd group of anime frames were superior quality to the first group from my earlier post, I won't ask you which of these two you think is better quality...lol.

But, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the analogue video from 1990 has captured more real-world detail and colour information than 16mm film can.

I don't even know where to begin for you, but when you see your senior fanboys on the internet say stuff like "16mm caps out at 2k resolution" or some shit like that, amateur fanboys like yourself take that as meaning the real-world details captured on 16mm is equivalent to the real-world details captured on a digital/video at 2K resolution...yeahno. What your senior fanboys are saying is that when you're scanning a 16mm film, going up to 2K will ensure all the small details like grain are captured. Grain is detail on the film, and when you're scanning a physical item your goal should be to get all the detail that exists on it. However, just because grain is detail on the film doesn't mean grain is real-world detail. So, a 2K scan ensuring that all of the film's detail is captured does not mean a 16mm piece of film holds equivalent real world detail to a native 2K digital capture. I recommend you read this paragraph carefully again and check it with one of your senior fanboys before replying with something wrong again.

Also, scanners can be weird and annoying so it's also recommended to scan at far higher resolutions because small details which are actually worth less than 2K detail might not be picked up in a 2K scan. Tiny details being picked up by scanner by increasing resolution isn't the same as the detail gain when you go from native 2K digitally to native 4K digitally. I'd say scanning 16mm between 3K-4K is beneficial to not only make sure all grain is captured but also that the scanner isn't failing to pick up tiny details that would probably have been present on a 720 digital image.

Going back to the two images I posted above, you can say all sorts of things to be pro-film, like the contrast, tone and texture feels more interesting and cinematic compared to the boring HD video captures. If you wanna be a film fanboy so bad, learn to appreciate it for the right reasons.

I would go into how grain is actually anti high quality but I reckon you're already going through enough of a shock dealing with these truths so far so I'll save that for next time.

Btw you say "it was just 1080i but muh 16mm goes up to muh theoretical 2K resolution" as if 2K > 1080 lol. Protip: i know that felt like an epic gamer moment for you because gamers and their monitors refer to 1440p as "2K QHD" but in film and cinema 2K = 1080 just so u know. The official cinema dimensions for 2K are 2048×1080. The aspect ratio being made 16:9 involves some cropping to 1920x1080, but 1920 is only 40 pixels on each side off of 2K horizontal so yeah...1080 = 2K.


And scigs bro I mean, yeah, you say "that's what i heard". But that's my point, everything fanboys often tell me is stuff they "just heard" from some other fanboy and it's usually wrong because they didn't take the time to actually critically think about it or look around and analyse it for themselves. The fact that you failed to do a basic bit of analysis by looking at what DBZ "manga colours" look like, e.g. Piccolo's inner arms being yellow instead of pink and his belt being red instead of blue, and seeing Kai doesn't...do...that.. just makes me question you as a whole and not just your stance on one thing. Ya feel?

[VDenter]

If someone could just combine the colors of Kai with the grain and detail of the Level Sets and you would pretty much have the definitive releasse right there. I really have no problem with a grainless image but the simple fact is that DBZ was shot on film. That is a FUNDAMENTAL aspect of the show and there is no going around it. Doing a restoration of DBZ but not having grain defeats the entire purpose. It no longer looks correct, even if the colors are bang on.

I recently got a brand new CX OLED and had it professionally calibrated. Watching Kai for the first time on on a non crappy display made me appreciate the look more but the problem is that it still doesn't look faithfull to what a DBZ remaster should look like. The DNR makes the image too soft. The Blu- Ray footage of Kai doesn't look 1080p at times. Especially noticable with the backgrounds. This is one of the problems with trying to brute force a grainless image with footage that was shot on film. You really can't do it without introducing some side effects, even when it done ""correctly"" and not in the Funimation likes to do it. Granted the issues that Kai has don't bother me much, as i consider it a seperate product from the original DBZ but it is something that could be used as a refrence to color correct DBZ.

The Levels Sets have issues of their own. I like and do think the Kai colors are more accurate for the most part and the Level Sets have crushed blacks and missing frames. BUT on the flip side the LS have that filmic look that is essential to how DBZ should look.

So ,TLDR: Give me a DBZ remaster with the colors that Kai and the detail and grain that LS have. That would be a perfect DBZ releasse.

[Lightningexpose]

So ,TLDR: Give me a DBZ remaster with the colors that Kai and the detail and grain that LS have. That would be a perfect DBZ releasse.

Level sets grain isn't ideal at all. https://twitter.com/FemboyFilms/status/ ... 1905002496 this is a better amount of 16mm grain than level sets and it's also some multi-generational print. Level sets also don't have that much detail, contrary to popular kanzenbeliefs. It's just got steve franko's scanner's sharpen filter applied. This forum seems to enjoy ignoring the haloing present on level sets.

[VDenter]

So ,TLDR: Give me a DBZ remaster with the colors that Kai and the detail and grain that LS have. That would be a perfect DBZ releasse.

Level sets grain isn't ideal at all. https://twitter.com/FemboyFilms/status/ ... 1905002496 this is a better amount of 16mm grain than level sets and it's also some multi-generational print. Level sets also don't have that much detail, contrary to popular kanzenbeliefs. It's just got steve franko's scanner's sharpen filter applied. This forum seems to enjoy ignoring the haloing present on level sets.

Sure, the nature of the multigenerational print of the master used for the Level sets means that it isn't ideal either. For this to be done correctly, with the right amount of grain and detail, Toie would need to remaster the show themselves using the original film masters that Funi doesn't have acsess to. Still the point stands, a proper DBZ remaster shouldn't be grainless. I don't want the show to have any more or less grain than it is supposed to have.

[jaisonas]

...

I do find it entertaining that you cant hold a proper discussion without being a cynical ass. Dont you have to upload videos on youtube from your uncle's toei archives?

Huh? Anyway, I see you was afraid to answer any of the questions. Fair enough, but since you appear to not actually know what it is you're talking about yet have an interest in this, I don't mind continuing to teach you.

example of 16mm film from 1992 with 2K scan:
https://ptpimg.me/96570s.png

~1080i analogue video from 1990, likely invented and shot in 1988-1989:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... nknown.png

Based on the fact that you somehow thought the 2nd group of anime frames were superior quality to the first group from my earlier post, I won't ask you which of these two you think is better quality...lol.

But, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the analogue video from 1990 has captured more real-world detail and colour information than 16mm film can.

>Comparing a compressed to shit film shot on low lighting conditions which is the worst case scenario for film to a bright studio zoomed shot
Are you even trying at this point?
And yeah i know how films and scanning resolutions work.

[Lightningexpose]

>Comparing a compressed to shit film shot on low lighting conditions which is the worst case scenario for film to a bright studio zoomed shot
Are you even trying at this point?
And yeah i know how films and scanning resolutions work.

Uhh...well since your eyes appear to not be capable of telling you anything and you're just making stuff up now, the 16mm 1992 movie I got is from a BD Remux while the 1990 analogue video shot is something I got from a YouTube video...but you really wanna talk about what's "compressed to shit"?

You should know, those "filmic remasters" you're so fond off, such as level sets, compress the grain leaving it faaaaaaaaar more blocky than what the image I posted shows.

Also low light? Do you know what low light actually is?

But honestly, if you're not happy with the image I posted, instead of wrongly and preemptively making up faults with the image I posted, feel free to post your own example of 16mm film ^_^ But if you honestly think any 16mm film can show the same amount of clarity and real-world detail as the 1990 analogue video I showed...............good luck

"And yeah i know how films and scanning resolutions work."
Well I'm glad you do now after getting schooled because boy everything you said about "muh theoretical 2k resolution" you definitely knew nothing about film scanning and resolution. You was just regurgitating bs other fanboys throw around on forums like this. But yeah, I'm glad you know what's what now.

[Jhanzie]

>Comparing a compressed to shit film shot on low lighting conditions which is the worst case scenario for film to a bright studio zoomed shot
Are you even trying at this point?
And yeah i know how films and scanning resolutions work.

Uhh...well since your eyes appear to not be capable of telling you anything and you're just making stuff up now, the 16mm 1992 movie I got is from a BD Remux while the 1990 analogue video shot is something I got from a YouTube video...but you really wanna talk about what's "compressed to shit"?

You should know, those "filmic remasters" you're so fond off, such as level sets, compress the grain leaving it faaaaaaaaar more blocky than what the image I posted shows.

Also low light? Do you know what low light actually is?

But honestly, if you're not happy with the image I posted, instead of wrongly and preemptively making up faults with the image I posted, feel free to post your own example of 16mm film ^_^ But if you honestly think any 16mm film can show the same amount of clarity and real-world detail as the 1990 analogue video I showed...............good luck

"And yeah i know how films and scanning resolutions work."
Well I'm glad you do now after getting schooled because boy everything you said about "muh theoretical 2k resolution" you definitely knew nothing about film scanning and resolution. You was just regurgitating bs other fanboys throw around on forums like this. But yeah, I'm glad you know what's what now.

Lightningexpose:
What is your opinion of what an ideal HD home video presentation of DBZ should be? How do you think it should be scanned, restored, and processed... to go from looking like a jacked up grindhouse film to a pristine HD anime? Sorry to put you on the spot, but I would like to hear your opinion.

[Lightningexpose]

Lightningexpose:
What is your opinion of what an ideal HD home video presentation of DBZ should be? How do you think it should be scanned, restored, and processed... to go from looking like a jacked up grindhouse film to a pristine HD anime? Sorry to put you on the spot, but I would like to hear your opinion.

No worries, it's not a difficult to just say ideals.

If it's Toei:
-Go back to the negatives
-4K scan (HDR/log scan if it's dark and contrasty) (not by Qtec, ideally an American scanning company--this is normal for many anime)
-Clean up dust/dirt/stains/scratches/tapemarks and stabilise+deflicker (they did all this for DBox so it's not as crazy as it sounds)
--------Though I'm not saying they need to absolutely clean it up to perfection, some jitter and dirt doesn't hurt imo
-Colour correct by first balancing all tinting and then dynamic range and vibrancy similar to Kai/Cels, but should be more consistent than Kai. Kai had lots of inconsistency. People who still question this colour correction and think it's an attempt to modernise should probably take a look at some original broadcast Fuji TV VHS/betamax caps:

Spoiler:

Obviously that's old deteriorated LQ videotape footage with issues like too low saturation and a bit of overexposure but if you mentally compensate for it you should be able to tell you end up with something that looks a lot closer to Kai than it does to level sets.
-Since it's from the negatives noise reduction might not be needed but if dynamic range restoration has led to amplified grain then some reduction might be in order. This isn't saying create a grainless product, but trust me post-CC grain can get kind of ugly. There are ways to CC that doesn't affect grain at all but I wouldn't expect this level from them.
-Crop to 4:3 similar to level sets, maintaining as much footage as possible in the framing
-Keep 4K master to stay future proof for when 4K tv series releases becomes normal, but for now downsize it to 2K for Blu-ray and hire the best Blu-ray compressionist in Japan


If it's funimation:
-Everything like above except HDR/log scanning should be essential just because their multigen prints are way darker and so it's better to lift as much as you can from the crushed blacks of the saiyan arc prints

Though colour correction can come before the film cleanup step, from my experience with really old and damaged film, it's easier to CC once flickering and coloured stains etc have been removed, as well as chroma noise/grain. The Pink Panther Blu-rays did a nice job keeping grain but removing all the chroma noise.

[jjgp1112]

I haven't seen the intro but I'd bet anything it's the same intro they used for the Level Sets, which was sourced from Movie 1 (and then later had Movie 2 parts spliced in).

As far as the footage goes, people mentioned that the 30th sets had weird out of focus parts at the exact same points they were in the season sets...which leads me to believe that the 30th sets they literally just recycled the pre-color corrected and cropped Season set masters and presented it as something new to draw in the suckers. And that's why it has shitty DVNR.

Well that’s interesting. The intro is from movies one and two? Is there any difference or did they use those because they were in better shape?

Yeah, the beginning of the intro with the DBZ logo even has the Eiren Mark from Movie 1. As far as we can tell, the only textless version of Cha-La Head-La available is for the third one (episodes 120-199), and so the best route to go for the original intro for episodes 1-20 was using the Dead Zone footage and editing out the credits, since the movie intros had far less credits than the series. For the 21-119 intro, they spliced in the parts unique to it from the Movie 2 master since that's also high-quality 35mm and easier than remastering the entire Movie 2 intro from scratch.

[Scsigs]

Using more DNR takes these away but also the natural film grain, making it look less like a film restoration... and less like the level sets. The DNR w/sharpener makes it look more like it was seen originally, on a standard definition CRT TV, bright colors and bold lines. Which is the controversy. A movie that you see in the theatre is restored for BD to look like it was seen in the theater... so a cartoon you saw on TV in the 90’s should be restored HOW? DBZ didn’t look like the Level Sets on TV, as well as the film itself did not LOOK like the animation cells. I would like to see a VIDEO comparison between the color corrected scans and the 30th. Just to see how bad it looked before the video processing.

Dude, that's some of the most advanced mental gymnastics I've seen yet in regards to FUNi's remasters. Good job!

[Jhanzie]

Using more DNR takes these away but also the natural film grain, making it look less like a film restoration... and less like the level sets. The DNR w/sharpener makes it look more like it was seen originally, on a standard definition CRT TV, bright colors and bold lines. Which is the controversy. A movie that you see in the theatre is restored for BD to look like it was seen in the theater... so a cartoon you saw on TV in the 90’s should be restored HOW? DBZ didn’t look like the Level Sets on TV, as well as the film itself did not LOOK like the animation cells. I would like to see a VIDEO comparison between the color corrected scans and the 30th. Just to see how bad it looked before the video processing.

Dude, that's some of the most advanced mental gymnastics I've seen yet in regards to FUNi's remasters. Good job!

It’s just seeing things in a positive light. The other extreme perspective is that the 30th is unwatchable garbage, which has been thoroughly expounded already. It’s good to look at it from both ways, and people who browse the forum can decide for themselves if they want to make a purchase.