Toei's Dragon Ball Kai remaster

[sumpter360]

I'm rewatching my old Dragon Ball Kai Blu-rays and boy, does the picture look soft!

Did we ever get confirmation that the original Z footage used was actually remastered at 1080p for this release? Or is it just 480p footage color-corrected and upscaled to HD?

EDIT:
I made a frame-compare of the shot where Goku "saves" Gohan from the waterfall in DBZ episode 1, comparing the Dragon Box Z, Kai, and FUNi 30th footage. I zoomed as best I could to match the 30th set, so that all you're comparing is the remaster visual style, clarity, colors, etc. If anyone else is interested

EDIT 2: I decided to edit the first Frame-Compare to include the FUNimation Raw Film screenshot as well. I've included that zoomed to match the most zoomed release (which, in the case of the first screen, is the FUNi 30th Ann) plus I threw in the raw, full-size, just for kicks.

I think I'm going to do this with as many of the screens we get from all 4 of these sources. I'll edit this post as I finish more.

I'm probably having too much fun with this

Goku and Gohan: http://www.framecompare.com/image-compa ... n/EJFFNNNU
Freeza: http://www.framecompare.com/image-compa ... n/EJF1NNNU

[Ajay]

The majority of Dragon Ball Z was shot on 16mm film compared to the more standard 35mm. QTEC who remastered the series applied some fairly liberal DNR to the footage, which when combined with the already smaller format 16mm film resulted in pretty soft overall image quality.

However, there were a few episodes of Z shot on 35mm film, and in Kai, those episodes are pretty damn sharp as a result.

16mm:

Spoiler:

35mm:

Spoiler:

So in answer to your question: yes, it's true HD, it's just not the sharpest thing ever on the whole.

[KBABZ]

What Ajay said. That run of episodes is IMO the best the original show has EVER looked, because at that size of film reel you don't lose as much picture information with the DNR, so it just looks fantastic.

[linkdude20002001]

Had they not DNRd it, and had they had the goal of restoring the original colors rather than changing them to the comic’s colors, it would’ve been the untoppable best the series has ever / could ever look. But Toei can’t think ahead beyond even their noses, otherwise they would’ve had that done while Kai was being made. Or while the Dragon Box Z sets were being made. Like, the show just needs ONE good scan / clean up, and then you’re good to: throw it on DVD, throw it on BD, cut it up to make “new” shows, et cetera, all for a FAR cheaper cost than doing whole thing over from the beginning each time...

[Danfun64]

Say what you will about the 30th Anniversary collection, but IIRC Funi didn't make a whole new raw HD transfer for it, as they already has a good raw scan of their footage.

That said, a new HD transfer of the First-gen footage without DNR would be amazing.

[VDenter]

Kai looks blurry thanks to the awful DNR. It's still about the best the series has looked, Level Sets aside but it's far from perfect. Really IMO the best thing Kai has going for it are the colors, which really do save it but the image quality is way too soft.

[Robo4900]

So in answer to your question: yes, it's true HD, it's just not the sharpest thing ever on the whole.

It's only barely got a HD level of detail, though.
You can actually downscale the picture to 720p and then scale it back up to 1080 and you'll likely notice no difference.
If you scale it back to 480, there is just about a somewhat noticeable difference, but it amounts to very little; there's only barely any detail beyond standard-def in Kai.

Take a look:

1080p original
720p rescale
480p rescale

Q-TEC did a pretty awful job on Kai by applying DNR so heavily. The level of detail left in the picture really is appalling, and while there are subtle differences between these three screenshots you'll notice if you look close, I defy you to notice it watching in motion.

Q-TEC's DNR filter is better than Funi's, but like Funi, they applied it at a level far beyond reason.
I'd prefer this to something as awful as the 30th set, but... Well, I'd rather be punched in the face than stabbed in the face.

[KBABZ]

Q-TEC's DNR filter is better than Funi's, but like Funi, they applied it at a level far beyond reason.
I'd prefer this to something as awful as the 30th set, but... Well, I'd rather be punched in the face than stabbed in the face.

Yet another instance of trying to present DBZ (even an edited form of it) as much more modern than it actually is and falling flat on their face.

[sumpter360]

Yeah, seeing that comparison of the 1080 vs 720 vs 480 is the confirmation I was looking for, and why it's understandable that I thought it was just upscaled 480p footage. I'd like to see some comparisons of FUNi's 30th set to Kai in 1080p.

[JohnnyCashKami]

A compressed JPEG image does not actually show the true quality but rather gives a rough idea of what it looks like. Dragon Ball Kai in its untouched HD quality looks gorgeous and even moreso with the cinematic and atmospheric Kenji Yamamoto score.

[sumpter360]

A compressed JPEG image does not actually show the true quality but rather gives a rough idea of what it looks like. Dragon Ball Kai in its untouched HD quality looks gorgeous and even moreso with the cinematic and atmospheric Kenji Yamamoto score.

Shame the whole series cannot be watched with Yamamoto's score... I rather liked it, honestly.

[JohnnyCashKami]

A compressed JPEG image does not actually show the true quality but rather gives a rough idea of what it looks like. Dragon Ball Kai in its untouched HD quality looks gorgeous and even moreso with the cinematic and atmospheric Kenji Yamamoto score.

Shame the whole series cannot be watched with Yamamoto's score... I rather liked it, honestly.

You can up to episode 95 but just not legally.

[KBABZ]

A compressed JPEG image does not actually show the true quality but rather gives a rough idea of what it looks like. Dragon Ball Kai in its untouched HD quality looks gorgeous and even moreso with the cinematic and atmospheric Kenji Yamamoto score.

Amazing how some music can make the picture look better!

Yeah, seeing that comparison of the 1080 vs 720 vs 480 is the confirmation I was looking for, and why it's understandable that I thought it was just upscaled 480p footage. I'd like to see some comparisons of FUNi's 30th set to Kai in 1080p.

Here you go, from a recent thread that wanted to compare ALL releases. My verdict is that the Black Brick picture is sharper, but more zoomed in compared to Kai and has watercolour smearing on the background paintings. Kai also has a more accurate white balance IMO.

Spoiler:

Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick


Kai


Black Brick

[Tylerman29]

Damn Kai might be a little soft but boy did they do a good job with the remaster. If only the redrawn stuff wasn't so distracting.

[JohnnyCashKami]

A compressed JPEG image does not actually show the true quality but rather gives a rough idea of what it looks like. Dragon Ball Kai in its untouched HD quality looks gorgeous and even moreso with the cinematic and atmospheric Kenji Yamamoto score.

Amazing how some music can make the picture look better!

K. I goofed up but you make a good point, if I was watching a picture or a slideshow of Dragon Ball Z with the limited Kikuchi score I'd hate it but if it was with the proper Kikuchi Z score or the Yamamoto score then I'd love it.

Dragon Ball Kai does have a soft image but it still remains as one of the best HD remasters of Dragon Ball Z. I kind of hope that TOEI isn't remastering Z because if it's similar to the TV SP2 remaster style.. might as well just watch the Dragon Boxes Z or the Level Sets instead. I mean, it ain't bad but it's not that great either.

[sumpter360]

I edited my initial post adding a compare of the Freeza image.

Also, TL;DR I've decided to make more frame-compares of the screens where we have it from all 4 sources: DBox, Kai, Black Brick, and FUNi Raw Film. I love seeing the comparisons, as well as making them, so I hope y'all do too

[KBABZ]

I edited my initial post adding a compare of the Freeza image.

Also, TL;DR I've decided to make more frame-compares of the screens where we have it from all 4 sources: DBox, Kai, Black Brick, and FUNi Raw Film. I love seeing the comparisons, as well as making them, so I hope y'all do too

I mean we have an existing thread for that! viewtopic.php?f=7&t=43842

[Trachta10]

The majority of Dragon Ball Z was shot on 16mm film compared to the more standard 35mm. QTEC who remastered the series applied some fairly liberal DNR to the footage, which when combined with the already smaller format 16mm film resulted in pretty soft overall image quality.

However, there were a few episodes of Z shot on 35mm film, and in Kai, those episodes are pretty damn sharp as a result.

16mm:

Spoiler:

35mm:

Spoiler:

So in answer to your question: yes, it's true HD, it's just not the sharpest thing ever on the whole.

What do you think about this? I tried to eliminate the blur and upscaled it

Spoiler:

zoom

Spoiler:

Other examples

Spoiler:

[sumpter360]

The majority of Dragon Ball Z was shot on 16mm film compared to the more standard 35mm. QTEC who remastered the series applied some fairly liberal DNR to the footage, which when combined with the already smaller format 16mm film resulted in pretty soft overall image quality.

However, there were a few episodes of Z shot on 35mm film, and in Kai, those episodes are pretty damn sharp as a result.

16mm:

Spoiler:

35mm:

Spoiler:

So in answer to your question: yes, it's true HD, it's just not the sharpest thing ever on the whole.

What do you think about this? I tried to eliminate the blur and upscaled it
*snip*

Mmm I love it! Make that into a script I could run my episodes through, and I'd have a new preferred version for watching!

[jjgp1112]

The majority of Dragon Ball Z was shot on 16mm film compared to the more standard 35mm. QTEC who remastered the series applied some fairly liberal DNR to the footage, which when combined with the already smaller format 16mm film resulted in pretty soft overall image quality.

However, there were a few episodes of Z shot on 35mm film, and in Kai, those episodes are pretty damn sharp as a result.

16mm:

Spoiler:

35mm:

Spoiler:

So in answer to your question: yes, it's true HD, it's just not the sharpest thing ever on the whole.

What do you think about this? I tried to eliminate the blur and upscaled it

Spoiler:

zoom

Spoiler:

Other examples

Spoiler:

Whoa. That looks a helluva lot better than a standard sharpening filter. What did you do?!