Dragon Box questions

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Could anyone tell me how to do this VLC trick to fix the colors?
Also, are the colors very different only in Goku vs Vegeta? Which other scenes are very different? Could anyone post comparisons?

[Pokewhiz7]

The colors lost quite a bit of yellow, blues are pushed to cyan, and there's a red cast. Every episode is different, so your settings will rarely be the same.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

[Pokewhiz7]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

[Perfect]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

Ahuh, I believe that to be very subjective. They're slightly faded, the Blue-Rays are too dark, the Orange Bricks are just...

[Pokewhiz7]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

Ahuh, I believe that to be very subjective. They're slightly faded, the Blue-Rays are too dark, the Orange Bricks are just...

I think they are. The BDs look much more natural to me. They're not really that dark either. And the orange bricks are just...

[funrush]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

Ahuh, I believe that to be very subjective. They're slightly faded, the Blue-Rays are too dark, the Orange Bricks are just...

Well, with the Blurays you can simply turn up the brightness setting on your TV.

[Perfect]

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

Ahuh, I believe that to be very subjective. They're slightly faded, the Blue-Rays are too dark, the Orange Bricks are just...

I think they are. The BDs look much more natural to me. They're not really that dark either. And the orange bricks are just...

Well (As I said), in either case of the Dragon Boxes or the Blue-Rays it's all more or less subjective as to which is better. To me the BRs look way too dark and even with the brightness turned up, the noise and detail loss bothers me, but hey, that's me. The general consensus of the Orange Bricks are, well they're trash and easily the worse release in nearly every aspect. Their old VHS tapes were better, I mean you might as well be covering your tv with syrup while you draw with magic marker on it.

[Metalwario64]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

It's not "everyone" is bashing them. I only see very few people around here dismissing them outright. People just want the colors closer to the original airing, and the disappointment began only when kei17 pointed out the degradation of the colors in a thread a few years ago, before the Blu-Rays were even announced. I personally would like the original airing colors, but I'm also fine with the Dragon Box colors, as I kind of like the aged look it has.

Anyway, you can't get the original colors (or anything close really) for the more aged episodes without doing extensive color correction, and individually edit colors.

Here's some newer examples of my attempts at color correction:

Dragon Box:


Corrected:

^His aura really took some time to get right. I had to keep individually editing portions of the greener parts where it fades into the sky before it looked natural.

Dragon Box:

^This is one of those "pink" episodes with a red color cast.

Corrected:

[takarajima]

諸行無常・・・・・・・

[DinoChow]

I for the life of me can not figure out why everyone is starting to bash the Dragon Boxes now ever since the blu-rays were released. People used to worship the Dragon box quality now they turn against it just because the colors aren't as "close" to the original airing quality.

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

I think that's completely, 100 percent subjective. I love the Dragon Box colors. Always have, even before I owned them and could only compare screen shots. There's something about the color scheme that has always looked "right" to me, and gorgeous to boot.

Does that make the Blu-Ray version illegitimate or "Not-right?" No. They are two well-done, co-existing versions with alternate color schemes. And if you happen to prefer it, that doesn't automatically make the Dbox colors "shit." They've been the gold standard for close to a decade for good reason.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit.

Well, they are not THAT bad...

[dballfan]

Well, with the Blurays you can simply turn up the brightness setting on your TV.

Exactly, that's small in comparison to what you have to do to get the correct colours for the Dragon boxes.

Code: Select all

"Close to the airing or not, the Dragon Box colors are shit."
Well, they are not THAT bad...

^Sorry about that I had to code it as I couldn't quote anymore for some reason :S

Well true, they aren't that bad, but its the same sort of stuff you here from 'Dragon box only' fans regarding the level sets XD.

[dbboxkaifan]

I think that's completely, 100 percent subjective. I love the Dragon Box colors. Always have, even before I owned them and could only compare screen shots. There's something about the color scheme that has always looked "right" to me, and gorgeous to boot.

Does that make the Blu-ray version illegitimate or "Not-right?" No. They are two well-done, co-existing versions with alternate color schemes. And if you happen to prefer it, that doesn't automatically make the Dbox colors "shit." They've been the gold standard for close to a decade for good reason.

I too prefer the Dragon Box colours over FUNi's BD's. Though Toei's DB KAI BD's are an improvement.

FUNi's DBZ BD's are slightly too dark at times and not a fan of their colours.

[dballfan]

I think that's completely, 100 percent subjective. I love the Dragon Box colors. Always have, even before I owned them and could only compare screen shots. There's something about the color scheme that has always looked "right" to me, and gorgeous to boot.

Does that make the Blu-ray version illegitimate or "Not-right?" No. They are two well-done, co-existing versions with alternate color schemes. And if you happen to prefer it, that doesn't automatically make the Dbox colors "shit." They've been the gold standard for close to a decade for good reason.

I too prefer the Dragon Box colours over FUNi's BD's. Though Toei's DB KAI BD's are an improvement.

FUNi's DBZ BD's are slightly too dark at times and not a fan of their colours.

So in essence your not a fan of correct/corrected colors :S I mean the corrected colors people get from altering the Dragon box image are what you get from the level sets without any correction needed (Except the level sets colours a still superior to those). I can understand darkness issue a little but honestly there isn't anything wrong with the colours.

[dbboxkaifan]

It's rather a preference that everyone has.

If I were to go over Dragon Box for another release, it'd be Toei's Dragon Ball Kai remaster in HD. So no, I'm not a fan of FUNimation's correct/corrected colours

[TheBlackPaladin]

I don't know about "everyone," but there does appear to have been a sudden movement gathering that concludes, "....Ya know what, I guess the Dragon Boxes weren't that great after all. Not bad, but not AMAZING." My theory behind this is tied to the infamous orange brick "Season Sets." It's my opinion that, after the Season Sets came out--which were almost universally despised by everyone on this board--the Dragon Boxes started to take on a certain divine status as the "correct" way to release DB, DBZ, and DBGT. In other words, the Season Sets made the Dragon Boxes look a lot better than they otherwise might have. Almost every time I have seen fans describe the restoration process with the Dragon Boxes, it inevitably leads back to a bitter comparison of how lazy, rushed, and "incorrect" FUNimation's restoration efforts were with the Season Sets. Comments like...

"The Dragon Boxes were restored frame-by-frame...unlike FUNIMATION'S 'restoration' process which basically ran the film through an automated machine."

To be clear, I'm not defending the Season Sets. I don't think they look good either. I just think the Dragon Boxes took on a divine status after people saw how horrible the Season Sets looked. After the debacle with the Season Sets, fans started to look upon the Dragon Boxes as the ultimate, coveted treasure of home releases. A shining diamond compared to the lump of coal that was the Season Sets.

Then we actually got the Dragon Boxes, and people started to calm down with their praises a tad. Since they went from being a rare, coveted treasure to a DVD release that's readily available with English subtitles, people started looking at the Dragon Boxes more subjectively. Picture comparisons began to arise, and then audio examples began to arise showing how much better the broadcast audio was from the audio presented on the Dragon Boxes. So I wouldn't say that people have "turned" on the Dragon Boxes. I would say that fans are just looking at them more subjectively than they used to because we are no longer relegated to the Season Sets. Meanwhile, I've heard some rumors that people over in Japan don't hold the Dragon Boxes in nearly as high regard as we do. To them it's just another DVD release.

[thedarkuniter]

In my opinion, the Dragon Boxes are the best releases for any TV show, movie and any form of multimedia. Everything from the box design, to the Dragon Books and the nice cases where the DVDs are stored, the Dragon Boxes pretty much not only raised the standards for Dragon Ball releases, but also anime releases in general in North America. Thanks to the Dragon Boxes, Funimation is taking more chances at releases limited edition releases for hardcore fans of certain series. To me, I enjoy the picture quality of Kai and the Dragon Boxes the most. The Blu-ray transfer, while not horrible, comes from a dupe of the original negative which is later used in the Dragon Box and as many of us know, most dupes of the original negative aren't really that great.

[BluezaBladeNZ]

The Level Blu-ray sets might have greater detail and quality, but I still overall prefer the presentation on the Dragon Box, especially since they have the opening/ending credits, title cards and NEPs. I know lots say that the colours are more accurate to the original broadcast on the Level sets, but to me strangely, it only reminds me of the days when only the early Z dub and the reversioning was around, which I've been trying to ignore, plus I'm still not liking the crushed blacks. But the colours on the Dragon Box for me, feel more unique and appropriate for its time so it was a different experience, plus it's allowed me to see the detail more clearly in darker areas. It's kind of funny to me since I use to be very anti-Dragon Box years ago, and even made a dick of myself here on my previous account (DragoonClawNZ), and now I'm sort of the opposite.

So I'm probably going to wait for an HD remaster by Toei or just stick with my Dragon Boxes.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

To be clear, I'm not defending the Season Sets. I don't think they look good either. I just think the Dragon Boxes took on a divine status after people saw how horrible the Season Sets looked. After the debacle with the Season Sets, fans started to look upon the Dragon Boxes as the ultimate, coveted treasure of home releases. A shining diamond compared to the lump of coal that was the Season Sets.

Meanwhile, I've heard some rumors that people over in Japan don't hold the Dragon Boxes in nearly as high regard as we do. To them it's just another DVD release.

Of course. Funimation has a slew of inferior versions, as has most other countries with home releases, so it's international forbidden fruit.

I think more importantly than their being more readily available is that they actually have competent competition from the Funi Blu-Rays now. They've never had that before.

Of course, even then, and even with the degradation of their source film, we still put them in high enough regard to chastise the Blus for being too dark (Which they are).