Detail Loss in the Orange Bricks: Not Seeing It

[GotenDaisuki]

The later seasons DID look much better than the earlier ones, but still.

[funrush]

Uh... I don't wanna advocate the shitty Orange Bricks, but I have to say that this is one of the unfairest comparisons I've ever seen.

Um... how so?

Look at those legs. The image size isn't corresponding at all.

Okay, I get it.

[Pokewhiz7]

I remember that! That was when I sucked at comparisons. :p

[SylentEcho]

Haha, has no one else noticed how that picture of Bulma sleeping in her panties keeps getting repeated on every page. Sick bastards.

[Gaffer Tape]

The orange bricks aren't THAT bad. Sure there's some loss of image BUT you have to realize it was meant for HD in the first place.

Except that they were released on DVDs, which can't run in HD. The footage was mastered in 1080p, and then had to be downgraded for DVDs. Not that HD would make the bricks look less shitty.

Buy a 52 inch TV then! Or Perhaps tune up your settings!! Also seasons the later seasons don't have the same grain issue that the earlier season had. Proof
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... zs6n_kcPfA
This looks very good. I don't see this forum's issue with the quality of said season sets

If you were to see those masters in 1080p, they'd most assuredly look even worse than on DVD because all of the problems would be magnified to a much easier-to-spot resolution.

[Metalwario64]

Buy a 52 inch TV then! Or Perhaps tune up your settings!! Also seasons the later seasons don't have the same grain issue that the earlier season had. Proof
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... zs6n_kcPfA
This looks very good. I don't see this forum's issue with the quality of said season sets

Uh... How is that extremely tiny, obviously tampered with and oversaturated image "proof" of anything?

Anyway, my problem is that "season two" is nearly unwatchable, until "season six" the dnr destroyed outlines during high motion scenes and overall blurred so many fine details out of existence as my previous examples on this very page has shown, and lastly that every episode is cropped.

If every episode had the quality of "season six" onward, and was in 4x3 I'd have been okay with just those. I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten the Dragon Boxes, but by the same token, the only complete 4x3 release of the series wouldn't have been a limited run, with a ruined 16x9 cropped version being the only fully available version on DVD once again.

[UnbiasedDBZfan]

Buy a 52 inch TV then! Or Perhaps tune up your settings!! Also seasons the later seasons don't have the same grain issue that the earlier season had. Proof
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... zs6n_kcPfA
This looks very good. I don't see this forum's issue with the quality of said season sets

Uh... How is that extremely tiny, obviously tampered with and oversaturated image "proof" of anything?

Anyway, my problem is that "season two" is nearly unwatchable, until "season six" the dnr destroyed outlines during high motion scenes and overall blurred so many fine details out of existence as my previous examples on this very page has shown, and lastly that every episode is cropped.

If every episode had the quality of "season six" onward, and was in 4x3 I'd have been okay with just those. I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten the Dragon Boxes, but by the same token, the only complete 4x3 release of the series wouldn't have been a limited run, with a ruined 16x9 cropped version being the only fully available version on DVD once again.

It's true (that) the Dragon Boxes have good quality BUT that's only the American quality. The Japanese Dragon Boxes have better quality than all American versions expect Dragon Ball Kai's Blu-rays but that's another story for another day. The season sets' quality isn't the best but it isn't 'eye-bleeding' as some people would put it. That's a bit harsh. The quality ranges from mediocre from seasons 1-5 to great in seasons 6-9. It depends if you're picky or not.

[Gaffer Tape]

The Season Sets quality isn't the best but it isn't 'eye-bleeding' as some people would put it. That's a bit harsh.

Oooh, ooh, that was me, wasn't it?! I put it like that, right?

The quality ranges from mediocre from Seasons 1-5 to great Season 6-9. it depends if you're picky or not.

Eh, I'd say it ranges from terrible to mediocre, but it depends on what you mean by "picky." As a general rule, those of us here are more discerning and knowledgeable about video quality. Not to toot our own horns, but we pay attention to this stuff. But even disregarding that, the season sets are just bad.

[VegettoEX]

Well, yeah... it does depend on whether or not you're being picky, but since being picky is the entire point of this conversation and analysis... I'd say it matters a whole bunch to those who want to dig in this deep.

Saying the Japanese Dragon Boxes blow FUNimation's American releases of the same product out of the water is somewhat ridiculous. The visual quality difference is negligible to the point of basically being imperceptible, and the drop in audio fidelity is also not even worth going into due to the source material being comparatively low-quality in the first place. For all intents and purposes, you're watching/hearing the exact same thing.

[UnbiasedDBZfan]

Well, yeah... it does depend on whether or not you're being picky, but since being picky is the entire point of this conversation and analysis... I'd say it matters a whole bunch to those who want to dig in this deep.

Saying the Japanese Dragon Boxes blow FUNimation's American releases of the same product out of the water is somewhat ridiculous. The visual quality difference is negligible to the point of basically being imperceptible, and the drop in audio fidelity is also not even worth going into due to the source material being comparatively low-quality in the first place. For all intents and purposes, you're watching/hearing the exact same thing.

Not precisely. As 'Gaffer' Tape stated many of you are quality concious right? Therefore slight nuisances in the Orange Bricks should be ignored but yet they aren't so I'm just saying the Japanese Dragon Boxes are better in sharpness then US Dragon Boxes. And add to the fact 148 episodes are on one box set the frame rate should be all messed up to do too much. That's also the reason Nathan Johnson/Bruce Faulconer's score is not on the US Dragon Boxes. Too much sound affects the quality. But the Japanese Dragon Boxes has more episodes bundled/more extras and it still look better then the US Dragon Boxes. Now do you get what I meant by the Japanese Dragon Boxes being superior then the US ones?

[VegettoEX]

Not precisely. As 'Gaffer' Tape stated many of you are quality concious right? Therefore slight nuisances in the Orange Bricks should be ignored but yet they aren't so I'm just saying the Japanese Dragon Boxes are better in sharpness then US Dragon Boxes. And add to the fact 148 episodes are on one box set the frame rate should be all messed up to do too much. That's also the reason Nathan Johnson/Bruce Faulconer's score is not on the US Dragon Boxes. Too much sound affects the quality. But the Japanese Dragon Boxes has more episodes bundled/more extras and it still look better then the US Dragon Boxes. Now do you get what I meant by the Japanese Dragon Boxes being superior then the US ones?

I don't think you understand the technical aspects well enough to make those judgement calls.

For example, there's absolutely nothing wrong or different about the frame rate on FUNimation's DBZ Dragon Boxes. They are progressively encoded at the normal film frame rate of 23.976 fps, exactly the same as their Japanese original counterparts. Are you talking about something else entirely...?

The reason the extra audio track (the replacement score) isn't on the Dragon Box isn't as clear as what you may think it is. Maybe it's because it would have affected the video bitrate. Maybe they were still having legal spats with Faulconer at the time. Maybe they were trying to move away from using it entirely for anything at all (as they had done with the online streaming versions and the Xbox Live / PlayStation Store download-to-own versions). Maybe it was simply because the largest audience for those sets wasn't going to miss it if it wasn't included, anyway. Who knows?

The reason the orange bricks are terrible is because they're terrible for a gazillion reasons on a gazillion levels. To put those reasons in the same ballpark as comparing the JP vs US DBZ Dragon Boxes is somewhat ridiculous.

[UnbiasedDBZfan]

Not precisely. As 'Gaffer' Tape stated many of you are quality concious right? Therefore slight nuisances in the Orange Bricks should be ignored but yet they aren't so I'm just saying the Japanese Dragon Boxes are better in sharpness then US Dragon Boxes. And add to the fact 148 episodes are on one box set the frame rate should be all messed up to do too much. That's also the reason Nathan Johnson/Bruce Faulconer's score is not on the US Dragon Boxes. Too much sound affects the quality. But the Japanese Dragon Boxes has more episodes bundled/more extras and it still look better then the US Dragon Boxes. Now do you get what I meant by the Japanese Dragon Boxes being superior then the US ones?

I don't think you understand the technical aspects well enough to make those judgement calls.

For example, there's absolutely nothing wrong or different about the frame rate on FUNimation's DBZ Dragon Boxes. They are progressively encoded at the normal film frame rate of 23.976 fps, exactly the same as their Japanese original counterparts. Are you talking about something else entirely...?

The reason the extra audio track (the replacement score) isn't on the Dragon Box isn't as clear as what you may think it is. Maybe it's because it would have affected the video bitrate. Maybe they were still having legal spats with Faulconer at the time. Maybe they were trying to move away from using it entirely for anything at all (as they had done with the online streaming versions and the Xbox Live / PlayStation Store download-to-own versions). Maybe it was simply because the largest audience for those sets wasn't going to miss it if it wasn't included, anyway. Who knows?

The reason the orange bricks are terrible is because they're terrible for a gazillion reasons on a gazillion levels. To put those reasons in the same ballpark as comparing the JP vs US DBZ Dragon Boxes is somewhat ridiculous.

I see so the Japanese boxes have the same rate as the American ones. I always thought the more bundled up something is the film would be affected. I didn't know! Sumi masen! Anyways errr but still the season sets aren't overly bad. The quality is bearable if you play on a PS3 or a good TV.

[ricecake]

Anyways errr but still the season sets aren't overly bad. The quality is bearable if you play on a PS3 or a good TV.

I downloaded one of the free episodes from PSN (which uses the same video as the season sets), and watched it on my HDTV. I definitely noticed the missing lines and the too-bright colors (the episode was the one with Bulma sleeping in her panties that keeps getting brought up here).

[PhoenixEX]

Level Sets > Dragon Box > Season Sets, in my opinion.
The Season sets are honestly crap. The only reason why i bought them was because of the 16:9 aspect ratio.
I'd rather watch something without the annoying black bars on the sides, but the over-saturated colors and detail loss made me change to the Level Sets.

[GotenDaisuki]

I'd rather watch something without the annoying black bars on the sides, but the over-saturated colors and detail loss made me change to the Level Sets.

Couldn't your Blu-ray player or something fill the screen? I have used my PS3 with the Dragon Box to fill the entire screen. It looks pretty atrocious, in my opinion.

[PhoenixEX]

I'd rather watch something without the annoying black bars on the sides, but the over-saturated colors and detail loss made me change to the Level Sets.

Couldn't your Blu-ray player or something fill the screen? I have used my PS3 with the Dragon Box to fill the entire screen. It looks pretty atrocious, in my opinion.

Yeah but it looks pretty bad, it makes the characters look all deformed and just doesn't look great. I guess black bars + great picture is better than no black bars + horrid picture.

[Craddle]

The only reason why i bought them was because of the 16:9 aspect ratio.
I'd rather watch something without the annoying black bars on the sides

Eh... So, Black Bars < 20% of the image missing.

Interesting preference to say the least. To each their own.

[DBZ Mick]

I've watched it in both and I think the animation looks so much more smoother in 4:3.

Looks way too stretched otherwise.

[Thanos]

I guess its because I'm not anal..

Either you flat out don't see the difference in video quality, or you aren't bothered by it. Judging by the above post, it would seem you're eluding to the latter--that being the case, why create an entire thread about it?

[Daimo-Rukiri]

This is the best way to explain it, vegeta is oversaturated, the picture is too bright, and the colors clash together. It looks horrible!