How good does Dragon Ball Z Kai look like on Blu ray?

[JEFFMAN219]

I am think of completing my dbz collection with kai ever since funimation has decided to release the original series once again on Blu ray in 16:9. My question is does kai look good on Blu ray? I already have season 1 and part 3 of kai on dvd.

[Metalwario64]

You can find screenshots from all of the Kai Blu-rays on Blu-ray.com

That said, I think it looks decent. It's not great for HD though. The level sets are sharper (though these have much better dark detail), but Kai's footage looks great in SD, and I think slightly better than the US Dragon Boxes, despite being slightly softer in SD, because I like the increased detail in the dark colors, and there's practically no macroblocking, whereas the Dragon Boxes tended to have a noticeable amount in fast paced action scenes.

Personally, if you want to save a little bit of money on the DVDs, you wouldn't be losing much detail, so I have to recommend the DVDs for Kai.

[RocktheDragon]

I cannot speak to the DVD presentation of Kai but I love the Blu-ray release and I personally feel that it looks much sharper than it would if you just got it on DVD. If you have a Blu-ray player I'd just spring for the BD Kai even if visual improvement is a bit on the negligible side.

[Fizzer]

Does anyone think it's worth upgrading to Blu-ray if I have the DVDs?

[theoriginalbilis]

Not as sharp as the Level Blu-Rays, but still quite good.

The contrast is just right (meaning you can see all dark and light details), and the colors just pop in HD. The remastering does make the linework look softer compared to other anime Blu-Rays, but it's still a nice looking release.

That said, if you already spent the money on the Kai DVDs, there's no real need to upgrade, unless you just want the higher bitrate and more vibrant colors.

[Ajay]

It's perhaps a fraction softer than you might expect since the pin sharp grain isn't there but it's not an issue.

Your TV has sharpen settings if it's that much of an issue. Aside from that, it's a really nice product.

[JEFFMAN219]

I ended up getting the blu ray versions of season 3 and 4 because for some reason they were a lot cheaper then they're DVD counterparts.

[Codarik]

Not much of a difference between the DVD and BluRay. If you already have the DVDs, it's not worth upgrading.

[sintzu]

A comparison between the dvd and blu ray

http://s1190.photobucket.com/user/Goten ... n.png.html

If you can you should re buy season 1 on blu ray and continue from there with the other 3 blu ray season sets

[dbboxkaifan]

Parts 1-4 (Saiyan to Freeza's arc) look great but then the rest is pretty much forgettable and sort of mediocre.

Makes me wish Toei Animation would've given it an HD remaster like FUNimation's DBZ Level BDs.

[kei17]

Parts 1-4 (Saiyan to Freeza's arc) look great but then the rest is pretty much forgettable and sort of mediocre.

Again, you keep saying that without showing real evidence. I see no difference in video quality between the Android arc and the rest.

[sintzu]

Parts 1-4 (Saiyan to Freeza's arc) look great but then the rest is pretty much forgettable and sort of mediocre.

Again, you keep saying that without showing real evidence. I see no difference in video quality between the Android arc and the rest.

He isn't the only one I've read say that and like you I still haven't seen the differences they're talking about which I think are so small you would have to pause every second to see them.

[dbboxkaifan]

The Artificial Human arc to the end of Cell's arc picture is dirty at times, blurry, not properly remastered (unless that's what it looks like at its best) and a waste to be on Blu-ray since it hardly makes use of its HD potential.

And it's pretty noticeable without the need to pause the video, but if you do pause it try to look at it closely it's kinda like an upscaled DVD.

I'm just not satisfied with Kai's HD remasterisation for the later arcs.

[kei17]

The Artificial Human arc to the end of Cell's arc picture is dirty at times

So were the pre-Android arcs. They didn't remove dust and scratches that were originally on cels, and their amount doesn't change throughout the entire series.

blurry

There is no freaking difference there, too. Kai always looks blurry except for episodes 34 to 38 that were shot on 35mm film.

For example, here are shots from the first episode and the final episode and there is NO difference in terms of sharpness.





I hope you'll stop spreading false information. If you still think you're right, please give us some real comparisons or logical and technical explanations other than just saying "it looks worse to me".

[Baggie_Saiyan]

It looks great especially the old animated bits. The reanimated scenes look horrendous IMO. It just doesn't mesh well with the old animation.

[dbboxkaifan]

It's not false information for an HD release it should look much better than that, for Kai to be in that form then it's almost the same as owning it on DVD.

For a DVD release that's perfectly fine but Blu-ray? Nope.

[kei17]

It's not false information for an HD release it should look much better than that, for Kai to be in that form then it's almost the same as owning it on DVD.

Talk about ignoratio elenchi. I said you're spreading false information because you keep saying that the Android/Cell arc of Kai looks worse than the first half of the seires, which is just WRONG. Kai looks the same throughout the entire series, and it's a fact like I said in the previous post.

I don't deny that Kai in general doesn't look good enough to justify recommending the Blu-ray release to others, but that's a different story. Anyway, if you don't have any real evidence that the Cell arc looks worse, please stop saying that like a broken record. Frankly speaking, it's getting a little annoying.

[dbboxkaifan]

To me the Saiyan arc to Freeza arc's (yeah I know it was filmed on 35mm) was when the series looked at its best and then it just went downhill. I'm not going to change my opinion about Kai's picture quality that's it.

Here's how FUNimation's Level BDs were like:





Real damn shame FUNimation cancelled these gorgeous sets because now we're without a definitive HD DBZ release.

[kei17]

To me the Saiyan arc to Freeza arc's (yeah I know it was filmed on 35mm) was when the series looked at its best and then it just went downhill.

Why do you think so? That's exactly what I don't get. Kai's footage looks the same, just the same throughout the entire series in a technical point of view. You keep saying that without any logical explanations and spreading false information to uninformed people. Of course, you are entitled to your own feelings, but could you please stop saying it like a fact? That's nothing but your baseless impression.

[VegettoEX]

I completely agree with kei17. You've provided absolutely zero evidence to support your belief that Kai suddenly takes a visual downgrade after the Freeza arc. When pressed, you just repeat yourself and use examples from unrelated merchandise.