Dragon Ball Z "Seasons" On Blu-ray: News & Discussion

[Metalwario64]

Not saying I like this blu ray release but how can you know what these blu rays will look like once they get to season six based on a couple of scenes from season 1?

The reason seasons 6-9 had grain was because they couldn't DNR without the lines disappearing back then. The trailers showed that the footage for those sets originally had the same old DNR with disappearing lines, but FUNi went back and reprocessed them with much less noise reduction.

Now that the lines won't disappear, they have no incentive to randomly 'reinsert' the grain this time.

[MarcFBR]

The reason seasons 6-9 had grain was because they couldn't DNR without the lines disappearing back then. The trailers showed that the footage for those sets originally had the same old DNR with disappearing lines, but FUNi went back and reprocessed them with much less noise reduction.

Now that the lines won't disappear, they have no incentive to randomly 'reinsert' the grain this time.

That's not quite true (about not being able to use DVNR without lines disappearing at that period in time.)

It's that the main video guy at Funi was replaced with someone else who had a better idea of what they were doing. Literally at the same time entire things in their end result of their products changed completely as far as video goes.

[supersaiyan3]

My preorder came in today.

Here are some comparisons. I never got the Level sets so unfortunately I don't have those to compare to. Also, I finally created an imgur account, so they're the only thing on the page

http://supersaiyan3.imgur.com/all/

It goes Dragon Box, Blu-Ray Season One, (Kai)

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

If you guys want to see any specific comparisons, let me know and I'll try to get it up. If you have the time stamp, that'll make it easier for me.

[samuraix123]

Wow! Some of those shots look better than I expected them to look. even though I still have problems with this release, I'll still probably pick it up. Did you notice any of the images getting deleted while shaking and such was going on?
The orange bricks looks so piss poor At-least the newer release looks better.

[qjz123]

Wow those look pretty good could you post screen shots from episodes that took place later in the season please . Since episode 1 is the worst looking episode in all of Funimation's releases.

[qjz123]

Just from those alone we can see that as expected the youtube trailer didn't do it justice and they look much better than the orange bricks.

[Metalwario64]

That's not quite true (about not being able to use DVNR without lines disappearing at that period in time.)

It's that the main video guy at Funi was replaced with someone else who had a better idea of what they were doing. Literally at the same time entire things in their end result of their products changed completely as far as video goes.

I seem to always terribly word things. What I meant to say was that Franko or whoever couldn't competently DNR, which is why the lines disappeared.

Though, you're also right about the new video guy being responsible for the uptick in quality as well.


[Edit]
Wow. That footage is surprisingly better than I'd have thought! It does seem to look better than what we saw in the trailers. It doesn't so much look like vectors anymore, and the backgrounds still have some definition, though they're still very splotchy looking.

I'm still curious about the "selective" framing though. Every one of those shots looks center cropped to me.

[Gyt Kaliba]

The characters and such seem to look fine based on those screenshots, at least IMO, but...ugh...background stuff seems like it ends up as a really weird splotch of colors everywhere.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Doesn't look to shabby! Certainly prefer the the Blu-ray seasons to the dvd versions and doesn't look to bad next to the dragon box.

Since you have received your order, how about comparing the initial screenshots from the final versions from dbox,blu-ray S1, and kai.

[JEFFMAN219]

Damn those screen shots don't look bad maybe these sets won't be to bad after all

[theoriginalbilis]

My initial thoughts: Characters look crisp and sharp; backgrounds look flatter and splotchy. Selective cropping doesn't seem as intrusive as the OB's center-cropping. At least it looks less fuzzy than their respective Orange Brick versions.

Of course, these are initial thoughts. This really needs to be seen in motion to see how the product really holds up.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

I wonder if Funimation listened somewhat and toned down the brightness/contrast?
The backgrounds look okay to me, and viewing a few feet away I doubt you'll notice it "that" much.

Now I kinda want to see a Level set comparison...

[Metalwario64]

My preorder came in today.

Also, your Orange Brick screenshots aren't proper. I thought they looked worse than they actually do, and I was right:

Yours:


Proper:


Yours:


Proper:


On topic, I think Kai looks better than the Blu-ray season footage.

[supersaiyan3]

Also, your Orange Brick screenshots aren't proper. I thought they looked worse than they actually do, and I was right:

Your absolutely right. Those are the only ones I didn't rip myself. I took them down since they're not accurate.

As for the motion... It's ok sometimes. Some scenes are flawless. Other's are hard to watch. There's some sort of artifacts that you can see moving around edges. I don't know if it's from compression or filtering, but it gets really distracting on a big screen.

Here's some more images:

Spoiler:

[Dalesy]

Fucking hell these look awful. How is it that the DBoxes stretched to 1080p still look much sharper and clearer than the friggin Blu-Ray!? Dammit, Funimation.

Just from those alone we can see that as expected the youtube trailer didn't do it justice and they look much better than the orange bricks.

Hmm? This is exactly the image quality I was expecting from the trailer. These shots just look like what we saw in the trailer with a higher bitrate.

[Metalwario64]

I think some parts look decent, but the clouds still look like they were drawn with the MS Paint airbrush tool.

I'm surprised that some of the texture of the sky itself is intact though.

[qjz123]

Here's some more images:

Spoiler:

Thanks for the screen shots could you post some from the Goku vs Vegeta fight?

[supersaiyan3]

Thanks for the screen shots could you post some from the Goku vs Vegeta fight?

You bet! I got carried away and took way too many screenshots. You can check them all out at this link: http://imgur.com/a/P7zsO

[TheAldella]

So? How does everyone feel about them? I personally might actually shell out money for season 6 and beyond. ^^

[samuraix123]

So? How does everyone feel about them? I personally might actually shell out money for season 6 and beyond. ^^

After looking at the shots that supersaiyan3 so kindly gave, I'll probably pick them up when there's about 3 or 4 sets out. I won't get into a big hurry. It does look better than what I was thinking it was going to be. Now...That doesn't mean that it's a great release but it will replace my orange bricks. But! If I hear of crap getting deleted like the orange bricks then I will not buy these.