While I suppose this post is about raws (as we know them), it is more of a technical inquisition. See, while all this raw viewing goes around on infamous sites, there is something I question in the quest for quality.
I have wondered this aloud on #ab, but there was never a response; it was a while ago. Why do we not see un-subtitled releases, that are not raw. Do any viewers filter their own raws? Because even though they can arrive in 720p, there is usually room for improvement via a simple de-noise, smooth, sharpen, and color-balance.
As we see here, from last week’s Kannagi episode 01; the filtered source on top, and the raw on bottom. The source was 720p, though a likely upscale from the look, but which is the preferable watch?
Some may not give a hoot, but personally, I’d like to see less raw releases, and more un-subbed releases that have a nice filtered appeal. And as a note, this little filter mix I managed is very simple using Avidemux; specifically: a hq denoise (default values), d.graft msmooth (hq,12,1), d.graft msharpen (hq,14,64), and an 1.16 increase in color saturation.
How would this be taken in the otakusphere? Would viewers sacrifice a few hours of filtering for higher quality? I think it’s interesting…. speed vs quality of the viewing experience. To me, mine as well watch the stuff at 2x if speed’s the case, then again, I’m a savory snail ^_^
Hmmm, well, I can’t say with any sense of “expertise” whether or not the top image is “better” than the bottom. I would enjoy the aesthetic characteristics of the top image in a sharp anime like Gundam 00, but the watery-ish hue(?) I would prefer in something like H&C or even Natsume Yuujin-chou. I guess in purely technical terms, one quality is higher than another, though there is no direct, causal link between the terms “higher” and “better”.
Ah, I didn’t really address the quality vs being better thing, not really for me to decide (subjective), but I think the basic filters I mentioned brings the quality closer to that of what one would see on a DVD release, regardless of style (watery-colored anime still has fine lines).
So ultimately, I think it has to do with bringing the picture closer that DVD level. Though, as many have seen, even DVD level can be improved by video filters (ie. the original DVD release of End of Evangelion). Also, improving the visual quality increases compressibility, bringing smaller file sizes. You can read more here: link
Also, I should note that it really isn’t about color enhancing, that was an arbitrary shift, the goal was to remove digital artifacts and tighten up the lines.
I think there is definitely room for filtered raw releases. I’m sure Japanese speakers would appreciate it. Why not ya know? It does only take a little bit longer.
Yes, our encoder is thinking like one! WOOT!
ROLF! That is fantastic.
I’m not picky with anime anymore: I just watch anything with good graphics, nice pictures, good voice-overs, nice title, awesome characters, interesting plotline. I’m not really into subs anymore cos the subs i’ve been getting lately REALLY suck.
good graphics, nice pictures
That’s what we’re talking about here, squeezing out the quality… but this is coming from the guy who wouldn’t see that recent Batman movie unless it was IMAX …. which I did, but I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. 6 story movie screen is WIN.
Well, I’m happy with what I can get, so filtered or not filtered, it will have little to no impact to my viewing experience anyway. The only times I notice that the raw has bad image quality (usually lacking contrast and/or saturation) is when I view the screenshots in Photoshop and run the standard cleaning procedures
Actually, that thought crossed my mind earlier today when I saw a bulk of [Shitsen-raws] on Tokyo Toshokan. Since some of those raws already aired one week ago, I had been wondering why a subbing group would suddenly want release raws, and then I figured that maybe they made a properly filtered encode… I haven’t checked yet, and I guess I won’t either. Haven’t touched Shitsen releases in eons, and it’s most likely not gonna happen any time soon.
nekosasu, its funny you mention those raws because I was thinking the exact same thing, but alas… I’ve not checked either. Also, yes, some raws aren’t bad, but I’ve been detracted from a series because of the airing quality (Mokke, Tokyo Majin, etc). Kannagi had this problem, though I didn’t care, but I’ll likely filter the raws for the series…. hmm should be out today huh
Really, those public raws you see being released within 12 hours of the show’s airing aren’t meant for archiving. Most of the cappers that do speed releases don’t and won’t care about the quality. It’s the same thing that happens with speed subs.
If you are looking for quality raws, you can go for the more reputable raw releasers, like l33t-raws and QTS. l33t-raws is the only dedicated raw group that cares about the quality of their release that I know of, but they usually take a while to rls their stuff. QTS is great for DVD stuff too.
There are others, but its an uphill battle to look for them. Personally though, I don’t actually mind much about the quality of the raws I get, since I’ll be archiving the fansub releases later.
Kurogane, Really? I used to pickup l33t’s a while ago, but didn’t know that. They did have clean releases from what I remember.
Some stuff doesn’t make much difference, I tested Toradora’s HD and it almost exactly the same, but I think it works really well for those upscaled series, because then it can be filtered+downscaled and it definitely looks better.
Still, DVD is ultra-clean after filtering. Those LS OVA raws were unbelievable.