Ghost in the Shell

[BronzeTitan]

BronzeTitan, may you post the frame number and the crop settings? I'd  like to make some tests, and those would be handy for a comparison.

I used Lotto's #1 "HDTV (NHK broadcast)" .PNG picture for my demonstration. Here's the processing redone (I didn't keep the full picture of the previous one but all the settings were "saved" as new "defaults" in the paint program's functions) and the full-sized picture at 1920x1056 for your comparison:

[Doctor M]

Didn't realise there was a version with logo removal. I've only seen the WMV, the blu ray reissue and the Netflix version so far.

If you are referring to the version WMV9/VC1/HDTV/whatever that everyone is currently talking about, yeah, there's logo removal.
Check out Lotto's screenshots (or mine). It's easiest to see here: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205582
Just look at the top right corner. It's a low detail background and you can still see the ghost of the logo.

Once you see it there, you'll see it on all the screenshots.

[dvdmike]

Had the UK steelbook since launch, looks fine for what they master is

[zoidberg]

Once you see it there, you'll see it on all the screenshots.

What has been seen cannot be unseen... yep it's there.

[Doctor M]

Once you see it there, you'll see it on all the screenshots.

What has been seen cannot be unseen... yep it's there.

Yeah, sorry about that. I still find it the most enjoyable version.

Edit: Checked the 1080 version again and it is the version I thought. Doesn't seem to have much detail above the 720p and there is a bunch of interlace artifacts. The 720p version covers up some of that which is another bonus. (Will post some screenies when I get the chance).
I've never seen the 1080i HDTV source anywhere, which is a shame because whoever encoded it did a poor job with the IVTC.

Btw, according to AniDB, PSNR is responsible for the 720p release from that source and Judgement for the 1080p.

[Stamper]

I'm a bit confused, got the WM "HDTV" which to me looks the best. Is this the best ever of Ghost, with the full image (no crop) and intact colors? The french Blu looks like total zoomboxed DNred, Colorshifted crap. It's unwatchable.

[zoidberg]

I think the French Blu is an anomaly. The other '25th anniversary' releases seem to be similar with variations in the subs/audio. The black level is raised though and it is windowboxed. I have a NetFlix cap which fills the frame and has better blacks but otherwise looks very similar (although I haven't A/B compared them yet).

As DVDmike said this is as good as it gets unfortunately, it was an early (pioneering) digital production where each cel was scanned and assembled digitally, then printed out to film. It would have to be rebuilt from scratch in order to be restored. Akira was kind of an oddity in itself in that it was photographed on 65mm but nothing about that production was conventional.

[Stamper]

I have Netflix, will try to see if Ghost is available there in my country. The Windows Media version is as far as I'm concerned the best version, the colors are bright and warm, not cold and toned down, and it has more image on all four sides, filling the screen.

[BronzeTitan]

Comparison of the HDTV (NHK broadcast) and the French Blu-ray released last month :

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205578
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/207886
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205580
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205581
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/205582

I first hated ImageShack. Then I hated PhotoBucket. Now I hate ScreenshotComparison.

We hates 'em forever!!

[spoRv]

Still love diff.pics and postimage...