HD version of old Dobermann (1997) master?

[spoRv]

I found a fullscreen version - not the best, yet better than a VHS cap - and today I give UAR version a shot; problem is, colors are not matching always perfectly, but the result is not that bad; in a lot of shots, there is a lot more image.

Comparisons:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125744
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125745
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125748

[deleted user]

Oh damn that's nice! Thanks for the work you put into that man.

How do these behave in terms of blown out highlights in the church scene?

Also, will it be possible to add some of the detail from the Blu Ray to increase quality a bit? I can potentially get you that Japan Blu Ray if you don't have it already.

[spoRv]

Blownout whites are there, and "thanks" to the fullscreen (to blend it better with the widescreen) they are even a bit worse!

Still dunno if it will be possible to take out something useful from this, yet I've decided to do not use BD, as the difference with the fullscreen will be too jarring - even now it's quite evident, but with BD will be impossible to not notice it...

Always thinking about the "simple" regrade, using BD as source and DVD DE as color reference.

[deleted user]

Have you thought about using a highpass on the BD and then instead of overlaying the Blu Ray, merely applying the highpass for the fine detail? That way there would be no color problems likely, only the increased detail.

That's of course assuming the images would align well enough.

The "simple" regrade would always be very welcome by me, spoRv. If you want, you could just do the video encode for that one and I'd mux it with audio myself and do a small release while the UAR would be your "real" project.

[spoRv]

Well, I did this (overlay the luma with higher detail to the chroma with lower detail), but in this case it will be a "punch in the eye" - got the point? (ouch!)

Regrade: here you are! http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125866

I think it's quite nice, and you can note that it reveal some details that were lost in the highlights or in the dark...
(edit: in some shots there are a lot of megablocks due to contrast increase... dunno it this could be fixed... if not, those shots could be "fixed" using BD luma, but in this case the whole project would be compromised!)

Muxing tracks will not be a problem; still, I'm pretty sure that the moment it will be released, someone will come out with "hey, I got the English track, why you haven't added?"

[deleted user]

Ah I see. But I actually meant keeping the luma of the DVD too, and merely adding the high frequency luma from the BD via highpass & softlight, if you know what I mean. But to be fair, I tried this once and it didn't look good, so there's that.

Regrade looks great, we should do this. As for English track, even PTP doesn't have it and they are one of the biggest film trackers and always prefer English. I really doubt it exists.

Megablocks could fix with some grain plate applied in the shadows or wherever it occurs?

[spoRv]

OK, leave out English track (unless "we" would want to do one... it will be great to create a fanmade audio track!)

Macroblocks: dunno if it's possible to completely erase these kind:


Note that they are present in the BD as well, only hidden by the blownout white:

[CSchmidlapp]

Ive never come across an english dub since its release.
It was released in the U.K with subtitles only both in the Theatre and VHS.

The only place I have not checked that might is Australia.

[deleted user]

OK, leave out English track (unless "we" would want to do one... it will be great to create a fanmade audio track!)

Macroblocks: dunno if it's possible to completely erase these kind:


Note that they are present in the BD as well, only hidden by the blownout white:

I don't know how consistent this is across the movie, but these ones I could easily fix by using a Levels command in Photoshop on the source. The equivalent command for Avisynth should be: Levels(0,1.0,253,0,253). Image looks identical (because only the two top values are lost), but the blocking is gone. If that wasn't enough, you could go further down, like 250. Of course this could be done scene-by-scene but I think the 253 value would be safe enough to use either way.

P.S. Is this the Japanese disc? If not, should try again on that one because it has a higher bitrate and thus maybe less of that blockiness.

[spoRv]

The levels should be set to (0,1,235,0,255) to wipe out those nasty blocks (BD is not the Japanese one, though, who knows if it's less blocky...), but using that setting alone will ruin the overall contrast.

So, I've tried a nice compromise (using BD luma highlights) AND fixed a wrong setting I put in the avisynth script... result: now it is GREAT (IMHO of course), much closer to the DVD DE taken as color reference; also added a fine grain plate, just to be sure...

BD vs new regrade: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125876
DVD DE vs new regrade: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125877
old vs new regrade: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/125878

@CSchmidlapp: I have not much hopes to find out an English track in Australia; still, would like to wait a bit, maybe it will be found (IF an English track actually exists, though!)