[cinemeccanica]

Here follows a comparison between the France WMV-HD DVD-Rom by TF1 video and the most recent Japanese Blu-ray edition by SONY AVC encoded:


I'm pretty sure they come from the same master:


WMV-HD





BD




In the following couple rocks on street and Amelie's clothes are useful to point differences out:


WMV-HD




BD




WMV-HD




BD




WMV-HD




BD




The following set is the best one to show compression artifacts; even if having a lower resolution could help WMV-HD encoder the compression rate of WMV-HD edition is too high, macroblocks appear in the difficult fish scene with moving water, while BD is perfect


(don't forget it's a Japanese edition and Japanese editions are done with the best care!!!) A Canadian BD edition of Amelie does exist but it's 1080i only



WMV-HD




BD





It also seems Japanese edition has an higher detail and sharpness , maybe it takes advantage of the higher resolution? If you look at the top left Amelie's shoulder in the frame where she's taking a photo, you'll see the wool on her clothes is sharper in BD than in WMV-HD

 

[zinfamous]

I've been waiting for a US release of Amelie

Is the Japanese version region free?

 

[Dan Average]

It doesn't matter if you're in the U.S., since Japan is also Region A.

 

[lgans316]

But the Japanese release doesn't feature English subtitles. So purchase with care.

 

[cinemeccanica]

Yes, the japanese version I bought is region free but no english subtitles.

 

[cinemeccanica]

Update: I took new screenshots using MPC-HC and saved as PNG, now I relaced old links with new screenshots, the difference is more evident without JPG compression

 

[AmishFury]

that last shot with the fish... i can still see some minor blocking in the bluray shot but holy crap that wmv-hd shot is horrible

 

[homerx]

I've got the canadain version which seems very rushed. no extras, mo subs, it looks alright but may be 1080i.


the screen shots look good. but the price is a bit high to import atleast via yesasia

 

[ChuckZ]

The Sony encoded Blu-ray looks magnificent. The WMV-HD version is soft in places (due to an older, less refined WMV9 codec).

 

[cinemeccanica]

WMV-HD has also lower default resolution: 1440x1080P vs 1920x1080p of Blu-ray

 

[Connavar]

Wow the BD is a lot better in every screenshot, shaper, much more detailed, better dark areas, macroblock free, some black crushing though, probably worth a 4.5/5

 

[16x9enhanced]

why the Japanese title doesn't have English subs is somewhat of a mystery seeing as how in general most feature length films have had them.

really blows as this version is clearly superior to the Canadian bs release.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

No word yet on a U.S. release of this excellent film?

 

[Dan Average]



Quote:
Originally Posted by 16x9enhanced /forum/post/15537267


why the Japanese title doesn't have English subs is somewhat of a mystery seeing as how in general most feature length films have had them.

If you look at which Japanese BDs (and DVDs, for that matter) carry English subs, nearly all of them are English- or Japanese-language films. Japanese DVDs in other languages (French, Chinese, German, etc.) are rarely English-subbed, and this is true for Japanese BDs as well -- Taxi 3, Taxi 4, Michel Vaillant, Banlieue 13, Azur et Asmar, Cinema Paradiso, Lust, Caution, Curse of the Golden Flower and The Lives of Others are all out on Blu in Japan, and none of them have English subs. (Also note that the Japanese DVD of Amélie wasn't English-subbed either.)

 

[16x9enhanced]

yeah I guess you're right about that.

I was thinking more had English subs, but maybe not as many as I originally thought.

 

[Kannisto]

At least Sony has a tendency to release their Japan specific BD releases with original audio, Japanese audio and subs in Japanese and the original language, but no other language options. That means that French movies they release are most usually not coming with English subs etc. Most of the discs mentioned in this thread are Sony releases.

 

[Mermaid Man]

Does the Japanese BD at least have french subs?

Got conflicting statements about that fact...

 

[Greg_R_STL]

Damn, this would have been an instant buy for me with English subs, region's a non-issue.


I know this movie had a very stylized look. The screenshots seem very red to me, is that accurate to the film?

 

[thebland]

A favorite of mine, too. No English subs, no buy (though my wife is fluent in French as she lived there). It is one of her all time favorites as well.

 

[Kannisto]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Man /forum/post/17193262


Does the Japanese BD at least have french subs?

Got conflicting statements about that fact...

Yes it does have French subs (as well as French audio). I made a thread about it in HDD forum when it was new, including BD info scan and pics of the case.

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/blu-...pressions.html