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Old 2012-06-21, 01:31   Link #1
Urzu 7
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Anime - 720p vs. 1080p

Is it worth downloading anime that is at 1080p, or is 720p almost as good but with significantly lower file sizes? I hear there isn't much of a difference between anime in 1080p and anime in 720p (as opposed to video games and live action material). Is this true?
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Old 2012-06-21, 01:42   Link #2
MeoTwister5
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Sometimes I think it's more of a personal choice. I personally don't see a big enough difference in personal entertainment between 1080 and 720 so 720 is fine with me.
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Old 2012-06-21, 01:48   Link #3
Obelisk ze Tormentor
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I’ve heard on some articles that you can only clearly see the difference between 720p & 1080p if you play it on >100-inch screen or something close that size. That may be true as I’ve never noticed the difference with my average-sized LCD TV (or I’m just being lazy ).

As for live action movies, most of the 720p rips out there are the heavily reduced versions, so you can notice the quality difference with the 1080p even with just your average PC or Notebook screen.
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Old 2012-06-21, 01:53   Link #4
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I've been going for lower file sizes, as I allotted myself not that much space to work with. Well, I took advantage of a 2 TB deal for about $110. So, suddenly, I have a bit of extra space now.

Even so. I don't see myself going for any 1080p files. It really doesn't matter to me.
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Old 2012-06-21, 01:56   Link #5
MeoTwister5
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Well naturally you'd see a big difference between a 720 and 1080 in a big screen TV. If you really don't want ti see the pixels in a large screen TV if you want to watch it there, 1080 is obviously better. In smaller screens like a laptop or desk monitor the difference may be completely negligible.
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Old 2012-06-21, 02:04   Link #6
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A lot of anime productions aren't even drawn at 720p, but at a sub-HD (but more than SD) resolution and upscaled (CG and backgrounds may or may not be rendered at a higher resolution). So in that sense there may not be that much difference between 720p and 1080p (beyond whatever artifacts are introduced in the encode, which should be minimal). However, if you're going to be watching the production on a 1080p display full-screen, I suppose there's some consideration about whether the upscaling that would happen in your player is better or worse than whatever was done to the source. If you're talking about something that comes from a TV source, then the answer to that is hugely variable, as different broadcast stations do various things to the video.

At the end of the day, I've seen very few TV anime where there is actually more than 720p of detail in the art and animation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MeoTwister5 View Post
Well naturally you'd see a big difference between a 720 and 1080 in a big screen TV. If you really don't want ti see the pixels in a large screen TV if you want to watch it there, 1080 is obviously better. In smaller screens like a laptop or desk monitor the difference may be completely negligible.
Well, most (decent-brand) large screen TVs have pretty good upscalers, so you shouldn't see a whole lot of pixels if upscaling for 720p... but it won't help that the art wasn't drawn to be blown up that big in the first place. You can't create detail that isn't there.
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Old 2012-06-21, 02:23   Link #7
Obelisk ze Tormentor
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If I may add (in case you don’t know yet ), if there’s an option, make sure you choose the 720p from the Blu-ray version, NOT the Broadcast version. The 720p transfer from the Broadcast subs are often faulty and don’t look that good when you play them with your LCD TV, especially when the image goes dark (like many scenes in Zetman for example).
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Old 2012-06-21, 03:02   Link #8
mystogan
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i watch many animes after downloading them, 720p is nice quality and small size, 1080 will definately be better but the size is large and we are not talking about a single movie download, it takes too much time in downloading the whole series and there are so many to download,
so 720p is a proper choice for me, and it's not like i watch anime on an extra large screen, i watch anime on a desktop or a laptop for which 720p fives almost equally good quality, so i'll go for 720p
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Old 2012-06-21, 03:55   Link #9
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If you have a huge-ass TV, then 1080 would be the better choice of course. But if you're using a smaller TV, or a laptop monitor, I doubt 720 and 1080 would make much of a difference. 720 would then be the more practical download.
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Old 2012-06-21, 04:08   Link #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Urzu 7 View Post
Is it worth downloading anime that is at 1080p, or is 720p almost as good but with significantly lower file sizes? I hear there isn't much of a difference between anime in 1080p and anime in 720p (as opposed to video games and live action material). Is this true?
I recently watched one episode of Saki Achiga-hen in 1080p, and then the episode after it in 720p. I noticed a slight difference, but nothing worth significantly larger file sizes or download times, imo.

Mind you, I did watch it on a fairly standard computer monitor.
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Old 2012-06-21, 05:01   Link #11
j0x
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another debate about resolution, i hope that Fractal Video Compression can become mainstream already so that we will not see this confusion and argument anymore

Fractal Video Compression is resolution independent so one video for all resolution you want!!! and i heard or read from somewhere that fractal compression patents will expire this 2012 so hopefully some geniuses can come up with a practical Fractal Video Codec sooner or later

but personally ill go for 720p since i only watch anime on lower resolution display screen
but if you got a giant display screen then obviously you want more higher resolution like 1080p
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Old 2012-06-21, 06:59   Link #12
SeijiSensei
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One easy way to decide for yourself is to compare the 720p and 1080p at Crunchyroll. (You may need to subscribe to get these resolutions, but you can sign up for a fourteen-day free trial and see for yourself.)

I watch everything on a 40" Sony Bravia. From across the room I can't discern much improvement. I've watched fansubs at both resolutions as well, so it's not just a streaming issue. I can see a difference between 720p and a anamorphic DVD viewed at 853x480 though.

I run my computer at 720p (otherwise I can't read texts from across the room), so I have to kick up the resolution if I want to watch in real 1080p. After experimentation I found it's not worth the effort.

As relentlessflame says, the original material often wasn't shot in 1080p to begin with so shows at that resolution are upscales anyway. What I find especially hilarious are people who buy Blu-ray versions of older anime shot for SD resolutions. A BR re-release of a movie might be worth it, since 35mm film has higher "resolution" than 1080p, but I can't imagine the Blu-ray version of something like Chobits is worth it when compared to the DVD version. Even a show like Moribito didn't seem to get much benefit from a Blu-ray release compared to the anamorphic DVDs. In anything, the conversion seemed to introduce artifacts.

There's a lot of discussion of picture quality on anime Blu-rays and DVDs over at Mania.

Last edited by SeijiSensei; 2012-06-21 at 07:09.
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Old 2012-06-21, 07:43   Link #13
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Pretty sure CR's '' 1080p '' is just an upscale so I don't see how that can be used as an reference. Anime doesn't air in TV in 1080p so how could CR have a resolution of an anime that doesn't exist?

As for me .. weekly anime I get in 720p. As explained above, 1080p makes no difference.. it's just an upscale. If I'm downloading an series I haven't yet seen or otherwise getting something for collection purposes and it is available, I always go for 1080p. I can clearly see the difference between 720p and 1080p blu-ray rip and I'd rather take the superior, of course.
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Old 2012-06-21, 08:00   Link #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
In anything, the conversion seemed to introduce artifacts.
I recall the early days of DVD and the complaints that many older movies were being transferred over with terrible encoding that offered either no improvement or even worse video than the original release. In a lot of cases it was because the company releasing the movie on DVD didn't want to go back to the source and do the job properly.

Obviously older stuff has limitations like not being shot in true widescreen and deteriorating source material (if anyone kept up with Star Wars remasters this might sound familiar), but there are good remasters out there that take advantage of the higher quality afforded to the DVD/HD formats.

Still, 720p versus 1080p isn't really noticeable unless you have a very large screen (40-ish is the bare minimum usually). There won't be any difference in color, and a subtle but negligible difference in tiny details. Why get 1080? You use a computer, you like to brag, you're a sucker for marketing, or you're a videophile who can't stand not having "the best".

This is assuming that the encoders were good and used the best source possible. No matter how good your screen is, it won't fix bad video.
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Old 2012-06-21, 08:06   Link #15
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The biggest problem with Crunchyroll's 1080p is that it doesn't really work. I've got an I5 2500k processor and a 20mbps internet connection, and playback still isn't very good. As a result, I only use their 720p streams.

As for fansubs, I've got a 2TB hard drive and a 20mbps internet connection... Even if the difference is slight, I'm going for the 1080p. Unless, it's something crazy like that 25GB Coalgirls encode of one of the Garden of Sinners movies.
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Old 2012-06-21, 08:09   Link #16
SeijiSensei
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dist View Post
I can clearly see the difference between 720p and 1080p blu-ray rip and I'd rather take the superior, of course.
Across a room when watching on a TV, or sitting in front of a computer monitor? For room viewing at normal distances, most every study suggests even people with excellent vision cannot really discern differences between 720p and 1080p content on reasonably-sized HDTVs. At a distance of, say three meters or 10 feet, you need a display that has a diagonal length of at least two meters, or 65", and some recommendations suggest a screen size in the neighborhood of 90" is preferable. Most people cannot afford televisions this size nor have the space in their viewing rooms to accommodate them. Here's a "mere" 60" Samsung model; it costs over $3,000 at Amazon. A little browsing at the high end of the price range includes displays that cost well over $10,000. This 80" Sharp looks like a bargain at "only" $5,000.

Last edited by SeijiSensei; 2012-06-21 at 08:21.
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Old 2012-06-21, 08:23   Link #17
Revan21
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I've read somewhere that most anime series are made in 720p and 1080p is just an upscale, so 720p is fine for me.
For full length anime movies and OVAs I usually download the 1080p though
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Old 2012-06-21, 11:24   Link #18
Flower
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I find myself pretty satisfied with 720p atm, but there are a few (very rare) series that I will want to watch in 1080p....
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Old 2012-06-21, 12:02   Link #19
ninryu
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I prefer higher quality, but because of the half-baked nature of my computer I usually download 720p. That's when the the file isn't deleted or corrupted and I have to stream.
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Old 2012-06-21, 12:07   Link #20
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I download animes around 54-60mbs per episode (around 640pxl). When the website changed to 75mb I started to get a converter to shrink them back to 60mb... I'm not particular to quality... I wanted to save space for my netbook...

If you're after high quality, then go to the higher pixels...
If you prefer saving space, go to the lower pixels...

Last edited by NoemiChan; 2012-06-21 at 12:19.
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