Animated Films on Blu Ray

[Neo991lb]

After reading the Justice League review and checking out some screens of the show, it got me to thinking: just how much does the new HD format benefit the look of newer animated features?

I recognize that for older movies especially, a remastering of the original source is usually quite beneficial and restores the firm to its original (or even better) presentation. However, I just can't wrap my mind around something as simple looking as Saturday morning cartoons benefiting from being in 1080p, especially new ones that are already bright and vibrant. I mean.. there's no intricate textures or anything, it just seems like a black border with a color or two filling it. Wouldn't an upconversion look just as good since it's so simple?? Please explain...

Besides the obvious "go check them out for yourself and see what's up," my setup doesn't allow for HD at the moment (check my sig and you'll see what I mean) and so I mainly come to these forums for information. As I said, I read the review on the Season 1 set of Justice League and couldn't think of any benefit it would have from being in "TrueHD".

[Seihaku]

There is a very noticeable boost in clarity and color. Digitally animated shows/movies are done so at a high resolution (not sure of the exact) and hand drawn shows/movies are scanned in at a high resolution. Both substantially above 480i/p that standard DVD offers.

You get sharper lines, better overall clarity, the colors are far more vibrant, and that isn't to mention the improved sound. It just makes for a fuller, richer experience.

As for specifically Saturday Morning cartoon-style, you still get improved clarity, the lines and colors come across much better and add a sense of dimension to the picture.

[high_rollin]

In my experience... there's usually more detail than you think in cartoons. Even Saturday morning cartoons. I've never seen Justice League, so I don't really know for sure what the visual style is, but a lot of cartoons do use texturing and whatnot. Cartoons aren't handpainted anymore... almost everything is done with computers aside from the drawings themselves.
In modern cartoons, I find that usually the ground is textured to some degree. And even solid colored sections can have gradients and whatnot... stuff that standard definition tends to murk up a bit, but would come through clear as day in HD.

And then there's the fact that Blu-Ray equals better compression, so there's fewer, if any, compression artifacts to be seen. Assuming the transfer is done well.

And like Seihaku said, the lines will have better sharpness and more well-defined edges, as well as enhanced dimensionality.

Basically... yes. Cartoons do benefit from high def.

[Sporadic]

Here's some 1080p screenshots from the French HD-DVD of Les Triplettes De Belleville



Yes, animation benefits from high def.

[Squozen]

Jesus Christ! Now I want that film on Blu even more.

An aside - when my girlfriend and I were watching it the first time on DVD, for some reason the English subtitles weren't working on my old DVD player, and it didn't make any difference. I actually recommend watching this film in French without any subtitles at all, it becomes even more surreal.