Anime DVD reviewers - setup

[godofchaos]

'shakes fist menacingly'

damn you 5.1 requirement and my tiny room without 5.1 audio

[Martinman]

'shakes fist menacingly'

damn you 5.1 requirement and my tiny room without 5.1 audio

That is my problem, along with my 21 inch widescreen. That's too bad, I really enjoy reviewing things.

[godofchaos]

That is my problem, along with my 21 inch widescreen. That's too bad, I really enjoy reviewing things.

Yeah, I'm video/audio whore and fit the requirements in every way, minus the fact that just because of the shape of my room (it's not that my room is actually tiny, it just appears that way because of the shape...and all the DVD shelves) it isn't inherently easy to setup a 5.1 system... bah. Coulda been a good job, cause I do that anyways lol

[GeorgeC]

This is one of those things I don't understand about Anime on DVD!

Hasn't it become clear to you by now -- over 10 years later!!!! --, Chris, that MOST of the fans that come to this site don't have the cash to own a 5.1 sound system and that most people are perfectly happy without 5.1, let alone 7.1 and HDTV?

Granted, I'd love to have the 7.1 sound system AND the 60" HDTV but even for most of us over 30 that's not practical and frankly not our first priority.

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications, you're not going to a get a lot of people who could do decent reviews for you... Even with a 27" standard-def tube set and plain stereo you can still tell whether a DVD has been mastered well or not. It's not going to have all the nuances and reverb people go ape over, but still...! I don't know what's up with your obsession on hard tech that's frankly overkill for many home video titles.

This is a niche genre for crying out loud! There are nowhere near as many anime fans as there are action-adventure films or general (American) animation fans. I think your technical standards are frankly unrealistic.

Maybe in 5 years if most of the fans here are still into anime and have well-paying jobs the tech side would matter, but for the most part anime fans are generally still kids under 21 and they don't have the disposable income to own the hardware systems you demand reviewers have and frankly their parents aren't going to buy them unless their dads see a point in it, too.

[jlazar]

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications, you're not going to a get a lot of people who could do decent reviews for you...

The problem is, if you don't have at least that setup, problems with discs may not be noticeable.

I'm sure all the companies would love reviews being done on 13" mono tvs with composite connections. Even shitty discs will look fine.


but for the most part anime fans are generally still kids under 21


Maybe (big maybe), but this site tends to attract older anime fans. The ones who care about the video and audio quality.

Plus Chris also said they had to be 20 years old or older.

[Mark T.]

This is one of those things I don't understand about Anime on DVD!

Hasn't it become clear to you by now -- over 10 years later!!!! --, Chris, that MOST of the fans that come to this site don't have the cash to own a 5.1 sound system and that most people are perfectly happy without 5.1, let alone 7.1 and HDTV?

Granted, I'd love to have the 7.1 sound system AND the 60" HDTV but even for most of us over 30 that's not practical and frankly not our first priority.

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications, you're not going to a get a lot of people who could do decent reviews for you... Even with a 27" standard-def tube set and plain stereo you can still tell whether a DVD has been mastered well or not. It's not going to have all the nuances and reverb people go ape over, but still...! I don't know what's up with your obsession on hard tech that's frankly overkill for many home video titles.

This is a niche genre for crying out loud! There are nowhere near as many anime fans as there are action-adventure films or general (American) animation fans. I think your technical standards are frankly unrealistic.

Maybe in 5 years if most of the fans here are still into anime and have well-paying jobs the tech side would matter, but for the most part anime fans are generally still kids under 21 and they don't have the disposable income to own the hardware systems you demand reviewers have and frankly their parents aren't going to buy them unless their dads see a point in it, too.

While I don't disagree with anything that you said, there are still people out there that do have this setup, and we try to be as thorough as possible. How well the audio and video are encoded may not matter do somebody with an SDTV with no sound system, but any flaws become readily apparent when viewed with more high tech equipement.

So while you are right that there are plenty of people who don't have these setups but still watch anime, if we reviewed with lesser setups and said that everything looks/sounds nice, then we would be doing a disservice to those that do. In my own experience, I've had a couple instances where I found nothing wrong with the video of a title, only to have somebody with an upconverting DVD/BluRay player mention that there are actually issues. And not to be contrary, but I have a 27" SDTV in my office, and I notice a significant difference between that and the 37" HDTV that I review on with a number of titles.

So the long and the short of it is that while Chris is not trying to be exclusionary, we want to get it as right as much as we possibly can.

EDIT: Heh, jlazar beat me to it, and in fewer words too!

[The Great Bear]

I'm sure all the companies would love reviews being done on 13" mono tvs with composite connections. Even shitty discs will look fine.

They would, wouldn't they?

Even though I don't have a high end setup, I can see the need for it in order to do a proper video review. While I personally am not as much a videophile as some around here are, I appreciate that there are people who place a great deal of value on it, and they look to the reviews not just for content, but also for a close inspection of the video quality.

One day I might have such a setup. If that day comes, then I'll be curious to know which discs look great on a big widescreen TV, and which don't.

[godofchaos]

See, I do understand it.

I'd prefer they be a bit less stringent, but it does make sense for reviews to be done on (while not the best equipment, since that would require ludicrous equipment that by all rights no reviewer could afford) reasonable equipment, and I do understand the 5.1 requirement.

Would be nice if it was 2.0, but eh, not much I can do about it until the requirement changes.

[Fudce]

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications, you're not going to a get a lot of people who could do decent reviews for you...

The problem is, if you don't have at least that setup, problems with discs may not be noticeable.

I'm sure all the companies would love reviews being done on 13" mono tvs with composite connections. Even shitty discs will look fine.

That's exactly right. Anime on DVD reviews aren't just reviewing the anime. They're also reviewing the DVD, thus the name of the site. It's a site about Anime on DVD, not just about anime. In order to most adequately review anime on DVD, you need to tools to watch that anime DVD in the best possible light.

[Galexia]

This is one of those things I don't understand about Anime on DVD!

Hasn't it become clear to you by now -- over 10 years later!!!! --, Chris, that MOST of the fans that come to this site don't have the cash to own a 5.1 sound system and that most people are perfectly happy without 5.1, let alone 7.1 and HDTV?

Granted, I'd love to have the 7.1 sound system AND the 60" HDTV but even for most of us over 30 that's not practical and frankly not our first priority.

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications, you're not going to a get a lot of people who could do decent reviews for you... Even with a 27" standard-def tube set and plain stereo you can still tell whether a DVD has been mastered well or not. It's not going to have all the nuances and reverb people go ape over, but still...! I don't know what's up with your obsession on hard tech that's frankly overkill for many home video titles.

This is a niche genre for crying out loud! There are nowhere near as many anime fans as there are action-adventure films or general (American) animation fans. I think your technical standards are frankly unrealistic.

Maybe in 5 years if most of the fans here are still into anime and have well-paying jobs the tech side would matter, but for the most part anime fans are generally still kids under 21 and they don't have the disposable income to own the hardware systems you demand reviewers have and frankly their parents aren't going to buy them unless their dads see a point in it, too.
I do understand what you are saying. Still, everything looks and sounds great on my old 19" tv. However, there are glaringly noticeable defects when you upconvert or display on a large screen. Slight jutter that isn't really noticeable is very difficult to ignore on a large screen. My husband loves technology and I do as well. Even when I still lived at home, our family TV was larger than 21 inches. We also had a decent audio set up with a Sony receiver and Bose speakers. The income level we were at was that of the typical Middle-class family.

Chris has mentioned in the past that he looks for people over the age of 21 because he doesn't want to interfere with school work. Maybe I grew up in a community that was upper middle class or just had friends who loved having decent set ups, but I'm pretty sure most of them had larger screen tvs (27" or above) by the time they were out of College for a few years. The audio systems weren't as common though. Also, you have to understand that Anime on dvd has been around for several years. Part of their core base are those who are older than 21. Some of them are professionals and some are probably AV nuts. How would they feel if they were told XYZ looks awesome (on a 19" screen) and then they were to find out that XYZ has tons of rainbowing and panning issues easily seen on larger screens. We want to review these titles to the best of our abilities and let people rest easy. They should feel confident that if it gets good video-quality reviews that it will look good on their set ups too. Nothing sucks more than getting a title you heard was pretty good and then being too distracted by the cruddy conversion to even pay attention to the story. Before you even mention that video quality can't deter from a viewing experience, have you ever tried to watch an nth gen tape? Granted, it probably wouldn't come close to that, but it still is enough to give you an idea of what it would be like to watch a bad quality video.

[Glamrgrl104]

I am happy with my 21 inch and my laptop thank you. I would love to see what anime looks like on those 60 in screens though lol My uncle has one and we watched Chain Reaction in Hd the only difference between that and regular t.v is that the picture is sharper at least that what I think. As for color and audio problems I wouldn't know where to look. I have been happy with all the dvds I have bought and not one at least to me has any problems with it. Although I guess you need a mega good sound system to pick up that also a widescreen t.v. Anyways good luck with your search for reviewers.

[Sensuifu]

Although I guess you need a mega good sound system to pick up that also a widescreen t.v. Anyways good luck with your search for reviewers.

There aren't as many 5.1 audio tracks in anime compared to stereo, and 2ch remains a primary mode for most listeners (either TV or stereo/matrixed surround). A lot of the anime that claim to have 5.1 tracks (besides movies) tend to be mostly matrixed stereo surround. In other words they're pseduo 5.1 and only flagged with discrete channels where the surrounds are derived from stereo. It's rare to find a TV series that's originally mastered with discrete surround tracks. They're too time-consuming to create/master correctly, which costs money. You also don't need to have an expensive, uber audio setup to catch errors (as exampled in the mono threads/glitch forum).

As for HDTV, the poll in the hardware forum might give you a rough idea of the displays AoD forum readers use. Granted it's a small sample, but it shows that not everyone has moved to HDTV yet, or even if they have, it might not be their primary choice for viewing their anime. Assessing the video quality and rating it a certain grade can be biased since not all HDTVs perform equally (nor do DVD players for that matter). What glitches/artifacts one reviewer will catch on one setup, may not be reproduced on a different one.

I'm not saying it's useless to use quality hardware, but there probably should be a reference from which most anime can be compared to as "what is vs what should be". In addition to the technical review of the video, you're also relying on the reviewer's subjectivity and ability to pick up certain details. Ask an a/vphile to honestly rate the audio/video content, and you may see a huge disparity between the technical merits vs content.
It might look silly seeing a show where its content is rated A+, yet the video or audio gets a C, D, or even F. Whether or not that encourages someone to buy/watch it depends whether the A/V is critically important to them. I think for a good number, it isn't. Personally, for me it is and I'm thankful there are reviews where I'm informed of some a/v issues that might affect my enjoyment of the show. But not a lot of people are that critical either.

[Legion]

Until you relax those DVD review qualifications (snip)

Actually, I think the qualifications have been laxed a bit. IIRC there was another time when Chris was looking to fill reviewer positions and I think the qualifications required a bigger screen, maybe even 50". Anyway, basically it's like this; if someone with a 32+" widescreen set reviews a DVD and says it's well-produced, people will know it will look good on widescreen sets and SDTV's. If someone with an SDTV reviews a disc and says it looks good, maybe it will look good on other standard sets but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll look good on a widescreen set.

EDIT: Nevermind, missed the part that says you don't need to live in the U.S.

[kakugo]

I'd love to review stuff for 'ya Chris, but I'm afraid I'm still using my 20" LCD screen and on-board sound with a pair of cheap earbuds.

Odds are I'd still rip most transfers to pieces... ;)

[Sensuifu]

I'd love to review stuff for 'ya Chris, but I'm afraid I'm still using my 20" LCD screen and on-board sound with a pair of cheap earbuds.

Odds are I'd still rip most transfers to pieces... ;)

perhaps an exception for kakugo can be arranged.

[Vicserr]

I do own a 5.1 sound system but my main set up is a 27" SD standard CRT:

1-Even if the USPS work here, unless it is First Class or expedited shipping, things take a long time to get here.
2-I don't have the eye/ear to pick up the small imperfection that might pop up.
and
3-I barely have time to watch my own stuff. :P

[stfram]

I do own a 5.1 sound system but my main set up is a 27" SD standard CRT...


He should choose you anyway, then we can enjoy your reviews of everything BUT mecha shows. :devil:

"And here we have a review of Clannad, by Vicserr..."

[Vicserr]

I do own a 5.1 sound system but my main set up is a 27" SD standard CRT...


He should choose you anyway, then we can enjoy your reviews of everything BUT mecha shows. :devil:

"And here we have a review of Clannad, by Vicserr..."
That would be an interesting experiece, and after I turn in my review I would broadcast thru the interwebs my seppuku ceremony, done with a finely sharpened spork... ;) :P

[Skywise]

Guys - this comes up every time Chris posts about wanting reviewers, and it's counterproductive. If you don't meet the setup requirements, please don't post - they won't change. If you really feel that strongly about writing reviews, you can always try a different site, or just post them in threads in the forums or a blog post.