> Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 4:35 PM
> Why the hell is the R2 release always
> so much better looking than the R1 releases?

I'm not certain what is being used as "masters" in a lot of today's transfer of video,
but it has a lot to do with filters, bitrate, and up/downscaling.
It also has a very large amount to do with how much care and expertise is put into
it.
Typically, a Japanese release has 2-3 episodes per layer.  With 2, they can use PCM
(uncompressed stereo) or 5.1 multichannel sound, and still get about 1.25-1.5GB per
ep.  However, here in the states, until recently, I've noticed 1.25GB seems to be

the "max" mark. 
The encoding tools matter as well.  If you have crappy tools, or you don't know how
to use them it fucks things up... and if you're going from optical to digital (film
to computer), the mechanism used needs to be perfectly setup.
ADV used to stick SIX previews of 1-3 minutes each on every release... imagine how
much better the episodes would be, if there were quickie 15-30 second adverts for
only two shows, and the rest of the space was used for the actual episode or no ads
at
all on the disc, but only in inserts! 

I equate the US companies vs. Japanese companies, similar to a lot of work in the
fansub encoding groups... a lot of groups overuse unneeded filters, and output material
in pointless formats that have no QC follow-through and no real firm "standard"
(mkv), and end up with HD files over 500MB... and then there's the groups that get
it right, use universal formats, and can keep their files pristine at 250-300MB for
the exact same thing.

LAZINESS IS A PRIME REASON FOR BAD ENCODES AND POOR IMAGING!
Know-it-all'ism tends to work against the fansub community, as well.