So, after checking around, I have come to the conclusion that most if not all US BD releases are likely to have a mismatching gamma compared to the original JP BD release.
What this means is that you should apply the following avisynth code to attempt to restore the correct gamma values, when dealing with such a source:
- Code: Select all
levels(0,0.88,255,0,255)
This way you will invert the error and get to the correct colors.
If you want a higher quality result, you can use LaTo's SmoothLevels, part of SmoothAdjust, instead:
- Code: Select all
smoothlevels(gamma=0.88)
Here follows a list, in alphabetical order, of certainly wrong releases, with a luma that requires correcting:
- Cowboy Bebop (UK release by Avatar Limited)
- Full Metal Alchemist: Brootherhoods (by Funimation Entertainment)
- K-On! Season 2 (by Sentai Filmworks)
- Serial Experiments Lain (by Funimation Entertainment)
- Shakugan no Shana III: Final (by Funimation Entertainment)
- Towa no Quon (by Sentai Filmworks)
This list is by no means extensive, as further comparisons need to be done between US and JP releases to be certain, however the releases we have checked so far are from different editors and have very different release dates, which suggests this is a common practice.
So far all known compared sources do present the difference, so I currently would suggest to correct if in doubt?
If any source which is identical to the JP release is found, it will be added to a whitelist here, but currently no compared source was matching (not that I know of)?
If you can contribute to further test and expand, it would be helpful!
Spoiler :


