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It is believed that anime is made at resolutions below 1080p.

  1. most anime are [made in 720p].

  2. Very few anime series are produced in native 1080p.

Yet if anime is sold on Blu-Ray, it is (usually) in a 1080p format. One can assume that it is upscaled from its original mastering resolution, or perhaps even a lower resolution than the master. (Ex. mastered at 900p, resized to 720p for distribution to TV networks, then those 720p versions are upscaled to 1080p for the Blu-Ray.)

How can one tell that the video has been upscaled? Is it something only a human can do, or could a computer be made to follow an algorithm and determine whether or not an image has been upscaled?

This problem comes up in video games as well, with groups like Eurogamer's Digital Foundry explaining the original resolution of certain material.

Does the process vary depending on the source?

  • Film that was scanned into a digital format
  • Digital-only live-action
  • Digital-only animation
  • Video games
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  • What are you trying to accomplish by determining the resolution at which the anime was created? Are you only interested in anime that was created digitally? If it was traditional hand-drawn animation, then what does that mean for your question?
    – user1118321
    Commented Apr 17, 2015 at 2:48
  • I don't think that what you ask is possible. Just by looking at an image nobody can say if it was upscaled from another souce or if the original export was like this.
    – kazanaki
    Commented Jun 15, 2015 at 8:50

1 Answer 1

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Here is an interesting article that goes into detail on how to recognize an upscale, specifically for anime: https://ultimatemegax.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/photography-and-resolution-of-anime/

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    Please just don't link articles. It's better to quote parts that are relevant to answer the question or provide a summary of the article in your own words and include the link as a reference. Keep in mind that the link may stop working in the future, so your own text should contain all necessary information to answer the question.
    – Matt
    Commented Jun 6, 2021 at 9:36
  • The relevant section is the entire article. That would just be stealing the pages content.
    – Master117
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 14:49

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