You most assuredly have, it's fun knowing someone is looking forward to the results!
So before the next set of comparisons, I need to point out that
three of the encodes that I've been looking at are most likely the same file!
It's only struck me just now that I've been seeing that filesize 2.95gb pop up a few times.
Sara 1997 [1080p.WEB-DL.H264.AC3.5.1-NoNaNo-NitroTeam] [Film Polski].mkv
Sara 1997 (1080p) PL.mkv (originally in a rar arhcive - from uloz link)
Sara PL (akční,romant.drama,1997) HD 78%.mkv (also a uloz link)
All are listed as having 3,178,260,707 bytes, and "size on disk" is 3,178,262,528 bytes except for the last one in the list above, which is "size on disk" 3,178,299,392 bytes. And all three have the same audio track title "AC3 5.1 >>>nitro.to<<< - [Polish]". And I can't notice any visible image quality differences.
That does help narrow things down a bit.
.....
Next up is the first uloz link, the file titled "Sara.1997.1080p.AIDenoise.x265.AC3.PL.Sub.EN.mkv" at 2.09gb. Note, it is an x265 encode.
[Image] [Image]
[Image] [Image]
Like the 9gb file, this one does well overall and looks good in motion. It highlights some details nicely, but then also smudges some other fine details. It also seems hazy sometimes. So I can say it does smooth some things over a bit, but de-noising was its goal. It is just as or nearly as good as the 9gb file, and the 9gb file does not seem 7gb better.
.....
I encourage anyone interested to check out goku's link. You do not have to download the 465mb file, as gofile.io seems to allow you to stream it without issue.
Here are the screenshots:
[Image] [Image]
[Image] [Image]
The 12gb file does seem better. It is noticeably smooth, and does almost achieve that "modeled" look in some parts, but at the same time doesn't seem to be smoothing things out too much or smudging much at all. Still, there are some very
clean looking faces that should seem clean, but that could be makeups.
That about wraps it up. I'll compile all options again and examine and contrast, and ponder.