It's definitely an improvement. It's tough to tell exactly with the difference in white level, but there seems to be a more detail and less noise.

I wonder if the 5 capture average would eliminate the shot change problem.

BTW, I can tell you that the 2000 Japanese SE is nothing special, really. It looks no better or worse than the 97 Japanese edition, or the US version. However, the US version is missing frames at a few places. The two Japanese versions match the frames from the TB and G'Kar sets.

It would be nice to see a capture of the Episode II preview though :)