Harry Potter and the Jump to UHD (also Disney?)

The Harry Potter series has seen numerous re-releases in various home video formats, however earlier this year the final four films made their debut on UHD courtesy of Warner Home Video, complete with 4K upscales of their 2K digital intermediates, object-based DTS:X audio and an encode in HDR10 to boot. Despite the initial buzz and wishful thinking that these would be the first Dolby Vision UHD discs released, this honor goes to the first two Despicable Me films from Universal, which I will look at separately.

I must say, Dolby Vision would have greatly helped in further clarifying each individual shade of black during some of the (very) physically dark scenes that litter the final films. The scene-specific 12 bit color mapping would have provided a level of acute detail that the generic 10 bit mapping of HDR10 could never do, but the current HDR is still the best part of these releases visually; the uptick in actual detail from the boosted resolution is honestly negligible from the supplemental 1080p Blu-ray's.

The DTS:X audio is almost worth the price of admission, however. There is nothing quite like hearing death eaters fly above you or listening to the fireworks in the exam room in movie 5 explode so sonically directly above the TV. Sticking to the formula they introduced with the UHD release of Goodfellas, Warner has also included the special features Blu-ray disc along with the feature Blu-ray, and a digital HD copy to boot, streamable through the hit or miss Ultraviolet retailers.

However, the UHD of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is almost perfect. While I have heard issues regarding the murky or even gray black levels in the disc, to my eyes and display this made-from-4K disc has a beautiful HDR10 encode from start to finish, from brightest white to darkest black. There are some scenes featuring sunlight or fluorescent blue lights that simply radiate from the screen and into the room, while scenes such as the climax before it heads into the subway look so richly detailed it leaves me disappointed that they didn't try harder with the Harry Potter UHD releases. The (oddly not default) Dolby Atmos track is also so amazingly stunning that almost for that reason alone, I am glad I purchased the UHD over the 3D disc (which includes DTS-HD MA 5.1 only).

Fantastic Beasts does not have a slim case like the others

With Dolby Vision discs officially out, there are some stirrings that perhaps Disney is finally going to enter the UHD market. There was always unofficial speculation that they were waiting for Dolby Vision to hit the physical disc market, and since the director of Guardians 2 has stated he will push for UHD release, there is certainly hope that Disney is getting on board at long last. This would also most likely include several re-releases of older films, even their animated classics: for example, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been said to have been scanned in 4K with 10 bit color in recent years. We can only hope to see some official news soon.

Phil
audiovisualcave@gmail.com

sharkspotting blog: sharkspotting.blogspot.com.au

Welcome to the AudioVisual Cave!

Welcome all,

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the lack of images or other visually appealing content in this first post. There will be plenty to come.

I am an Australian AV enthusiast who currently operates on a modest budget but keeps and maintains an ever-growing collection of various media formats. I am always on the lookout for new Blu-ray's (including those in the 3D or UHD flavor), Super-Audio and standard Redbook CD's, DVD's and DVD-Audio, or any new advancements to home cinema that I can try.

Despite my limited student wallet I also would love to get my hands on some of the rarer VHS tapes or Vinyl, although sadly this particular side of my hobby often must give way to newer technology.

It is certainly an exciting time to be alive; home technology has progressed in leaps and bounds with recent revolutionary inventions such as Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. We are also at a time where older but superior formats such as Vinyl are finding their footing again in mainstream consumption and despite the dying popularity of formats such as SACD, DVD-A and 3D they are still all somewhat available for those of us who still enjoy them.

I love the concept of enjoying the old with the new. putting in a VHS exclusive that I used to cherish as a child and then switching to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk on UHD with 60 frames per second (a controversial choice I know, but one that worked in the film's favor in my opinion) with HDR10 and Dolby Atmos is quite a surreal yet complete feeling; I can never discard a piece of working technology just because it has been deemed 'old' by new standards. I love having such a large and diverse collection and the bigger it gets the more I feel I am assembling a time capsule that demonstrates how home media has evolved and changed over many years.

I also enjoy being a casual gamer; I certainly don't have the game collection to match the A/V department, but I own a few consoles and a 3DS and have followed franchises such as Resident Evil, The Legend of Zelda and even the up-and-down Sonic the Hedgehog.

When my spare time isn't consumed by theses things, I enjoy cycling, amateur photography, birdwatching, and sharkspotting. I attempt to balance my life out but find a lot of it devoted to home media with very little way to share some of its wondrous aspects, hence the creation of this blog which I hope accurately captures what I am trying to convey and perhaps even inspires some people to adopt a certain piece of technology that they were previously on the fence about.

I will regularly share opinions/reviews/discussions/new insights/interesting trivia on a variety of things, such as my collection, rare finds, new releases, hardware, software and anything in between. I love sharing and feedback so if you have any constructive criticism, requests, discussion points, questions, or anything really please send me an email at audiovisualcave@gmail.com or leave a comment. I will try my very best to both respond to emails and update this blog in a timely manner.

As this is an introductory post and not dedicated to any particular topic, I will not write anymore other than to leave a message to those who are considering an upgrade to UHD Blu-ray. See if you can find a demo of the UHD edition of Planet Earth II playing on an appropriate display (a 4K TV with Wide Colour Gamut and High Dynamic Range is ideal). It has been out for a few months already and is looking to be this year's visual reference quality disc.

I hope you enjoy this blog,

Phil
audiovisualcave@gmail.com

Sharkspotting blog: sharkspotting.blogspot.com.au