A Few Words About A few words about...™ Mad Max Fury Road -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Of the dozen or so variants of George Miller's Mad Max Fury Road, that Warner Bros. will be releasing over the next year or so, their new 4k uprez is a most interesting creature.

Resolution is superb.

HDR makes a huge difference. In fact, It's probably an equally dynamic version to the black & white we expect to see.

Viscerally, it's a totally different film from either of the current Blu-releases.

Color, densities, black levels within HDR are stunning. Audio is what it has been, which is superb - and Huge.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that to be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly certain what it's supposed to look like. While I like the way that I have it set up -- this after realizing that the Samsung defaults your projector or panel to virgin territory, sans calibration, the first time the viewing device sees a new 2160 signal, and then plugging all of my calibrations back into the projector anew.

Are those calibrations correct? Not sure. Are they probably close? Decent chance.

I still don't know that I have it right. I'm just happy with what I'm seeing. Which is not what this is all about.

While the 4k uprez is gorgeous, there are certain attributes, which I question, as they seem to possibly show, and I say possibly, as I've not seen the original data files, effects that may not play properly at 4k -- mostly the highlights on flames. They do look neat, and in your face. Everything else seems to track nicely.

All of that said, if you read my "First Impressions" piece regarding 4k, I'm recommending to all but the staunchest home theater fans, to wait for probably 3-6 months, if you're planning to play anything except new 4k discs on your Samsung.

The player has not been properly tested, and is not ready for release.

If you don't mind going through continuous firmware upgrades, and the absolutelely shitty Samsung technical support, as they solve problems that should have been remedied before release, go for it. But I warned you.

A great disc, played on a system not ready for public consumption.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Very Highly Recommended


RAH

 

[battlebeast]

What are the two versions of MAD MAX FURY ROAD?

 

[Robert Harris]

Just to show that great minds, or whatever...

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mad-Max-Fury-Road-4K-Blu-ray/147183/#Review

 

[Sam Posten]

What's your feeling about the lack of a 4K 3D standard and hence no 4K 3D Fury Road?

 

[Robert Harris]

What's your feeling about the lack of a 4K 3D standard and hence no 4K 3D Fury Road?

Doesn't really bother me. It is what it is. The physical discs don't support it. Are there other problems? Don't know.

Let's see what happens once the hundred gig discs arrive. Until then, longer films are on hold.

 

[trajan007]

Comcast does not even show it widescreen.

 

[laser]

If you don't mind going through continuous firmware upgrades, and the absolutelely shitty Samsung technical support, as they solve problems that should have been remedied before release, go for it. But I warned you.

Man, it must be incredibly bad to make an industry professional go and lose his cool!

 

[Robert Harris]

Man, it must be incredibly bad to make an industry professional go and lose his cool!

Hardly. Just using the correct terms. Too many techs pointing fingers at everyone else's hardware, while not knowing anything about their own.

Things may actually be worse. I'm hearing of a situation in which the Samsung player may have somehow affected the settings on a flat panel, that now needs to be recalibrated.

Strange things seem to be occurring.

And then we have the exclusive necessity for those magical 4k cables.

Sounds like a case for NBC's Keith Morrison...

 

[Dave H]

Robert,

Is there any hope on the horizon that there will even be a standard to calibrate for HDR? This to me is very troublesome with the format (aside from any Samsung issues).

 

[Robert Harris]

Robert,

Is there any hope on the horizon that there will even be a standard to calibrate for HDR? This to me is very troublesome with the format (aside from any Samsung issues).

Waiting.

 

[OliverK]

What's your feeling about the lack of a 4K 3D standard and hence no 4K 3D Fury Road?

There isn't even theatrical 4k 3D yet or a standard for it, You are expecting too much too soon.

 

[tns49]

Waiting.

Any word if some of the films you restored or worked on will soon make it to Ultra HD Blu-ray? Do you feel HDR should be applied to any of these FIlms?

 

[Robert Harris]

Any word if some of the films you restored or worked on will soon make it to Ultra HD Blu-ray? Do you feel HDR should be applied to any of these FIlms?

No, as we need to wait for 100GB discs, and absolutely not!

 

[Stephen_J_H]

So are current discs the expanded capacity 66.6GB dual layer variety?

 

[Patrick Donahue]

No, as we need to wait for 100GB discs, and absolutely not!

Am I correct in saying that HDR isn't something you would go back and add to an older film, but it's something that existed at the time the film was shot?

 

[Robert Harris]

Am I correct in saying that HDR isn't something you would go back and add to an older film, but it's something that existed at the time the film was shot?

Depends upon who one might ask.

I wouldn't add it, if it wasn't a part of the film's original design.

There are those who will disagree, especially those in marketing, as it enables the use of them sexy HDR labels.

Many people currently feel that HDR is a required part of the UHD standard, and should exist on every disc.

Humbug!

 

[Yorkshire]

Depends upon who one might ask.

I wouldn't add it, if it wasn't a part of the film's original design.

There are those who will disagree, especially those in marketing, as it enables the use of them sexy HDR labels.

Many people currently feel that HDR is a required part of the UHD standard, and should exist on every disc.

Humbug!

I believe there is a word which Americans use to comment on posts like this.

I believe that word is "WORD!"

In Yorkshire it's " 'appen".

Steve W

 

[Dave H]

I've heard some people say since film has much more dynamic range than what is being seen on standard BD, HDR will benefit older films on UHD BD. I really don't pretend to understand the process or how this would work.

 

[OliverK]

I've heard some people say since film has much more dynamic range than what is being seen on standard BD, HDR will benefit older films on UHD BD. I really don't pretend to understand the process or how this would work.

This has been said and it probably could be used to make very subtle changes to bring it closer to the latitude of film but from what I have seen so far HDR is not about subtlety in the public mind but about WOW LOOK AT THAT! So better not to use the HDR moniker but just capitalize on the extended color space, bit depth and resolution of UHD.

 

[Crysist]

Depends upon who one might ask.

I wouldn't add it, if it wasn't a part of the film's original design.

There are those who will disagree, especially those in marketing, as it enables the use of them sexy HDR labels.

Many people currently feel that HDR is a required part of the UHD standard, and should exist on every disc.

Humbug!

Huh. If you restored certain films to how you see as best, what lengths will you go to keep the presentation looking best for the new format? It wouldn't be nice to see them ruin any one of those beautiful masters you helped make on the new format by doing a poor HDR job.

Also, it's a bit annoying that there's a whole dilemma with whether people know if they're getting correct color calibration. I hear others aren't digging the color changes on the UHD version of Mad Max at all- saying that they look oversaturated.