- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,272
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
In the lifetime of UHD 4k Blu-ray, March 1st, seems far longer ago than it is.
Between the birth of the new format and mid-September, Shout Factory has become the go-to purveyor for large format IMAX-style productions. They released their initial large formats on June 7th. Universal will test the waters on September 13th, the same date that Shout will be releasing their sixth and seventh programs.
Although I knew the latest from Shout was coming, I was surprised not to see them listed on Highdefdigest's schedule, which does a fine job of keeping release up to date.
Things have been changing in 4k-land recently.
A firmware upgrade from Sony, permitted their projectors to play more nicely with the Samsung player. The Panasonic players hits the street this week in the US, and it remains to be seen how easily that unit will work with different devices.
Between the time that I was previewing Shout's The Last Reef, and Wonders of the Arctic, Samsung came on-line with another firmware update for their player, but seems to be oriented toward playing nicely with Netflix..
The icing on the cake was aid from calibration guru extraordinaire, Kevin Miller, who offered some new potential settings to get around some of the Samsung problems.
Bottom line, is that I'm now able to view UHD / HDR programming at close to perfection.
I mention that because Shout's The Last Reef is the first UHD / HDR programming to go through the newly calibrated, firmware-upgraded system.
And it shines!
Filmed with High Resolution gear, The Last Reef is the latest of a myriad of "reef" productions produced for large format distribution during the past four decades, and so far, the only one that comes to life on home video.
Resolution is astounding, while color, in both HDR, and SDR formats (both are available) pops off the screen.
Audio, in Dolby Atmos, is magnificently room-filling.
For those who have not yet made the move to 4k, The Last Reef is one of the those films that you can comfortably put on your screen for your friends, and they won't think you've lost your mind with home theater gear.
Even if the truth might be otherwise.
An absolutely magnificent 4k UHD Blu-ray.
Image - 5*
Audio - 5
4k - 5
Pass / Fail - Pass
Highly Recommended
RAH
Between the birth of the new format and mid-September, Shout Factory has become the go-to purveyor for large format IMAX-style productions. They released their initial large formats on June 7th. Universal will test the waters on September 13th, the same date that Shout will be releasing their sixth and seventh programs.
Although I knew the latest from Shout was coming, I was surprised not to see them listed on Highdefdigest's schedule, which does a fine job of keeping release up to date.
Things have been changing in 4k-land recently.
A firmware upgrade from Sony, permitted their projectors to play more nicely with the Samsung player. The Panasonic players hits the street this week in the US, and it remains to be seen how easily that unit will work with different devices.
Between the time that I was previewing Shout's The Last Reef, and Wonders of the Arctic, Samsung came on-line with another firmware update for their player, but seems to be oriented toward playing nicely with Netflix..
The icing on the cake was aid from calibration guru extraordinaire, Kevin Miller, who offered some new potential settings to get around some of the Samsung problems.
Bottom line, is that I'm now able to view UHD / HDR programming at close to perfection.
I mention that because Shout's The Last Reef is the first UHD / HDR programming to go through the newly calibrated, firmware-upgraded system.
And it shines!
Filmed with High Resolution gear, The Last Reef is the latest of a myriad of "reef" productions produced for large format distribution during the past four decades, and so far, the only one that comes to life on home video.
Resolution is astounding, while color, in both HDR, and SDR formats (both are available) pops off the screen.
Audio, in Dolby Atmos, is magnificently room-filling.
For those who have not yet made the move to 4k, The Last Reef is one of the those films that you can comfortably put on your screen for your friends, and they won't think you've lost your mind with home theater gear.
Even if the truth might be otherwise.
An absolutely magnificent 4k UHD Blu-ray.
Image - 5*
Audio - 5
4k - 5
Pass / Fail - Pass
Highly Recommended
RAH