4K Blu-ray Has A Massive Problem

[00:00:00]Today, we're talking about 4K's, and the biggest problem with them, and it's not what you think. People talk about bit transfers all the time as, you know, these are the worst transfers or these are the best transfers. Some of that might be valid, some of that is subjective. Depends on the type of television you have or what you prefer because some of the worst discs possible, if you go to Reddit forums, people praise them. And so, frozen film grain, too much DNR, waxy faces. If you have a giant 100-in screen and you're sitting right on top of it, you're going to see flaws better. If you have all your settings jacked up, you're going to see those flaws better as well. And so, there are recommended seating distances.

[00:00:38]And with 4K, the greatest thing is you can get a bigger screen and sit closer.

[00:00:43]So, I do understand that. We're not talking about any of that today because that is something to do with the transfer, how it's been restored, and a whole different conversation. Today, we're talking about the reason one disc can look completely different to five different people in five different households, depending on the television and the player you have because there is no standard. And then you have HDR, HDR 10, Dolby Vision. And then you have the way the player and your television processes the HDR tone mapping. And so, when I talk about certain things, I'm usually talking about it from my Sony OLED television, which has its own ecosystem. And so, I have a Sony 4K player attached to it because I used to use the UB9000, which is Panasonic's flagship $1,000 4K player. And it has all the bells and whistles and features and turns Dolby Vision or yeah, Dolby Vision on when it needs to and it off when it doesn't. And you get a good experience, but I never really enjoyed the Dolby Vision for the most part. There are certain discs that look phenomenal, but when I started using my Sony player that's built for the TV, I can turn Dolby Vision on, but if I turn it off, which is designed to do that. You can only do one or the other with the Sony player. You can leave Bravia mode on, which is its own built-in pathway to get you to Dolby Vision or the HDR or whatever's built onto this disc to give you the best possible experience. And I have, when I've been turning off the Dolby Vision, I've had the best possible experience on my Sony OLED for almost every single disc. And not all of them, but there are a few that look really good on Dolby Vision no matter what. But there's a lot of them that with Dolby Vision on on my Sony OLED look horrible, dark, sometimes the skin tones are completely off. And as soon as I turn off Dolby Vision, I turn on the Bravia mode, I still am getting HDR, but it's just Sony's version of it. And it looks incredible.

[00:02:49]And going from a Dolby Vision disc or an HDR disc, I always prefer the Dolby Vision disc. And so, it just processes it differently. I have a non-OLED television up here, and I can hook up that exact same player, turn on Dolby Vision, and have a really good experience on a lot of my discs. And so, just the fact that this TV is not an OLED, it processes things differently, and it has it I have a different experience. Those are just the two biggest things there. But when we talk about the standards and the fact that there is none, before Blu-rays were even really a thing, they came up with Rec.

[00:03:26]709. So, a Blu-ray, any Blu-ray, doesn't matter which one you get, this one or you get this one, a Blu-ray is going to generally look like a Blu-ray. And any weirdness with the film is probably how it was shot. And so, the fact of the every single color grade is done by the standard called Rec. 709, you're getting a really good experience with Blu-rays. But this disc right here is a 4K disc.

[00:03:52]No matter what TV I play it on, what player I play it on, Dolby Vision on, Dolby Vision off, Bravia mode on, Bravia mode off, it looks good. It has a great picture, and there might be a slight difference with some of them on and some of them off, but I'm having a hard time seeing because it has a look to it. It's shot in 4K, it's a new film, and it is a 4K.

[00:04:15]But, this film here, it does have Dolby Vision, and I didn't really see a difference turning Dolby Vision off and Bravia mode off. So, there's that. And then up here on this TV, Dolby Vision on, Dolby Vision off, it's same. It's just It looks good. It's a good 4K. But, here we have a problem with this disc, Bram Stoker's Dracula, HDR, and it has uh it has Dolby Atmos, but it has regular HDR on this disc. And I always thought this was a pretty good reference disc, it looked great, had a great experience. But, then the problem came out when the studios started to adopt Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos. It seems like they're leaning towards that because a lot more discs are being put out in that format. So, they launched this. So, this is the Dolby Vision version of the movie. And between the two, I prefer the Dolby Vision. The problem is, on my Sony OLED television, I have it on Bravia mode, and that is where I have the best possible experience. On with Dolby Vision on, it's really not quite right. The reds pop, the contrast is nice and dark, but the skin tones are just a little off. Still looks pretty decent, but when I turned it off, it's like a night and day difference.

[00:05:30]It's amazing. And so, they're leaning towards a standard, and the standard is Dolby Vision, but across the board, across the televisions that I can buy a new television, I did. I bought this non-OLED television, and it has Dolby Vision, and it's fine. But, they're also coming out with Dolby Vision 2 now to combat some of the problems that happen with OLED. And if you have a really, really bright television or you have the standard, I think the standard to have the a 4K television, I think it's like 500 nits. But, a mini-LED can get much brighter than most OLEDs. So, you do have a different experience no matter what. And some of those Dolby Visions discs look really dark on Dolby Vision.

[00:06:14]And then same thing here. I was super excited about the Jurassic Park differences. I had the HDR and I was super excited about this and people were we wondering why I cared. Because this you have HDR and DTS:X over here. But, then you have what it seems like the studios are leaning towards as a standard, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision. And again, side by side with my Bravia mode on, this is the preferred version. I think there's just a little bit, you know, better colors. I think the some of the stuff pops a little more and the skin tones are incredible. This, it's okay. It's okay comparing. If I didn't have this, this was pretty good. It wasn't bad at all. But, comparing the two, this is better. But again, if I turn on that Dolby Vision, this is one that was, you know, horrible. The skin tones were off. Any of the Anybody that wasn't like 100% Caucasian was really like a grayish brown and it was noticeable. Turning it off, turning on Bravia mode, perfect. And I still get HDR here. And so, on here on the non-OLED television, Dolby Vision, it looks pretty good. Not a not a big deal.

[00:07:24]But, this TV doesn't even produce the same colors that my OLED does. And so, most of the time the colors are muted because this is what it would be considered a budget television. Just for reference.

[00:07:36]And this is something that I've talked about for years. I think this is an amazing looking Dolby Vision 4K disc. It is a perfect. It's probably one of my all-time favorite reference discs. And turn on Dolby Vision, it looks good.

[00:07:52]Turn it off with Bravia mode on and it looks amazing. The oranges just really are incredible. And if you go through and you look at your TV's optimal settings, not what you decided it's supposed to be. Look at the optimal settings and then try this out, you'll see that certain TVs look different. But you can always adjust some of that stuff because on regular Dolby Vision, I have it set exactly the same colors and contrast that I have as everything else gets played. But if I had it on and I checked with this disc, that's why I know.

[00:08:27]If I have it on the optimal setting for the colors and the contrast level, this is not as good as with the Bravia mode on.

[00:08:37]Here's another one. Dolby Vision. I just talked about this the other day.

[00:08:41]Scream 4, one of my favorite 4Ks of the year. Dolby Vision on and there's a flicker between the you know, it just goes black or a little bit darker contrast, a little bit lighter contrast constantly throughout the entire film.

[00:08:55]And I didn't notice it downstairs on my OLED television, but I did notice it up here on the um on the non-OLED television. There's a flicker and I'm not the only one to report on that, but it's something that's kind of frustrating. Again, no standard.

[00:09:11]This film here, lot of people said it was a great 4K and I said that I had a bad experience with it. And it was because I watched it with Dolby Vision on because everyone was telling me that my settings were off and I know that my settings aren't off.

[00:09:26]This film here, it looks a little dark and again, anybody that was not Caucasian looked way too dark and a little bit gray. And then, you know, Sha um what was it? Uh Seann William Scott looked like he had a really dark deep tan and The Rock on here, it does not look like the photographs of the stills from this that you get. That's not what I got. And as soon as I put Bravia mode on, a great experience.

[00:09:53]So, again, different different TVs, different things, different standards.

[00:09:57]There is no standard. And so, when people talk about discs, you know, it I just wish that there was a standard.

[00:10:05]This is another one. And this is not And I'm not the only one because the other person that mentioned this didn't have an OLED television. So, this movie, Demolition Man, on 4K looks an- amazing.

[00:10:16]This is another 4K disc of the year.

[00:10:18]With my Bravia mode on, amazing colors, amazing picture, and just a overall great 4K. But, when we reviewed this way back a couple years ago when it came out, this is one that it was noticeable if I turned the Dolby Vision on, there's that one scene where Wesley Snipes is accessing the ATM computer outside before he gets uh approached by the police and then he beats up everybody.

[00:10:41]As he's at that computer console, uh with Dolby Vision on on my OLED television, he looks ridiculously dark, like black, like not normal, like it didn't look normal at all. And when I turn it off and I turn the Bravia mode on, amazing.

[00:10:57]Absolutely amazing. But, the other person that reported that as well, I know for a fact did not have an OLED television at the time. And so, it really is. It's different televisions, different tone mapping, different experiences. And the fact is, we don't have the same experience because there is no standard. And you can go back and forth between different settings and have that conversation, but I don't change things. I either turn off the Dolby Vision or I turn it on. And I have everything set to a an exact standard, exact same color palette, exact same contrast, but I've just never had a great experience with Dolby Vision on my OLED television. And that is why they're coming out with Dolby 2. And I can't really see myself getting super excited about it or trying to buy a new television just for that feature. And then are we going to get all new discs?

[00:11:50]Are they going to work the same? I'm not sure, but it seems like I don't know. I I like I like turning it off. I get the best possible experience.

[00:11:59]And I still get the whatever everybody's talking about. The colors pop, the contrast is dark. And so if you have an issue where you think the colors are off, try turning off your Dolby Vision and going to the HDR and just seeing what it does. You want to check out this video right here for some more nerdy context about changing your settings and what it does to your television. With that, remember to watch a movie today, and I'll catch you guys next time.