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Disney's first 4K Blu-ray will be 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2'
At last, Disney is getting into Ultra HD movie releases. Fans of the studio's flicks have been stuck in 1080p for the last couple of years even as other studios have released 4K movies via streaming, downloads and disc. Now Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn has confirmed on Facebook that his movie will be the first one from Disney released in 4K and HDR -- especially welcome thanks to the sharp image and vivid colors captured by using Red's Weapon 8K camera. According to Gunn, "4K UltraHD is almost certainly the best way you can see this movie at home - with more definition and the most vibrant colors possible on your home screen, and with the brightest brights and the blackest blacks. A being composed of light truly appears to be a being composed of light!"
Microsoft expects consumers to 'figure out' which Xbox is which
The best way to keep a job as a marketer is to never go off message. And that's precisely what happened when I interviewed Xbox's head of console marketing Albert Penello on our E3 stage this week. Though he was more than happy to talk about the Xbox One X's tech specs and the impact of 4K gaming, asking harder questions about Xbox as an organization yielded a lot of non-answers. Still, there were a few tells.
Playing witness to an android riot in 'Detroit: Become Human'
I don't know when I'll get to play Detroit: Become Human again. The latest game from David Cage's Quantic Dream studio (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls) conspicuously didn't have a release date, or, hell, even a release year when Sony showed off a brand new demo at its media briefing earlier this week. Behind closed doors I was shown an extended version of the stage demo and saw just how an android riot starts.
Vizio's color-rich M- and P-series 4K TVs go on sale
Vizio's 2017 M-series TVs were intriguing when we saw them in April. In some ways, you're getting better image quality than far more expensive sets. And now, you can give them a try -- the company has started shipping its latest M- and P-series TVs in the US. The mid-range M line is actually more affordable than we first heard: it starts at $700 for a 55-inch model and tops out at a still reasonable $2,500 for a 75-inch variant. The higher-end P-series ranges from $1,000 at 55 inches to $3,500 for 75 inches. As we mentioned earlier in the year, there are some worthwhile upgrades (particularly in the M-series) -- at least, so long as you didn't want that included Android tablet from last year.
'Minecraft' makes the leap to 4K this fall
Minecraft isn't just getting unified online play this year -- it's also receiving a huge image quality boost. Microsoft and Mojang have unveiled a Super Duper Graphics Pack (no really, that's the name) that will give the building game a major visual upgrade, including 4K resolution, high dynamic range, sharper textures and loads of special effects (including light rays and fancier water). Logically, you'll need an Xbox One X or a beefy Windows 10 PC to get the 4K HDR experience. The add-on is free when it arrives this fall, and the developers are quick to stress that it's strictly optional -- you can stick to the regular graphics if the Super Duper pack feels blasphemous to you.
'Forza Motorsport 7' makes the jump to 4K on Xbox One X
It's official: Forza Motorsport is back. Microsoft unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship racing series at E3 2017, and as you'd expect, it's upgraded for the current era with nods to Windows 10, eSports and Project Scorpio -- excuse us, make that the Xbox One X. Turn 10 boss Dan Greenawalt showed off Forza Motorsport 7 running at 4K and 60 frames per second, while also adding dynamic weather effects. Adding feature players have been asking for repeatedly throughout the last few years, rain (but not snow?) can impact your races, with puddles forming on the track dynamically. The unveiling also served as a premiere for an all-new car, the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS. We'll be able to try that car out virtually this week, and so will you -- along with 700 others -- when the game arrives on October 3rd. Interestingly, the YouTube description lists the release date on Xbox One X as "holiday," so it's possible the upgraded version may arrive later. Update: The press release says the game is coming to the Xbox family of devices (plus Windows 10 PCs) on October 3rd, and that Ultimate Edition buyers will have early access starting September 29th.
Samsung's beastly 49-inch QLED display is built for gaming
It would almost be ridiculous not to buy a 4K TV without HDR, since you can get such sets for under $500 -- so it's weird that we haven't seen many HDR PC displays yet. Luckily, Samsung has some big news on that front: The company is releasing three new QLED monitors that sound like a dream for gamers. All of them, including the 27- and 32-inch CHG70s, plus the rather insane 49-inch CHG90 model, offer a 1.07-billion-color palette, a one-millisecond refresh rate and wraparound 1800R curvature.
Oppo's 4K Blu-ray players are the first with Dolby Vision HDR
Late last year Oppo promised its Ultra HD Blu-ray players would eventually be the first with support for Dolby Vision HDR (in addition to the required HDR-10 spec that all Ultra HD Blu-ray players support), and now a software update is available to unlock the feature. It only works if you have Ultra HD Blu-ray discs made to support Dolby's flavor of HDR (plus a compatible TV), and, coincidentally, two just went on sale this week: Despicable Me 1 & 2. Later this year, they will be joined by movies including The Fate of the Furious and Power Rangers, as more studios release Dolby Vision-ready discs, while Sony and LG have their own players on the way.
Hisense 4K TVs look for a place to fit on crowded shelves
At CES we were quite impressed by the Hisense lineup of smart TVs, and now the company says its 2017 models are arriving at retail. The H6D, H7D, H9D and H9D Plus series cover a range of price points and sizes, with 4K models ranging from the 43-inch H6D for $348 to the top of the line H9D Plus 65-inch with advanced motion processing and ULED edge LED lighting for $2,000. There's no word yet on other items like versions with Roku technology built in, but its freshly redesigned platform includes access to Amazon, Netflix, YouTube and Vudu, which should cover most of the bases. We're also keeping an eye out for the 4K Laser Cast TV projector, but until then, these will have to do battle in the crowded midrange 4K TV segment. That won't be easy, a look at the competition shows Vizio's M-Series selling a 65-inch model for $1,200 that compares very well to the 65-inch H9D with a price about $100 higher.
Samsung's QLED TVs are a dream for color calibration nerds
For video pros or color aficionados who want to see films the way they were intended, HDR's extra-wide color gamut is a godsend. However, calibrating HDR TVs is a tedious pain, forcing you to futz with onscreen menus using a clumsy remote. If you're serious about it and have the budget, however, Samsung has teamed with Portrait Displays, letting QLED Q9, Q8 and Q7 owners automatically calibrate their TVs using a SpectraCal or equivalent colorimeter.
LG gears up for high frame rate 4K sports broadcasts
A few years ago, high frame-rate was a big talking point for movies. Director Peter Jackson bet big on it with his version of The Hobbit, but since then interest has died down mostly due to audience pushback against the unnaturally clear images it presents. While HFR might not work best with film, there's the chance that it'd be a good fit for broadcast TV and sports -- formats where we're already used to watching faster frame-rates. At least that's what LG is hoping for. The electronics company has partnered with satellite operator SES to demo 4K HFR broadcasts this week in Luxembourg.
Netflix HDR arrives on Android, but only for the LG G6
Netflix isn't content to simply stream movies in high dynamic range to your compatible TV -- it's taking the experience mobile, too. As 9to5Google notes, any device with an HDR-capable screen will support the new feature, but the only phone with an HDR display that Dolby has approved -- for its Dolby Vision tech -- is the LG G6. It's very possible that your shiny new Galaxy S8 from Samsung will get the blessing in the future as well.
Vizio's new M-series 4K TVs are its real 2017 highlight
Last year, Vizio wowed us with its P-series 4K TVs, which delivered premium picture quality at a price much lower than other companies. But Vizio's mid-range M-series sets also gained a reputation for being more affordable while still looking pretty good. This year, things are a bit different. Surprisingly, the 2017 P-series TVs are exactly the same as last year's model. But the newer M-series "XLED" sets received some useful upgrades that will make them even more compelling to shoppers looking for a good deal.
Vizio's XLED TVs might make you forget its tracking software
Vizio's pushed a wider range of affordable HDR screens with its recent E-series, which follows the trend of high-resolution 4K televisions getting cheaper and cheaper. So follows the company's SmartCast P- and M-series lines for this year, which offer upper and mid-level TVs at reasonable cost.
Samsung and Amazon counter Dolby Vision HDR with HDR10+
Samsung and Amazon have unveiled HDR10+, an improvement of its current HDR10 open standard that brings it more up to par with rival Dolby Vision. The partnership makes sense as Amazon will create and stream HDR content, while Samsung will include HDR10+ in all its 2017 4K TVs, and offer updates for last year's models. The tech will help them counter some, but not all, of Dolby Vision's advantages, while still letting Samsung and other manufacturers avoid paying Dolby licensing royalties.
Sony's HDR camera helps self-driving cars see in the dark
As Tesla recently showed, video cameras are as important as radar and LiDAR in self-driving cars for tracking road signs, vehicles, pedestrians and more. However, most can't handle tough lighting situations like very dark conditions, flickering LEDs or a sudden transition into a tunnel on a sunny day. That's where Sony comes in with its latest automotive camera sensor. With high sensitivity, HDR capability and anti-flicker tech, it's one of the first designed specifically to help autonomous vehicles function in less-than-ideal conditions.
'Planet Earth II' on 4K Blu-ray will make you want a new TV
Planet Earth II looks so good on 4K Blu-ray that it completely justifies the existence of the doomed disc format. The original Planet Earth sold most consumers on the benefits of Blu-ray and HD video in 2007. It was like peering through a pristine window for the first time, after being stuck with muddy standard definition video for decades. This version of Planet Earth II, on the other hand, is like stepping through that window and into a whole new world of clarity.
Sony's first 4K OLED TV starts at $5,000
Sony's first consumer OLED TV, the XBR-A1E was easily its best product at CES 2017, but now comes the rub: How much is it? Before I answer that, know that Sony sets tend to be expensive to begin with. And on top of 4K OLED, this one has advanced video processing, all the flavors of HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG), the first-ever "Acoustic Surface" sound system that's integrated within the panel, an ultra-thin, near bezel-less design, a stand-mounted sub-woofer and Android TV support, including Google Cast and Google Assistant.
NVIDIA reveals its $700 top-of-the-line GTX 1080 Ti
Last year we called NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080 "the upgrade you've been waiting for," and now PC gamers have another high-end graphics card to drool over. At GDC 2017, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang presented its successor, the GTX 1080 Ti, which promises "35 percent more performance," packs 11GB of GDDR5X memory and will go on sale March 10th for $700. In fact, NVIDIA even claims this new card is faster than its $1,200 Titan X that launched late last year for professionals. At the same time, the company announced the 1080 is getting a price cut and will now start at $500.
Vizio's new entry-level 4K TVs make HDR accessible
Vizio's higher-priced HDR-capable TVs aren't exactly pricey, but you now have some truly low-cost options if you're just looking for the basics. The company has launched its 2017 E-Series line, and the emphasis this time is on making high dynamic range video accessible to many more people. As long as you buy a 55-inch set or larger, you're getting both 4K and HDR -- not bad when that means paying as little as $550. While you aren't going to get the best HDR compatibility or visual quality (no Dolby Vision HDR or quantum dots here), you at least won't have to pay a premium to see what the fuss is about.
