Dune

Source #1: CEE UHD Blu-ray (Thanks GLiMMER) / (Video/Audio/Subs/Chapters)

Source #2: UHD Amazon VOD / (HDR10+ Layer)

Source #3: USA UHD Blu-ray (Thanks DDN) / (Subs)

Source #4: CEE Blu-ray (Thanks DVDSEED) / (Subs)

Source #5: iTunes (Thanks SlipperyGnome) / (Subs)


Better late than never...


Retail VOD HDR10+ source which was a perfect match for the UHD Blu-ray was synced and injected without encoding using proper tools. The HDR10+ Profile B layer has over 2800 dynamic scenes and was extremely well done. It honestly looks better than the DV MEL from the disc-- the EL portion on this film in particular which really just mattes over unnecessary added noise and not much else. MEL also does not reproduce so called "lost 12-bit information" from the service master either that FEL attempts to do, so take that for what it's worth. If your display supports both dynamic formats, the HDR10+ is what you want on this one. The color richness, highlights, gradations, shadow detail and scene to scene dynamics are fantastic. The also excellent DV presentation is still included of course in all its glory for Sony/LG owners or anyone else that wants to watch the film in Dolby Vision.


As usual we checked the static metadata and surprise-surprise, it was wrong again after doing a complete frame by frame analysis using industry standard methods. Dune has a supremely well done, highly dynamic 4000-nit mastered HDR grade, so having accurate grade specific static metadata for the base HDR presentation is very important. Not just to maximize the viewing experience, but also to correctly inform the display of the precise range of the content being played. The stock metadata had 1000-nit limited values despite the film and HDR grade on the disc being mastered at 4000-nit by the studio. We suspect the discrepancy came from values left over from the theatrical 1.90:1 IMAX, or far more likely: metadata for a 1000-nit tonemapped variation that somehow got in there. In either case, the actual measured uncapped values were applied. MaxCLL/MaxFALL coming from frames 4549 and 55532 respectively, properly ratio output blanked and at native UHD resolution of course.


Dune got an immersive surround mix with big dynamics befitting of the blockbuster it is. Unfortunately though, due to the sheer bloat of so many international dub language tracks being stuffed on the UHD disc, the studio for disc constraint reasons opted on compressing the Dolby Atmos mix to the absolute maximum. Variable bit depth compression, with an average of 17-bit (really 16-bit) from the bare minimum spatial coding level of 11 and MLP requantization. Despite this, the track still sounds fantastic. Almost certainly thanks to pre-conditioning and filtering employed to retain a high degree of perceived quality. A slightly tamed DD EX fallback track was provided on the disc albeit at a lower than ideal 448kbps given the nature of the mix. So to give this soundtrack its due, we went ahead and made a Blu-ray spec DD+ 7.1 compatibility track, which has the embedded DD EX 5.1 core at the full 640kbps. Authored on the studio encoder and overriden without DN for maximum dynamic range. The compatibility track will work on any OEM hardware DD+ or DD decoder, with the type received depending on the signal path and if HDMI or S/PDIF used. Additional benefit for those that rely on ARC (pre-enhanced) for audio from their TV and can still enjoy up to discrete 7.1 or matrix decoded 6.1/7.1 audio w/ EX or PLIIx from the DD EX core.


Subtitles properly tonemapped & synced to audio.


No named chapters available, numbered ones included as-is and synced to scene change/I-frame for proper seeking and fit/finish.


Enjoy.









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