HDR+Subtitles: The extreme eye strain & PHYSICAL PAIN suffered by disabled consumers.

[SonSon III]

Throbbing pains in your head? Squinting your eyes & having a pounding migraine like you just woke up after your bachelor party?

(This possibly could only be an issue for HDR Subtitles on OLED panels, which is common consumer display technology)

This is a side effect and an unfortunately a commonplace and negligent oversight in this not-so-infant generation of 4K HDR Blu-ray content for those of us that watch or need to watch movies with subtitles. It’s almost as if studios and content providers never even took the time to view their own releases with the HDR-10 1000 nit Pure-White subtitles on a variety of consumer display technologies used today. This level of white was only intended for the brightest of bright momentary split-second experiences of a bulb flash, explosion or the sun reflecting directly into the eyes of a protagonist that’s suffering of dehydration in the desert. This aspect of HDR was NEVER intended to be viewed for long or even relatively short periods of time in the context of a feature film.

Sadly, this scorching brightness, eye pain, headaches & suffering has been passed onto the consumer for the duration of entire feature length film presentations in the form of 1000 nit pure white subtitles on the vast majority of disc-based HDR content. Luckily Apple has applied dark gray subtitles to digitally distribute HDR movie content. For those in the know, Netflix allows your subtitle settings to be altered in your profile to help compensate. In the 4K HDR Blu-ray arena you not only need a specifically branded Panasonic player, but also must adjust said subtitle brightness manually each and every time that you view a film.

If you suffer from this experience, you’re NOT alone.

I know that i’m not the average user, but does anyone else always use subtitles?

Is there any chance that companies will realize that this is a huge issue for those that require subtitles, and maybe start implementing them in a more soothing dark gray color or warmer color temperature for subtitles on HDR UHD releases? This is by far my biggest gripe about this generation of tech. It’s not only an oversight but also a huge insult to peoples with disabilities.


Please help by forwarding this message to all movie studios that are releasing 4K HDR Discs as well as contacting UHD player manufacturers.
The Fix has to start somewhere, I do hope that we can overcome this hurdle together.

Here’s where you can send a message to help:


-Player manufacturers-


Oppo:
https://www.oppodigital.com/ContactUs.aspx?CatID=1

*Or*

‪Service@oppodigital.com

Samsung:

https://contactus.samsung.com/custom....jsp?SITE_ID=1

—————————————

-Film Studios-

Warner Brothers:
https://www.warnerbros.com/customer-service

Sony Pictures/TriStar:
consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.sony.com

Disney:
TWDS.Global.Communications@disney.com

Lions Gate:
https://www.shoplionsgate.com/help/?faqView=ask