First Blood / Rambo: First Blood Part II / Rambo III 4K UHDs (1982-1988)

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Leterface

Luckily I don't have GeoffVision and didn't see LegoVision in parts I and II but in Rambo III I did see very obvious macro blocking in a few scenes:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDRrP6XL487w2qAA7.

Rambo III was kind of a dissapointment for me PQ wise as I thought I could see more detail than in parts I and II, but I could not find the greatest detail in facials though the wide scenery shots are in general the best of the trilogy. Still I would rate Rambo III PQ as a 7,5+ that equals to still good PQ, but not great, though I suspect Rambo III was never as sharp momentarily as parts I and II. Also I may be more harsh on Rambo III in comparison to former parts of the trilogy in watching more close just to the PQ and not always enough just on the film itself as I find Rambo III the weakest Rambo film. But still I find Rambo III great compared to most of later action films.

Maybe I missed it, but do the compression issues exist on accompanying BDs?

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Maybe I missed it, but do the compression issues exist on accompanying BDs?

I think someone here suggested the BD's would have less compression issues. However I did a fast check of the few minutes (that had macro blocking on the UHD) but only found new macro blocking in the Rambo III BD disc (that was obvious also in areas of shots where there should be ABOUT only black in a area of the frame, and just where the shadow detail could be found). Only for a very very brief comparison of the UHD and BD of Rambo III I found the BD to be the better.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Leterface

Luckily I don't have GeoffVision and didn't see LegoVision in parts I and II but in Rambo III I did see very obvious macro blocking in a few scenes:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDRrP6XL487w2qAA7.

Jumpin' Jesus Christ, WTF is going on there? Saw nothing like that in Rambo III at all, IMO it's the best encoded one out of all three by quite some distance. Those photos are greatly off-axis as well.

Will go out on a limb here: does you has an OLED?

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Jumpin' Jesus Christ, WTF is going on there? Saw nothing like that in Rambo III at all, IMO it's the best encoded one out of all three by quite some distance. Those photos are greatly off-axis as well.

Will go out on a limb here: does you has an OLED?

Yes I tried to shoot them off-axis to
emphasize the blocking (just because I was using my phone camera but I captured IMO the issue better that way). Well what can be seen from a normal or just a tad closer view of ordinary distance, that will or will not reveal..

No I have a Samsung KS7000 (KS8000 in the US) but that, I think, should not matter in the case of macro blocking?

[Geoff D]

I aksed because near-black content has historically had trouble on OLED, but now I see that's not applicable. How have you got your black level set? Default, eyeballed it, test pattern?

[dcforsyth]

Originally Posted by Cougartiger

Just finished watching First Blood and had a few problems:

Would not switch into HDR. Took several tries before it finally did.

When Trautman contacts Rambo on the radio, the video freezes and skips for a bit untill just after Rambo starts talking. The movie is fine from that point on. It just this section of the movie that does this and it is repeatable, even after cleaning.

There was a brief moment earlier in the film that froze but I rewound and it didn't repeat, so I dunno.

Considering returning to Amazon but do I get another copy and risk it being even worse? Get a refund and try the UK disc which hopefully wouldn't have these problems?

My UHD player is the Philips 7502 which so far has played everything else perfectly so I don't think it's the player.

Not sure what to do.

I have the exact same problems. I have the Philips 7302. It can't be the disc, it plays perfectly fine on my Xbox one s. I posted my issue on the Philips forum here https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...0#post15816100. Scroll to the top of page.
I contacted Philips tech support and they're supposed to get back to me in 3 to 5 business days. We'll see what they say.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I returned my first disc for new one. Same freezing problems?

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I aksed because near-black content has historically had trouble on OLED, but now I see that's not applicable. How have you got your black level set? Default, eyeballed it, test pattern?

Owning the same set, it looks to me like he's got the active LED on high in a pitch dark room and is standing way off to the side of the screen, which kills the contrast ratio and gamma to hell. So every little issue in black would show up like gangbusters in that situation. I feel like that looks so bad there's probably another factor going on as well.

The KS8000 is a great set but like most LEDs you have to be right in front of it or it goes to shit, and its main weakness is lesser local-dimming which a bias light really helps.

I saw a couple minor compression issue moments in Rambo III on the same set, but NOTHING like that.

[tcripe]

Originally Posted by Cougartiger

Just finished watching First Blood and had a few problems:

Would not switch into HDR. Took several tries before it finally did.

When Trautman contacts Rambo on the radio, the video freezes and skips for a bit untill just after Rambo starts talking. The movie is fine from that point on. It just this section of the movie that does this and it is repeatable, even after cleaning.

There was a brief moment earlier in the film that froze but I rewound and it didn't repeat, so I dunno.

Considering returning to Amazon but do I get another copy and risk it being even worse? Get a refund and try the UK disc which hopefully wouldn't have these problems?

My UHD player is the Philips 7502 which so far has played everything else perfectly so I don't think it's the player.

Not sure what to do.

Weird. I have the same player and I was able to watch all three movies without any hiccups. Is First Blood the only disk you have had an issue with?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Owning the same set, it looks to me like he's got the active LED on high in a pitch dark room and is standing way off to the side of the screen, which kills the contrast ratio and gamma to hell. So every little issue in black would show up like gangbusters in that situation. I feel like that looks so bad there's probably another factor going on as well.

The KS8000 is a great set but like most LEDs you have to be right in front of it or it goes to shit, and its main weakness is lesser local-dimming which a bias light really helps.

I saw a couple minor compression issue moments in Rambo III on the same set, but NOTHING like that.

He just said that he deliberately took the photos very far off-axis to show it up properly but that he saw it in normal viewing to begin with. That you're not seeing such a thing on the exact same set points to a set-up and/or playback discrepancy somewhere (Christ, now I sound like StudioCanal trying to wave away the problems with The Fog ).

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

He just said that he deliberately took the photos very far off-axis to show it up properly but that he saw it in normal viewing to begin with. That you're not seeing such a thing on the exact same set points to a set-up and/or playback discrepancy somewhere (Christ, now I sound like StudioCanal trying to wave away the problems with The Fog ).

Looks like the scene where he tries to break Trautman out. I'll try and throw it in later and look. I have my gamma higher than default and use a bias light though, so I might mask more stuff in blacks than he would.

[Cougartiger]

Originally Posted by tcripe

Is First Blood the only disk you have had an issue with?

Yes, so far. I just got the player this Monday and am slowly working through the 43 UHD discs I've been picking up for the past 2 years.

Only First Blood has given me any problems.

Hopefully it will be the only one!

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I'm not alone! My LG player had the same issue, with all three Rambo UHDs. The sequels loaded up normally the second time but it took many times before First Blood loaded with proper HDR/color. It was a super weird issue. Glad to see I'm not alone. Maybe something wrong with the flags on the disc.

I think it's because the main menu isn't HDR.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by Leterface

Luckily I don't have GeoffVision and didn't see LegoVision in parts I and II but in Rambo III I did see very obvious macro blocking in a few scenes:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDRrP6XL487w2qAA7.

Rambo III was kind of a dissapointment for me PQ wise as I thought I could see more detail than in parts I and II, but I could not find the greatest detail in facials though the wide scenery shots are in general the best of the trilogy. Still I would rate Rambo III PQ as a 7,5+ that equals to still good PQ, but not great, though I suspect Rambo III was never as sharp momentarily as parts I and II. Also I may be more harsh on Rambo III in comparison to former parts of the trilogy in watching more close just to the PQ and not always enough just on the film itself as I find Rambo III the weakest Rambo film. But still I find Rambo III great compared to most of later action films.

These kind of posts are actually a bit heartbreaking as they can mislead other members in making a wrong decision to not purchase the movies. The macro blocking in the pictures is absolutely due to poor hardware. I’ve uploaded several pictures of the same two shots via an iPhone (color is not representative of what I see in real life) on my C8 and One X. It looks absolutely flawless and every spec of grain is resolved perfectly.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to get a UHD player with powerful processing capability. Even Oppo players pale in comparison to what a One X can do. I know, because I’ve virtually owned all of them.

Most of the time I don’t see the poor compression on my setup, even though others, like Geoff, do. Last pic I raised the brightness and shot at an angle. Again, nothing but flawless compression.

https://ibb.co/DDnm7tK
https://ibb.co/jzbn7gx
https://ibb.co/6DQQMph
https://ibb.co/p1Vq45H
https://ibb.co/J3d4fCS
https://ibb.co/mbNs1bg
https://ibb.co/SJYTLv2

https://ibb.co/Fxm0nTv

[Fat Phil]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

Even Oppo players pale in comparison to what a One X can do. I know, because I’ve virtually owned all of them.

[lionel74]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

He’s ‘virtually’ owned them, not ‘actually’

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I think it's because the main menu isn't HDR.

That's a good thought! When I put them in the second time they resumed directly to the movie, skipping the menu, which likely changed the "flag" to the TV. Some players might be getting confused going from a non-HDR menu.

Not a huge deal since it works eventually, but interesting stuff.

[ROSS.T.G.]

I forgot to mention something very odd with the second. When I popped it in it asked me if I wanted to resume play then skipped right to the last scene like the review stated.

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I aksed because near-black content has historically had trouble on OLED, but now I see that's not applicable. How have you got your black level set? Default, eyeballed it, test pattern?

I haven't watched a huge amount of UHD's and have only checked closer on image quality with a handfull of titles but never have I noticed any issues with my setup after changing Samsung KS7000 (IRC) to Sony X800. Also I have my TV calibrated with a meter and all failures should be non visible to the eye (though unsure how the HDR calibration is but have made some minor setting with advise from a tech subsription (costed only around 10 dollars or so) for my TV and just a bit of my own tweaking). Have read of issues with KS models not having perfect black bars etc, but I would say my particular TV have been great in those aspects.

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

These kind of posts are actually a bit heartbreaking as they can mislead other members in making a wrong decision to not purchase the movies. The macro blocking in the pictures is absolutely due to poor hardware. I’ve uploaded several pictures of the same two shots via an iPhone (color is not representative of what I see in real life) on my C8 and One X. It looks absolutely flawless and every spec of grain is resolved perfectly.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to get a UHD player with powerful processing capability. Even Oppo players pale in comparison to what a One X can do. I know, because I’ve virtually owned all of them.

Most of the time I don’t see the poor compression on my setup, even though others, like Geoff, do. Last pic I raised the brightness and shot at an angle. Again, nothing but flawless compression.

https://ibb.co/DDnm7tK
https://ibb.co/jzbn7gx
https://ibb.co/6DQQMph
https://ibb.co/p1Vq45H
https://ibb.co/J3d4fCS
https://ibb.co/mbNs1bg
https://ibb.co/SJYTLv2

https://ibb.co/Fxm0nTv

Thanks for your captures. Though this is getting my head spinnin' even more now what could have caused the macro blocking on my set?

[StingingVelvet]

I checked Rambo III for you. I think those compression issues are there in the deep blacks, but they should not be visible under normal conditions. I didn't see them except for maybe VERY fleeting glimpses, but when I raised brightness and lowered gamma I could see them more. A lot of times compression is hidden in 0% black and should be invisible.

So I'd check your brightness and gamma, and also maybe check the X800's video settings. It defaults after a reset to a weird mode that causes a lot of issues, every time I reset it I have to remember to go in and put it on "direct."

Also I highly advise a bias light with the KS8000. It's a great HDR set but is edge-lit, so it has issues in a pure black room. I was watching in a pure black room the last couple months as an experiment and it looked alright, but once I turned my bias lighting back on I was reminded just how much deeper the blacks and richer the colors look with a bias light. Unless you have a super high-end FALD like Geoff or an OLED I'd recommend bias lighting to anyone, honestly.