Unforgiven 4K UHD (1992)

[sleeman]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Yes.

Thank you.
Audio being the same, would you know when compared if the PQ of 4k is a substantial upgrade or a subtle one?

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by sleeman

Thank you.
Audio being the same, would you know when compared if the PQ of 4k is a substantial upgrade or a subtle one?

You need a display with really good, high nit HDR capabilities to view the 4k disc properly. Warner Brothers masters their HDR grades for monitors with significant brightness abilities.

Otherwise, the shadows can get a bit murky, though the color rendition is more natural than the BD.

This would have been a transfer that screamed for Dolby Vision, but WB didn't see it that way.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by bruceames

To my eyes, Goodfellas is nowhere near the upgrade to UHD as Unforgiven is. Also the grain is very heavy in many scenes in GF, which makes any increase in detail less noticeable (in fact the extra grain IS the most noticeable difference). But if you a fan of the movie then I would pick it up if you can get it at a 'catalog' price (under $20), because in spite of the grain it is an overall improvement (just not nearly as much as Unforgiven).

Originally Posted by DJJez

thats exactly how i felt upon viewing it. this is how 4k catalogue titles should look! incredible

Originally Posted by zallapo

Agreed. No fancy HDR pushing or contrast boosting, no extra sharpening, just natural as hell 4K remaster. Fantastic job

Originally Posted by HDMan72

I checked a few scenes out and this is one beautiful looking transfer. I also checked out the remastered blu-ray disc and was surprised how much better the UHD looked. Looking forward to watching this one!

Originally Posted by gates70

Watched it last night and wow, great looking UHD! Colors and detail are fantastic. I don't get the complaints that it's dark. It was only dark where it needed to be dark (shadows, low lit areas, inside the house with hardly any lighting, etc) but the detail was still there.

Originally Posted by sleeman

Thank you.
Audio being the same, would you know when compared if the PQ of 4k is a substantial upgrade or a subtle one?

Check all the quotes above yours; I'd say yes.
It sounds like it's one of the best UHD Blu-ray transfers, and improves over the remastered Blu-ray included in the package. Even the Blu-ray improves over the two previous Blu-ray releases. That says a lot about this premium product from Warner Bros. Eastwood is big with Warner, and 'Unforgiven' they treat it right.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

This would have been a transfer that screamed for Dolby Vision, but WB didn't see it that way.

Another year they will.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Veger69

How does dynamic contrast adversely effect the pic because when set to high it improves the shadow details on dark scenes on oled65g6p

Dynamic contrast messes with gamma to lighten or darken the picture based on what it thinks will look best. I'm sure it's way more complicated than that but that's a quick and dirty explanation. Ideally you want to see the disc as mastered and want dynamic contrast off, though OLEDs supposedly have near-dark issues and you're not the first person to mention liking dynamic contrast with darker discs.

[elwaylite]

Pretty good, been awhile since I had seen it and still love it. He spends 3/4 of the movie trying to convince himself and everyone else he ain't a stone cold killer.

I felt the PQ was pretty good. A couple of night shots were kinda sketchy but watching in a dark room I was fine with it all, and the day shots were gorgeous and sharp. Couple of times it goes from a night shot to a bright prairie shot, and I squinted LOL. Audio is about how I have experienced from some older flicks with lossless audio, most of the time they sound ok, but things like gunshots can be a bit brash and I did not notice a lot of LFE.

[GasmaskAvenger]

Brilliant movie with a fantastic 4K transfer.

First time watching it after wanting to see it for years and boy...it sure as hell was worth the wait.

As of now, this is easily the oldest movie I own on 4K (beating out the original Independence Day by a good four years). Looking forward to getting Goodfellas next as I only own the old Two-Disc DVD set (not the Deluxe reissue, but the old Special Edition from many years ago).

[LordoftheRings]

Another great review from a well calibrated display.

[PS3_Kiwi]

Seems that Ralph Potts over at AVS thinks that PQ and AQ are just okay (review on previous post). Some people are getting carried away with this release, and, although I haven't watched it yet. Reviews that I have read, agree that its not a reference disc, or even close to it. I will still get it, as its probably the best its ever been.

Although this guy is a little crazy. I find him to be pretty much spot on with his 4K reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lKt...ature=youtu.be

[LordoftheRings]

Ralph is the best...one of.

* The guy from that video above; his conclusion regarding full price...he is dam right. Wait for a deep discount indeed, or if you get it for free then . . . bonus.

[PS3_Kiwi]

Its $AUD24.98 ($US18.60) at JB Hi Fi Australia, and will drop to $AUD19.98 ($US14.90)when they have their next 20% off sale (which happen quite regularly).

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/movies-tv-...rgiven/421266/

[Croweyes1121]

FWIW, you can count me amongst those who find this disc to be just far, FAR too dark. I'm watching on a calibrated E6, and good grief are the blacks oppressive. Maybe there's a bad batch of these, because no one watching what I watched last night could possibly think this was the way the film was intended to look. Most irritating, I actuallly preferred the look of the new blu-ray. Take the "we all have it comin', kid" scene. The sky is so white and blown out behind Clint in close-ups, and he so lost in shadow, that you lose virtually all detail on him. Maybe not technically, but practically and at a normal viewing distance. The blu looks fine. And there are SO many more instances of things like this. The "I'll see you in hell, William Munny" scene is SO black that I struggled to see FACES between the two men, and this was in a COMPLETELY dark room. It's borderline unwatchable. I should note that this is not an issue with my OLED panel or a case of having brightness set too low. *Nothing* else I've watched has looked remotely like this. So disappointed.

I'm evidently in the vast minority on this disc. But just know that YMMV.

[mzupeman]

I can see why opinions vary wildly, but I didn't find blacks to be oppressive at all, and my set isn't a premium one. To each their own!

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

FWIW, you can count me amongst those who find this disc to be just far, FAR too dark. I'm watching on a calibrated E6, and good grief are the blacks oppressive. Maybe there's a bad batch of these, because no one watching what I watched last night could possibly think this was the way the film was intended to look. Most irritating, I actuallly preferred the look of the new blu-ray. Take the "we all have it comin', kid" scene. The sky is so white and blown out behind Clint in close-ups, and he so lost in shadow, that you lose virtually all detail on him. Maybe not technically, but practically and at a normal viewing distance. The blu looks fine. And there are SO many more instances of things like this. The "I'll see you in hell, William Munny" scene is SO black that I struggled to see FACES between the two men, and this was in a COMPLETELY dark room. It's borderline unwatchable. I should note that this is not an issue with my OLED panel or a case of having brightness set too low. *Nothing* else I've watched has looked remotely like this. So disappointed.

I'm evidently in the vast minority on this disc. But just know that YMMV.

My E6 is pro calibrated and I did not have those issues. Who calibrated your display?

I usually agree with Ralph's reviews, and as a true fan I loved it because it is the best way I have ever seen it. That being said, for just a fan of the format, it isn't a title to WOW you.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

My E6 is pro calibrated and I did not have those issues. Who calibrated your display?

I usually agree with Ralph's reviews, and as a true fan I loved it because it is the best way I have ever seen it. That being said, for just a fan of the format, it isn't a title to WOW you.

ISF did my calibration. As I said, maybe there's a bad batch of these, because I absolutely don't have these problems with anything else I've ever viewed on my panel, even extremely dark films.

And you're right, I really wasn't looking for a wow factor disc. But the dark scenes are just so, so, so dark that it's ridiculous (at least on my copy). Ironically, I found the scenes around the campfire to be the nicest of the dark shots, as I found the only light source coming from the fire to be incredibly lifelike and realistic. Hardly any shadow detail there made sense. And I know this has never exactly been a bright film, but even my wife noticed things were hard to make out in some scenes, and she really doesn't notice things like this.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

My E6 is pro calibrated and I did not have those issues.

FWIW, my HDR settings...

OLED Light and Contrast, 100
Brightness, 50

Many other settings have been tweaked, but I believe these are essentially HDR standard anyway (well, not that there IS a standard...but you know what I mean). I don't know what else would really impact the issues I experienced.

[elwaylite]

I think your brightness may be a little low. If you use an HDR move at the end credits, with very little credits on the screen, pause it and increase brightness until the bars glow, and then slow move back down and see where you end up. Do this with you nose to the screen basically because its hard to see on an OLED. Could be you need 51 or 52, and that could help.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

I think your brightness may be a little low. If you use an HDR move at the end credits, with very little credits on the screen, pause it and increase brightness until the bars glow, and then slow move back down and see where you end up. Do this with you nose to the screen basically because its hard to see on an OLED. Could be you need 51 or 52, and that could help.

I'm at 51 for SDR for what that's worth. It just gives me pause in suspecting my settings when I've never seen this issue with any other film. If everything (or some other things) were also looking too dark, sure. But when it's this disc and this disc only...?

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

I'm at 51 for SDR for what that's worth.

Mines 52 for SDR and 51 for HDR, BUT, mine has had a white balance cal in both modes, so that affects the outcome, or can.

[freinhar]

So somewhere around 10 pages ago I promised to rent the Vudu UHD version, which uses Dolby Vision, and report back on how it compares to people's observations on the UHD Blu-ray. Only just got around to it tonight!

Before I touch on the look of the film, I should note that I'd (somehow!) never seen Unforgiven before, and thought it was absolutely fantastic. I'll be picking up the UHD BD for sure, as I'll want it in my collection permanently.

The TV I watched this on is a 79" LG Super UHD TV (so not an OLED), using the Dolby Vision Movie Bright setting (self-calibrated).

Overall, given the source material (and keeping in mind I was streaming it, not watching from a disc) I was very impressed with the picture quality. I'm no expert but the transfer looked great to me. Landscape shots in particular looked stunning, and there was a good level of close-up detail as well (e.g. Eastwood's grizzled face). I thought the use of HDR was good throughout - subtle, but giving the movie a very naturalistic and life-like look.

Coming to the question that seems to have dominated the thread, being whether the movie is too dark, in my case that was definitely not the case. Is it darker than most movies, especially during the night time scenes? For sure - but that seems appropriate given the time period it's set in. I never struggled to make out anything that was going on during the night scenes, if anything I got the feeling that I was seeing exactly what the filmmakers were intending for me to see. Some on prior pages have commented that they found it so dark that they had trouble making out people's faces during instances like the "I'll see you in hell" scene. I encountered no such issues. I was not watching in a particularly dark room, and could easily see not just what was going on, but make out the details of people's faces, etc.

Now, to the more specific questions of whether it's darker than the normal Blu-ray, and whether the Dolby Vision version I watched is less dark than the HDR10 version. I was hoping to post some photos so you could draw your own conclusions, but there was no way of taking a shot of my screen that came out in any way representative of what I was seeing in person. So the best I can do is describe any differences I saw versus the screengrabs others have posted from the normal Blu-ray and the HDR10 UHD version earlier in the thread.

In comparison to the normal Blu-Ray screengrabs others have posted, I'd say the UHD version has a definite uptick in detail levels in the night time scenes. I'm not sure whether it's actually less dark (definitely not more dark), but I could make out a lot more detail. Compared to the HDR10 UHD screengrabs, my impression was that the Dolby Vision version on Vudu did have better detail levels and visibility, but it was a minor difference, not a major one.

The only negative lighting related observation I had was actually during the daytime scenes - it seemed to happen a few times that when shots changed during the same scene (e.g. showing one actor from one angle, then a different actor from a different angle) there would be quite a noticeable and jarring change in brightness. For those that have watched the UHD Blu-ray, I'd be curious whether you noticed this too or whether this quirk is specific to the Dolby Vision version.

If anyone has any other questions about my admittedly very amateurish opinion, please feel free to ask!

I'll end this rather lengthy post by saying I cannot wait to re-watch this movie.