Source France | Publisher : Disney | Release date : 10 January 2024
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 2.39
HDR10 / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
English Dolby Atmos
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles
English
French
Rated 4 out of 5
Artistic : 8 | Video : 8 | Audio : 8
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Philips 65OLED908 (HDR Filmmaker Mode)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (Dolby Atmos | Dolby Surround), SVS SB-4000
WORK - The Good, the Brute and the Hunter
After the fall of the Empire and the founding of a new Republic, a Mandalarian bounty hunter was tasked with bringing a child back to his sponsors. When he's fond of his target, he's going to become the object of a galactic tracking...
Not without mentioning the series of the 1960s In the name of the law, this western space that reconnects with the original spirit of The Star Wars plays the (winning) card of formal simplicity (a rejoicing vintage aesthetic) and narrative (the little adventures of a bounty hunter) to quietly lay the foundations of his extended universe. And worn by one of the most charismatic characters of the saga (camped by Pedro Pascal), no doubt the fans of the first hour will find their account. So did I say!
IMAGE - Once upon a time in the desert
A result of a DI 4K, this UHD HDR10 transfer sometimes hurts (a handful of plans per episode) by a compression not as solid as expected (the presence of color banding in the sky when the TS-TT faces the villagers) does however bring many improvements vis-à-vis the Blu-ray AND Disney+ stream (encoded in Dolby Vision).
Compared to that of its counterpart 1080p, the image is greatly enhanced (the faces, costumes, accessories, decorations and even textures of some CGIs), its increased clarity (sand grains, Grogu's hairs, the fur of the lothcat), its reinforced contrasts (the shadows are better defined), its enhanced brightness (even though most sequences remain weakly illuminated) and its bright colours (from the jingle opening with blue and red lights reflecting on helmets). As regards the artistic will of the chief operators Barry Baz Idoine and Greig Fraser (Rogue One, The BatmanHowever, the majority of blacks are not deeper and continue to be sparsely dense (and therefore a very nice palette of grey).
More limited but still notable, differences with SVOD diffusion are mainly on the side of encoding which has been significantly improved (furlings are more discreet), details which are better defined (cf. the carling of ships in the darkness of space) and light sources otherwise more refined. It must be said that being not intense by nature (the nit do not fly away), it is indeed in their ease to detach themselves in the ambient darkness that they mark points (the stars, the light indicators on the control panel of the Razor Crest).
SOUND - The Mandalore Way
Effective (dynamics and immersion are there) even if lazy to produce real bass (impacts are not quite striking), the VO Dolby Atmos provides a very conclusive sound wrap.
The spatialisation of the effects was very well arranged (the exchanges of fire) with an engaging surround scene and a noticeable verticality (in particular during the space battles), the dialogues are made distinctly and the excellent partition of Ludwig Göransson is not lacking in scope.
Inevitably less well spatialized (less spatial precision), the VF lossy defends itself thanks to a much more expressive LFE channel (explosions, ionic motors).
CONCLUSION - Star Wars Strikes Back
First live-action series of the successful franchise launched in 1977 by Georges Lucas, the iconic The Mandalorian allows his season 1 (and eight episodes) to emancipate from the platform Disney+ to join the ranks of the physical support with a 4K Ultra HD (the beskar sied rather well to its A/V performances) respectful of the credo!
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