Software Features

A great demo sequence can help separate a good speaker system – or hi-def display – from a mediocre one. With that in mind, Home Cinema Choice's expert reviewers Danny Phillips, John Archer, Steve May, Richard Stevenson and Adam Rayner reveal the Blu-ray discs they use to put new AV equipment to the test…

With its reputation confirmed by its CGI character-creation work on the Lord of the Rings movies and Avatar, New Zealand facility Weta Digital seemed the ideal choice to create the myriad simians for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But how did Joe Letteri, senior visual effects supervisor and a director of the company, tackle the challenge of creating convincing characters?

By the end of the year, nearly all the key AV receiver manufacturers will have models compatible with the new Dolby Atmos 3D audio format. Atmos differs from conventional surround in that it features a height component and 'object-tracking' skills.

New Home cinema formats don't come around all that often. Ultra HD Blu-ray is the first physical media platform to give system owners pause for thought since 3D Blu-ray, itself now six years old. Anticipation before its launch was therefore high – would 4K discs (with HDR, too) make good on the promise of a genuine step-up in quality? Would studios hit the ground running with an extensive, desirable catalogue of titles? Would player and display hardware arrive well-featured, well-designed and well-priced? We've now had a year to ponder all these questions and more...