Lumagen Radiance Pro

[AVSMike]

I am, and HDR. I'm going to re-visit a few 4K Blu-rays now. I think John Wick 2 has some good scenes to test.

Go to an unused user mode and try the tone mapping and see what it looks like. Granted it is not calibrated, but would be interesting to know if you see an improvement in the highlights. 

[AVSCraig]

Go to an unused user mode and try the tone mapping and see what it looks like. Granted it is not calibrated, but would be interesting to know if you see an improvement in the highlights.

I am using the dynamic tone mapping. I looks excellent. Chad's calibration is just a gamma curve. The dynamic tone mapping works with HDR or SDR BT2020. I just happen to be using it with my existing calibration. And I must say - it's an improvement over anything the Panasonic UB820 can do, by far. As you would expect ! 

[AVSCraig]

It's easy to toggle the dynamic tone mapping on and off and see the difference. 

[Baseball0618]

I am using the dynamic tone mapping. I looks excellent. Chad's calibration is just a gamma curve. The dynamic tone mapping works with HDR or SDR BT2020. I just happen to be using it with my existing calibration. And I must say - it's an improvement over anything the Panasonic UB820 can do, by far. As you would expect !

Pretty sure Kris Deering was one of the people that mentioned you should not use tone mapping on top of a custom curve.  I know that when Chad B was at my place he also confirmed this which is why he did a calibration only (no arve tool curve) for the SDR 2020 setting he made to utilize my UB820s tone mapping.  Glad that it seems to be working for you though.

[AVSCraig]

Pretty sure Kris Deering was one if the people that mentioned you should not use tone mapping on to of a custom curve.  I know that when Chad B was at my place he also confirmed this which is why he did a calibration only (no race curve) for the SDR 2020 setting he made to utilize my UB820s tone mapping.  Glad that it seems to be working for you though.

If I recall he said don't use the UB820 HDR optomizer and the new JVC RS1000 / 2000 etc. HDR optomizer at the same time.

Well, I either use both the calibrated HDR with Chad's custom curve and the Dynamic HDR Tone mapping in the Lumagen, or no Dynamic HDR tone mapping in the Lumagen at all, or I use the Dynamic Tone Mapping in the Lumagen but with an uncalibrated setting in the projector. Toggling it on and off shows what it does, and it does not detract from the base calibration or look bad in any way - only better in most scenes - like the entire beginning of Solo on 4K. I'm not using HDR - SDR2020, just HDR. I've played around with that a little, but to look as good as just using the custom gamma curves Chad installed would require a full blown re-calibration from someone like Kris. That isn't going to happen any time soon. From what I can see, the Dynamic Tone Mapping in the Lumagen just makes a great HDR picture even better. And it's going to have to stay like it is for the foreseeable future. 

[AVSCraig]

The latest Lumagen DTM firmware update seems to work better than ever. I must say I'm really impressed with the Lumagen Radiance Pro now. Pretty much a must have component for me at this point. 

[DLCPhoto]

Is it possible to configure this for use with Projectors such that it has a constant output in terms of pixel resolution, depth, frequency, etc., to reduce HDMI handshakes to an absolute minimum?

For example when playing a Blu-ray, it will often switch from whatever the player itself is putting out, to the Blu-ray menus, coming attractions, etc.  Lots of switching back and forth.

I still have the RS400 and those 15-20 second handshakes occurring repeatedly when trying to simply start watching a movie are really irritating.

I realize everything else that the Lumagen brings to the table, but wondered about this particular issue.

Thanks.

(I do plan on upgrading to a newer JVC, with much faster sync times, but not until they provide proper anamorphic modes to use with the DCR lens.)

[AVSCraig]

Is it possible to configure this for use with Projectors such that it has a constant output in terms of pixel resolution, depth, frequency, etc., to reduce HDMI handshakes to an absolute minimum?

For example when playing a Blu-ray, it will often switch from whatever the player itself is putting out, to the Blu-ray menus, coming attractions, etc.  Lots of switching back and forth.

I still have the RS400 and those 15-20 second handshakes occurring repeatedly when trying to simply start watching a movie are really irritating.

I realize everything else that the Lumagen brings to the table, but wondered about this particular issue.

Thanks.

(I do plan on upgrading to a newer JVC, with much faster sync times, but not until they provide proper anamorphic modes to use with the DCR lens.)

I believe so, and I think Kris Deering has mentioned doing this. Of course the newer JVC's have a faster sync time. And you could use the Lumagen to scale for 16:9 with the DCR lens with the new JVC's too ( see what a slippery slope this is ? )!! 

[DLCPhoto]

I believe so, and I think Kris Deering has mentioned doing this. Of course the newer JVC's have a faster sync time. And you could use the Lumagen to scale for 16:9 with the DCR lens with the new JVC's too ( see what a slippery slope this is ? )!!

Thanks Craig.

And yes, it is my understanding that this would fix the anamorphic problem for 16:9 content, but apparently it is unable to address working with 3D content.  This is a limitation inherent to the JVC, and not the Lumagen, according to what Kris has explained to me.

But yes, a *very* slippery slope.

I'm also anxiously waiting to see what the MadVR Envy will bring to the HDR Projector world, in terms of features, price, etc.

[AVSCraig]

Thanks Craig.

And yes, it is my understanding that this would fix the anamorphic problem for 16:9 content, but apparently it is unable to address working with 3D content.  This is a limitation inherent to the JVC, and not the Lumagen, according to what Kris has explained to me.

But yes, a *very* slippery slope.

I'm also anxiously waiting to see what the MadVR Envy will bring to the HDR Projector world, in terms of features, price, etc.

Hard to determine if that will take months, or years. And then who's going to be the beta tester. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

[DLCPhoto]

Hard to determine if that will take months, or years. And then who's going to be the beta tester. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

I know.  Madshi indicated in one post that something would be out this year, but who knows...

That's why I went ahead and bought a Panasonic UB-820 so I could take advantage of the Tone Mapping and Dynamic Range Sliders for my RS400.  I put it into use a couple of days ago, and am pleased so far.

I watched Justice League last night, and while I can't say it looked better than what I had previously with the Philips BDP-7501, it looked extremely good.  At the last I should be able to get more consistent output from one movie to another.  No DTM, obviously, which would be awesome, but at least a reasonable step in the right direction.

I haven't definitely decided against a Lumagen, but can wait a while to see how things evolve with both products, as well as on the Projector side of things.

[AVSCraig]

I've decided on a setting of 6 for the HDR dynamic tone mapping. Still looks outstanding, but a little less aggressive than using a setting of 8. 

[AVSCraig]

I'm looking forward to seeing how " Pacific Rim " on 4K looks with the Lumagen HDR dynamic tone mapping - I have not watched it in quite a while ( since before the Lumagen ). 

[AVSCraig]

Big Radiance Pro firmware update coming. Hopefully Kris Deering will chime in. Stay tuned. 

[Kris Deering]

Hey Guys. Meant to post something yesterday but I'm battling Bronchitis at the moment, so I've been trying to take it easy and limit my time up and at the computer. I received the latest beta of the dynamic tone mapping for the Lumagen Radiance Pro the other day and went through a barrage of testing. This coming soon update is nearly a completely new build from the ground up on the tone maps and how they are processed. So completely new curves, and updates to scene detection along with other misc. bug fixes. The new curves are fantastic with obvious benefits in near black and scene detection. I went through an onslaught of scenes that I've found to cause issues with tone mapping and even went through a lot of the scenes frequently mentioned in the MadVR thread for causing issues and didn't see any! The balance of the tone maps is fantastic regardless of what I threw at it. Without a doubt the best tone mapping and HDR Iv'e seen to date. Keep your eyes peeled! I expect this build to drop very soon. 

I will be reaching out to my customers once it does on the update and what settings I recommend with the new tone mapping!