As I overheard a fan saying at this year's Italian Global Series television festival in Rimini, Star Trek was one of the first TV franchises that you had to own physically in order to see the entire thing.

With so many different iterations of the overarching IP — from the classic 1960s series to Star Trek: Voyager, and more recent additions such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — it's not surprising that this has been the case for almost 60 years.

But the rise and dominance of streaming services is leading to an increasing reliance on digital services. After all, why spend more of your hard-earned money on discs when so much of Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+ at the click of a button?

However, with season 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy still not having a confirmed release date for Blu-ray, 4K and DVD formats, we're reminded of the reason why physical media is still important.

There's often no guarantee that a show or movie will always be available on a streaming service or in a digital format, meaning the only way to guarantee access to content you want to watch time and time again is buying a physical copy.

But if the studios behind shows such as Starfleet Academy don't confirm physical-media release dates, what then? Should Star Trek fans be worried that the opportunity to invest will be taken away from them?

According to Jeri Ryan, who played former Borg drone Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard, it's unlikely that this will be the case — even if the 'tech bros' are intent on taking over mainstream studios.

'There's a sheer number of collectors who want to have the physical thing'

"I haven't actually heard about this, but I can't imagine that physical media will go away entirely, because there are too many collectors," Ryan replies when she's asked about Star Trek's physical media presence potentially disappearing.

"These studios are primarily IP companies. More so than ever now that all of the studios have basically been taken over by tech bros as opposed to creatives. It's about dollars, and numbers, and if there's money to be made. I think there probably always will be just by the sheer number of collectors who want to have physical things in their possession.

"I can't imagine that it would get entirely done away with. Maybe I'm wrong... I hope I'm not."

This isn't the first time that Ryan has been outspoken about the entertainment industry's relationship with technology. In April 2026, she testified in support of California Senate Bill 1050, which would "target false advertising by requiring clear and conspicuous consumer disclosures whenever a synthetic digital performer is used in state advertisements."

Ryan's certainly right in thinking that many factors, from over-reliance on streaming services to the increased use of AI, could affect the future of the Star Trek franchise in ways we haven't even imagined yet.

But for physical collections, I've got a feeling that Ryan's optimism when it comes to demand means these releases won't be going anywhere. But if Paramount could hurry up and announce a disc release date for Starfleet Academy to put our minds at ease, that would be great.

• It's a full Dolby Atmos mixing studio... in a shed
• Designed to deliver accurate Atmos audio with pin-sharp precision
• Artists are delighted with the mixes, which required no tweaks

If like me you used to have, or still have, a backyard office or shed for working in, you're going to be green with envy at the sight of mixing maestro Kurt Martinez's personal Dolby Atmos studio.

The award-nominated Atmos expert designed and built his own backyard office and filled it with enviable gear, and if he doesn't call it his Spatial shed I'm going to be very disappointed.

Martinez has been nominated for the prestigious Music Producers Guild award as Atmos Engineer of the Year, and he spent three years as the Head Dolby Atmos Mix Engineer at the world-famous Dean Street studios. He's worked on live and recorded music by a host of stars including Kylie Minogue, Def Leppard, Soft Play, Billy Idol and Duran Duran.

Like many freelancers, Martinez figured that having a home office was a much better idea than a long commute into the city, and in Martinez's case that decision was compounded by being a new dad. So he built an entire Atmos mixing studio in his back garden, doing everything himself apart from the electrics and internet connectivity.

How to make a spatial shed

As Mixonline reports, Martinez built the 2.5m x 3.5m garden office with a combination of porous timber walls to absorb the low frequencies, acoustic panelling in the ceiling and sides, a large rear bookshelf for dispersion, and acoustic slat panels at the front. There's thick acoustic underlay below the laminate floor and even the furniture has a function: the armchairs and rug are there to absorb audio reflections.

With the building ready, the next step was to add the tech. Martinez uses a Pro Tools system based around an Audient ORIA, which sends audio to a Ginger Audio Ground Control Sphere that's controlled by an Elgato Stream Deck+.

The speakers are striking. They're PMC6-2 left and right monitors, a PMC6 center speaker, an 8 Sub LFE, and Ci30 height and surround monitors. Final mixes are tested on AirPods Max and a Sonos home theater setup to check that still sounds good on consumer Atmos hardware as well a studio-level setup.

I used to have a very similar-looking setup for my own home studio, but sadly I didn't have Martinez's high-end gear or even more importantly, Martinez's ears, which is why nobody's nominating me for anything.

But I do love to see a good audio project, and it's clearly been very successful: according to ETNow.com Martinez's last five full-length records, which he mixed in that studio, required no tweaking at all when he tested them in large commercial studios.

All five of those records have been signed off by their delighted artists. I'd like to think that one of them was Shed Seven.

Blu-ray turned 20 this year, and although streaming is now the way most people watch films, physical media is dead is far from dead. Collectors are still buying Blu-rays for their new restorations, special features or limited-edition packages — and younger audiences are discovering the value of owning their films rather than dealing with your favorites disappearing on your all the time.

So if people still want to watch movies on discs at home, is there a Blu-ray successor on the horizon to offer something new?

Every major home video format before it has eventually been replaced. VHS gave way to DVD, then DVD gave way to Blu-ray. As someone who appreciates the quality of Blu-ray films but isn't an expert in the technology behind them, I assumed there would be a straightforward plan for something to come supplant them. Maybe an 8K Blu-ray? Maybe another physical format I've never heard of because home cinema is an interest of mine rather than my specialism?

But after speaking to analysts, hardware manufacturers and the organization behind Blu-ray itself, I discovered that most of them don't think another disc is coming. In fact, there’s no obvious "next format" about to be unveiled, and I wanted to find out why.

Why Blu-ray still has loyal fans

To understand why the future of Blu-ray is such an interesting topic, it's worth first getting to grips with why people still buy it. And the top reason came up in every conversation I had: ownership.

"Ownership matters more now than it did in 2005. When you buy a disc, you own that film. It’s yours, permanently, in its best possible form, sitting on your shelf whenever you want it,” says Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, the group behind the development of Blu-ray.

He tells me that people are switching on to the fact that most of what we “buy” digitally today is really a license that can change or disappear. His comments come shortly after Sony removed over 500 purchased movies from people's accounts without compensation, and right at the same time as Disney+ was forced to remove 4K and HDR support in many countries.

“We frequently hear complaints about people losing access to content they thought they’d purchased, and there have even been lawsuits brought on exactly this issue,” Matsuda says. “A disc doesn’t have that problem. Nobody can reach into your home and take it back.”

I've spoken to many physical media collectors over the years, and ownership is almost always the first thing they mention. But the second reason is quality. Ultra HD Blu-ray is still widely considered to be the best technology for watching films at home.

"20 years ago, Blu-ray set the standard for what a movie should look and sound like in the home, and it’s a standard both consumers and the industry recognized,” Matsuda tells me. “Ultra HD Blu-ray remains unsurpassed as the best overall experience for consumers.”

He explains that this has been the case even as streaming services have rolled out 4K and HDR. “The respective Blu-ray formats became the benchmark they chased, and in my opinion they still haven’t caught it. Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray remain the reference,” Matsuda says. “A stream can approximate it, but the disc carries the full, uncompressed picture and sound with nothing thrown away to fit a data cap.”

Olivier Semenoux, Europe head of GTM and Product Management at TCL Electronics, explains that much of that comes down to bitrate. "Blu-ray can be coded up to 128Mbps because that's the disc's technical limit,” he explains. “Streaming is a different story, most popular platforms cap out natively around 25Mbps, with some going up to 40 or 80Mbps.”

Unfortunately, the latter is very rare — when it comes to the big streamers, 16 to 18Mbps is the maximum you can expect.

This means that Ultra HD Blu-rays carry significantly more data per frame than a typical stream, meaning less compression and what you see at home is more of the original picture and sound being preserved. It's one of the reasons discs continue to set the standard for anyone who really loves home theater.

Variations of the same argument came up repeatedly in conversations with manufacturers too. I spoke with Rob Jones, President of Magnetar, a manufacturer of high-end 4K UHD Blu-ray and universal disc players. “When consumers invest in physical media, they get ownership, content preservation, and quality control,” he says. “While streaming is incredibly convenient, it cannot match physical media when it comes to that combination.” Jones says that’s what continues to drive Magnetar’s investment and development in this space.

But that doesn't necessarily mean streaming and Blu-ray are in competition. One of the more surprising things I heard was that several companies see them as complementary rather than competing technologies.

"We see many customers choosing both formats," Kenichi Ikenoue, Head of Strategic Planning at Panasonic Consumer Europe, tells me. "They enjoy the convenience of streaming for everyday viewing while turning to physical media when they want the highest picture and sound quality or want to own their favorite films."

Why 8K isn’t the answer

If Blu-ray still has loyal fans, isn’t the next step an 8K successor? That's what I expected to find, as someone who isn't deep on movie production. Instead, almost every expert I spoke to questioned whether there was any need for a successor at all.

"Honestly, I don't think so, at least not right now," says Victor Matsuda. "From a BDA [Blu-ray Disc Association] perspective, we don't see anything from content creators or consumers to indicate a need for a new format. They’re both extremely satisfied.”

There are signs elsewhere that the industry isn't preparing for another optical disc format either. In 2025, Sony announced that it was ending the production of recordable Blu-ray discs, MiniDiscs and MiniDV cassettes, saying that there would be "no successor models". Now, while that decision applies to blank recording discs rather than pre-recorded movie discs, it seems to reflect a broader shift away from consumer physical media formats.

One obvious reason for a new format would be 8K support, which is a format that would theoretically offer four times the resolution of today's 4K discs. But that wasn't what the experts I spoke to had in mind.

"The resolution race is interesting, but I don't see 8K finding a place with consumers anytime soon," Matsuda says. "The content community, meaning the Hollywood studios, produces its content in 4K and has stated their intent to continue doing so. Additionally, a number of manufacturers have dropped 8K from their lineups."

Jones agreed that 8K isn't ready for the mainstream, but says the challenge goes beyond content. It's also about the wider home theater ecosystem. "8K is a distraction until it's mainstream and the ecosystem simply does not justify it," he says.

He points out that an 8K player wouldn't just require 8K discs, but would also depend on compatible TVs, projectors, AV receivers and processors. "In order to sit down and experience 8K content, a viewer's entire home entertainment chain needs to support 8K," he says. "A consumer would need to replace every single link in their entertainment chain with a component capable of supporting 8K, which is impractical at best."

And it seems as if lack of demand isn't the only reason experts are sceptical. Some argue we've reached the point where higher resolutions matter much less than other improvements we can make to picture quality. "HDR and wide colour gamut make a far bigger difference to perceived picture quality than resolution does," Semenoux tells me.

Which means the challenge facing an 8K Blu-ray isn't just about a lack of content or compatible hardware; it's that the improvement itself may not feel significant enough to justify an entirely new format.

That's exactly how Mark Vena, CEO and Principal Analyst at SmartTech Research, sees it. "Frankly, an 8K Blu-ray would be a technical feat in search of a commercial problem to solve,” he says. “There's still little native 8K content, 8K TV adoption is modest and streaming platforms will almost certainly meet mainstream demand before another optical format ever reaches critical mass."

In other words, it’s not as if we’re all sitting around waiting for a new format to happen, it’s more that it doesn’t really have a reason to exist.

What creates a new format?

Vena’s point made me realize I'd been thinking about this the wrong way. Every major home video format solved an obvious problem. DVD improved on VHS by offering non-degrading video and the capacity for extra features. Blu-ray improved on DVD with the space for higher-quality video. And now we have Ultra HD Blu-ray, which improved on Blu-ray's quality further.

Crucially, each of those steps solved a real technical problem. But right now, there isn’t a real problem that a successor to Ultra HD Blu-ray could actually solve.

Matsuda explained this to me using a framework from his time as a product planner that he calls "needs" and "seeds". A "need" is a problem consumers or the industry want solving. A "seed" is a new technology that has the potential to create that demand in the future.

"I don't see a compelling driver for a new format at the moment," Matsuda says. "I think it's unlikely that a new format would arise out of consumer demand as there doesn't appear to be an expressed need. Similarly, Ultra HD Blu-ray continues to deliver content that takes full advantage of display technologies so I don't see a need arising from the industry side."

Matsuda says that could change. "From a seed standpoint, companies may have some technologies in development that could plant those seeds,” he explains. “But in my view, if a driving factor ever prompts a new physical format, it will most likely be the emergence of content the internet infrastructure simply can't deliver at scale without compromising quality. As long as streaming can handle what people want to watch, I don't see any real pressure for a new disc."

So a technological breakthrough on its own wouldn't be enough, a new format would also need the entire industry to then build around it.

Panasonic’s Ikenoue makes the same point from a more commercial perspective. "A successor format would also depend on significant investment from film studios and content providers. New hardware alone would not be enough. The content ecosystem would also need to support a new format. For the moment it is difficult to see the requirement for a successor."

A successor wouldn't just need a better disc, there’d have to be a need to even build that better disc in the first place. Only then would studios create the content, manufacturers would build the players, TV makers would support it and consumers would decide if it was worth upgrading. But right now none of the experts could identify a good enough reason.

What if the successor isn’t a disc at all?

That doesn't necessarily mean Blu-ray is the end of the story. Optical storage technology is still evolving. Companies are developing discs capable of storing far more data than today's Blu-rays, but the key thing is that they're aimed at archiving data on an enterprise scale rather than at home entertainment. Which means they aren’t about to become the next movie format that you’ll buy.

Instead, several people I spoke with pointed towards a future where the successor to Blu-ray isn't about discs. "If Blu-ray has a successor, it may not be something you can hold in your hand," says Mark Vena. Rather than another physical format, he believes the future lies in premium digital delivery through high-quality, studio-certified, lossless downloads stored locally on home servers or network-attached storage.

"This is why the real successor to Blu-ray, for most consumers, is not another disc at all," he says. "It's the combination of ultra high bitrate streaming, cloud libraries and AI-powered video optimization that's closing the quality gap."

So maybe the future isn't about replacing Blu-ray with another physical format but instead preserving the quality of audio and visuals that enthusiasts value about Blu-ray without even needing a disc in the first place.

One possible future is already beginning to emerge. Kaleidescape, a company specializing in premium digital movie delivery, offers downloads with bitrates to match what Blu-ray is capable of, preserving much more picture and audio quality than traditional streaming services while still providing the convenience of instant access.

Kaleidescape even recently launched a new 'Cinematic 4K' format for movies, which it says will offer even higher-quality bitrates for video, promising over 100Mbps of average bitrate (not maximum), which it compared to 60Mbps of average bitrate for 4K Blu-ray in its own marketing materials.

"In 10 years, the highest-quality movies at home will be delivered digitally, not on disc," Tayloe Stansbury, chairman and CEO of Kaleidescape, tells me. "Consumers will expect instant access, reference-quality presentation, and technology that evolves with each generation of content. That's the future Kaleidescape is building today."

However, for many fans of Blu-ray, the biggest hurdle here is still ownership and Kaleidescape's technical proficiency doesn't address that. It's a digital storefront, and the same concerns of losing access to things you've bought still applies.

Kaleidescape told me that its priority is delivering the best possible digital collecting experience rather than addressing licensing, and it declined to comment on people's increasing concerns about this side of buying movies.

Digital purchases may be able to close the gap on quality, but until they can offer the same promise of permanence as a disc, then physical media will continue to offer something digital can't.

Blu-ray remains resilient

When I first started researching this story, I thought I'd be talking to experts about the technology that’s waiting to replace Blu-ray. But instead, I learned the future is a little more complicated than that.

Every home video format in the past has reached a point where its limitations became too impossible to ignore. But Ultra HD Blu-ray appears to be in a different position. According to the people building and supporting the format, there isn't an obvious problem left for another new type of disc to solve. It still delivers the highest quality experience available to most consumers and continues to attract collectors who are willing to invest in physical media.

Looking at recent sales numbers, the Blu-ray market is much healthier than I expected. Mark Frampton, Senior Commercial Marketing Manager at Elevation Sales, a film sales and distribution company, says the format has remained remarkably resilient.

"We’re forecasting 2026 to be another year where the market stabilizes. Catalogue [older releases] has been very strong and only 2% down year-on-year. This is driven by collector’s editions and steelbooks, particularly on 4K Ultra HD which remains a format in growth."

In other words, older film releases are continuing to sell well, with premium collector editions helping to keep the market strong — and it's not just older enthusiasts buying discs today.

“Although the core buying audience is still people over 35, we’re increasingly seeing younger audiences entering the market,” Frampton tells me. “People aged between 25 and 34 are the second biggest buyers of Blu-ray. But Gen Z and Younger Millennials (aged between 14 and 30) who are experiencing ‘digital fatigue’ are becoming highly engaged in the format as well."

The wider industry paints a similar picture. Kath Summersgill, Group Joint Head of Sales at Key Production Group, an agency specializing in physical music manufacturing and creative packaging, points to figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association showing continued growth. "The current state of the physical movie market is incredibly encouraging, with ERA’s 2025 figures showing Blu-ray sales increased by 19.5%,” she says.

Now, these surprisingly healthy numbers don’t mean Blu-ray discs will be around forever. Streaming will continue to improve, premium digital libraries will become more sophisticated and companies like Kaleidescape are already demonstrating that top-quality movies don't necessarily need to be on a disc.

All of this means another physical format may never arrive. Instead, the next chapter for home theater could be digital — but there's a long way before collectors would be ready to trust digital libraries.

For now, at least you know you won't have to worry about buying your favorite movies yet again on another new disc format in the future.

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Dolby Atmos gets plaudits as the more popular immersive 3D sound format, but a lot of its love from home theater enthusiasts isn't about the spatial audio, but is more about the lossless audio quality you get on 4K Blu-ray. It's not the only game in town for this, however: there's also DTS-HD Master Audio (MA).

I’ve been testing new 4K Blu-rays as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, my monthly feature where I review the best new 4K releases for sound and visual quality, and tons of them use DTS-HD MA — especially older titles.

While DTS isn’t supported as widely in hardware as Dolby Atmos (new-release LG and Samsung TVs don't support DTS, for example), it’s an excellent sound format that can still deliver an immersive surround sound experience, especially in 5.1 surround systems.

While DTS-HD MA may not utilize height channels like Dolby Atmos does, there are a few 4K Blu-rays I’ve tested whose DTS-HD MA soundtracks sound so good, they had me asking who needs Dolby Atmos height effects anyway.

Below, I’ve picked seven of my favorite 4K discs that feature brilliant DTS soundtracks — most are 5.1 surround sound, but one is actually stereo (as the creator intended).

What do you think of Dolby Atmos vs DTS? Any other DTS 4K discs you think people should check out? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Chungking Express

Chungking Express follows the separate stories of two policemen in Hong Kong, both of whom are going through breakups and meet new strangers.

Where the DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack shines here is capturing the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. During one scene where Ah Wu (Cop 223) enters a night market, the sound of raised voices, goods being exchanged and the general chaos of a busy market sounds realistic and detailed.

The surround channels are used to full effect and sound is accurately mapped to them. The movement of sound had me double-checking the room, the sounds of the market are so convincing and tactile.

A later scene where Cop 663 visits a restaurant, the conversation of the patrons, clinking glasses and cutlery being used are given ample room to breathe, and the sound placement is precise. Again, the scene had that immersive feel that I’d found during the aforementioned night market scene. Throughout, the jazzy score is well balanced with other elements in the mix.

Tombstone

Tombstone follows the story of Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), a retired lawman who moves to the titular town with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton), and along with Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) they must defend the town from a group of outlaws.

As you’d expect from a Western, there’s plenty of gunfights that demonstrate excellent surround sound and dynamic range. The DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack here accurately maps ricocheting bullets to rear channels, while also following their trajectory. There’s good impact from said bullets too, showing some nice power from the front channels.

Elsewhere, other effects such as the clinking of spurs have a bright, clear sound and again sound realistic, with a clear connection between the sound and the action. Whenever horses gallop, there’s some meaty bass that delivers a solid rumble. The subwoofer of the system I use delivered plenty of oomph that even made our testing lab shake. Crucially though, despite bass volume, it’s well controlled and balanced within the mix.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk, directed by Christopher Nolan, follows the events of the Dunkirk evacuation in WWII, told from three different perspectives of people in the land, sea and air. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy.

Christopher Nolan notably never uses Dolby Atmos with his movies, and Dunkirk is no different. While any Nolan movie could make this list (and this isn’t the only one), Dunkirk is easily one of the most impressive.

In the opening scenes, as the British soldiers attempt to outrun the gunfire, the mapping and directionality of the bullets was pinpoint accurate, coming from behind my head and ramping up the anxiety. These bullets also had plenty of impact and punch, delivering some serious power with every hit.

This is another DTS mix that despite a lack of height channels, delivers enough immersion that it feels like there’s height. Anytime a plane flies overhead, there’s absolutely perceived height, and the drone of the plane's engines has a clear sense of direction. Throughout the movie, bass levels are powerful but well controlled and dynamic, really giving a subwoofer a workout.

Interstellar

Interstellar is the story of Coop (Matthew McConaughey), a NASA pilot who joins an expedition to find a new home for humans, as Earth succumbs to famine and crisis. The movie also stars Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine among its cast list.

Christopher Nolan’s second movie on the list, Interstellar delivers an impressive showcase for DTS-HD 5.1 MA. As the Endurance navigates the Gargantua wormhole, bass levels are strong, but there’s an added (intentional) sense of direction to the low frequencies as well, as the sound moves from the front to the rear speakers to create a fully immersive and engaging sense of reality bending around you. The roar of the ship’s engines delivers a seriously powerful rumble too, showing what your subwoofer can do.

There’s some fantastic detail within the sound mix too. During Coop’s daring docking sequence with the out-of-control Endurance, the sound of debris crunching into the ship and the directionality of the spinning ships are all intricate, audible and precise. There’s an excellent balance between every element, even with the powerful, organ-led score over the top of it — this is a really tough scene for speakers to drive, and is a great showcase for why Blu-ray is superior to streaming: it sounds so much weaker from any streaming source, but is brilliantly overwhelming here.

As Coop encouncters the black hole, the rattling sound of the dust again scrapes along the outside of the ship convincingly and sharply, really putting me inside the Ranger ship myself.

Minority Report

Minority Report, loosely based on Philip K Dick’s novella The Minority Report, stars Tom Cruise as John Anderton, the chief of the Precrime unit, which uses clairvoyant people to predict homicides before they happen. When the clairvoyant ‘precogs’ predict that Anderton will commit a homicide, he must go on the run.

Despite the lack of height channels in the DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack featured on the Minority Report 4K Blu-ray, there are plenty of scenes where a sense of height is created. During the jetpack fight scene, the movement of sound and the spatial elements within the scene are enough to create the feeling of height to the mix.

The same is true in another scene where John escapes along a magnetic car freeway. Cars over John’s head, as he scales up the automated lanes of traffic, sound like they’re coming overhead, even with the missing height channels in the mix.

The detail in this disc’s soundtrack is just excellent. Other elements such as punches during fight scenes deliver solid impact and heft, with some meaty bass as well.

Fight Club

Fight Club is the story of an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton), who's an insurance agent who meets a mysterious soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and starts an underground fight club for disillusioned people.

As you’d hope from a movie as gritty as this, there’s plenty to like about the 4K disc’s DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack. During fight scenes, punches and collisions have real impact, feeling every bit as gruelling as the scenes themselves. More visceral sounds, such as the bag of fat splitting open, are gruesome and realistic, sounding worryingly detailed. The narrator’s speech is crystal clear throughout most of the movie too, balancing well with the score and other effects.

Again, this is another mix with a real immersive feel in some scenes, delivering perceived height effects. During the opening, as the camera drops down through the building where the narrator is held at gunpoint, to the parking garage below, the sound of the breeze accurately follows the trajectory of the camera, creating that sense of height despite the lack of height channels.

Blow Out

Blow Out follows Jack Terry (John Travolta), a sound technician who is embroiled in a murder/assassination plot when he inadvertently captures evidence of the assassination while recording audio for a low-budget slasher film he’s involved in.

What makes this disc’s soundtrack so interesting is that rather than DTS-HD 5.1 MA surround, which the other entries in this list have been, this uses a DTS-HD 2.0 surround mix, preserving the original presentation, but in the best-quality mix we can deliver today.

While stereo may sound limited, some excellent sound design means the movie absolutely feels immersive. This is best demonstrated during a scene where Jack records audio in the park near the opening of the movie.

As he aims his microphone to capture audio, the sound of the wind and distant traffic fills the space with subtlety. When louder audio comes in, such as the hooting of an owl, the other effects don’t go away. As the car swerves off the bridge, the sound of the screeching tyres moves from side to side, again utilizing the surround channels well. There’s still some good impact as the car crashes through the fence into the river, too.

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• SyLC 3D Player supports everything from 3D Blu-ray to Apple spatial videos, and it can convert 3D video to display it on Apple Vision Pro headsets
• It's backwards and forwards compatible — and the creator says it can get dual-HDMI output for dual projection, for future-proofing
• The app runs on Windows, and is free via Github 'because this format deserves better than a slow death'

One of the great tech disappointments of the last few decades was 3D TV. Like many movie fans I was excited by the possibilities, invested in a 3D TV, and watched the entertainment industry ensure that yet again, 3D movies were a short-lived trend. By 2013, it was already generally agreed that 3D TV was dead and that smart TVs and 4K were the way ahead.

Not everyone got the memo [I had mine until 2020… -Ed]. Over on the r/audiovisual subreddit, Jarod-The_Centre is determined to ensure 3D never dies — so they have been making a free player that now "plays EVERYTHING in 3D" from Blu-ray to Apple spatial videos.

And that's just the beginning of its talents. If you're a fan of things pointing out of the screen for no good reason, Jarod's player is fascinating.

I refused to let 3D die ! So I spent months building a free player that plays EVERYTHING in 3D: Blu-ray MVC, 4K HDR side-by-side, even Apple spatial videos. And it converts your 3D Blu-rays to Vision Pro format... from r/audiovisual

What does the 3D player do?

What doesn't it do? The player, called SyLC 3D Player, is a Windows app that's now in its fifth release. It's designed to play three different generations of 3D content: Blu-ray 3D/ISO/MVC MKV; HEVC/H.265 3D up to 4K 10-bit HDR; and Apple's MV-HEVC spatial videos. "The MVC of the 2020s, playing on your 2010s 3D TV," Jarod writes. "There's something poetic about that."

The app outputs in frame-packed 3D for compatible 3D TVs and projectors, and it can do something else that's really impressive: it can export 3D content as MV-HEVC, so you can take a 3D Blu-ray and turn it into a spatial video for Vision Pro.

I love Jarod's explanation for making the app. "It exists because this format deserves better than a slow death, and because apparently I don't know when to stop."

Jarod's in good company. Reddit's response to the latest announcement has been really positive and packed with good ideas, so for example Acceptable-Rise8783 suggests that for future-proofing, the app should be able to "send the two fields separately but in sync through two HDMI outputs."

With 3D TVs and projectors becoming increasingly hard to find — as they point out, "projectors are dropping support left and right because the chips that do 3D are becoming hard to come by" — the choice of viewing platforms will be reduced to dual-projector 3D or VR headsets.

The creator says this is something likely to appear in the player in a future version as the player already drives two windows simultaneously — and it means that dual projectors is the most 'future-proof' option for 3D, and the app supports it as best it can.

The whole discussion is fascinating, and I think Jarod sums it up beautifully. "Keep the faith. The format's not dead while we're still building for it 🔥".

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You may not have heard of the Armour Home Group, but you have almost certainly heard of its three hi-fi brands: Q Acoustics, QED, and Goldring. Q Acoustics is one of the masters of great-value value speakers, QED is one of the best-known cable makers, and Goldring is a 120-year-old turntable specialist.

And you may not have heard of its new Managing Director, Charlie Henderson, but you will absolutely have heard of the audio brands he's helped to lead, including Cambridge Audio, Naim, and Jabra.

I've met Henderson before in his roles at Cambridge and Naim, and I was fascinated by how the email I received announcing his appointment promised to focus on expanding the brands "beyond the hi-fi" sector.

I wondered if that meant moving into more 'mainstream' parts of the audio world, and I wasn't sure how that would really work with a brand like QED, so I wanted to find out more — but it turned out that Henderson had something completely different in mind.

He wanted to talk about how the brands can support the return of public listening rooms, how they can engage with the new wave of people getting into hi-fi — and how the hi-fi world can get its "mojo" back.

TechRadar: You said in your introduction at the company that "My goal is to elevate these brands beyond the hi-fi sector and into the broader music community", referring to Q Acoustics, QED, and Goldring. So what do you have in mind?

Charlie Henderson: I have felt for a long time that the hi-fi industry has lost some of its mojo. If we go back to the '50s, '60s, '70s — kind of the essence of British hi-fi in particular — lots of those company founders were either part of rock bands, or they were gigging, or they were visiting live venues, and that's why they got into this industry. So a real love of music was always there.

I think we've seen maybe over the last 10 years or so that it's gone a bit stale. And I think in all the roles I've had in this industry, I've been really keen to make sure that we reboot it. So we talk about our mission as a business, which is to move beyond the hi-fi bubble and become part of music culture — almost as though that's revolutionary, but it's not; it's just going back to what hi-fi was. It was always part of music culture.

But if we think about going around Vienna High End or the Bristol Hi-Fi Show or any of these kinds of events, it's usually less about the music and it's mostly about the equipment and the technology. I think that's a shame. It's not why I'm in this industry; it's not why all the people I tend to find that I'm working with are in this industry.

So that is our mission, and the way we do it is by just being authentic about why we're really here.

TR: It's funny, of all the big tech shows, IFA is the one that has started doing what you're saying, and trying to be a cultural hub as well as a tech show. But really audio is such a kind of tangential part of IFA compared to these music shows that you're talking about.

CH: I remember chatting to a [very respected] hi-fi journalist at the Munich show a couple of years ago, and he just hung out with us. This was in my Cambridge [Audio] days, he just kind of just hung out because he was like, 'Man, at least someone's playing some proper music.'

You walk around the halls and it's Kate Bush and Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and all of the usual stuff. Great artists, they're still important musical acts and incredible — but decades have moved on and there's different artists today, you know? People like Fred Again and Ren are my two favorites at the moment, because I think they're British artists who are defining the real musical culture right now. And I haven't heard any Fred Again or Ren at an audio show.

I probably would hear it at IFA, and I think it's because IFA represents companies who understand that they are part of consumer culture. I think the hi-fi industry maybe sometimes thinks that consumer culture is a dirty word. I couldn't disagree more. Knowing who your customer is and what appeals to them and being part of their world, that's our responsibility as manufacturers ultimately.

TR: So what do you see music culture as being in 2026? We're in the middle of one of the most interesting times of audio I can think of, where the new audience who grew up on streaming are coming in and going, ‘I want to move beyond this.’ And that is partly behind the vinyl revival with young people really wanting to actively get into that side — but it's also leading us in the direction of every device having streaming built in or being ‘active’. There are these two arguably separate paths, so where can you ‘meet’ music culture as a company?

CH: There's a little bit of convenience going on here. Active is clearly a future direction for our industry, fueled by convenience and simplicity. I've spent a long time in my career involved in separates hi-fi, and that has a place, but I think even companies who have been focused on that over the last few decades realize that active is the direction of travel. I think that's down to people just wanting a simpler life.

But then there's the ironic flip side of that. We talk about the vinyl revival and analog renaissance and all these things, [including] CDs. I'm using one of my old Motorola phones for my phone because I don't always want to be connected on a smartphone.

But one of my favorite cartoons is [the one that asks] ‘What got you into vinyl? Was it the inconvenience or the expense?’ You know that one? I think the ritual [of playing and choosing vinyl] is really important.

Just for a second, I'm going to kind of dive off into part of how we'll execute our mission. You know, moving into being more a part of music culture isn't just about understanding the music side of it, it's actually how people experience music. I think as an industry, the hi-fi industry has long lamented the question: how do we get people to come in and listen to what music should sound like?

I don't believe [getting people to come to us] is the right answer. Go to where people are listening to music and show them how it could sound. There is a bar culture called the kissa bar culture that came out of Tokyo over the last 20 or so years. It manifests itself in these listening rooms, and you see them at Studio 180 in London, for example. Spotify has just announced its own version of one of these listening rooms as well. That's where music culture is for me.

There was a great article I was reading the other day where it's basically saying listening rooms like that are the new nightclubs. I thought that was super interesting because it's a place where people just assemble, share a passion of music. They might be sipping nice teas or drinking great whiskey or maybe just chatting, you know? It's a place to socialize.

We're seeing this resurgence of gaming, and I mean board gaming. I think that's beautiful, because it's people coming together and escaping the distractions of modern-day technology. It's definitely a younger audience who are doing that because they are sick to the high teeth of everything being online, everything being intangible and losing that connection with friends.

You're seeing it also manifesting in things like running clubs appearing and becoming a huge thing for people in their teens and 20s and early 30s, just craving for human connection.

And I think that is part of music culture. It's human connection. It's why gig tickets are going through the roof again — Glastonbury's selling out faster than ever.

And people really spend more on music, on a hi-fi system or an audio system. They're quite happy with their [premium] Apple Bluetooth products, they're already spending that money. They're dropping £1,000 on Glastonbury tickets and spending all this money on Taylor Swift to get the eight different versions of an album that she releases. They're obsessed by music, but they don't know who to talk to because no one's talking to them.

TR: This might tie back to what your plan is to get out there and interact with people, but the immediate problem that occurs to me with having more of these spaces — and about these spaces becoming more popular even though there's appetite for them — is the general collapse in the ‘third-place’ concept. Places you can go that are not work and that are not home and that are also sustainable businesses. A lot of these places are struggling. Board game cafes have done all right, but you've got maybe one or two per city. They're not like how pubs and bars have been absolutely everywhere in the past. So do you see yourselves opening some of these venues, or supporting them directly in other ways?

CH: I think the pub reference is interesting because we've seen a decline in pubs. We know how many pubs are shutting every week, and nightclubs. I think it's just a different way of people getting together. I'm not surprised that there's only one or two [board game cafes] in a town, because there's probably only ever been one or two nightclubs in a town. Clearly not the same number of people going through [board game cafes as nightclubs], but it's just a place where people can get together.

But just because they're not doing it publicly, doesn't mean they're not doing it at home, you know? We know that vinyl and turntable sales continue to increase year over year over year because people are creating their own environments at home.

In terms of how we execute it, it's by working through our relationships that we have as a team — and that I bring to the business as well in terms of relationships in the music industry and venues within the music industry — and saying ‘how do we support you creating your own listening bar environments’ or being able to [develop] kissa bar culture.

And doing that globally, importantly, as well. We might be based in the UK and proudly British hi-fi brands, but we're a global business, so how do we get a venue in Tokyo, the home of all of this culture? We've had some really good conversations in Vienna just last week about being able to do this in places in Australia, and opportunities in places like New York and across Europe. Spain, Italy and France are way ahead of the UK when it comes to this listening bar culture already.

And then obviously in the UK, our approach will be to support those venues either by equipping them with the right kind of technology to be able to deliver it, or helping people to open them. There's a difference between pop-up events, which are fun for the industry, and actually supporting these venues to be successful in what they're trying to do.

There's an ethical story here. Sometimes people say, ‘So what is it you do as a business? You're making stuff?’ I'm like: no, it's bigger than that. We make products for sure, but they transform people's lives.

It sounds very floaty and you know, almost ephemeral, but it's true: music changes how people feel, so we have a responsibility to make that available to people wherever they want to be. That's kind of our cultural thing, and we'll do that by making sure that the great kit that we make is in the places they want to go to — the two come together.

The outcome is that people realize that [our brands are] actually part of music culture, and therefore we are the people who are signposting who they could listen to great music through, and that's the business upside of it.

TR: So when you talk to these places about what support they need from you, what are they saying?

CH: Support financially. Equipment. There are some which have been really successful with very advanced audio systems, but most locations can't manage that.

We are proudly in the accessible end of the spectrum as a company, particularly around the Q Acoustics range. It's high-quality equipment, but it doesn't cost the Earth, so we can help some of these smaller venues perhaps be part of this movement; we can loan equipment to them, or work with them on [cost]. I think that's probably the practical thing that we'd be able to do.

TR: You’re talking about getting closer to music culture and being a music-listening brand, not a technical brand, if you think of it in those terms. Do you think that's something that separates you from the Chinese hi-fi brands that are exploding in popularity? A lot of them feel quite led by technical people who are able to create pretty incredible products for low prices, but the pitch feels based on technical specs.

CH: I think these brands aren’t that different to traditional hi-fi companies. You know, I've worked in a number of brands where it’s an engineering-led culture — and there's a bit of a transformation that we'll do at Armour Home; there's a degree of engineering-led culture [there].

What has been fun is seeing everything from the engineering teams, but also that our designers saying, ‘Hang on, we could be bolder and braver and less safe and actually be really exciting.’

So I'm already seeing renders for products that will come out in the next 12 to 18 months where I'm like, ‘Yeah, OK, now we're talking’. These are products that really speak to having a sense of style and presence, and really selective decisions around the colors, materials and finishes that we use, and being much closer to interior design. Pantone colors of the year and these similar cultural cues that matter [to people] — just being cool and relevant, that alone is more than maybe the Chinese brands are able to do because they're not attuned to it in quite the same way.

There is a distinction, though. It isn't just British tastes that matter; it's understanding the global tastes as well. So working with our global distributors as well to really get a sense of what is current right now in China or in Australia or in the US, and bringing that as a bit of a mix. Otherwise we fall into the trap I think British hi-fi brands have done in the past where they think everything starts and stops at the English Channel.

TR: Right now, Goldring is really a turntable accessories company that happens to make one turntable [the Goldring GR3]. So, is your plan to expand its reach by offering more turntable models, or are you thinking more about expanding the kind of accessories it makes into phono stages or something else that's not in the range at the moment?

CH: One of my observations when joining the Armour Home Group is that we focus a lot around the Q Acoustics business. And then we have two other businesses within it, which are Goldring and QED. I think that focus is a miss, [and] that's a shame, because we have 120 years this year of history with Goldring. It is one of two of the oldest audio brands in existence, and it has been there at all the defining moments over a century.

Then we have QED, which is 53 years old this year, and it was the brand that started the whole cable revolution from bell wire to proper audio hi-fi grade cables. Something called the Genesis report, which was written by the guys at QED, is still the bible that everyone else has followed ever since.

Q Acoustics has been the new kid on the block a little bit. It's 20 years old this year, so I kind of joke with people in the business that it's not a teenager anymore, we're a grown-up… but we have 120 years of Goldring.

So in the context of your question, Goldring is a beautiful thing for us to have in the family because it allows us to talk about 120 years of history, and iconic decks like the G99 or GL75 with Lenco that were built over the decades. But it's also bang up to date, because vinyl culture is hot.

So we have to do a couple of things. One is to celebrate the past and then also bring things bang up to date in the future. I've had some extraordinary conversations with some of the people I've met in this business, but one of them in particular is a guy called David Giffin.

He's been in the business for 40 years, his father was in the business for 41 years before that, and he was sharing with me this extraordinary scrapbook of all of the sort of cuttings over decades of this business.

That is extraordinary in itself, but he's now the person that people come to from all of the forums going, ‘This is the guy who can rebuild whatever cartridges from around the world’. He's showing me pictures of some Japanese cartridges, like super-esoteric cartridges made out of marble, that he's been tasked with repairing.

So this extraordinary level of skill sits in our Goldring team, and we don't talk about that nearly enough; it's extraordinary. How do we make that manifest itself in the consumer world? We let people know that we have some of the best cartridges, certainly for consistency of performance, that money can buy. We've got everything from entry level right up to Ethos at the top level

You can come to us for turntables too. We have GR3 as a turntable at the moment, and without giving any secrets away, of course we're looking at what more we can do more around that.

But I need to make sure that [a new] turntable is something truly iconic that celebrates 120 years of Goldring, that reminds everybody that this was the brand that started it all, and can sit proudly in a kissa bar environment, celebrated on this plinth, almost like they're shrines. Something that's truly special.

And then at the same time, [should] tie our brands together, so I can use QED technology in the development of that turntable, and I can also make sure we've got Q Acoustic speakers that do service to a turntable with 120 years' worth of history. That’s where some of these new flagship projects that we're working on are really exciting, because the material choices alone are bold.

I talk a lot internally about the thread between the brands. They're not disparate brands. We're incredibly fortunate to have three brands that bring everything together from the source through the connectivity through to the output, and we need to do more of that.

TR: So we should probably expect a cohesive, very premium, very celebratory set of stuff to come from this thinking?

CH: This is where I get kicked under the table by my PR handlers. You should expect a much more bold and confident view as to what we bring to market because I believe we've earned that over many, many, many, many decades.

TR: Are you considering doing something like special edition versions of Q Acoustics speakers that are Goldring-branded or designed? Q Acoustics' design language tends to have friendly, rounded corners, and rounded edges. I look at the GR3 and I see this stark, hard-edged cuboid block. Do you want a set of Q Acoustics speakers that are equally hard-edged and glossy-finished, [and] maybe have the Goldring logo on?

CH: I think it could be that way, or it could be the other way around. You could see a Goldring turntable that leans more into the home-friendly design, or I could see everything elevating to a new design approach as well, sure.

What I can be clearer about is that I think it's important that there are technology linkages where possible across the three brands, and design cues where appropriate across all three as well, without betraying the core design fundamentals of each brand. It's a balancing act.

TR: The biggest missing pieces of your portfolio are the amp and streamer. Is that something you think about expanding into, or do you think the future is more in the combined active speaker route in the Q Acoustics range?

CH: There are two parts to that. We have our core business, and we have our distribution business in the UK, and it’s important to mention that our distribution business is really interesting.

We've got Xgimi at one end in terms of cutting-edge projector technology; we’re just rolling that out with retailers across the UK, and we literally can't keep up with demand.

Almost at the other extreme we've got Grado. Cool as hell, legit New York vibes, super interesting, iconic design. And then in the middle we've got Burson Audio, a head-fi and amp brand.

But there is the missing link [in our brands], which is amplification and streaming. Active speakers definitely support that, clearly, but we have a very successful passive speaker range, and I need to work out how to tackle that. Is that through partnerships? Is that through collaboration with existing manufacturers in the industry, those who are on the same mission as us of understanding that music culture is really important for the industry? Or do we treat it as a distribution opportunity for us in the UK? And I don't have the answer yet, but I know it's important.

TR: QED is surely the hardest brand here to expand beyond the core hi-fi community, unless you take a bit of a left turn. So what is your thinking there? Would you keep QED as a nice ‘glue’ option to connect everything together, or is there some future for QED that goes beyond what it does now?

CH: I would start by saying it’s about re-remembering that QED is the brand that started it all, and helping that awareness grow. There are other brands out there who've established a strong position in the premium and luxury cable sector, but they're all essentially going back to the Genesis report.

We are working on redefining the ranges, I'll put it that way, so you'll see some news coming out of QED fairly soon anyway.

I think connectivity is a question in itself. Cables were the original connection, but now wireless is a connection, and so I'm certainly pondering in my idle moments about whether QED should be in that wireless area. Because it's the modern day glue, and it's interesting you ask the question because it's definitely in my mind.

TR: You alluded to this earlier, but it's the old business study question of asking ‘What do we actually sell? Is it cables or is it connections? And if it's connections, then should we think about something medium than cables in the future?’ Is that the kind of question you're exploring for QED?

CH: Absolutely. And I’m only four weeks in, which is why I'm not giving you clear answers, but I can see that there is a clear consumer understanding among those who know us today that we are the connection. But there are consumers today who don't even know us, they're not being signposted well enough because of the music culture topic we've gone into as to how they listen to music — so they might recognize QED as being the connection, but they're only used to wireless connectivity. And so what do we do with that?

TR: I'm sure you are not going to have anything specific to say on this subject when it comes to products, but it's very relevant to this topic: have you seen the Pro-ject Wireless Box E? They've made this little box that connects directly to the speaker posts on the back of your passive speakers, it plugs into power, and it makes them wireless using the WiiM platform.

CH: I think that's actually quite exciting for our category. A theory I have is that a lot of people are starting to inherit hi-fi, so family members might be getting to an age or passing on, sadly, and people are discovering turntables in the loft. ‘What do I do with this?’

That's interesting for me as well, which is getting people on a journey. One of the companies I worked at was world-famous for understanding the importance of being there at the beginning of someone's journey and being with them for life. It’s a separates company, and it's the upgrade journey that people went on that's really important to me. It's one of the things that I'm talking to the marketing teams about, within the group. It's about making it easier to understand where you start and where you could go.

QED is a perfect example actually, where it's a bit of a maze and really hard to navigate, so making sure that, just from a packaging and a communications point of view, people know where they are on that journey. Are they at the beginning? Are they at our ‘good’, our ‘better’ or our ‘best’ — so they can work out where they could step up through their audio life.

I don't think we have done that enough in our ranges. It's the same with our 3000 series to our 5000 series range, and then up to our Concept portfolio, in Q Acoustics. It's making it really clear about what this [product] does at this level, what you can expect at this [higher] level and what you can expect at this [highest] level. This idea that it's always a little itch that's not quite scratched; it could always get better.

TR: One of the entry points that I think we're seeing a lot of at the moment is desktop speakers. You guys have compact speakers, bookshelf speakers that are pretty small — but in particular, there's this kind of breakout sector right now that’s one step down in size from there. Quite often wireless or active, but designed for people who are getting into the audiophile stage via their desktop. Based on what you were just saying, are you guys exploring more of these opportunities where there is some breakout sector where you can say ‘OK, this is where we can get people on board in our journey’?

CH: I'm gonna half answer that. We have three different bookshelves in our 3000 series and the same in the 5000 series, and those are to meet the needs of three different kinds of bookshelf customer. Some of them are international, like the 3030c, because they’re the bigger of the lot and the US buyers like a larger volume for the cabinet.

The 3010 and 5010 are our small footprint version. They are used in home offices a lot, but I think there are new audiences coming through. There's gaming, and there are younger consumers who might be in flat shares or whatever that need something smaller. So yes, we are watching that part of the industry very closely.

TR: We’ve talked a lot about music, and that's kind of clearly where your focus is as far as building a new identity and the opportunities. But Q Acoustics has such a successful history in the home theater space; it was one of the earliest pioneers of soundbars and soundbases, but left that area really right as it was exploding — though exploding with entries from the likes of LG and Samsung. At the moment, there's no a product in that area; is that something you could see the brand getting back into, or do you want to focus on that music side?

CH: So there is a crossover. Being part of music culture doesn't mean it's exclusive to other elements of it, and I think home entertainment and AV is still very much part of that culture of entertainment. And it is important to us strategically; we still have products in the range that allow us to satisfy a lot of those needs. We have a range of subwoofers from entry through to high performance.

In terms of the soundbar category, it’s quite a scary category. It's very hard to compete with free, and the TV manufacturers will offer a soundbar as free, or give a retailer the latitude to offer it for free to close a TV sale.

I've been actively involved in some products in that space in the past, and I've seen how successful they can be if they are designed really well.

I'm dancing around an answer to say: no plans at the moment. It is a category that I look at with curiosity, but I'm not sure if it's the absolute priority yet. Surround sound, yes — but soundbar, I'm not sure yet.

TR: In surround sound, what we’re seeing there is, again, a lot of people who are ready to step up, in the same way as we talked about people in hi-fi wanting to move up in the journey. One of the key trends happening in home theater right now is the move to wireless surround systems. Do you think that is a route you can see Q Acoustics going down? It's a complicated technical thing to deal with, but I feel like it's something that any company in the space right now needs to reckon with.

CH: So we've definitely got the capabilities to develop solutions in that space. An area we haven't talked about is install, and I think there is a bigger opportunity actually about making install an option for homeowners. We have a branch of products that we call ‘easy install’ — the name says it all, you know, super easy for the average DIYer through to electricians to install. I see that there's probably a future for much more there, in terms of in-ceiling speakers and maybe some satellite speakers to create this environment.

There's a whole tangent we could go down about whether Atmos has gained momentum. I think for me, it's still a ‘watch and see’.

But I think the idea of in-ceiling or in-wall speakers and satellite speakers, and maybe some floorstanders or bookshelves as an option, and them all working together, that's interesting — and I think wireless within that environment is really interesting. And by ‘interesting’ that means ‘yes, I'm considering that’.

The ‘easy install’ stuff is super interesting though for us, because we've all been in this industry a long time. We've seen that installation systems are seen as complex and scary and difficult and expensive. You need a server-mounted system and you need specialisms and you need lots of complexity and disruption to your home… it isn't like that anymore. I've been really blown away.

My wife doesn't know this yet, but I'm going to switch stuff out in our house, because I've suddenly realized how easy it is. Q Acoustics has a thing called the E300a, which is essentially a built-in amplifier and streaming modules in a down-lighter-like size. Wire it up to a couple of in-ceiling speakers, you've got a system ready to go. It couldn't be easier. Voice controlled, so you can say ‘Alexa play BBC 6 Music’ or whatever.

I don't think people realize they can do this yet generally, and that they can do it themselves on a weekend, or they can get their local electrician to come and pop it in, because it's easy. And we're trying to support the electrician channel to do more of that. Maybe that's more interesting than the soundbars on their own.

Let's get nerdyish for a second. HDMI ARC I think is really, really important. Thank God for it, because I think particularly if you're earlier on in your [hi-fi] journey, you have to make some compromises, but you can enjoy hi-fi quality sound through an HDMI ARC interface and it'll still be part of a pseudo AV system.

Sure, it's compromised because you're not going to get the bells and whistles coming from all around — Titanic isn't going to sound quite the same — but it's going to sound beautiful when you listen to music. In that kind of relationship between ‘is it music’ or ‘is it audiovisual’, I think it’s entertainment as a whole, and finding the best of both worlds. HDMI ARC has been a savior.

TR: There's also the element where, if people go to [the] Reddit home theater community for their advice on whether to buy a soundbar, or which is the right soundbar, what they will get is a lot of people saying that they should actually get a stereo setup. There are people who say this will always be better than any soundbar, and you guys do have that option in your active speakers.

CH: That's what I mean; you can get the best of both worlds. That stereo presence though is always going to be better; that’s the point, isn't it, because you're not compromised by [having] the bar in the middle.

TR: So finally, what is the holistic brand proposition you want to offer from Armour Home? If you're addressing what you want all of your brands to do at once, and you’ve got this idea of how you can integrate with the community, what do you want people to think about Q Acoustics and QED and Goldring in combination?

CH: I want people to see that there is a relationship between all three brands that takes us from the origins of the audio experience right up to the modern day. That there is some confidence in those brands, that we understand the legacy that they bring, and that Q Acoustics kind of brings that freshness to it as well.

That we can bring those technologies together more, so there's more integration there and the design and feel about them having a relationship closer together as well. So rather than Armor Home as a parent company being a collection of brands, Armor Home is the home of source through to the output.

And that we've got a vibe as well, that we're not passive, forgive the pun, in this industry — that we recognize that it's about the hairs on your arms. It isn't just about the engineering.

It's just about having a shared passion and experience and being visible to everybody in the places that they enjoy being. This idea of ‘we'll come to you, you don't need to come to us because we are the same as you’.

As a Batman fan, I was disappointed to learn last week that The Batman Part 2 has been delayed until February 18, 2028, another four-month wait to add to add to its last (delayed) intended release date of October 1, 2027. This latest holdup is actually the fourth time the long-awaited sequel to The Batman has been delayed, with its initial release originally set to be October 2025.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to enjoy Batman content at home while we eagerly await The Batman: Part 2’s 2028 release. From Christopher Nolan’s iconic Dark Knight Trilogy to the awesome Batman: The Animated Series, there are tons of choices. And there’s no better way to enjoy Batman’s many adventures than with a 4K Blu-ray. I’m a 4K Blu-ray fan and collector, so I’m always testing the latest releases for the Blu-ray Bounty and finding new discs to test the best TVs and best soundbars.

Below, I’ve picked three of my favorite Batman-related 4K Blu-rays, not just because they’re my personal picks, but because they’re also great examples to show what 4K can do, especially for your home theater.

The Batman

Where else to better prepare for The Batman: Part 2 than with its predecessor, The Batman. Matt Reeve’s The Batman follows Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattison) in his second year as Batman, where he must face The Riddler (Paul Dano), a revolutionary who uses a series of riddles and puzzles to test Batman, as Riddler plans to expose Gotham’s corrupt government and elite.

The Batman has become one of my main 4K Blu-rays for testing TVs. Due to its low brightness, some TVs can really struggle to accurately display the movie, compromising its dark tones. But, there’s also plenty of excellent-looking scenes with powerful contrast, balancing light and dark tones, that can really show off a TV.

The opening 20 minutes of the movie itself is all a big demo-reel for contrast. From the dark subway platform illuminated by overhead lamps as Batman fights a gang of thugs, to where we first see Bruce decoding Riddler’s clues in the Batcave, The Batman delivers truly dynamic and strong contrast, which I've found look superb on the best OLED TVs in particular.

There’s also a chance to show a display’s shadow detail, with plenty of scenes making use of shadows to create a captivating image. The aforementioned subway scene is one of these, with truly dark shadows creating a foreboding atmosphere that fits the gloomy tone of the movie.

There’s excellent detail throughout, with crisp textures that look refined and lifelike. Close-up shots show scars, wrinkles and stubble on people’s faces with impressive clarity, and texture in environments, like Mayor Mitchell’s house or the Batcave, are given a near-3D level of detail.

The Batman is an audio showcase as well as a visual one. The Batmobile chase has become a reference scene I use for showing off a sound system. The ignition of the Batmobile’s engines deliver room-rattling, powerful bass that through a subwoofer can create some serious roar. The 4K disc uses a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that creates an immersive and detailed sound.

As the Batmobile chases Penguin across a busy freeway, serving traffic and blaring horns are accurately mapped to the action. As Penguin fires a spray of bullets at the Batmobile, the sound glides around a surround system, as I found when using soundbars such as the talented Samsung HW-Q990H. There are plenty of Atmos effects too, as rain regularly falls throughout the movie, effectively using the height channels of any sound system.

The Dark Knight

Arguably the most popular Batman movie ever made, The Dark Knight is the second movie in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy. It’s one that’s stuck with me ever since I saw it as a teenager in theaters in 2008. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is a couple of years into his time as Batman and he faces his biggest challenge yet, when he squares off with the unpredictable and chaotic Joker (played brilliantly by Heath Ledger).

Unsurprisingly, where this disc shines is in its IMAX sequences. These IMAX scenes show impeccable detail and crisp, 3D-like textures. In the opening bank heist scene, every detail is refined, from the creases in the robbers’ masks, to the texture in buildings of the densely packed city. Oh, and don’t be surprised when the ratio changes from widescreen to fullscreen: that’s normal for IMAX on home media.

Black tones and shadow detail are excellent during the film's night scenes too (of which there are plenty), and they look superb on an OLED TV. Contrast is also strong, particularly during the prison escort scene. As trucks move under the freeway, the overhead lights balance well with the dark, shadowed areas of the tunnel to create dynamic contrast.

This disc is also an audio powerhouse. With a DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack, there’s some fantastic detail. During the tunnel escort scene, the whir of Batman’s bike riding through the tunnel is mapped perfectly to every channel. As perspective changes, so does the sound. Bullets are precise, flying from the front to rear channels when the movie is from Batman’s point-of-view, and every individual effect is audible, such as flying debris and swerving tyres.

Bass throughout the movie is truly powerful. Bullets have serious impact and the roar of the Batmobile’s engines delivers tightly controlled, but hefty low-end that reverberated through our testing room when I watched.

The score is a showcase in and of itself, with superb separation across different channels of the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar I was using. In the opening scene, the scratching strings came from the left rear, the ticking sound from the right, and the heavy bass exploded from the subwoofer. Crucially though, every element was perfectly balanced, within the score itself and with all the action.

Batman Forever

This pick will raise eyebrows, I’m sure. But, honestly, Batman Forever is the Batman movie I grew up with and despite its very corny nature, I enjoy it. It scratches the exact part of my brain that occasionally craves a nostalgic Batman fix. The movie follows Batman (played by Val Kilmer) as he does battle with the Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) as they attempt to take over Gotham.

While this may be a surprising choice for a lot of people, this is a seriously good-looking 4K presentation. Batman Forever uses a lot of bold and vibrant colors, and in 4K, they really pop on screen. The green of the Riddler’s gaudy outfit and the purple of Two-Face’s injured side compliment each other well. There’s also a lot of neon-esuqe lighting used in the movie, with light tubes, red detail on Two-Face’s minion’s guns and the shimmering greens of Riddler’s hideout and event space. All these colors have a gorgeous punch that looks sharp and dynamic throughout the movie.

Shadows are used a lot, with characters often standing over lamps or in shaded rooms to create strong contrast in images. The LG G6 OLED on which I watched this movie in our testing room celebrates these rich and inky dark tones, with the leather of Batman’s armor showing nice depth, but also balancing well as the light reflects off it. Shadow detail is excellent too, with textures in dark areas on screen legible (yes, even the strange texture of Batman’s armor). Skin looks realistic in the many close-up shots used, too.

This 4K disc also supports Dolby Atmos. There’s some excellent use of height channels throughout, with the sound of helicopter Two-Face uses to escape in the intro coming from overhead as I watched. Explosions have plenty of meat to them, producing some lovely low-end rumble during the movie’s more action-packed scenes. The sound of the Batmobile’s engines firing is another great demo for the powerful bass in the mix.

More subtle details are also fully audible. The sound of Batman’s batarang as he throws it is precisely mapped, with the sound eagerly following its trajectory. Bullets have great punch to them, and again these are accurately posited within the surround channels. Speech is consistently clear throughout too, even during the most chaotic scenes. You might not necessarily expect this movie to be such an audio showcase, but it really is.

• Nearly 400 4K Blu-ray users shared info about player problems
• There's a huge gap between the best and worst in the poll
• Panasonic will be happy; Sony not so much

One of the things I like best about Reddit is the way people share their experiences of particular products: whether it's a kitchen knife, a portable AC or a Gibson guitar I know I'll be able to find sage advice on what to buy and what to watch out for. And now the good people of r/hometheater have come together to talk about the best 4K Blu-ray players and their reliability.

The poll was carried out by r/hometheater poster "requieminadream" and generated nearly 400 responses — almost double the number of previous poll respondents — from r/4KBluray, r/Bluray, r/PhysicalMediaMatters, the AVS Forums, and the Blu-ray.com forums. And there are some very clear differences between different firms' Blu-ray devices.

Requieminadream very kindly summarized the results in a sentence: "The Sony UBP-X700 is still the problem child, the Panasonic DP-UB820 is still champ, and the pricey UB-9000 posted the cleanest numbers (small sample though)."

But there were some interesting discoveries in the detail too, so it's definitely worth looking at if you're considering a pre-owned 4K Blu-ray player purchase, or just which one seems to make people the happiest long-term.

The 4K Blu-ray Standalone Player Reliability Poll numbers ARE IN! from r/hometheater

Which 4K Blu-ray players are the best?

One of the reasons I like Reddit wisdom is because with few exceptions, reviewers can't spend years with the products they test — so the reviews of my car don't know about the software issues that drive me wild and sometimes require a reboot at traffic lights, and the reviews of my router don't know about its tendency to misbehave every few weeks.

It's the same with Blu-ray players: even the most in-depth review won't be able to tell you if a player's likely to pack up in year two or three. (Though one exception is our Panasonic DP-UB820 review, written by our TV Hardware senior writer James Davidson, because he wrote us a fresh review based on combining using it in our test room and having used it daily for several years beforehand.)

But in general, polls like this are a brilliant resource.

By a large margin, the Panasonic DP-UB820 is the community's favored player: 43.4% of respondents have one, and its problem rate was around half that of the Sony UBP-X700. The rate of serious issues was very low, at just 8% — backing up what James had said, when he called it "the workhorse of the 4K Blu-ray player world".

The "problem child" that emerged from this latest poll is the Sony UBP-X700. Of the 103 Sony users, some 77.7% reported some issues over time; recurring and/or serious issues were 23%. The number one complaint is freezing during triple-layer transitions, which is something that has long been discussed on Blu-ray forums.

The poll shows another interesting pattern, which is problems over time. For the Sony, issues became more common over time — but for the Panasonic the pattern was of any failures showing up early, but better long-term reliability.

The other players in the survey came in between the two extremes, but some of the best results were from "other" players including games consoles and more niche Blu-ray products.

Satisfaction with those products was exceptionally high, with the PS5 getting a significantly higher rating than the Xbox. That's all the more striking given the Sony X700's performance: the PS5 is a more premium product and that seems to be reflected in its reliability — alas, we shouldn't expect any more PlayStations to arrive with a disc player.

I should make clear, as the original Redditor did, that in some cases the sample sizes for ownership in these polls is pretty low, so we should take the results with a pinch of salt. However, the Panasonic UB820 and the Sony X700 were the best-represented, and are the two most popular players, so their data is arguably the most useful anyway.

As TechRadar’s AV tester, I’m always on the lookout for new 4K Blu-rays to test the best TVs and best soundbars with. While I have a pretty healthy catalog, with some top-notch discs, as a 4K Blu-ray fan, it’s exciting to check out new discs to keep testing fresh.

Last month, I tested the Speed Racer 4K Blu-ray and it was a powerhouse. Not only did it deliver staggeringly vibrant colors, but it also had a superb Dolby Atmos soundtrack that demonstrated power and precision, particularly during race sequences. It was one of my top discs of the June 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, and it’s easily one of the most impressive I’ve tested.

This month, a new disc has caught my eye: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The second entry in the new Mario Bros set of films, first started in 2023 with The Super Mario Bros., I’m anticipating that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will have bright, crisp visuals and, hopefully, a great Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

While this was one of my most anticipated discs of July 2026, a first impressions Reddit thread on r/4K Blu-ray from user u/nacthenud got me even more hyped. Not only did they rate the movie’s HDR performance, but also mentioned it in the same breath as Speed Racer. So, I decided to check out how the disc fared on our reference LG G6 OLED TV, one of the best OLED TVs I’ve tested this year.

Phenomenal colors

From the moment The Super Mario Galaxy Movie starts, it’s clear just how stunning the 4K disc’s color reproduction is. As Princess Rosalina reads a bedtime story to the Lumas, the small creatures dazzle on screen. Every color, including yellow, green, red and so on, look natural and punchy in equal measure. Thanks to the high HDR highlight brightness, coupled with Dolby Vision support, the Lumas really popped on the LG G6’s screen. If your TV has high brightness with good highlights, you’ll be rewarded in this scene alone.

Soon after, as Rosalina battles Bowser Jr. in his giant robot, the sparkle from her magic, which comes out in vibrant blues, pinks and purples, shimmers on screen. This is also true later as the yellow Luma turns into a star, with the glittery stardust jumping on screen. Again, it’s another showcase of how impactful HDR highlights can look.

Later, as we see Mario and Luigi meet Yoshi for the first time, the 4K presentation gets to show the authenticity of its colors. Yes, Mario’s red jumpsuit and the green of Luigi’s overalls and Yoshi’s skin are striking, but the colors look realistic too. While I expected the colors in this movie to explode on screen as I’d seen in animated flicks like Elemental, these particular colors reminded me more of the lifelike colors I’d seen in The Wild Robot, exhibiting the wonderful depth and realism I liked in the latter.

In complete opposition to that, the neon signs of the games in the casino Peach and Toad arrive at really burst with color. This is where the G6’s highlights and peak brightness were really tested, and it did a great job. If you have a TV with high peak brightness, then again you’ll be rewarded. The same is true with the gold detail on the furnishings around Peach’s castle, as they sparkle as well.

Peach and Rosalina’s dresses are highlights in themselves, really delivering that candy-colored pop alongside the shimmer they both seem to produce. While they’re colors aren’t as natural as the Mario Bros and Yoshi, they’re accurate for the movie and really deliver a nice impact.

Dolby Atmos power

While I anticipated this disc to be a showcase for color, I didn’t expect it to be such a perfect audio powerhouse. Bass is frequently hefty, pushing the limits of the subwoofer of the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar I was using. As Bowser Jr’s robot stomps towards Rosalina, the rumble from the Q990C’s subwoofer rattled the room and reverberated through the floor. Later, as Fox ignites the engines of the Arwing, this produces some meaty bass, akin to the igniting of the Batmobile’s engine from The Batman, my go-to audio testing scene.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack here is also very precise. As Luigi launches fire in a panic in a cave, the flames’ trajectory was accurately mapped to the front channels, travelling from right to left across the soundbar. In another scene, as Peach and Toad first fly into space, the sound of the twinkling flight path of the trail behind them is not only mapped accurately, but clearly audible among the rousing, horn-led score, showing the soundtrack’s excellent balance.

Surround and height channels are also fully utilized. During the climactic space battle, as Fox pilots the Arwing towards Bowser Jr’s ship, the Arwing travels around the whole ship. This was mapped with real precision first to the front channels, then the rear right, to the rear left and back again, creating a fully immersive feel. It reminded me of the time-bending music sequence in Sinners, which also moved around each channel.

Throughout, there are numerous scenes where characters fly through space, using the star to move from galaxy to galaxy. These are a great demonstration for Atmos, with overhead flight paths actually coming from overhead. The same was true with Fox’s Arwing. As it avoided Bowser’s minions in the space battle, anytime the Arwing moved to the top of the screen, Atmos rendered accurate overhead flight.

Another reference disc

After watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it’s definitely entering my testing rotation. Not only does it deliver on color and sound, but animation is crisp throughout, with clean-looking animation. Contrast is also powerful, with the dark blues of space contrasting well with the stars, Lumas and even the bright outfits of the main characters.

There are also plenty of bright scenes that will show off a TV’s HDR highlights and brightness, plus there’s some lovely shadow detail. Any scenes with strong light, such as Mario and Luigi with their flames in the cave, or at sunset as Peach gets frustrated, there’s strong shadows cast that look realistic.

This really is a superb 4K disc, and if you’re looking for a bold, colorful and dynamic movie to show off your home theater system, this is one to consider.

• McIntosh MX124 AV processor launches for a cool $15,000 (about £11,079 / AU$21,423)
• 13.4 audio channels to 7.4.6 or 9.4.4 speaker configurations in Dolby Atmos and DTS:X Pro
• 7x 8K HDMI inputs and extensive additional connectivity, plus Dirac Live

If you're looking for an AV processor so future-proof that your grandkids will want to inherit it, McIntosh Labs may have just the thing. The new MX124 A/V Processor is designed for "today's "most advanced home cinema systems" according to the company, and comes with extensive connectivity options, as you'd expect.

As you'd expect from McIntosh, it's a tough-looking thing, and to my eyes it resembles something from a 1960s recording studio or NASA control center. But while it may look a little retro on the outside, what's inside is bang up to date.

Its 13 surround channels with four inividual subwoofer outputs support speaker configurations of up to 7.4.6 or 9.4.4, and it has superb wired and wireless connectivity for your AV components.

McIntosh MX124 AV processor: key features and pricing

The McIntosh MX124 A/V Processor is designed to sit at the center of a reference-spec home theater system, handling the audio and video sources and routing the audio to the appropriate amplifiers via its balanced or unbalanced outputs.

It has seven HDMI inputs and three outputs, including one with eARC for your TV, and all the HDMI inputs support 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz. They're compatible with Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG and IMAX Enhanced, and they also support HDCP 2.3, Rec.2020, 4:4:4 Color Spacing, Dynamic Lip-sync, 3D Video Passthrough, ALLM, VRR and Quick Frame Transport.

There are four dedicated digital audio inputs, one balanced and eight unbalanced analog stereo inputs, component and composite video inputs, and dual analog stereo outputs to accommodate two additional listening zones.

For streaming, the MX124 supports AirPlay, Bluetooth, Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Roon Ready, supporting hi-res audio streaming at up to 32-bit/192kHz.

The MX124 also features Dirac Live Room Correction and Bass Control, with licenses included for both. It can also deliver Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room calibration if that's your preferred option.

As this is a premium AV product, it's been designed with professional installation in mind, and it's certified Connects With Control4 for simple and efficient setup and pre-configuration. It features RS232 for automation control and is suitable for rack mounting.

McIntosh didn't include pricing details in its official announcement but retailers are listing the new MX124 with a price tag of $15,000 (about £11,079 / AU$21,423). And as I mentioned above, that's excluding amplification.

If you're looking for something more affordable, you might prefer to take a look at Denon's two new affordable entry and mid-range AVRs, or Yamaha's two new budget AVR options.

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Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.

• Loewe's Antares is a 4K OLED TV with triple tuner, HDMI 2.1 and 144Hz VRR
• Selection of wall mounts, floor stands, rotatable table stands and speakers
• From £2,500 (about $3,350 / AU$4,799)

German luxury brand Loewe has unveiled what it calls its "most individual Smart OLED TV to date," the Loewe Antares. It's a 4K TV with a modular design that enables you to personalize it to suit your particular preferences.

The Antares TV features interchangeable aluminum onlays with a range of fabric colors, and flexible setup options including a universal table stand, multiple floor stands including a motorized stand, and several wall mount options. The table stand can rotate and offers three height positions.

The TV has Loewe's Invisible Sound integrated speaker system, but you can specify it with lots of beefier options. You can add the Loewe Soundbar Antares, which is a front-firing 80W soundbar designed specifically for these TVs, and/or an optional subwoofer.

You can also specify your Antares with other Loewe audio products including the multi.room amp, Klang subwoofer, We.BOOST wireless surround sound system and the we.BOOST center speaker, though the TV itself can be the center speaker in the wireless surround system if you prefer.

Loewe Antaras: key features and pricing

Each Antares TV has a 4K OLED panel that's been "individually calibrated before leaving the factory" according to Loewe. Loewe is one of the few companies that gets raw OLED panels from LG Display and finishes the manufacturing itself, but the company confirmed that this is an OLED EX panel with Double Rate Driving technology, which suggests it's the same panel tech used in the five-star (albeit cheaper) LG C6 OLED TV, plus whatever finishing touches and calibration Loewe has added.

There's support for both Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive when it comes to HDR. There's a dual-channel, triple-tuner setup with USB recording, parallel TV viewing and timeshift functionality, and the OS is a customized version of Vidaa OS, with key streaming apps, Apple AirPlay, Miracast and Matter on board.

For gamers there's HDMI 2.1 support, with 144Hz VRR at 4K, and a dedicated low-latency gaming mode. There are multiple sizes here, from the compact 42-inch to the range-topping 77-inch.

As you'd expect from Loewe these are premium priced TVs. Prices start at £2,500 (about $3,350 / AU$4,799) and rise to £4,000 (about $5,370 / AU$7,675). The Loewe Antares soundbar is £300 (about $400 / AU$575).

At the moment this is a UK-only release, though Loewe told TechRadar that a US launch is being considered, but isn't confirmed yet.

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Here at TechRadar, I test some of the best 4K Blu-rays each month as part of the Blu-ray Bounty. This is where we look at the latest 4K releases from that month and judge whether they’d be a worthy addition to your collection, focusing solely on the video and audio quality of each disc.

Every so often, a disc wows me so much that I add it to my rotation for testing the best TVs and best soundbars. 4K Blu-ray is my go-to source for AV testing, as it delivers a higher video bit rate, resulting in better picture quality than streaming, and uncompressed soundtracks for the best audio.

Some of the discs from the near-100 discs I’ve tested as part of the Blu-ray Bounty that have joined over the years include Wicked, The Mask, The Sound of Music and Dark City, to name just a few.

As part of the most recent June 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, there’s another disc that will definitely be joining the testing rotation, as it performs at a reference-quality level. And that disc is Speed Racer.

Breathtaking color

My go-to 4K Blu-rays for color testing have been Wicked and The Sound of Music. Wicked features an oversaturated, candy-color style that really generates a lot of pop on the right screen, while The Sound of Music delivers still-vibrant but more authentic and realistic colors.

Speed Racer falls in Wicked’s camp, but takes it to another level. Throughout the movie, there are some seriously vivid colors. Red is a prominent feature throughout the movie, as it's the color of Speed Racer’s ‘M’ logo and the interior of his car, both of which are often front and center on screen. It’s also the color of the Racer garage at home and Papa Racer’s shirt, which he wears throughout the movie.

When I tested the Samsung S95H/S99H and LG G6 side-by-side, both TVs interpreted the red differently: the G6 gave it a much deeper red hue, while the S95H/S99H made it look paler, almost orange in some places. Both of these TVs, likely to be two of the best OLED TVs I’ll test in 2026, captured the visual punch of this red, but it was useful to see how each TV interpreted the color.

There are plenty of scenes where a single color dominates. As the Racer family arrived at Royalton Industries, there were a lot of bold purples, including the airship's color, the walls, and even the transport. On the OLEDs I tested the disc on, these purples had a beautiful richness to them that again was displayed in different ways by the S95H/S99H and the G6, with the latter again adding that bit more depth.

This trend continued throughout the movie, whether it was the neon greens of a grass field in a flashback, the fantastic pink/purple/orange gradients in the sky during sunset or the lush blues of the sky during daytime race sequences (or Speed’s iconic blue and white shirt.) Even the white of the Mach 5 / 6 and Speed’s helmet had a glorious clarity to them, really dazzling on the S95H/S99H and G6.

The use of color is fantastic in Speed Racer, and if you have a TV with Dolby Vision, you’ll be rewarded with the most breathtaking colors, some of the best I’ve ever seen on a 4K Blu-ray. But it’s not just color reproduction where this disc is useful.

A Dolby Atmos showcase

When it comes to testing soundbars and TV audio, my go-to 4K Blu-rays have been The Batman, namely the Batmobile/Penguin car chase scene for its detail and bass, and Top Gun: Maverick, for its all-around expansive Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

Speed Racer has proved to be a far more compelling disc, audibly, than I ever thought. While I anticipated some hefty bass from the car’s engines, I didn’t anticipate the level of detail and sound mapping I would hear.

During the opening race, there are plenty of demonstrations of pinpoint accuracy as cars swerve wildly through the corners of the winding track. The sound of squealing tires demonstrates excellent directionality and is fully connected with the action on screen. As a car moves from side to side on screen, you can be sure to hear it in the front channels.

One moment in this scene, in particular, really grabbed my attention, though. As Speed makes his way around the track, he has to grind the rear axle of the Mach 5 against the edge of the track and as I was watching, I heard the sound of a grind come through crystal clear in the left rear speaker of the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar I was using (an 11.1.4 channel Dolby Atmos system comprising of a soundbar, subwoofer and two rear speakers). This was the moment that made me realize just how precise and detailed the Dolby Atmos mix of this disc is.

There’s good use of Atmos effects and height channels too. As Speed uses his spring-loaded chassis to jump over a rival racer, a cut to said rival’s cockpit reveals a burst of not only bass but also the sound of the wind from the Mach 5 as Speed flips over. This sounded immersive, clean, and incredibly precise. There are plenty of helicopter sequences too, which are great for showing what Atmos can do.

There were plenty of highlight moments throughout the movie, but it is the race sequences that showcase the clarity and depth of this Dolby Atmos soundtrack. But there’s one final area where this disc is a perfect testing disc.

Always in motion

Motion handling is a key component of any TV. If a TV can’t accurately handle fast-moving images, then action movies and sports won’t look good. While motion interpolation settings, such as judder and blur reduction, can reduce these, they can introduce unwanted side effects, such as the ‘ghosting’ of a ball in a soccer game (where a trail of the ball appears as it travels across the screen).

I anticipate that Speed Racer is going to act as somewhat of a ‘torture test’ for some TVs (like The Batman can be due to its low brightness), as there are not only plenty of fast-paced driving sequences with plenty of quick shifts in direction, but one other real challenge: slow panning shots.

Frequently throughout the movie, commentators from various countries slowly track across the screen from side to side, and even on the S95H/S99H and G6, which have proven to have great motion handling with the right settings, these shots still struggled at times. The commentators sometimes showed judder as the TV’s tried to interpolate the motion, meaning this is something I’ll be using in future tests. With these panning shots, however, there is sometimes natural judder.

Again, though, it’s the fast-paced race sequences that can make or break a TV’s motion. Chaotic driving as cars swerve to avoid debris, smash into one another, or pull a tight turn can look unnatural if a TV’s motion isn’t right. Too much blur and judder reduction, and it’ll look artificial; not enough, and it’ll look like a juddery mess.

Speed Racer really is one of the best Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos 4K Blu-rays I’ve ever tested and is a triple threat disc for color, motion and sound, so if you’re a regular reader of our TV and soundbar reviews and comparisons here at TechRadar, expect to see Speed Racer appear very soon.

• The Google Home Speaker supports wireless connectivity to the Google TV Streamer
• This gives a simple way to curate your own home theater setup
• You can connect your Google Home Speaker through your Google TV device, or via the Google Home app

Google’s new Home Speaker comes with a slew of much-needed upgrades, but its support for wireless connectivity with the Google TV Streamer is a tool users have been pining for since the company started making smart hubs.

As well as its Gemini-powered smarts and 360-degree audio redesign, Google now lets you to wirelessly pair the Home Speaker with your Google TV device, allowing you to ditch your TV’s built-in speakers and set up a home theater system. Pairing just one Google Home Speaker works, but you’ll get the most out of your setup if you have two.

The company announced its initial plans to develop the feature in 2020 when it unveiled the Nest Audio, its first smart speaker, but the functionality never arrived. “Google Home Speaker now works together with your Google TV Streamer. You can pair up to two speakers with a Google TV Streamer to turn your living room into a mini home theater with spatial surround sound,” the company detailed in a blog post.

Surround-sound systems are integral to most entertainment fanatic’s setups, but they don’t always have to feature a multitude of different types of speakers — some people simply rely on the best sound bars to boost their audio. Though the Google Home Speaker isn’t necessarily suited to seasoned audiophiles, it gives novices an inexpensive and hassle-free way to enhance their streaming experience.

It hasn’t been impossible to hook up wireless speakers to the Google TV Streamer, however, as the option to use the best Bluetooth speakers has always been there. However, because the Google Home Speaker’s function relies on Wi-Fi, the bandwidth is much bigger. This means it also supports Dolby Atmos which, for a cost-effective home theater setup, is quite a fair perk.

Audio champions such as Sonos and Bose have offered wireless connectivity with third-party streaming devices for years, so the Google Home Speaker’s functionality is far from new. That said, it’s only recently that TV manufacturers have decided to jump on the bandwagon and sell speakers of their own.

Over the last 18 months or so, brands including Amazon, LG and Samsung have released their own speakers to allow wireless connectivity with their range of TVs — so Google is playing catch-up here.

How to pair your Google Home Speaker with your Google TV Streamer

Once you’ve set up your Google Home Speaker for regular use, you can pair it with your Google TV device right from the home screen.

Using your Google TV Streamer remote, click the home button and head to ‘Quick Settings’ at the top of the screen. From there, select ‘Audio output’ from the options, click ‘Connect another device’, then select ‘Google speakers’ and click ‘Getting started’.

After this stage, you should see a list of Google Home Speakers connected to your account in a separate window, and you’ll want to select the ones you wish to pair with your Google TV Streamer. Once you’ve done this, tap ‘Next’ and it should complete your setup.

You can also do this from the Google Home app, as Google details on its support page.

• People continue to build alternative Sonos apps with features Sonos hasn't offered
• Recent creations include customizable room correction that works with front surrounds
• Most aren't widely available, and are being shown in invite-only betas

In the last few months, Sonos has finally moved on from fixing its app's tech issues to improving it with new navigation and adding some useful new techy features, such as a key new network troubleshooting option.

But many Sonos users are just tired of waiting for long-requested features — such as the ability to add front surround speakers — so they're building their own alternatives instead.

We covered some user-created apps to improve the Sonos ecosystem not too long ago, and the list of available options continues to grow.

More Sonos apps than you can shake a soundbar at

First up there's "the app Sonos should have made" according to its creator: Somos InControl. It's an iOS remote for Sonos home theater products with custom EQ, saveable sound presets, surround height levels and music features too.

The big draws here are that it supports adding front left and right surround speakers, and the ability to save EQ options for different use cases — the example screen shot has slightly tweaked sound for 5.1 surround versus Dolby Atmos versus music listening that you instantly switch between. It's an Apple TestFlight work in progress so availability is limited, but it looks very impressive.

The app Sonos should have made. Try it for free. from r/sonos

Moosic is a self-hosted music server app that offers an alternative to Trueplay's room tuning, with the always-welcome ability to display charts of the room correction, plus more customization options for the tuning.

It also enables you to switch your Sonos configuration — such as switching a pair of Era 300s from working as rear speakers to working as stereo music speakers — but to keep separate room-tuning profiles for each configuration, which again is something Trueplay doesn't offer.

If you're wondering why not just use TruePlay, creator AffectionateFox5907 explains: "Sonos does not provide a way to switch between home theatre and music setup seamlessly. My app does, but as part of that I lose Trueplay. When you unbond and rebond a speaker, each time it will lose its Trueplay configuration. My app basically builds a better Sonos app that adds features I've been wanting for a while without having to have a bunch of different apps. This now works with multiple subs and should work with fronts added as well."

One of the big downsides of using third-party apps that add front surrounds is that it disables Trueplay, so this is a win for people coloring outside the usual Sonos surround lines.

It also looks ideal for anyone who's found using their home theater for music to be a bit of a pain, and there are plenty of people who do: there's a whole Reddit thread asking for a simple switch between movie mode and music mode without having to reconfigure your system every time you do it.

I built my own version of "Trueplay" from r/sonos

Last but not least, MajorAtmosphere has created Kyuu (pronounced "queue"), an iOS Sonos controller that enables you to use UPnP for local files, which the Sonos app doesn't support.

As they explain: "Kyuu runs a lightweight local server that handles speaker discovery via SSDP, polls playback state, and sends commands directly to your speakers. The iOS app talks to that server over your LAN — no cloud, no Sonos account, no external dependencies."

I built a local-first Sonos controller iOS app using the UPnP API — no account required [Beta] from r/sonos

• Dire Straits' keyboardist/producer Guy Fletcher post about mixing their albums in Dolby Atmos
• He says immersive mixing of the original recording sessions is "quite addictive" and often very emotional
• 3D audio can reveal details that were previously buried when engineering for stereo

One of the things I love most about audio technology is how it can reveal things you've never heard before either because they were buried in the mix or because your setup, speakers or headphones weren't delivering all the detail.

And according to Dire Straits' keyboardist and producer Guy Fletcher, Dolby Atmos is delivering revelation after revelation not just to music fans, but to the musicians and producers who made the records in the first place.

The majority of records are made with stereo in mind, and according to Fletcher "stereo remains an extraordinary format". But as he explains on LinkedIn, redoing a stereo record for Atmos enables you to rediscover "the little things that get sacrificed along the way when you're making a stereo record. The tiny details. The decisions nobody notices because they're buried beneath more important decisions."

Fletcher makes an intriguing claim. Taking a stereo record and making it three-dimensional isn't about making it sound the same; "it's more to do with matching the emotional impact" as he says. It's not what you hear. It's what you feel.

What immersive audio delivers – and doesn't quite deliver

I think Fletcher is correct, and I'm going to compare audio to another art form: video games. I've been replaying some very old favorites recently and I'm amused by how terrible the graphics are; in my memories, those games were photorealistic as well as utterly compelling. When those games are remastered to higher visual quality they're effectively enabling me to play what I remember, not what I actually saw.

As Fletcher describes it, taking recordings into spatial audio does much the same. "The moment you begin placing objects or building beds around the listener, the music seems to breathe and expand. Mix or bus compression suddenly seems rather pointless. Sounds are no longer confined to a flat line between two speakers. Instead, they occupy a living, sculptural environment with depth, height and dimension."

It's not perfect by any means, because people listen to Atmos and other spatial audio on all kinds of different hardware that may be suboptimal: headphones, soundbars, and a range of speaker systems that don't deliver the full experience.

"Creating extraordinary Atmos mixes is no longer the obstacle," Fletcher says. "The real challenge is ensuring that the sense of space, scale and emotional impact that makes immersive mixing so exhilarating, can be faithfully experienced by the vast majority of listeners who do not own a dedicated Atmos speaker system.

Fletcher describes spatializing Dire Straits' biggest hit album, Brothers in Arms, whose original multi-tracks took him straight back to the recording studio in 1984. Although the album had previously been remastered for 5.1 audio, the Atmos edition still required extensive detective work as well as painstaking restoration.

"The real challenge lay in respecting an album that has become woven into the lives of millions of listeners," Fletcher recalls. "While 5.1 and Atmos share some similarities, Atmos offers a very different creative canvas. The challenge was never technical — the challenge was emotional."

For Fletcher, "Atmos has a curious ability to reveal not just the details within a recording, but also the memories embedded within it. In that respect, at its best, the spatial audio experience is as much about rediscovery as it is about technology."

Of course Atmos doesn't guarantee a mix is good: the record industry is very good at remastering records as a quick cash grab, and there are plenty of famous records by big artists whose remasters caused howls of outrage. But when an album is approached with care, patience and above all else, a love of the original material, the move to 3D can make songs sing even more beautifully.

Last month in June 2026 proved to be yet another packed month for 4K Blu-ray releases and July is looking just as busy. Despite the long list of discs on my radar, I’ve narrowed it down to my top four I’m most looking forward to, hopefully, testing.

I’ll be looking to test these discs as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, our monthly column where we test the latest 4K releases on their picture and sound quality, to see whether they’re worth adding to the bursting shelves of a 4K blu-ray collection.

4K Blu-ray is my bread-and-butter source for testing the best TVs and best soundbars, as it offers the best bitrate for picture and uncompressed audio for sound. I’m also a collector myself, so I’m always looking for new discs I can add to my collection!

In my June 2026 most anticipated article, my picks were Speed Racer, Bullet In The Head, EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert and Hoppers. Three out of the four featured in the June 2026 Blu-ray Bounty (Hoppers sadly didn’t arrive, but I’ll hopefully feature that another time) and while they were all great, the real highlight was Speed Racer, which was an audio showcase and an outstanding looking disc (check out the Blu-ray Bounty for my full thoughts).

Hard Boiled (Arrow Video)

Hard Boiled stars Chow Yun-fat as Inspector “Tequila” Yeun, a detective in pursuit of a Triad syndicate who gets involved in an operation involving an undercover officer. This is arguably director John Woo’s (Bullet In The Head, The Killer, Mission Impossible 2) most iconic movie.

Having recently reviewed Arrow’s recent restoration of Bullet In The Head, I’m excited to see what it can do with Hard Boiled. Where I’m hoping this disc’s strengths will lie is in its Dolby Atmos mix. Hard Boiled is a gritty, action-thriller with plenty of gunfights and a good Atmos mix should deliver plenty of impact, bass and a real sense of immersion, with ricocheting bullets covering the latter.

The Bullet In The Head restoration had rich colors, crisp textures and strong contrast, so I’m hoping for more of the same here. While I’m expecting it to have the haze that I’ve now clocked in a few early-90s Hong Kong cinema movies, I still think Hard Boiled has the potential to look great, especially as it supports Dolby Vision, which should work wonders for textures, detail and contrast.

• US release date - N/A: (Hong Kong Cinema Classics version released November 4, 2025)
• UK release date - 27th July

Alice in Wonderland (1951) (Disney)

Alice in Wonderland, based on Lewis Carroll’s novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass, tells the story of a young girl called Alice who ends up in a strange, fantastical world where meets odd characters such as the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and the evil Queen of Hearts. (This is a cheeky addition as this disc was actually released on 29th June, but I’m going to hopefully test it as part of the July Blu-ray Bounty!)

4K can do wonders for animation, especially when it comes to detail and colors. Alice in Wonderland has plenty of seriously bright colors and I expect Wonderland to look truly brilliant in 4K. The disc comes with Dolby Vision HDR support, which is only going to make colors pop even more. The 4K restoration will hopefully add more depth and texture to the picture as well.

As for audio, there’s no support for Dolby Atmos which is a bit of a shame as it would’ve been nice to get the full immersive experience as Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Thankfully, there is a DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack included and in recent discs I’ve tested this has proved to be just as good. There’s plenty of moments throughout the weird and wonderful Wonderland that should sound fantastic on 4K.

• US release date - May 6, 2025
• UK release date - 29th June, 2026

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie follows Mario and his crew — Luigi, Yoshi, Peach and Toad — head to space to save Princess Rosalina from the clutches of Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr.

I’m expecting crisp, slick animation and of course boat-loads of fantastical colors from this disc on 4K. With Dolby Vision support included, I’m anticipating some seriously impressive color reproduction, whether it’s the red of Mario’s iconic suit or the green skin of Bowser and Yoshi, this disc could be a new reference disc for TV testing. As the movie takes the gang to space, there’s also a chance for some strong contrast between the deep blackness of space and any bright stars along the way.

Equipped with a Dolby Atmos track, I’m expecting an immersive soundtrack that will provide some excellent detail during the movie’s more action-packed sequences. Plus, with several flight sequences, as the character’s fly through space, I’m hoping for some real utilization of the height channels to give a wide, full sound. I can imagine this disc is going to deliver an impressive audio experience that I’m looking forward to trying out through our Samsung Dolby Atmos soundbar.

• US release date - June 16, 2026
• UK release date - 20th July, 2026

Hairspray (1988) (Criterion Collection)

Directed by John Waters, Hairspray (the original, 1988 movie) tells the story of teenager Tracy Turnbald, as she aims for fame as a dancer on a local TV show. Set in the 1960s, Tracy also rallies against racial segregation, which gets in her trouble with adults and authority figures.

As this is a release from Criterion, I’m expecting an excellent restoration job. I’ve tested a ton of Criterion’s 4K releases and all of them have looked fantastic. As Hairspray is set in the 1960s, there’s a potential here for some truly bold visuals, especially with color. Decor and outfits should really pop on screen, capturing the sometimes-garish, saturated aesthetic of the time period.

There are two soundtrack options on the 4K disc of Hairspray: DTS-HD 2.0 and 5.1 MA. This isn’t the remake from 2007, which is based on the 2002 stage musical, so I’m not anticipating many showcase audio moments. However, as the movie does involve music and dancing, there could be some nice, clean sound mixes, especially with DTS-HD 5.1 MA supported.

• US release date - June 23, 2026
• UK release date - July 20, 2026

July 2026 highlighted releases

Below, I’ve picked some highlight releases for July 2026. Both US and UK releases are featured here, with release dates noted. These release dates may vary by region, with some titles already available or yet to be released until later this year depending on where you are. 4K Blu-ray is region-free, so you should be able to order from wherever.

July 6/7

• To Live and Die in LA
• The Protector
• Double Impact
• The Magic Faraway Tree (2026)
• The Drama (US - UK July 13)

July 13/14

• Obsession
• Hud
• The Usual Suspects
• Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (US - UK July 27)
• Michael
• The Mummy (2026)
• Red Sun
• The Crying Game
• Full Contact

July 20/21

• Falling Down
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
• Pleasantville
• Anyone But You
• Hairspray (UK)
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (UK)
• Excalibur (UK)
• Mortal Kombat II (UK - US July 28)

July 27/28

• Hard Boiled (UK)
• Strictly Ballroom (UK)
• Soylent Green
• Stranger Things: Complete Series
• X: The Unknown (UK)
• Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

You've bought one of the best TVs or best projectors. You've invested in one of the best soundbars, or a stunning home theater speaker system. Life is good. So what should you watch to make the most of your system? What are the best Blu-rays to show off your setup?

Our resident disc enthusiast, Senior TV Hardware Writer James Davidson, tests out new Blu-ray releases every month in his Blu-ray Bounty column, to see which ones really impress when it comes to visuals and immersive sound. Now that we're halfway through the year, he's picked out his six favorite discs released in 2026 that most impressed him — and that's against some hot competition.

We're not judging the movies themselves, that's obviously subjective. What we're interested in is how well they'll show off your TV or home theater setup, and how happy these particular presentations make you as a result.

• Criterion has a 50% off sale in the US right now! See the range here

Speed Racer

The Wachowski sisters' dazzling sci-fi adventure Speed Racer is undergoing something of a revival right now, fuelled by positive posts on social media praising its visual extravagance; at the time of release there was disappointment that the sisters had made a sci-fi sports action comedy based on a 1960s manga.

But Speed Racer comes from the same incredibly inventive brains that birthed The Matrix and it's mind-blowing in its first-ever 4K HDR presentation. This has instantly entered our library for testing TVs as a new reference disc for colors and motion handling.

"Speed Racer looks astounding on 4K Blu-ray," James says. "Where it really shines is in its color reproduction. Colors are bold, vibrant and punchy throughout, taking on an almost neon-like level of saturation, which perfectly suits the movie. Whether it’s the pulsing lights of the racetrack or the 1960s-inspired clothing and decor of the neighborhood, the colors seriously pop on screen."

It's particularly good for showing off your OLED TV if you have one thanks to its deep blacks and neon brights, while its Dolby Atmos soundtrack is "ridiculously detailed."

Fight Club

The 4K edition of Fight Club had a short theater release before arriving on Blu-ray, and it's had a bit of a mixed reception: while as James says it's excellent on 4K — "Textures have been upscaled well, and appear extra crisp. Close-up shots of characters' faces show fine details such as skin marks and hair with real clarity. While colors don’t play a major role in the movie, any that do have nice pop while still looking realistic" — there's been some disappointment that the audio isn't in Atmos, and that there was some fudging to elements in the movie itself.

The soundtrack is a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix. It's a great presentation that sounds fantastic, and while it's a shame it doesn't have the extra native height you'd get with Atmos, it doesn't stop this from being one of the showstoppers of 2026.

Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia is one of cinema's most iconic epics, and the 4K Blu-ray version is simply stunning. "Presented in Dolby Vision, the sheer majesty and scope of the movie’s cinematography is accurately delivered with breathtaking detail," James says. "Epic landscape shots reveal intricate textures, while close-ups of characters show weather-beaten skin and Lawrence’s sand-coated hair down to the finest margin."

The soundtrack is great too, with choices including Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD MA 5.1. We particularly liked the Atmos version, which is spacious and detailed with plenty of gusto. "Ricocheting bullets, the trotting of camel’s feet and even the wind are pinpoint and accurately mapped to the action on screen," James says, praising the "incredibly hefty" bass that delivers "huge rumble from the explosions and machine gun fire."

Ben-Hur

Here's another iconic epic, and like Lawrence of Arabia the 4K version of Ben-Hur is a "staggering 4K Blu-ray," James says. At the time it was the largest-scale movie ever released, and the restoration "upscales textures to an almost modern-day look, with accurate, lifelike skin tones and refined details such as rocks, grass, and buildings throughout. Colors are rich and vibrant: from the reds of the Roman soldiers' capes to the glorious blue sky, every color pops on screen."

He continues: "Soldiers' gold uniforms gleam in the sunlight, and the sand-colored buildings of Jerusalem dazzle without ever over-exerting the brightness. Even the movie’s darker scenes display rich blacks with powerful contrast. As the slaves row the ship, the dark tones of the walls contrast with the light from the torches beautifully."

The audio restoration is as ambitious and impressive as the visuals. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is clean, refined and powerful, with excellent use of the surround channels in the busy market scenes and the famous chariot races. The hooves in the latter are a great workout for your subwoofer, James says.

3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma was released in 1957 and is today considered a classic Western, following rancher Dan Evans as he escorts an outlaw to his trial in Arizona. Criterion's restoration of the original movie is absolutely superb, James says. "Textures have been beautifully cleaned up — every weather-beaten wrinkle on people’s faces is fully restored — and looking almost modern. The movie is in black and white, and dark tones are deep while white tones are bright, with a full range of gray tones in between. Cinephiles will be happy with the amount of film grain retained, though it’s more obvious in the movie's exterior scenes."

You have two audio choices here: monoaural, as originally released, and DTS-HD MA 5.1. The original mono soundtrack has been cleaned up beautifully, but the real fun is in the 5.1 version. "There’s solid bass from the rumble of galloping horses, good surround details during gunfights with ricocheting bullets, and even a wide soundstage, letting the soundtrack breathe," James says. "Speech is also crystal clear."

Dead Man

Dead Man may look like it's from the same era as 3:10 to Yuma, but it's from 1995: director Jim Jarmusch chose to shoot entirely in monochrome, and the Criterion restoration delivers "dazzling whites, such as highlights in the sun, and inky blacks, such as Blake’s hair and shadowed areas within forests. Contrast is strong, with a perfect balance between light and dark tones." Detail is excellent, especially in close-up scenes, delivering "an exceptional looking disc."

There's no surround sound with this release; the audio is DTS-HD 2.0. However, what it lacks in channels it makes up for in the form of Neil Young's superb score, played solo on electric guitar and delivering "plenty of chugging and twangy Western-sounding riffs that are detailed and clear." Dialog is perfectly clear and effects such as gunfire are accurately positioned.

Welcome to the June 2026 edition of the Blu-ray Bounty. This is where we review the latest 4K Blu-ray releases each month, judging each disc on its video and audio quality, to see if they’ll make a worthy addition to your collection. If you’re new to Blu-ray Bounty, you can check out previous editions here.

We’re big fans of 4K Blu-ray here at TechRadar, and some of us are even collectors ourselves. As TechRadar’s TV tester, I use 4K Blu-ray to test the best TVs and the best soundbars, as it offers uncompressed video and audio for the best picture and sound you can get at home.

In last month’s May 2026 edition of the Blu-ray Bounty we looked at five discs, including the highly anticipated Fight Club, as well as Some Like It Hot, Wuthering Heights, Leaving Las Vegas and Point Blank.

This month, we’re looking at seven discs, including one that’s getting a lot of buzz as 'reference-level'. As always on the Blu-ray Bounty, we’re not talking about the movies themselves, just the disc's picture and audio quality.

We’ll be using our usual setup consisting of the LG G5, one of the best OLED TVs of 2025, the Panasonic DP-UB820, the best 4K Blu-ray player on the market, and the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar system.

As I'm based in the UK, these releases are based on UK release dates, so don't be surprised if any of these titles are already out where you are, or if one of your picks isn't listed — it might just be coming to where you are later.

Speed Racer (Warner Bros.)

Speed Racer tells the story of Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), a young man who becomes a racecar driver, following in his older brother’s footsteps, in order to save his family's business. Based on the manga series of the same name, the movie also stars Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman.

Speed Racer looks astounding on 4K Blu-ray. Where it really shines is in its color reproduction. Colors are bold, vibrant and punchy throughout, taking on an almost neon-like level of saturation, which perfectly suits the movie. Whether it’s the pulsing lights of the racetrack or the 1960s-inspired clothing and decor of the neighborhood, the colors seriously pop on screen. On the LG G5 I used, there was a gorgeous depth and richness to said colors.

Black tones during night races are inky, textures are incredibly crisp, especially in people's skin and hair, and even the cartoon-ish CGI of the crowd and cars on the track is slick and sharp. The disc also really pushes the boundaries on motion, with the swerving cars and constantly changing camera angles serving as a showcase for your display’s motion handling.

Sound-wise, this is a seriously impressive disc. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is lively, engaging and ridiculously detailed. During the opening race, the bass of the Mach 5’s was powerful but tightly controlled, and the hum of passing engines through the wind was crystal clear through the HW-Q990C’s rear speakers.

There’s ample room in the Atmos mix too, giving every element a chance to breathe. The mapping of sound is impressive too. As Speed grinds his car on the edge of the track in the opening race, I heard the movement of this through the left rear channel clear as day, despite all the bass from the subwoofer, and the speech and other effects through the front channels.

EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert (Universal Pictures)

From Baz Luhrmann (director of the 2022 Elvis biopic) comes EPiC Elvis Presley In Concert, which features never-before-seen archival footage of Elvis’ early performances as part of his legendary Las Vegas residency, as well as archive interviews with Elivs telling his own story.

The disc has a DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack that sounds superb. While Elvis’ narration, made of clips from interviews, is clear, as is the audio of the behind-the-scenes studio sessions, it’s the live performances on stage that sound most impressive. The drums are punchy but beautifully intricate, giving the subwoofer a real workout. Elvis’ vocals are powerful, detailed, and delivered with real clarity. The bass is refined and clearly audible, and guitars are bright and clean. This is a perfectly balanced mix that sounds excellent, regardless of the track. Highlights include Polk Salad Annie and Burning Love.

While visuals aren’t the main feature of this disc, the restored footage looks brilliant. Textures are smooth and crisp, with close-up shots of Elvis’ face even picking out his stubble. Colors are bold and bright, perfectly capturing Elvis’ flashy on-stage costumes and his often colorful offstage outfits . There’s a nice punchy brightness to the picture as well, with highlights on bejeweled, sequin-encrusted costumes really glinting on screen. Naturally, there’s some film grain present from the cameras used at the time, but most shots have been cleanly restored.

Bullet In The Head (1991) (Arrow Video)

Bullet In The Head, directed by John Woo, follows Ben, Paul and Frank, three friends who flee Hong Kong after murdering a member of a rival gang. They become smugglers in Saigon, Vietnam, at the height of the Vietnam War in 1967. The movie stars Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee.

Visually, this is a solid restoration from Arrow. While the movie still has the grainy, sometimes hazy look you’d expect of early-90s Hong Kong Cinema, textures have been cleaned up well, especially in skin and faces, with more intricate detail such as hair looking refined. Colors can appear bold, whether it's the red of Ben’s T-shirt or the brightly colored buildings in Saigon. Black levels are deep during night-time scenes, and there's some nice contrast during scenes in the market, or when the trio are at the Bolero club in Saigon.

There are three soundtrack options with this disc: Cantonese Mono and Dolby Atmos, and English Mono. The Atmos soundtrack is a more spacious extension of the mono, but it does add more volume and depth to the audio. Speech is clearer in the Atmos mix, and other sounds, such as punches and crashes during fight scenes, have more impact. Gunshots in shootouts have good clarity, and while they don’t quite utilize the rear channels as well as other movies I’ve watched, there’s still some nice power on display. Bass from explosions is also tightly controlled.

Body Heat (Criterion Collection)

Starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, Body Heat follows lawyer Ned (Hurt) and Matty (Turner), the wife of a businessman named Edmund (Richard Crenna) as Ned and Matty begin an affair and plot to murder Edmund in order to get his fortune and run away together. The movie was inspired by the 1944 movie Double Indemnity (which I reviewed for the November 2024 Blu-ray Bounty).

Visually, this is another top-notch restoration job from Criterion. Textures look realistic, particularly in skin and in finer details such as hair. As the movie has such a sweltering setting, sweat features regularly and really shows off the level of detail present. Colors are punchy, with more intricate objects such as a red matchbook on Ned’s desk really popping. There are a number of night scenes showing rich black tones, as well as strong shadows cast by bright lights across the character's bodies and faces.

The disc comes with both DTS-HD Stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround soundtrack options. Opting for the 5.1 surround, speech is clear throughout the movie and there are some nice details present, such as the chirping of crickets, which come through the rear channels during some night sequences. The other main component of the soundtrack is the dramatic, string-led score which does a good job utilizing the full surround channels.

Avatar: Fire & Ash (20th Century Studios)

The third movie in the Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire & Ash continues to follow Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) on Pandora, who must now face challenges from an aggressive, new Na’vi tribe. The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver, Steven Lang and Kate Winslet, with the former two appearing in all three of the current Avatar movies.

Avatar: Fire & Ash is visually impressive. The animation is slick, with crisp textures and detail such as the Na’vi’s braids and skin looking 3D-like. Colors are bold and vibrant, whether it’s the blue of the Na’vi themselves or the seas of Pandora and the rich reds of the warpaint of the Mangkwan. Environments are striking, with lush, green trees and fields, with textures in cliffs and rocks showing intricate detail. Night-time scenes show inky blacks and when fire is added to the mix, it shows the discs' strong contrast.

The Dolby Atmos mix included here is excellent for showing off a home theater system. Any sequences where creatures such as the Nightwraiths fly overhead delivers impressive height, with their flight paths accurately mapped. Gunshots have real weight to them, especially with automatic weapons, creating a real thud through both the soundbar and the subwoofer. Speech is clear throughout, even in the most chaotic battle scenes. During these battle scenes, whenever an arrow is fired, it’s extremely detailed, coming through the rear channels crystal clear. Like some other modern blockbusters I’ve tested, this is a great Atmos soundtrack.

Five Easy Pieces (Criterion Collection)

Five Easy Pieces tells the story of Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson), a piano prodigy turned oil rig worker who returns home to his rich, estranged family and attempts to reconnect upon hearing about his father’s ailing health. The movie also stars Karen Black as Rayette, Robert’s girlfriend.

Criterion delivers another great restoration here. Colors really pop on screen, shown in people’s brightly-colored clothing. A scene at the bowling alley near the opening of the movie shows this, with almost every patron’s clothing looking vivid. Textures, such as the grime on the oil rigger’s faces and frown lines in Robert’s forehead, look lifelike and detailed. There’s plenty of film grain present and it’s more pronounced in some scenes than others (namely outdoor, daytime scenes), so cinephiles will be happy.

For audio, there’s only a mono soundtrack present. This won’t be an audio showcase for your home theater system, but speech is clear and other effects, such as Robert slamming himself against his car-seat, have some impact. The best part of this audio mix is whenever someone plays the piano, namely the scene where Robert plays Chopin’s ‘Prelude, Op. 28, No.4’, as it sounds bright, clean and detailed. This is a well-restored audio mix.

36 Hours (AKA Terror Street) (Hammer)

36 Hours (released in the US as Terror Street) tells the story of Major Bill Rogers (Dan Duryea), a US pilot who is framed for the murder of his estranged wife Katherine (Elsie Albiin) while he tries to visit her in London. He then has 36 hours to solve her murder so he can return back to the States.

This is a great restoration from Hammer. Textures have been cleaned-up well, making people and their clothing look incredibly lifelike. Contrast is strong throughout, with deep blacks, punchy whites and a full range of gray tones to create a dynamic image. There is the occasional shot where textures can appear fuzzy, but it's rare and considering the age of the movie, it’s surprisingly good-looking throughout. There is grain present, which will please cinephiles, but again there’s been a surprisingly thorough clean-up job here.

There are two options for soundtracks here: mono and DTS-HD 5.1 MA. The mono mix is louder and more direct, but the 5.1 mix has a warmer, cleaner sound that fits the tone of the movie. Dialogue is controlled and clean in all parts of the movie and the melodramatic score is bright and bold, using the rear channels to great effect. Other effects such as gunshots and punches have some solid impact to them as well.

• A new 4K restoration of Hammer's Dracula is coming to theaters and Blu-ray in October 2026
• Uncensored and with new footage believed to have been lost forever
• Pieced together from 'the best original archival materials sourced from around the world'

Here's a tale to really sink your teeth into: Hammer Films has "painstakingly restored" (pun intended, I assume) the original 1958 Dracula, adding "long-lost" footage and delivering an uncensored cut in full 4K. It'll be coming to movie theaters and home entertainment in October 2026.

This isn't a remaster. It's a resurrection. It features footage that was believed to be lost for over six decades, and which was only ever seen by Japanese cinemagoers in the 1950s. The recovered material is "from the best original archival materials sourced from around the world" and has never been released in the US or UK, nor available for home viewing in either country.

Dracula was the second on-screen pairing of Peter Cushing, who plays Dr Van Helsing, and Christopher Lee, who plays… I'm just checking my notes here… Dracula.

Fangs for the memories

There have been many Dracula movies, but the 1958 one delivered the definitive Drac: as Hammer Films says, Lee's portrayal introduced "the bloodshot eyes, predatory fangs and visceral physicality that became the blueprint for modern vampire mythology and whose influence can still be seen across horror cinema today."

It's hard to overstate Dracula's influence. Everything you'd expect from a Dracula movie — the fangs, the heaving bosoms, the wooden stakes, the suggestion that some women might actually enjoy having their necks bitten by a charismatic count — features here, and the film has frequently been included in rankings of the best films and horror films of all time.

As director Terence Fisher explained to our friends at SFX Magazine, this was the movie that made vampires sexy. "My greatest contribution to the Dracula myth was to bring out the underlying sexual element in the story… At the moment he bites it is the culmination of a sexual experience."

As you can see from the still images above, the restored version looks absolutely spectacular. And the film itself is a masterpiece. As Empire wrote in its retrospective review, "It was garish, it was sexy and it was never afraid to be gory. And with its spectacular ending — in which The Count's flesh peels away and crumbles to dust when caught in the first rays of the morning sun — Dracula created one of the classic images of horror cinema."

According to the wonderfully named John Gore, CEO of Hammer Films and executive chairman of John Gore Studios, “Bringing Dracula back to audiences in 4K goes far beyond a piece of film restoration work. This is the recovery of a piece of British film history that audiences believed had been lost forever. Seeing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing together again in such extraordinary detail is a reminder of just how powerful this film remains nearly seventy years after its original release.”

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• Hundreds of TV episodes and movies will be removed from PlayStation Store accounts on 1 September
• People had bought the movies and shows
• No apologies, let alone compensation, from Sony

One of the best things about Blu-ray discs is that you don't need to worry that Sony will sneak into your home in the middle of the night and take them away.

Unfortunately you can't say the same about digital purchases: Sony is scrubbing hundreds of movies and TV show episodes purchased on the PlayStation Store from people's collections with no compensation. Come September, they're gone.

The list of affected movies and shows is on the Sony website and includes the remastered Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Gomorrah, the Rambo movies and many more. The problem is the end of a licensing agreement between Sony and StudioCanal, a major producer and distributor of movies and shows.

As Sony explains, from September 1, 2026, "you will no longer be able to access your previously purchased content from StudioCanal, and it will be removed from your video library."

To add insult to injury, the notification ends with the PlayStation slogan: "Play has no limits".

As you can imagine, this has gone down very well with movie fans.

Why is Sony removing people's purchases?

Sony's arrangement with the film production company StudioCanal has ended, and that means Sony no longer has the rights to sell those TV shows and movies. The fact that people have bought them is irrelevant to Sony, because in the terms and conditions that absolutely nobody reads it says that you're buying a license to view a show or movie, not to own it.

Since the news broke, my social media has been full of people saying the same thing: Sony's move is a pretty great advert for digital piracy. And it's definitely upset a lot of movie fans, such as Quelonious on r/movies who vowed: "I will never buy streaming movies again", although that poster is sticking with Blu-ray rather than flying a pirate flag.

"If I were you I wouldn't make digital purchases for movies," Rewdyroo writes on the same subreddit, noting that "you aren't buying the movie. It functions more like a lease and if the license for the movie that whatever service you bought it from runs out your digital movie also goes away, no refund. I've had it happen on Amazon and will never purchase a digital movie again."

Mildmichigan spoke for many: "This should be illegal. If I buy something digitally, and the platform loses distribution rights or whatever then I should be grandfathered in."

We've discussed this before, because it's a key reason to keep buying Blu-rays: Blu-rays are yours forever. But it's an issue with all kinds of digital media, going back to the days of Microsoft's PlaysForSure digital music, which sold audio files that died when Microsoft shut down the servers. Whether it's a streaming catalog or GTA 6, if it's not on physical media you can't ever be sure that it's yours forever.

(Is now a good time to mentioned the Criterion's 4K Blu-rays are 50% off at the moment in the US?)

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• The Sopranos: The Complete Series is a limited edition 4K Blu-ray release
• 86 episodes over 28 discs including 2 bonus Blu-rays
• December 2026 (US), $149.99

One of the greatest TV dramas of all time is coming to 4K Blu-ray. The Sopranos: The Complete Series box set is available for pre-order in the US and Canada, and will be released at the end of 2026.

This far from the first Sopranos box set: in addition to the DVD box set I've got on the shelf, there was a Blu-ray box in 2014, plus a 25th anniversary Blu-ray box set in 2024, which included The Many Saints of Newark as well. So this is the first time it's all available in 4K.

This edition delivers a brand new and currently untitled featurette with Sopranos creator and writer David Chase. That featurette is on one of the two bonus discs that also include hours of extra material including a two-part documentary, seven behind-the-scenes featurettes, and all of the bonus content previously released on The Sopranos: Complete Series Blu-ray release. And it's all delivered in hardcover lay-flat book packaging.

For fans of the show, this looks like the ultimate release: the best-looking, most pristine way to see one of the most influential TV shows ever.

Why The Sopranos in 4K is a must-have mafia drama

The Sopranos tells the story of depressed mob boss Tony Soprano, who's going to therapy in secret because he knows that if word gets out about his "weakness", he's a dead man walking. It's as much about family as it is about mafia families, and it features stellar performances throughout.

During its run the show amassed multiple well-deserved awards including 111 Primetime Emmy nominations and 21 wins, 5 Golden Globe awards, and Emmys for cast members James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Drea de Matteo, and Joe Pantoliano.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I tell you that The Sopranos began a golden age of TV drama. Without The Sopranos, there would be no Breaking Bad, Mad Men or any of the other premium shows we love so much.

It was pivotal in shifting the view that TV was inferior to cinema, and that our relatable protagonists couldn't be awful people. And it was really, really, really good: the writing, the performances and the cinematography were all superb.

While much of the praise for The Sopranos centers on the cast, and rightly so, the work of cinematographer Alik Sakharov was crucial too. The cinematography was groundbreaking in how it contributed to the story, and there's a fascinating article about it on No Film School. And if that's the kind of thing you find interesting, then this new 4K box set was made for you.

The Sopranos 4K Blu-ray box set has a release date of 8 December 2026 in the US and a recommended price of $149.99.

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• 'The Closet' is a faithful recreation of the famous Criterion Closet
• Browse in full 3D (the correct option) or in list view (boo)
• Connects to the Criterion Channel for easy streaming

If you've always wanted to browse the Criterion Closet but haven't been able to because (a) it's in New York and (b) you're not a famous actor, then Redditor olievans has just the thing for you: the entire Criterion Closet in virtual 3D form, explorable right in your web browser.

You can can take a look at The Closet right in that link. It features 1,327 Criterion editions, all shelved in the order of their spine numbers, and you can pull each disc box out from the shelf to inspect the design more closely. You can also filter the collection by decade, director, country, language and more — the physical version can't do that.

If you're not familiar with the Criterion Closet, it's a library of the special-edition disc sets released the film distributor Criterion, which been releasing much-coveted discs with beautiful art, great extra features, and often unique high-quality restorations since the age of Laserdisc.

Since 2010, the real Closet has been a place where directors, actors and other well-known faces — from Martin Scorcese to Charli XCX — are filmed picking their must-see movies from the range.

Why it's fun to be in the Closet

The Closet is available in two flavors: a full 3D reproduction of the iconic closet, and in list form. The list is more functional but a lot less fun because you don't get the surprise of finding This Is Spinal Tap immediately next to The Seventh Seal.

The website is a really fun way to browse one of the world's best movie collections, and while there are a few issues — it's not really obvious how to get your mouse cursor back, so on my Mac I had to press Esc twice to return to the home page and escape the closet — it's beautifully done and the closest thing you'll get to the real thing without first getting some IMDb credits under your belt.

What I really like about this is the discovery element. The Criterion Collection is very wide-ranging, and that means you never know what's going to be next on the shelf: Paris, Texas (number 501) is followed by the Australian thriller Revanche (502) and the historical German romance Lola Montès (503).

That makes it feel very much like the Blu-Ray equivalent of crate digging for exotic vinyl records: the Criterion Closet is full of surprises.

A note from the Editor

Hello! Matt Bolton, Managing Editor for TechRadar's home theater coverage here. As a Blu-ray collector, I've decided to take the opportunity I'll never have in real life and give you my Criterion picks — as in, these are ones I actually own. I'm not going to give you a whole spiel about each one, don't worry — but I'll highlight why

• Anora — a chunky collector's edition, and the best way get a 4K version
• Blow Out — essential for the DTS-HD Master sound, and the 4K restoration
• I Know Where I'm Going — the first 4K restoration of a B&W cinematography classic
• In The Mood For Love — one of my favorite movies, in the highest quality
• Lost Highway — the only way to get it in 4K Dolby Vision with a new DTS-HD sound restoration
• Moonage Daydream — the only way to get this in both Dolby Atmos and uncompressed sound, shockingly
• The Power of the Dog — the only way to get it in the higher bit rate of Blu-ray
• The Red Shoes — one of the most incredible-looking movies of all time, in its best-ever restoration
• Thief — the best-looking version of Michael Mann's grittiest movie

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• Kaleidescape launches the first 8K movie player certified by the 8K Association
• But the new 4K Cinematic format for higher-quality 4K is the exciting bit
• $4,995 (about £3,777 / AU$7,180)

Kaleidescape makes some truly spectacular 4K video players, and now there's an 8K version. It's "the world's highest-fidelity movie player," says chairman and CEO Tayloe Stansbury. "It brings movie lovers closer to the filmmaker's intent, with cleaner detail, true-to-life color, and a more natural presentation that dramatically improves the viewing experience of any display."

It's also a world first. The Kaleidescape Strato K is the first 8K movie player that's been certified for 8K by the 8K Association.

That's good, but the fact that it's the first such accreditation points to the problem with 8K. Buying 8K hardware right now is a bit like being the first person in the world to buy a fax machine: who are you going to send faxes to? Similarly, with 8K movie players and 8K TVs, what 8K movies are actually there for you to watch?

That means the Strato K, while impressive, is a bit of a gamble: you're buying hardware in the hope that the 8K movie trickle will become a flood, and I'm just not sure that rain is ever coming.

So the most important new feature might not be the 8K support, but instead a new format that Kaleidescape calls "4K Cinematic".

Kaleidescape Strato K: key features and price

Kaleidescape's 4K Cinematic is a format designed to deliver even better 4K picture quality, and it does that by using less compression. Movies are encoded at around 110Mbps using the HEVC codec. Kaleidescape says that's compared to around 60Mbps for 4K Blu-Ray, and around 17Mbps for standard 4K streaming services.

It's worth noting that those figures aren't the maximum bitrates for the formats — for example Blu-Ray can go up to 144Mbps, though 80Mbps is a more standard ceiling — but are the bitrates typically used in commercial releases.

In addition to the higher bitrate, 4K Cinematic uses 4:4:4 chroma sampling rather than the 4:2:0 of most commercial movie releases, meaning more accurate colors and less 'banding' or other color artefacts.

The downside of those higher bitrates is that you'll need a lot of storage: as FlatpanelsHD notes, the player only has 1TB of storage – equivalent to around seven 4K Cinematic titles, as those are 1.5x the size of normal 4K movies. Like other Strato players it's really intended to be teamed up with the firm's Terra servers.

Kaleidescape will label the higher-quality movies as 4K Cinematic in its movie store and on the Stratos K interface to differentiate them from standard 4K versions. Prices will be from around $10 to $30, and the initial raft of titles includes Top Gun: Maverick, F1: The Movie, Superman, Project Hail Mary, Dune: Part Two; Sinners, Predator: Badlands, Mortal Kombat II, Avatar, Tron: Ares, Thunderbolts, and others.

4K Cinematic supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X — but Dolby Vision isn't supported by the Stratos K player in 8K movies, which are SDR or HDR10. The maximum frame rate for 8K is 30 fps via HDMI 2.1.

The Strato K has a recommended retail price of $4,995, which is $1,000 more than the five-star 4K Strato V. We are really looking forward to seeing what the new movie format looks like…

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If you're looking for the very best Dolby Atmos movies to show off what your that home system you've lovingly researched and chosen can do, then there's a smart list of the 'top 100' options available on a site called Hello Atmos.

This top 100 was curated by the creator of Hello Atmos in order to find the 'consensus' list of the movies that get recommended the most often. It's based on published reviews and lists of great Atmos movies (including ours), plus community recommendations from platforms like Reddit, in the many many threads where people ask for recommendations.

It's all pulled into an algorithm designed by the app's creator, Adrian Wrona, to rank the movies based on how strongly they're recommended, and resulting in the top 100 list.

You can read the full list just below, or see it on the Hello Atmos site, which also includes where you can stream the movies in your country (though it's TechRadar's stance that uncompressed audio from the best 4K Blu-ray players is the only way to really show off your system).

While like any best-of lists there's plenty of opportunity for an argument — is Blade Runner 2049 still a better showcase than Dune? Why isn't Dredd higher up the rankings? — it's a great and eclectic guide to some of the best sounding spatial audio soundtracks, with details of who did the mixing, which is a nice touch.

We've written about Adrian before; another tool on Hello Atmos scans your Apple Music or Spotify playlists to identify which ones are available in Atmos, which is great if you want to really explore spatial audio for music.

The 100 best Dolby Atmos movies, as rated by Hello Atmos

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Dune
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Ready Player One
5. The Batman
6. Top Gun: Maverick
7. Dune: Part Two
8. Gravity
9. Ford v Ferrari
10. A Quiet Place
11. The Matrix
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
13. Pacific Rim
14. 1917
15. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
16. Edge of Tomorrow
17. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
18. Fury
19. Midway
20. Saving Private Ryan
21. Deepwater Horizon
22. Bohemian Rhapsody
23. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
24. A Quiet Place Part II
25. Civil War
26. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
27. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
28. Twister
29. Godzilla vs. Kong
30. Roma
31. No Time to Die
32. Transformers
33. Hacksaw Ridge
34. Oblivion
35. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
36. Prey
37. Alita: Battle Angel
38. TRON: Legacy
39. Baby Driver
40. Warfare
41. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
42. Godzilla Minus One
43. Gran Turismo
44. John Wick: Chapter 4
45. Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague
46. Kong: Skull Island
47. Ambulance
48. Twisters
49. Unbroken
50. John Wick

51. Avengers: Endgame
52. Jurassic Park
53. Apocalypse Now
54. Blade Runner
55. First Man
56. Man of Steel
57. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
58. The Fifth Element
59. Soul
60. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
61. Black Hawk Down
62. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
63. John Wick: Chapter 2
64. Dredd
65. Star Trek Into Darkness
66. Deadpool
67. Nope
68. Sinners
69. Brave
70. Doctor Sleep
71. WALL·E
72. F1
73. War of the Worlds
74. Mission: Impossible - Fallout
75. Us
76. Alien: Romulus
77. Everest
78. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
79. Avatar: The Way of Water
80. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
81. 6 Underground
82. Avengers: Infinity War
83. Ballerina
84. Aquaman
85. Titanic
86. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
87. The Guns of Navarone
88. Aliens
89. Nosferatu
90. Uncut Gems
91. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
92. Back to the Future
93. Suspiria
94. Overlord
95. Top Gun
96. Sicario
97. 300
98. Evil Dead Rise
99. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
100. A Quiet Place: Day One

Welcome to a bonus edition of my Blu-ray Bounty column, where I test the latest physical media film releases to see which make great showcases for your setup.

Normally, the Bounty arrives at the end of the month, but in celebration of Blu-ray’s 20th anniversary (on 20th June), I thought I’d check out a few discs released in 2026 that didn’t make it into the Blu-ray Bounty the first time. If you're thinking it just sounds like I wanted to find an excuse to watch some cool movies while at work… well, no comment.

As usual, I’ll be using a setup consisting of one of the best OLED TVs of 2025 the LG G5, along with the Panasonic DP-UB820 that we rate as the best 4K Blu-ray player on the market, plus Samsung HW-Q990C Dolby Atmos soundbar surround system.

As usual, I don’t review the movies themselves here, just the audio and video quality of the disc.

One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

One Battle After Another tells the story of Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a washed-up revolutionary who lives off grid with his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). He must face his past when his nemesis Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) resurfaces and his daughter goes missing.

Visually, One Battle After Another is a striking movie. Textures are crisp throughout, looking both 3D-like and true to life. There are plenty of high-contrast scenes that showcase rich black tones with punchy highlights, especially during night scenes where strong shadows are cast. Colors are natural, with the green grass of fields and the bright, blue sky all looking natural throughout the movie.

With a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, this disc sounds fantastic. Explosions and gunfire have plenty of impact and power, demonstrating well controlled bass tones. This balances nicely with the movie’s more intricate sound effects, such as the clicking of a gun’s chamber and lightly treading footsteps. There’s a good use of height channels too, as army helicopters fly overhead, creating an immersive atmosphere.

Becoming Led Zeppelin (Sony Pictures Classics)

Becoming Led Zeppelin is a documentary that explores the origins of the iconic rock band, from the members’ youth to the height of the band, including never-before-seen footage and modern-day interviews with the band.

Where else to start than with audio? There are two soundtrack options: DTS-HD 5.1 MA and DTS-HD 2.0 MA. Played through our soundbar, the 5.1 mix sounded fantastic. When Good Times, Bad Times kicks in, John Bonham’s thumping drums sound superb through the subwoofer: tightly controlled, detailed and meaty. Jimmy Page and John-Paul Jones’ guitars are refined, dynamic and intricate. Finally, Plant’s vocals are clear, punchy and as powerful as you could hope for.

Other highlights include Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You as the band recounts their first US tour in 1968, where Page’s delicate playing sounds crisp and clean and Plant’s haunting vocals are gorgeous and shortly after a live version of Communication Breakdown sounds raw, punchy and perfectly balanced, with every instrument given room to breathe.

Visually, the disc is 4K SDR. While there’s not a great deal to show off here, as most of the documentary is made up of old footage and talking-heads with the band, what is present is clean and shows great detail. Some of the footage has been upscaled nicely and some left intentionally grainy, but it’s still an excellent presentation overall.

This Is Spinal Tap (Sony Pictures)

This Is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary about the fictional rock band Spinal Tap on their 1982 US tour. The movie stars Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel, Michel McKean as David St Hubbins and Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls. Rob Reiner directs and stars as the filmmaker Marty Di Bergi.

The movie comes with two DTS-HD MA soundtracks 5.1 and 2.0. The 5.1 mix sounds superb, particularly during the live concert sequences. Guitars are crunchy and detailed, drums and bass are meaty and provide a nice workout for your subwoofer. The mix is extremely well balanced with a wide soundstage, giving each instrument ample room. Vocals are clean during live sections and speech is clear during dialogue scenes. The infamous ‘Stonehenge’ scene in particular sounds fantastic.

Visually, the movie supports Dolby Vision and looks very good. Colors have plenty of punch, from the band’s loud, bright costumes on stage to the more natural environments with bushes and trees, there’s a really nice balance of color. Dark tones are deep and rich and textures look lifelike. While it doesn’t have the level of upscaling I’ve seen in some movies, skin, hair and clothing have been sharpened up. Cinephiles will be happy with the level of film grain retained here and while some scenes have more grain than others, it suits the mockumentary style of the movie.

All The President’s Men (Warner Bros.)

All The President's Men follows the story of two reporters from The Washington Post, Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford), who investigate the Watergate scandal. The movie is based on the non-fiction book of the same name.

All The President’s Men looks great in 4K. Watching in Dolby Vision, the picture is bright and detailed, with crisp textures throughout. Clothing and hair are refined and colors are bold and vibrant, shown on the brightly colored off chairs and desks in The Washington Post office. The green trees and grass surrounding the courthouse look natural and punchy. Night scenes showing deep blacks with strong contrast, shown as cars drive through the city. There’s plenty of grain retained which cinephiles will be happy with, but there’s some nice upscaling too.

The disc has a DTS-HD 2.0 soundtrack and throughout the movie, speech is clear with good detail. Subtle effects such as radios and voices on a telephone and the scratching of a reporter’s pencil have a good amount of detail. While there’s nothing to really show off your sound system like you’d get from an action-packed blockbuster, it’s a great overall soundtrack.

Over the past few years, I’ve often written about the state of 4K Blu-ray (and the state of physical media in general), and while sales numbers are often very doom and gloom, I’ve remained hopeful over its potential and popularity.

We’re big 4K Blu-ray fans here at TechRadar. Some of us (myself included) are collectors, and as TechRadar’s TV tester, they’re my primary source for testing the best TVs and best soundbars. In November 2024, I started the Blu-ray Bounty, a monthly column in which I review the best 4K Blu-rays each month, judging their picture and audio quality.

Since then, I’ve tested over 90 4K Blu-rays, and while most have proven to be real winners, some totally stood out from the pack. Some have even been good enough to become reference discs for when I’m testing TVs. So, as a celebration of Blu-ray's 20th anniversary(!), I've decided to whittle down those 90-plus titles to my all-time top 10.

Just to be clear: this isn’t an all-time best 4K Blu-ray article, just the best ones I’ve tested for Blu-ray Bounty. So, if your favorite is missing, don’t be surprised! The list is also in alphabetical order as I didn’t have the heart to rank them!

Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios)

First on the list is Alien: Romulus. First featured in the December 2024 Blu-ray Bounty, Alien: Romulus delivers plenty of high-contrast scenes with powerful dynamic range, rich dark tones and punchy highlights. On the best OLED TVs, this disc looks staggeringly good, especially any exterior shots of space. There’s also plenty of awesome detail, with close-up shots of the character's faces showing every mark and facial feature with real clarity.

The disc’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack is also spine-chillingly realistic. The movie’s dramatic moments have plenty of impact, complete with hefty bass. The movement of face huggers is scarily well-mapped too. As they moved around the floor, their scuttling sounds had me looking nervously around our testing lab a few times when playing through our Samsung HW-Q990C Dolby Atmos soundbar. A perfect disc for a scary movie night with your home theater system.

Dark City (Arrow Video)

Dark City first featured in the July 2025 Blu-ray Bounty and has become an excellent reference disc for testing contrast. Inky blacks are featured throughout, and there are plenty of scenes with strong contrast as characters stand in front of desk lamps to cast detailed shadows, creating a nice noir vibe. Once again, the 4K remaster means people’s skin and object detail is refined, really showing off what 4K can do.

The disc features both Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtracks, and while this disc isn’t the audio showcase some of the other entrants on this list are, it’s still detailed and powerful, with a tense score and foreboding bass.

Double Indemnity (Criterion Collection)

Double Indemnity featured in the debut November 2024 Blu-ray Bounty, and it’s stuck with me ever since. It was my first experience of what 4K Blu-ray could do for an older, black-and-white movie. And it’s still one of the best examples of this that I’ve tested to this day. Contrast is fantastic, with a great range of black, white and gray tones, and textures have been restored to give them a true-to-life look that’s downright impressive — especially with Dolby Vision supported. While there may be some better restorations of black-and-white movies out there, this is a personal pick, as it really does showcase 4K’s capabilities.

Audibly, the movie only supports a monaural soundtrack, but again, it remains faithful to the original and still sounds great. Speech is clear throughout, and there’s a nice balance between the movie’s more dialogue-heavy and more action-packed scenes.

Fight Club (20th Century Studios)

Featured in the May 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, Fight Club finally came to 4K Blu-ray for the first time, and while there were some controversial changes made by director David Fincher, it’s still the best this movie has ever looked. Textures and detail have been refined beautifully, giving everything a fresh, crisp look. Contrast is striking, delivering deep blacks in the movie’s darker scenes, and whenever colors are featured they look punchy and accurate. Whenever there’s a close-up, it really shows off the disc’s clarity. This is another personal favorite, as I’ve waited a long time for this one to arrive — and it was worth the wait.

The disc features a DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack, and while Dolby Atmos would have been nice, the 5.1 MA is still excellent. There are plenty of crushing, realistic impacts during fight scenes, with sometimes gruesome-sounding detail. But it’s the sense of direction and accuracy that really impresses — in the opening scene where the camera moves around the parking garage, the sound was mapped accurately to our testing soundbar.

Lawrence of Arabia (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Lawrence of Arabia is another fantastic example of what 4K Blu-ray can do for classic movies. Featured in the February 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, Lawrence of Arabia is breathtaking on 4K Blu-ray. The level of detail and sheer scope of Freddie A. Young’s outstanding cinematography is truly brilliant, and balances some wonderful upscaling with plenty of film grain for purists. Detail is refined and textures are realistic, especially people’s skin and features in close-ups. Colors are also extremely rich, whether it’s the blue sky over the desert, the red sashes of the Arab fighters or the dazzling white of Lawrence’s robes. A truly magnificent disc.

For audio, both Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD 5.1 MA are featured. The Atmos soundtrack delivers plenty of scale and scope that perfectly suits Maurice Jarre’s grand score, as well as the movie’s action scenes. Explosions offer plenty of meaty bass, gunfights feel spacious and accurate, and speech comes through cleanly.

The Mask (Arrow Video)

While I anticipated that The Mask would be a good disc for its colors (more on that below), I was pleasantly surprised by how effective a disc it was for audio testing. Featured in the November 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, The Mask supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtracks. Using the Atmos soundtrack, this disc whips up an impressively accurate soundstage, capturing the cartoonish, chaotic nature of the titular character. As he tears around a room in a tornado, the Atmos soundtrack is perfectly placed, with plenty of superb detail.

Visually, The Mask is at its best when The Mask himself is on screen. His gaudy yellow suit takes on an almost neon-like effect that really pops on screen, and works well if you’ve got a display that’s all about color. Elsewhere, textures have been upscaled nicely, giving skin, hair and even clothing a realistic look. There are even a few darker scenes at the Coco Bongo club that can really show off contrast.

Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Sinners first featured in the July 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, and while it’s a good-looking 4K disc, it features here for its audio — and for one scene in particular. During a time-bending musical sequence in a barn, the mix demonstrates pinpoint accuracy in capturing the hip-hop beats blending with blues music as the camera moves around the room. Any scenes involving blues tracks sound excellent, but really, it’s the barn scene that serves as an audio showcase. Elsewhere, action scenes have plenty of nice detail.

Sinners looks brilliant on 4K, accurately conveying the bright summer of Mississippi during its daytime scenes, and balancing these nicely with the rich contrast of its night scenes. Again, detail is really strong here, with textures in the 1930s clothing looking refined and lifelike, and with Dolby Vision supports, colors are deep and vibrant throughout.

The Sound of Music (Disney)

Featured in the October 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, The Sound of Music looks stunning in 4K. Where it really shines is in its color reproduction. The market scene in particular delivers bold oranges, reds and yellows from the fruits and vegetables on display that really pop on the right TV. The greenery of the surrounding hills looks lush too. Upscaling is also fantastic, and textures have been cleaned up nicely, giving everything a 3D-like appearance, especially people.

Equipped with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, The Sound of Music sounds great too. Julie Andrew’s iconic vocals are detailed and powerful throughout, and there’s a wonderful balance between the musical score and the vocals. This is the best way to hear legendary tracks like Do Re Mi at home. This one really does tick all the boxes, both audibly and visually.

Wicked (Universal Pictures)

Wicked’s picture impressed me so much when I first tested it as part of the March 2025 Blu-ray Bounty that it’s become a reference disc I use for testing TVs. It delivers bold, vibrant colors throughout that have plenty of dazzle. Whether it’s the pink of flowers in trees or Glinda’s wardrobe, the green of trees and Elphaba’s skin, or even the white of a clifftop in the ‘Wizard & I’ scene, colors strike the balance between vivid and lifelike expertly. Details are crisp and intricate in every facet, from people’s clothing to the environments of Oz. There are even some high-contrast scenes that look great too. This really is one of my go-to testing discs.

Unsurprisingly, a Dolby Atmos musical sounds truly fantastic as well. The vocals and score balance well with one another, and come through with excellent clarity. There are some real showcase scenes for Atmos, notably the ‘Defying Gravity’ scene. Cynthia Erivo’s vocals are powerful and expertly rendered, even through the fast-paced movement as Elphaba whips around the skies on her broom — and with the right system the effect is truly immersive.

The Wild Robot

The final entry on this list is The Wild Robot, which first featured in the January 2025 Blu-ray Bounty. It’s a gorgeous animation that has fantastic detail, along with phenomenal colors that look both vibrant and natural. The environments have a painted effect that looks lifelike, and this blends really well with the crisp animation of the creatures of the forest and Roz. Both bright and dark scenes look brilliant too, looking both suitably punchy and rich respectively. This is another disc that has entered my testing rotation.

The disc’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack is great for accurately delivering the sounds of nature. Snapping twigs, calling animals and weather effects all combine to create a rich soundscape. Atmos is well utilized too, with birds flying overhead and heavy rain creating an immersive listening experience. There’s also some seriously hefty bass on display during a thunderstorm at the start of the movie.

What are some of your favorite 4K Blu-rays? Let us know in the comments!

Physical home media has gone through a turbulent time the last few years. With the rise of streaming services, demand for physical media over the past few years has steadily declined, with people choosing the convenience of streaming over physical discs.

There's still a dedicated fanbase of physical media collectors, though, and more recently streaming price rises and splintering means people have more interest just owning the stuff they want to watch. I’ve been writing about my hope for the resurgence of 4K Blu-ray, and physical media in general, since 2023. Now in 2026, I’m actually more hopeful than ever. It couldn’t come at a better time either, with the 20th anniversary of Blu-ray’s debut on June 20th, 2026.

I recently spoke to Kath Summersgill, Joint Group Head of Sales at Key Production Group, an agency specializing primarily in physical music and packaging manufacturing with vinyl, cassette and CD. However, the group also works with Blu-ray, both video and audio varieties, and DVD. We discussed the state of Blu-ray production, and physical media in general, and she had some encouraging things to say.

Promising numbers

“We’ve seen an increase in Blu-ray sales of over 10,000%, particularly in Blu-ray Audio” Kath tells me. “That’s over the span of the past eight to 10 years.” For a format that’s been on the decline, that’s an incredibly encouraging number.

Kath then mentions the ERA (Entertainment Retailer’s Association) report from December 2025, which reveals sales revenue for Music, Video and Gaming sales. “Although there was an overall decrease in the physical video format, Blu-ray actually increased by 3%”. While that may not sound like a lot, it’s a positive after some particularly bad numbers.

If you read more into the 2025 ERA report, 4K Blu-ray sales increased 19.5%, which is an extremely encouraging number. The strongest selling disc of the year was Wicked, a disc I regularly use for testing AV equipment and one of the main highlights of our Blu-ray Bounty feature (more on that later).

So, why have 4K Blu-ray sales turned around? For that answer, we’ll have to look to streaming services.

You can't rely on streaming

One of the most frustrating things people have with streaming services is the availability of movies. At one time or another, most people will have experienced a movie leaving a streaming service, only for it to either go to a rival service (that typically you won’t subscribe to) or for it just to disappear.

I’ve even seen horror stories of people buying movies on a streaming service that then also disappear. A Reddit thread in the r/AmazonPrime subreddit is a great example of this, where user u/Electrical_Paper6286 has had it happen “4 times between 2 movies”. Although the movies eventually returned, it’s a sign of how tentative the ‘ownership’ of movies on streaming platforms can be.

It’s one of the key issues affecting people’s trust in streaming services and something that’s driving people to physical media. Kath relates it to vinyl. “We know that vinyl is never ever going to replace streaming, but it exists very happily alongside it. I think that Blu-ray is the same, it offers different things that streaming doesn't. It's very much something that you can have and hold and you can keep and you can play over and over again.”

Kath also points out another issue with online-based movie and music streaming. “[With physical] you're not at the whim of your internet connection speed, or whether or not certain libraries drop certain titles, licence changes”.

This is another frustration. Numerous times I’ve gone to watch a movie on streaming and due to connection issues , it’s either streamed in reduced quality, buffered or just not streamed at all. This isn’t a problem with physical media.

A passionate fanbase

As I mentioned above, I’m a budding collector of 4K Blu-ray. While I don’t have fully stacked shelves (yet), I do have a collector’s edition or two and more than a few steelbooks.

In FilmStories’ article about the ERA 2025 report, they mention that steelbooks and special editions helped the growth in 4K Blu-ray in the UK, with every one in 10 4K Blu-rays released having some sort of steelbook or special edition, and due to their higher prices, they made up £2 of every £10 spent on 4K Blu-ray in 2025.

I tell Kath I’m a sucker for nice packaging and she agrees and she relates it to a recent vinyl release that Key Production Group handled. “We find people are doing this. We did a vinyl release recently with 72 variants and even though the packaging was the same, the color of the vinyl was different.”

(I’m also a sucker for colored vinyl, with a rust-effect Jack White/Dead Weather release from a Third Man Records Vault collection being a particular highlight in my stack.)

While special editions are great, it’s also the work of independent distributors and manufacturers, delivering more excellent 4K restorations than ever, that gets more people to invest in 4K Blu-ray.

The Criterion Collection and Arrow Video are two of the big names, but other organizations such as Kino Lorber, Shout Factory, Boutique Home Video and the BFI are crucial. These companies are producing more sought-after titles and giving them excellent restorations that mean people want to own them in the best possible quality.

In November 2024, I started the Blu-ray Bounty. This is an ongoing monthly column where I test the latest 4K Blu-rays from each month — and since its debut, the column has been growing.

We’re covering more discs than ever, covering a wider range of genres, and I have a feeling it’s only going to get bigger. I’ve produced tons of lists of excellent 4K titles that are perfect for showing off home theater systems, such as this 6 action movies list and 6 classic movies that show what 4K can do. and a good chunk of my reference discs for AV testing came from the Blu-ray Bounty.

I’m also an active user of the r/4kbluray subreddit and this is again one of the most passionate subreddits I’ve come across. Users update each other on releases, give their thoughts and reviews on the latest titles and always showing off their collections in the best possible way.

While it may well have been doom-and-gloom for 4K and Blu-ray in the last couple of years, I for one am hopeful for its future. What better way to celebrate Blu-ray’s 20th anniversary than with some good news.

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• The first HDMI 2.2 products are likely to arrive in 2027
• Massively increased bitrates with 4K 480Hz support, or 10K resolution
• Great for PC gaming, but won't make much difference to TV viewers

HDMI 2.2 is coming, and it could be a very big deal for gamers. That's because it delivers double the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1: up to 96Gbps.

That means HDMI 2.2 is capable of delivering uncompressed 4K at up to 240Hz (current HDMI can only do this using Display Stream Compression, aka DSC) or uncompressed 4K at 480Hz with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and it can also deliver uncompressed RGB 8K at 60Hz. And using DSC, it's capable of delivering 1440p at rates exceeding 1,000Hz.

There is an important qualifier, though: devices can be HDMI 2.2 certified without delivering the very fastest data speeds, so you'll need to study the spec sheets of any potential purchases.

As FlatpanelsHD reports, the HDMI organization expects the first HDMI 2.2 devices to go on sale in 2027; testing and certification are already taking place.

According to Rob Tobias, CEO and president of the HDMI Licensing Administrator, "We're hearing chip manufacturers will start to sample their FRL2 [Fixed Rate Link, the signalling technology used by HDMI] chips this year. And so we should start to see some 96 or up to 96 gigabit HDMI 2.2 products next year."

Will HDMI 2.2 be a big deal?

The specifications are impressive, though it'll be available in three flavors, all of which are faster than HDMI 2.1: 64Gbps, 80Gbps and 96Gbps.

The performance for gaming is particularly impressive, but we already have DisplayPort 2.1 at up to 80Gbps in many of the best gaming monitors so there isn't a hugely pressing need to upgrade. And HDMI requires licensing fees that are likely to be higher than for DisplayPort.

Chances are if you're into high-end gaming hardware you've already gone down the DisplayPort route, especially if you have a multi-monitor setup, but HDMI 2.2 should mean more choice among premium displays.

HDMI has more benefits in living rooms, thanks to features such as ARC (Audio Return Channel), CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and ALLM (Auto Low-Latency Mode), so it's conceivable that the PlayStation 6 could embrace the higher bitrates of HDMI 2.2 — although games only rarely achieve the 4K 120Hz that's already achievable over HDMI 2.1, and we're not sure that's going to really change with the PS6.

But some 4K 240Hz games might be possible, and the best gaming TVs might offer the refresh rate to support it, so there may be some benefit for the most hardcore. For most living room uses, though, HDMI 2.1 is probably overkill — it's really best for PC connectivity when it comes to the pure data rate.

However, there's another benefit to HDMI 2.2: LIP, which stands for Latency Indication Protocol. LIP improves sound syncing on home theater setups, such as soundbars or AV receivers — this can be a pretty common problem with even the best soundbars, so we'll be keeping an eye on how well this works.

For most of us, I think HDMI 2.2 is generally something to keep an eye on rather than something to demand as soon as it debuts. HDMI 2.2 has been made with 10K resolution in mind, but the vast majority of commercial and streaming video tops out at 4K.

It's something to think about when buying new AV hardware in the future (there's good chance we'll need to wait for 2028's CES for widespread adoption in TVs), but initially at least, it'll be more about marketing than real-world benefits for most of us.

And bear in mind that HDMI adoption is really driven by the companies that provide the connection hardware.

Even today, not all high-end TVs have four HDMI 2.1 ports, because the most powerful processing chips used by many manufacturers don't support this. Some lower-tier TVs from the same makers do, because those chips have more up-to-date HDMI control elements — it's a bit of a mess. I suspect HDMI 2.2 will have the same kind of slightly chaotic support.

On PCs, we'll be relying on GPUs to support the tech, and new models aren't expected until late 2027 or after that — so there's a good chance of seeing HDMI 2.2 on them. But like HDMI 2.1, it'll probably launch on the highest-end models first.

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I recently visited the Japanese factory where Denon and Marantz make the hi-fi and home theater gear, and the best part of the seeing the facility was getting a demo of the reference home theater listening there, with its 9.4.6 channels of Dolby Atmos sound delivered via $250k of Bowers & Wilkins speaker.

While snooping around the room, the shelving in the corner that houses their disc library naturally caught my eye. Marantz's engineers had already told me that they consider Gravity to be one of the ultimate stress tests for AVRs (you can read why in the piece I linked above), but what else do they keep on hand for testing AV receivers and other gear?

I wanted to make a list to share with the many 4K Blu-ray and home theater enthusiasts out there, looking for fresh demo disc ideas — but given that we had limited time in the room and a major portion of the movies are in Japanese, I took a few photos of the shelves, and came back home to analyze them.

The list is below, and it's in two sections: movies, and concert discs. I excluded anything that isn't a Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray — the shelves were obviously also full of CDs and SACDs (and a few DVDs).

It's not an exhaustive list: I used Google Gemini to help me translate Japanese titles that I couldn't discern myself anyway (I did not need help identifying which disc was Mad Max: Fury Road, naturally), and sometimes its translations were either vague or otherwise uncertain, so I didn't include those titles unless I could verify them another way. And also, I probably missed some because this whole exercise made me go a little stir-crazy.

So if you want to see the shelves and comb through yourself, here they are — but my written-out list is just below.

The list is inevitable in places — Blade Runner 2049 and 1917 are obvious inclusions, and two versions of Interstellar is the normal number of versions of Interstellar to own, in my opinion — but it was also really interesting and surprising in places.

I loved seeing Bridge of Spies in there; I didn't expect Hairspray (2007), but it makes a ton of sense; I'm very curious what makes Taxi 3 specifically a good disc to have; it absolutely rocks that they have RRR, and I can't recommend it enough for your own library; and in contrast to Interstellar, I really don't think anyone needs two copies of Pixels…

The music side includes a fun mix of jazz sets, classical music, movie music and huge stadium events — and with a very healthy dose of metal.

Movies

• 1917
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 28 Years Later
• 9 (Nine)
• A Clockwork Orange
• A Complete Unknown
• A Star is Born (2018)
• Akira
• Alien Romulus
• American Made
• American Sniper
• Apocalypse Now
• Apollo 13
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
• Argo
• Avatar
• Back to the Future Trilogy
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Battleship
• Birdman
• Black Rain
• Blade Runner
• Blade Runner 2049
• Blue Giant
• Bohemian Rhapsody
• Breakfast at Tiffany's
• Bridge of Spies
• Burlesque
• Casino Royale
• Chicago
• Civil War
• Crimson Peak
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Donnie Brasco
• Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
• Dune (2021)
• Dune: Part Two
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Ford v Ferrari
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Get On Up
• Ghost in the Shell
• Ghostbusters (2016)
• Gladiator II
• Godzilla vs. Kong
• Gran Turismo
• Gravity
• Green Book
• Hairspray (2007)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
• Hidden Figures
• The Huntsman: Winter's War
• I, Frankenstein
• Inception
• Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Doesn't include Dial of Destiny]
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Interstellar
• It: Chapter One
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
• Jason Bourne
• John Wick
• Joker: Folie á Deux
• Jumanji: The Next Level
• Lucy
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Man of Steel
• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
• Mission: Impossible – III
• Moana 2
• No Country for Old Men
• No Time to Die
• Nope
• Oblivion
• Oppenheimer
• Pacific Rim
• Pacific Rim: Uprising
• Paris, Texas
• Pixels
• Pokémon: The Movie
• Quantum of Solace
• Red Tails
• Rocketman
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• RRR
• Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends
• Seven (Se7en)
• Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• Sinners
• Sisu
• Skyfall
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
• Spectre
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Star Trek Beyond
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Superman (2025)
• The Legend of Tarzan
• Taxi 3
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Tenet
• The Batman (2022)
• The Cell
• The Creator
• The Expendables 3
• The First Slam Dunk
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Greatest Showman
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
• The Phantom of the Opera
• The Shallows
• The Sky Crawlers
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie
• Top Gun
• Top Gun: Maverick
• Transcendence
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
• Twisters
• Unbroken
• Venom: The Last Dance
• West Side Story (2021)
• Wonder Woman
• X-Men: First Class
• Yowamushi Pedal

Music and concerts

• Adele: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
• Ado Special Live
• Babymetal: Live at Tokyo Dome
• Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7: Wiener Philharmoniker
• Berliner Philhamoniker: The Asia Tour
• Billy Joel Live at Shea Statdium
• Black Sabbath: The End
• Bob James Trio: Feel Like Making Live
• Bob Marley and the Walers Legend
• Bon Jovi Live at Madison Square Garden
• Chihiro Yamanaka: Somethin' Blue Quintet – Live at Blue Note Tokyo
• Chris Botti: Live in Boston
• David Gilmour: Live at Pompeii
• George Mccrae - Love
• Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague
• Harvie S Trio: Too Late Now
• Hit Man David Foster & Friends
• Joe Bonasmassa Live at the Greek Theatre
• John Mayer: Any Given Thursday
• John Mayer: Where the Light Is
• John Williams in Tokyo
• KISS Rocks Vegas
• Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour
• Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same
• Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction
• Metallica: Quebec Magnetic
• Michael Jackson: This Is It
• Misia: Soul Quest World Tour
• MR. BIG – The Big Finish Live
• MTV Unplugged ayaka
• Norah Jones: Live at Ronnie Scott's
• Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up - Live
• Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project
• Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii
• Prince Sign o' the Times
• Queen: Rock Montreal & Live Aid
• Quincy Jones: The 75th Birthday Celebration
• Roger Waters: The Wall
• Rolling Stones: Shine a Light
• Scorpions: Live in 3D
• Shogo Hamada: On The Road 2015-2016
• Steve Vai: Live at the Astoria
• Sting: Live at the Olympia Paris
• Take Me to the River
• The Beatles: 1
• The Beatles: Get Back
• The Great Jazz Trio Hank Jones – The Legend of Jazz: Live at Blue Note Tokyo
• The Last Waltz
• The Rolling Stones: Hyde Park Live 1969
• Tony Bennett: An American Classic
• Toto: Live in Poland
• Vienna Philharmonic: New Year's Concerts – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021

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For the launch of Denon's new X3900H and X2900H AV receivers, I visited the company's headquarters in Japan to give the new models a try in the custom listening room developed for the company's Sound Masters to tune products to perfection — but I also visited Denon and Marantz's combined factory, where the two companies produce their hi-fi and AVR components.

This is in the city of Shirakawa, about an hour's ride on the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo, where the cherry blossoms still lingered even though Tokyo's parks had largely lost their annual spring decoration.

Seeing the production lines and testing for the various hi-fi models was interesting, but I've visited lots of AV manufacturing facilities in my time, and once you've seen four, you've largely seen them all.

But our tour included an extended session in the factory's home theater listening room, which is one of the most impressive setups I've experienced. The room was first established in 1983, so that the first Marantz AV receiver could be developed and tested in it before its launch in 1985.

There are subtle signs of the room's age — the vault-like door has a distinctly '70s infrastructure look and feel to it — but the Denon receiver at the center of our demo today is unquestionably modern.

The AVC A1H is the company's first model that can handle 9.4.6 speaker channels, with support for basically any spatial audio system you'd care to throw at it.

And 9.4.6 channels is exactly what the room's speaker system offers, in the imposing form of eight Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 speakers with an HTM81 D4 center, plus four ASW Series subwoofers tucked away at the edges — and six speakers mounted in the ceiling. That's about $250k of speakers.

These were paired with a Sony VPL-VW535 4K projector for the visuals, powered by an Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-ray player. Alas, it's a reminder that this model has arguably never been bettered despite being discontinued the better part of a decade ago.

I slid into the sweet spot seats in the middle, which Denon and Marantz engineers said is 12 feet from the center channel, and 10 feet from the two rears — not quite following the equilateral distance guidelines laid out by Dolby for Atmos, but I'm not going to quibble with the people who design the actual setup.

The first demo scene was A Star is Born (2018), when Ally comes out to play on stage at Jackson's concert for the first time. The first thing that struck me was the complete disconnection of the sound from the equipment, in the best way.

The sound is so expansive and expressive that it feels like there's no channel system at all — the platonic ideal of Dolby Atmos' spatial audio.

The sound is so amazingly cohesive from top to bottom, and always has a new gear to find when it needs to step up the resonant bass of an acoustic instrument, or when Gaga’s voice is given extra elevation out of the mix by the soundtrack, or to highlight each guitar string suddenly twanging — and whenever it needs to the extra step, it always feels like a seamless flow.

The system feels like it just has endless power, and yet it feels like it's not exerting itself hard at all — there's no sense of the forceful and forward sound that you're likely to get from soundbars or compact options. It's just naturally explosive.

Next up was the opening scene of Unbroken, which puts you in the middle of an aerial battle in World War II — in particular, locking you in and around the experience of one bomber.

There's excellent specificity in the position and scale of effects, such as propellers vibrating the air, or whirring gunner seats and small rattling brackets and fixtures. But these don't sound like they’re being especially highlighted and punched up; they’re just naturally specific in the mix.

Anti-aircraft fire and explosions are grippingly dynamic, popping out of nowhere and rattling the soundscape forward to back as the cockpit is peppered with shrapnel — it's not one crackly effect, but a clear wave of super-fast movement in 3D.

Machine guns fire audibly just above the screen, and cartridges rattle in a clear downward motion as they fall into our 'seating' area — you're able to understand more about the structure of the vehicle from the sound design, when everything is this precise.

Next on the list is Gravity, which the Denon and Marantz team described as their choice of movie for an “AVR stress test” — the scene where Ryan Stone re-enters the atmosphere really slams all channels at once, including bass, continuously for several minutes — they said it's basically the hardest-to-drive movie scene.

With that in mind, what jumped out to me is how, despite the cacophonous rumbling and rattling filling the space around me, I could also hear that the system was really delicately handling the singing in the score. It's soft and refined, and also brutal and bruising, all in the same moment.

The positional effects in this scene absolutely whip around you, alarms pierce with their own individual level of urgency, and exploding debris is somehow chaotically noisy and yet also moves precisely in the sound field.

It’s audio havoc, but it never clips or crushes the disparate elements, so you’re completely trapped in the tensest part of the movie while it happens — this is unimpeachable immersion.

To give us a gentle recovery, we finish up with A Complete Unknown. When Dylan and Joan Baez play their privately contentious set together at the folk festival, there's such a lovely recreation of the ambient sound, ironically perfectly recreating the audio signature of an imprecise speaker system.

The song showcases lovely, sharp guitar string plucks and total rhythmic control in the gentle track. The system can explode the crowd noise in the back, while maintaining the same gentle and faintly distorted vocals at the front, all in careful balance, without the denser sound overpowering anything more delicate.

My demo run in this listening room was the kind of experience that spoils you for lesser home theater setups, though I'll be saved from myself by not having the disposable income to spend a quarter of a million on speakers, before I even get to the supporting equipment — let alone building a suitably impressive room to house it all in.

But if you should find yourself coming into a large inheritance and you love movies, I can think of far worse ways to spend it.

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I recently visited the High End Show in Vienna, where the world's top audio companies show off their latest and greatest creations. The show mostly focuses on ready-to-sell products — of the kind that we chose in our Best in Show at High End Vienna 2026 Awards — but it's also where interesting new audio components makers show off what they're making to other companies, to use in their creations.

One of these companies at the 2026 show was GSS, showing off a new bass driver called the Model S1. It's a very slim transducer, just 62.5mm tall and 299mm wide, and is capable of operating in a box with a volume of just 1.75 liters.

This means that you can put two of them, in a force-cancelling configuration, in a sealed box that's around 65mm tall, 310mm wide and 200mm deep — and that's exactly what I got to hear at the show.

I'll go into the experience in a moment, but the short version is that this small box sounds like a subwoofer that's much larger — GSS Audio says that specifically its system is capable of delivering the bass of something six times the size.

There's no exact way to say what this should be the equivalent of, because of variations in driver design, but the easy way to think of it is this: it's an 8-inch or 10-inch subwoofer squeezed into a box the size of a chunky hardback book.

The magic trick here is the level of excursion (i.e, how how far forwards and backwards the diaphragm can move). In this transducer, it's capable of moving 17mm in each direction, for a total movement of 34mm — that's how it can displace so much air to match larger drivers.

The diaphragm is very elaborate in order to make this possible — it's full of ridges and spirals. We've seen this on a lot of smarter woofer drivers; it's basically a way of managing the amount of surface area of the transducer, so that it can extend as far as it does, but delivers consistent performance across the full movement range.

GSS Audio also says it's put some special sauce into the configuration of the magnets, as well as the spider (the suspension system that holds the magnet in place, even as it moves).

Enough preamble — let's talk about the experience of listening to it. GSS had two of its little boxes (each with dual drivers) set up, each of which was connected to a two-way Neumann studio monitor speaker, so a stereo configuration with a double dose of bass.

The boxes deliver absolutely thumping bass that's capable of punching you in the torso as great low-end should (if you want it to), but it's also super-controlled — powerful but tight as a drum (or a drum machine, as the case may be if you making the most of this for music).

What really jumped out to me (as much as something you feel inside your bones can jump out at you) was the deep sub-bass. It's not pushing down to deeper frequency artificially and setting your teeth on edge as a result; I threw on Sugar Kingdom by Nikki Nair, which is a song that bad woofer can really screw up, but I could've just lived in the sub-bass here, bobbing and bouncing along.

Something to note is that this was borderline a near-field listening environment — I wasn't quite at desktop distance from the Neumann speakers, but I was closer than a standard listening or home theater room, and the bass boxed performed great for this kind of setup, which is now how I'd think of using a larger sub.

Of course, while GSS demo'd it with music and stereo speakers, the company really seems to expect its biggest use to come in speakers where bass is wanted by space is at a premium.

At its booth, it had prototypes of a soundbar with two of the Model 1 drivers in, and a wall-mounted speaker with four(!) of them in — the latter is a fascinating idea for a home theater setup, where your surround speakers would also act as a diffused subwoofer system, saving you a load of space and wiring.

I didn't get to hear these in action, and I don't know when we can expect actual products to appear, but GSS did say it had some partners planning to use its products (but obviously it wouldn't may about who that might be).

I can't wait to see a real product with this tech built-in though — I think it could be a total gamechanger for big bass in a small space.

The GSS Model is the latest in a line of impressive compact subwoofer tech we've seen over the last few years — it's an impressive area of innovation. A little while back, we were blown away by the bass of the Brane X wireless speaker, and its compact true subwoofer that uses a smart magnet system to overcome the air compression problem most small sub designs have.

And there's the Sonos Sound Motion tech, which is used in the Sonos Arc Ultra. Sound Motion mean Sonos could replace an array of dedicated woofers with a single driver that operates in two directions at once, so it actually functions as its own force-opposed system. You can read my interview with Sonos about the development of Sound Motion here.

• Multiple Sony devices will lose access to streaming services and Google Cast
• AV receivers, Blu-ray players, soundbars, wireless speakers and more
• Effective November 17, 2026

Something we've learnt the hard way over the years is that pretty much any product with an online component will lose it eventually. Server shutdowns have affected everything from multiplayer games to the ill-fated PlaysForSure music platform, and now it's coming to Sony products.

Like Bose earlier this year, Sony is shutting down servers for some of its audiovisual products. But unlike Bose, which went to great pains to enable people to maintain as much functionality as possible, Sony's devices will lose many core features as a result.

The changes aren't immediate — they won't come into place until November 7th, 2026 — but they apply to a lot of models including AV receivers, Blu-ray disc players, speakers and soundbars. The full list of affected devices is available on Sony's website, but we've included it at the end of this article too.

What Bose did, and what Sony isn't doing

Earlier this year Bose discontinued online support for its SoundTouch speakers first introduced in 2013. However, the speakers themselves remained fully functional and while Bose's own SoundTouch streaming was switched off, AirPlay and Spotify Connect would continue to work.

Sony's changes are more severe. From November, the following services will be unavailable on affected devices:

• Amazon Prime Video
• Google Cast
• Netflix
• Pandora
• Slacker Radio
• Spotify
• Vudu

As Sony explains, from November "access to supported network services will no longer be available on affected models [and] any downloaded network services may no longer be accessible on affected models… we apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding."

While most of the affected models are elderly, there's a lot of them: nine soundbars, 16 AVRs, 17 Blu-Ray players, multiple Blu-Ray home theater systems and five sets of wireless speakers. That means the service shutdown is likely to affect quite a lot of people.

Which Sony products are affected by the 2026 shutdown?

Audio and Micro Component Systems

• CMT-MX700NI
• HAP-S1
• HAP-Z1ES
• MAP-S1
• NAC-SV10

AV Receivers

• STR-DA1800
• STR-DA2800ES
• STR-DA3700ES
• STR-DA5700ES
• STR-DA5800ES
• STR-DN1020
• STR-DN1030
• STR-DN1040
• STR-DN1050
• STR-DN1060
• STR-DN1070
• STR-DN1080
• STR-DN840
• STR-DN850
• STR-DN860
• STR-ZA810ES

Blu-ray Disc Players

• BDP-BX18
• BDP-BX37
• BDP-BX38
• BDP-BX57
• BDP-N460
• BDP-S185
• BDP-S270
• BDP-S280
• BDP-S370
• BDP-S380
• BDP-S390
• BDP-S470
• BDP-S480
• BDP-S570
• BDP-S580
• BDP-S770
• BDP-S780

Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Systems

• BDV-E280
• BDV-E370
• BDV-E470
• BDV-E570
• BDV-E580
• BDV-E770W
• BDV-E780W
• BDV-E870
• BDV-E880
• BDV-F7
• BDV-HZ970
• BDV-IZ1000W
• BDV-L600
• BDV-T28
• BDV-T57
• BDV-T58

Media Players

• FMP-X10
• SMP-N100
• SMP-N200

Soundbars

• HT-CT790
• HT-CT800
• HT-NT3
• HT-NT5
• HT-RT5
• HT-ST5000
• HT-ST9
• HT-XT2
• HT-XT3

Wireless speakers

• SA-NS310
• SA-NS410
• SA-NS500
• SA-NS510
• SRS-X7

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• YouTuber PlasmatronX creates a testing rig to visually map how spatial audio waves travel
• It requires a lot of custom design, including building his own multi-channel amp
• You can download the 3D printing files and code to make your own testing rig

Have you ever wished you could see the sound waves in your room? It turns out all you need is a guinea pig and a CAT: Computer Acoustic Tomography.

In a fascinating and fun video that enraptured the whole TechRadar AV team and is well worth 11 minutes of your time, YouTuber PlasmatronX creates a testing rig that enables him to visualize how the sound waves move around the room.

That visualization can then be used to compare how different sonic setups perform, such as the difference between a soundbar and a full surround speaker setup.

Put a guinea pig in a testing rig

PlasmatronX clearly doesn't take things too seriously. His experiment makes use of multiple soft toys, including a toy guinea pig to sit within the sound saves because its close enough to being a 4:1 scale of his own head, and at one point he suggests that his experiments with beam steering – using imperceptible delays to make sound appear as if it's coming from somewhere else – would have been more successful if he'd been firing beams out of his own rear end.

The guinea pig is centered in a multi-speaker setup that can replicate a perfectly positioned pair of stereo speakers, a soundbar, and a full 7.1 surround sound setup. You can easily see where the "sweet spot" appears in each setup, and how soundbars can make sound appear to be coming from speakers that aren't there.

The key takeaway here is that your room is one of the most important factors in the sound you hear: the combination of audio reflections from walls and ceilings, and sound wave absorption by soft furnishings such as your couch or curtains, will have a significant effect on what you hear.

That's particularly important if you've got a soundbar that uses acoustic trickery to create virtual speakers, beaming audio that's intended to bounce off the walls and ceiling of your room. The cosier your front room the more audio, it's likely to absorb.

This isn't revealing a big secret by any means — it's why many of the best soundbars have room calibration — but it's still fascinating, and the video's often very funny, especially when PlasmatronX is experimenting with building his own amp, and building soundbar waveguides with varying degrees of success.

If you fancy repeating the experiment with a guinea pig of your own, PlasmatronX has provided all the necessary code, 3D printing files and schematics for you to download right here.

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June 2026 looks to be another great month for 4K Blu-rays and as one of TechRadar’s resident 4K Blu-ray testers, I’ve picked the four discs I’m most looking forward to reviewing for Blu-ray Bounty.

Blu-ray Bounty is our monthly column where we review the latest 4K releases from each month to see how their picture and audio will show off your home theater system. In our most recent May 2026 edition, we covered five new discs including the hotly anticipated Fight Club 4K release.

Why do we love 4K Blu-ray at TechRadar? Mainly because it’s our main source for testing the best TVs and the best soundbars. It has a higher bitrate meaning a better-looking picture and uncompressed soundtracks, perfect for testing audio.

In last month’s most anticipated 4K discs list, I picked Fight Club, “Wuthering Heights”, Leaving Las Vegas and Some Like It Hot. I got to test all four as part of the Blu-ray Bounty and they all looked great. Below are my picks for the month of June.

As I’m based in the UK, these are based on UK release dates so don’t be surprised if one of them is already available in your region, or doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet.

Speed Racer (Warner Bros)

Based on the popular Manga series, Speed Racer, directed by The Wachowskis (Lana and Lilly, best known for The Matrix) follows the story of Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), an aspiring racing driver who's trying to become a champion to save his family business.

Speed Racer is a visual feast for the eyes and features tons of bold, vibrant colors throughout. With Dolby Vision HDR supported, the neon-like colors should really pop on screen and with a good 4K restoration, details should look extra crisp, adding even more depth to the movie’s picture.

There’s also plenty of fast-paced action to push a display’s motion-handling skills to the test. If this disc looks as good as the Reddit hype suggests it could be, this reference-quality disc could be a new addition to my testing rotation.

Movies about racing typically make for excellent audio testing discs, especially when they support Dolby Atmos (F1 for example). I’m hoping Speed Racer will fit into this group, as it features plenty of dynamic racing scenes that should be immersive thanks to its supported Dolby Atmos soundtrack. I’m expecting screeching tires, plenty of movement to test precision and detail and some nice bass response from the subwoofer.

Release date

• US: May 19, 2026
• UK: 15th June, 2026

EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert (Universal Pictures)

From director Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Elvis, Moulin Rouge), EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert is a documentary about Elvis Presley. It features archival footage, including past conversations and interviews with Presley, and tons of live performances from the early 1970s.

Where else to go with this one but audio? Elvis has so many iconic hits and is arguably one of music’s best live performers, so iconic tracks from this time period like ‘Suspicious Minds’, ‘Always On My Mind‘ and ‘Burning Love’ (all featured on the movie soundtrack) are sure to sound sensational through a fully-fledged surround sound system.

Interestingly, there’s no Dolby Atmos soundtrack featured, so we won’t be getting the full 3D sound. There is, however, a DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack included, which should sound fantastic and has often featured on some of the best-sounding movies I’ve tested.

Picture-wise, the footage used in the documentary (consisting of unused footage from two concert movies Elvis: That’s The Way It Is (1970) and Elvis: Live On Tour (1972) was shot in 35mm and 8mm film, so expect the 35mm shots to look superb in 4K. There's also support for Dolby Vision and as Elvis’ shows were known for their glitz and glamour, there could be some really nice looking shots featured, with plenty of vivid colors.

Release dates

• US: August 11, 2026
• UK: 15th June, 2026

Bullet In The Head (Arrow Video)

From legendary director John Woo (The Killer, Hard Boiled), Bullet In The Head tells the story of three friends Ben (Tony Leung), Frank (Jacky Cheung) and Paul (Waise Lee), who flee Hong Kong after killing a member of a rival gang, ending up in Vietnam during the height of the Vietnam War.

This disc’s real highlight should be on the audio side. Featuring a lossless mono and Dolby Atmos mix of the original Cantonese (as well as an English mono mix), there’ll be plenty of action-packed scenes throughout to show off a sound system. Think ricocheting bullets from the rear speakers, big explosions to rattle a subwoofer and the drone of helicopters in Vietnam to show off Atmos.

Visually, the disc supports Dolby Vision, so I’m expecting strong contrast with deep black tones as well as vibrant colors, particularly during the scenes in Hong Kong. A 4K restoration should do wonders for upscaling textures and details as well, and based on other Hong Kong 4K releases I’ve seen from this time period, there’ll be plenty of film grain retained for cinephiles.

Release dates

• UK: 22nd June, 2026
• US: N/A (Shout Factory version released January 6, 2026)

Hoppers (Disney/Pixar)

Pixar’s latest entry, Hoppers, follows the story of Mabel (Piper Curada) a college student who transfers her mind into a robotic beaver in order to communicate with local wildlife, unintentionally starting a revolution among said wildlife. The movie also features Jon Hamm, David Franco and Meryl Streep among the voice cast.

Pixar’s animation is often visually gorgeous, so much so that Elemental is still a regular feature in my choice of reference scenes for testing TVs, thanks to its dazzling colors. While Hoppers doesn’t have the same vibrant colors throughout, I’m still expecting some nice colors and crisp animation that will really show off the right displays. With Dolby Vision supported, the animation should look sublime.

Movies in nature are another fantastic way of showing off a sound system, capturing the sounds of wildlife such as chirping birds, rustling trees and cracking twigs. The Wild Robot was a great example of this. With a Dolby Atmos soundtrack supported, I’m anticipating the same from Hoppers and looking forward to testing it out on our Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar.

Release date

• US: June 2, 2026
• UK: 8th June, 2026

Highlighted releases: June 2026

Below is a list of highlight releases for June 2026. Both US and UK release dates are featured here (these are indicated). Release dates may vary by region, with some coming later in the year or already released. Titles featured in my list above are in bold.

June 1/2

• Hoppers (8th June, 2026 UK)
• Five Easy Pieces (8th June UK)
• Charade (22nd June UK)
• The Flintstones (1994)
• Trainspotting (UK)
• Avatar: Fire & Ash (UK, May 19, 2026 US)
• Body Heat (UK, May 19, 2026 US)

June 8/9

• The Burbs
• Notting Hill
• The Chronicles of Riddick
• Steven Spielberg: The Spotlight Collection
• 36 Hours (UK)
• Scream 7 (UK, June 16 US)

June 15/16

• Speed Racer (UK, May 19 US)
• EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (UK, August 11 US)
• Super Mario Galaxy Movie (US)
• Eraser
• Audition (1999)
• A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms

June 22/23

• Bullet In The Head (Arrow, UK)
• Labyrinth (Collector's Edition, UK)
• Dark Crystal (Collector's Edition, UK)
• Hairspray (1988)
• Hang 'Em High
• A Simple Plan
• Rush

June 28/29

• Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits! (1994-1998)
• Rush (UK)
• Highlander (UK)
• Mortal Kombat Kollection
• The Money Pit

• Peacock will stream Telemundo's World Cup coverage with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos in AC-4
• Dolby AC-4 codec promises higher sound quality than current streaming codecs
• All 104 matches will be covered

Last month we reported on a blind test that says Dolby's new-generation AC-4 audio codec sounds as good as 4K Blu-ray even at a low streaming bitrate. And now you can hear it as the soundtrack to the World Cup — if you have the right tech and subscriptions.

Dolby and NBCUniversal have teamed up to deliver a world first. Telemundo's live Spanish-language FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage will be streamed on Peacock in Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos using the AC-4 codec — according to Dolby, this is "the first commercial deployment of Dolby AC-4 by a video streamer."

All 104 matches will be broadcast using the technology, the first time it's been used for a major sporting event. It's also the first time the technology has been used by a major streaming service.

(If Spanish-language commentary isn't your thing, you might be interested in Samsung's latest TVs and their AI Soccer Mode, which enables you to remove the commentary entirely while keeping the crowd noise — we tested two affordable Samsung 2026 mini-LEDs here.)

Why this World Cup will sound like the future

Sound quality is one area where streaming can be disappointing. The audio codecs used by the major streaming services can't rival the quality of a 4K Blu-yay disc's soundtrack because their audio is too compressed.

AC-4 is more modern, and delivers much higher quality at the same bitrates, and in the double-blind listening test I referenced above, multiple audio pros couldn't tell the difference between AC-4 audio and uncompressed audio. It's up to 50% more efficient than current codecs, apparently.

The use of Atmos with AC-4 means the sound of these World Cup matches should be even more atmospheric, so if you've got a decent speaker setup or one of the best soundbars, it'll be even more fun to hear.

I'm not sure it'll be 100% as "vivid and electrifying as if you are sitting front row for each match without stadium prices" as the marketing blurb claims, but better dyanamic range with Dolby's spatial audio tech should mean it feels genuinely more immersive.

Dolby and NBCUniversal's engineers have spent a year working together to bring Dolby Vision to live sports, and according to NBCUniversal's senior vice president of global video engineering, David Bohunek, “Fútbol fans will love watching Telemundo’s FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Peacock in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos with Dolby AC-4 — it’ll be a truly stunning viewing experience they can’t get anywhere else.”

Of course, you'll need to be both a Peacock subscriber and using a TV with support for AC-4 in order to get the full effect. Dolby says that support in TVs is pretty widespread these days, and lists the following partners: "LG, Panasonic, Sony, TCL, Samsung, Sharp, Vantiva, Bang & Olufsen, Hisense, Huawei, Humax, Sagemcom, Skyworth/Strong, SEI Robotics, Innopia, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Liberty Global, Sunrise, SES HD+, Sky, Swisscom, Zattoo, Waipu.tv, PŸUR, Ocilion, Austrostream, TPVision, Vizio, Philips, Kaon, Winston Neweb".

Naturally, you'll to check if your particular devices supports it, using the manufacturer's website (or, more likely, Google).

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WiiM is one of the most interesting companies in the audio world right now, breaking out in the last couple of years in no small part thanks to capitalizing on Sonos' disastrous app update, and the company's quieter period since.

In that time, WiiM went from offering add-on boxes for traditional hi-fi, to launching sleek integrated streaming amps, to launching its own wireless speakers and subwoofer, starting with the WiiM Sound, to unveiling its first soundbar.

Ahead of the soundbar's launch, I spoke to WiiM's CEO, Dr. Lifeng Zhao, about the decisions the company made in developing the soundbar, whether WiiM has a signature sound profile, and what it means to offer "simplicity" in the context of these products, among other topics.

TechRadar: Tell me why you guys have chosen to do a soundbar now.

Lifeng Zhao: WiiM is four years old; in terms of brands right now we are a new player. So we did a streamer and amplifier, which convert or upgrade your existing audio gear. Those get really popular among our users, who start to expand [where they use them] to more environments: their living room; their media rooms. So, we always get this kind of feedback — they ask "when will you guys launch home theater, because we already have your gear, but we don't want to have separate components".

To use our streamer or amplifier, you have to have passive or powered speakers, right? But many people want to have one powerful all-in-one device in their living room. So they don't really want separate components because you know there's messing [with wires, and aesthetics], so we are always getting this request.

I'm also a big fan of entertainment, so for myself I want something simple to use with Dolby Atmos that can fulfill my music and TV experience. So, it came both from our own use, as well as a request from our community.

TechRadar: So, did you consider making an AV receiver or something like that before you decided to go the soundbar route? You already made the amps, so an AV receiver seems like it might have been the obvious way to go.

Lifeng Zhao: We already have the AV receiver if you think about it, right? We have the amps.

TechRadar: Only two channels.

Lifeng Zhao: Yeah, 2.1. But you can expand it with your surrounding channels [using wireless WiiM speakers]. That's the beauty of our systems. We don't want to make a traditional AVR, but we have a solution for those AVR users. People want a multi-channel system, but they don't want messy wired solutions. It's not flexible, and there are many limits on the placement, so we already have 2.1, but you can expand it with the surround speakers.

We are looking at more possibilities, but we don't want to make a legacy AVR; we want to make compact powerful and wireless versions of AVR.

TechRadar: The soundbar you guys are releasing is very good value considering the amount of physical channels that you've built in, and the amount of technology. A lot of soundbars at a similar price to yours are quite small, whereas yours is reasonably big. Can you talk through the design process around deciding how big you wanted the soundbar to be, and how that paired with the price you wanted to charge?

Lifeng Zhao: First of all, let's go back to our target users. We want this soundbar for both needs: watching TV plus listening to music. We don't want you to have to have two separate devices just because you watch TV and listen to music in your daily lives. So then we were thinking about how if we make [a product] only for the TV, just to improve the voice clarity, then we don't really need to go big — but we see a lot of people really want to listen to music with good bass, so the physics of that means we cannot make it too small.

So then we are thinking we can make [a soundbar with a subwoofer] but many people prefer the simplicity of an all-in-one — so that also gives us a size limit. So for our first one we wanted [to make one] people can just buy for most use cases. So with the size, our main target market is the US and Europe, and in most of Europe people have a single family [room]. So they have 55 inches or up TVs. So we did some surveys, and we think this is the kind of right size which can capture the majority of our audience.

TechRadar: You mentioned trying to balance the bass with the size and the compactness. So, you've got the four passive radiators in there. Were you designing the size of the soundbar around the size of the speakers and radiators you wanted to use, or were you choosing the speakers based on the size you wanted the soundbar to be?

Lifeng Zhao: We start with acoustic criteria. We say how deep a bass we want, based on our [previously launched devices]. We launched the amps, and we see how people set up their systems. We want to go to 50Hz, so users could get good bass — so that kind of gives us an acoustic volume. We calculate size based on this volume, but we do want it to be a sleek soundbar, so we have some height limits. But we can calculate the length, depth, and the height while leaving space for the speakers.

I always say we start from the acoustic criteria, then we calculate the size, then we design the best speaker driver according to this size limit.

TechRadar: Do you have more than one HDMI port, for passthrough?

Lifeng Zhao: We have one HDMI eARC, we don't have passthrough. We are thinking that people will connect most of their devices through the TV, because you have multiple HDMI inputs in the TV.

TechRadar: A lot of your competitors also only have one HDMI port, but there's a large number of people who have had their TV for a long time and they've collected a lot of boxes to connect to it, and so it can be really difficult to lose one of your HDMI ports to your soundbar. So, is there a reason behind this decision: was it either to do with cost or technical design or simplicity that you chose to only have one port?

Lifeng Zhao: Design is always about trade-offs, right? So, here I would say we value the simplicity, so people aren’t confusing HDMI and HDMI ARC. Before this journey [at Linkplay/WiiM] I also worked on media devices a lot in my past career, so we know that simplicity is very important. This is a choice to value that simplicity more in this device.

TechRadar: One of the interesting things about your soundbar is that you have a screen on the front, like the Wiim Sound speaker. Screens on soundbars is always quite a controversial topic, because people feel very strongly about having a light in front of their TV. Tell us about how the screen will work when you're watching content, and why you decided to include it.

Lifeng Zhao: We actually debated a lot internally. Our first screen-enabled devices [were the streamer and the amplifier], then the Sound speaker. So we actually accumulated a lot of experience in how people use a screen. To go back to your question regarding why we put a screen on the soundbar: first of all, the soundbar is made both for people using it for music and also watching TV, and in both cases we see a need for a screen. To give you some examples, when you listen to music, people always look somewhere to see what's playing, and they like looking at their favorite album art. We see people will even build a separate display just for artwork while listening, so we see this, and we want to provide integrated solutions for that.

Then we go back to the soundbar. So actually we are saying two things. One is that if you don't really need the screen, you can turn it off. Another thing is that we really want instant feedback. Think about it: if you only have an LED light right there with so many inputs, output and functions, how do you know what the status of the device is? It's really confusing even for me when I look at the LEDs, you know? I always forget, like, [what would flash] when the network doesn't work, right? How do I know it?

So, we want to give people a simple and intuitive control plus the instant feedback, because the device is so powerful. There are many statuses that may be important to your use cases. In a simple device we can just use a very simple app, but when it becomes very powerful, like your smartphone, you have to have a screen for people to interact.

TechRadar: There are obviously two ways to think about simplicity. And one is to have less information shown to keep it simple, and to have users trust that they're in the mode they like and things won’t change. Whereas I think you're saying that the way to introduce simplicity is to make sure people have all the information in front of them, so they're not questioning what the options are. That more information makes it simpler. Is it fair to say that's how you feel about it?

Lifeng Zhao: What I'm trying to say is that there are certain use cases where you need more information, but we don't want to give people too many options. So if you don't want that screen while you’re watching TV, our system will automatically turn off for you because you can separately configure the mode for each of your watching needs. But you can do even more, or we can do it automatically for you by default. You just need to set up once.

We want people using the screen intuitively. We don’t want to cause confusion; we don't want to become complicated. But [instead of] only having a red or a yellow indicator, we will tell you, oh, your network is disconnected, or your format is not supported, right? Let's say you don't support DTS, right? If you just have a yellow indicator, people will not really understand, they'll get really frustrated because they don't have any audio. So that's the kind of simplicity we want to have.

TechRadar: When it comes to expanding the system, you've got the ability to easily go to 5.1.2 channels by adding on the other WiiM products. Did you consider going beyond that? Because presumably with your technology, you could offer 7.1 2 or 5.2.2. Did you think about offering these?

Lifeng Zhao: Yeah, that's the beauty of our system, right? We started from separate components, so we accumulated a lot of experience. Another thing is that if you look at our wireless technology, we invest a lot in terms of wireless infrastructure — we have Wi-Fi 6E, so if you have the best routers we can leverage your routers, so we don't really have a limit. If your wireless environment can support it, we can expand it more.

Yes, when we launch the soundbar it supports 3.0.2, but as you mentioned we can expand it beyond 5.1.2, so that's exactly what we are doing, with the latest Wi-Fi standard you know we can expand more and with low latency.

[Editor's Note: Since this interview, WiiM has changed its stance and is aiming to support adding front left and right separate speakers for use with the WiiM Bar at launch, which can be either WiiM's wireless speakers or can be any speakers attached to a WiiM amp. Dr. Zhao gave us this additional comment: "We can confirm the bar supports wireless front, left, and right speakers. This wasn't originally intended as a launch feature, but based on community feedback and the team's testing, we decided to share it. There seems to be a lot of interest from our community, so if feedback and internal testing continue to go well, we'll look to keep it in."]

TechRadar: So are you saying that actually someone can go beyond 5.1.2 channels?

Lifeng Zhao: Right now we are saying 5.1.2, but potentially, with the software update we can expand more.

TechRadar: Speaking of wireless technology, have you guys explored Dolby Atmos FlexConnect as an option for your products?

Lifeng Zhao: We always look at different types of connectivity and the multi-channel options. FlexConnect definitely is on our radar.

TechRadar: Is there any reason why you're not supporting it now?

Lifeng Zhao: This is our first one, right? As I mentioned, we can support it with a software update, so the hardware is there. It's just about whether we feel it's mature enough, or the user experience [is ready]. We don't really want to give people half-baked technology; we want to make sure it’s really good and people can easily use it. So there's a possibility that we can do it even in current hardware with the software update, but I cannot commit on this one yet.

TechRadar: Speaking of the ecosystem, it looks like this is another piece of hardware that doesn't support Apple AirPlay 2, which is true of a lot of the new releases WiiM has launched. Are you able to say why this hasn't been included in the last few products?

Lifeng Zhao: We have many options on our devices, we support like more than 25 music services, then we have other ‘casting’ options there — and we value the people's content. If you're using Spotify, we want you using Spotify Lossless instead of a compressed [stream], and we see a lot of confusion, actually, of people using Spotify Connect with the other option you just mentioned [AirPlay 2]. So, it’s really a choice, like a design choice — we make it easy to use with high-res.

We really want people to leverage the best quality of their music on our system, and we also offer other options, which you can do very easily. We have multi-room no matter which source, via input to the Wiim. And with most of the music sources you can do lossless audio — so that’s the two options we offer right now.

TechRadar: You’re offering your RoomFit room correction here. I guess this is a very similar technology to what you've offered on the amps previously, but did you have to make any changes for working with Dolby Atmos and other formats you're supporting here?

Lifeng Zhao: It has to be different, right? Because in the soundbar we handle Dolby Atmos as a type of spatial audio, we also handle DTS, so we have multi-channel [sound to deal with]. Previously with RoomFit we started with like one device, then we expanded to 2.1 with a subwoofer — but now we’ve expanded RoomFit for the entire system. It's adding your surrounding speakers, adding your subwoofer, it’s not only doing stuff like balancing your SPL, or frequency spectrum, we also balance timing.

So we really expanded RoomFit for the spatial audio. We invested quite some time to get it right, and hopefully when we launch this soundbar people will be amazed by just how good it is. You just do one-tap calibration, it does everything for you: it calibrates the latency, the level matching, both for your front and surrounds and your subwoofer.

TechRadar: You mentioned earlier about designing the acoustic signature to deliver the right kind of sound that you wanted. And would you say that the new soundbar and the WiiM Sound speakers and your amps share a particular sound signature? Is there a sound signature that you believe is the WiiM style?

Lifeng Zhao: We are not really traditional hi-fi, if you look at our history. We really value the source. So that's why we always emphasize that, if you have a very good source, we want to replicate that in the original format. That means the resolution and in the bit depth, so we try to minimize the distortion when we do the [digital-to-analogue].

We do a lot of things mathematically to try to perfect the sound based on your existing system. In our amp we want to value your speaker signature you already have, so in our RoomFit we actually we want to just tackle the room mood most. So your high end, high frequency — we want to keep that signature [of your speakers] because that's what you paid for, right? So I would say we want to value people's preference more, and in the parts we can do well, we control that part — then we give people options. Simplicity, plus the powerful control.

If you go to advanced settings, you still can change your signature because if people whole, like, a warm sound they [can have it].

TechRadar: That makes sense, especially for the amps and things. But when you're making the soundbars and and WiiM Sound speakers, you're the ones choosing what the speaker output is going to sound like. So did you guys settle on a particular sound profile you wanted to make the default, or is it different for the soundbar than for the music speakers?

Lifeng Zhao: Exactly. Out of the box we want a really good sound, and if you talk about a sound signature, we do have different profile settings for the HDMI input or the music inputs. For the music inputs, we want to really have good clarity and a rich sound [with] respect to the original. Then for the HDMI, we tuned for more bass, for immersive audio. So we have a different profile, and I think it's a very good default for each of the sources.

TechRadar: It's interesting to talk to you about this element, because there are some companies I speak to where the speaker drivers are the things they really focus on, whereas your focus seems to be more on the processing and the signal pathway. Do you think that comes from the kind of company you are, as a digital platform company that has extended into speakers, instead of the other way around? Do you think that makes big difference as to how you approach your products compared to older hi-fi companies who did the analog part first and then are adding the digital in?

Lifeng Zhao: To make a better product, we need to marry the two sides. I would say we start from the digital world, but when we did the amplifier we actually [developed] a lot of analog, so we have a really good understanding of that digital-to-analog [process]. So we definitely are also analog people, and then when we do the speakers, our teams have people who worked in traditional [hi-fi] companies such as Harman Kardon, so we do have expertise on this area as well. Our talents will be in wireless, and in the DSP, and we also have a lot of acoustic engineers.

• WiiM launches its first soundbar for $479 / £449 (about AU$840)
• 8-driver array with dedicated upfiring drivers
• 3.0.2 channels, expandable to 5.1.2 with WiiM wireless speakers

WiiM has been building out its rival ecosystem to Sonos for a while now. The impressive WiiM Sound wireless speaker launched last year, and now the firm has unveiled its first soundbar. Based on its pricing, the new WiiM Bar is being positioned as a direct rival to the Sonos Beam (2nd Gen)... but on paper seems to beat it in a few key areas.

The WiiM Bar is a 3.0.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar with an eight-driver array, including upfiring height speakers, which the Sonos Beam lacks. It features automatic room correction, multi-room grouping and support for over 20 streaming services, and you can expand it to a full surround system with WiiM's other speakers and its subwoofer.

Unusually, there's a glass-covered 2.1-inch touch display on the front. That's an interesting choice when many people don't want any extra illumination near their TV screen.

We spoke to WiiM's CEO, Dr Lifeng Zhao, about the soundbar, and he told us that the screen is primarily there for people playing music through the soundbar — it'll display album art, like other WiiM devices do — and you can turn it off for watching movies or shows. He's confident some people will find it valuable anyway.

"We actually debated a lot internally," Dr Zhao says. "So actually we are saying two things. One is that if you don't really need the screen; you can turn it off. Another thing is that we really want instant feedback. If you only have a LED light right there, with so many input/outputs and functionality, how do you know the status of the device? It's really confusing, even for me. We want to give people a simple and intuitive control, plus the instant feedback."

WiiM Bar: key features and pricing

The eight-driver array features four passive radiators and a mix of front mid-woofers, front tweeters and the aforementioned full-range up-firing height drivers.

It's 3.0.2 channels, expandable to 5.1.2 channels with surround speakers and a subwoofer — and possibly more channels in the future. When we asked about supporting more satellite speakers or subwoofers, Dr Zhao told us that "potentially with a software update we can expand more," and that Dolby Atmos FlexConnect support is "on our radar". He was clear that we shouldn't expect either upgrade in the short term, though.

The WiiM Bar supports Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X audio (DTS being another benefit over the Sonos Beam, on top of the upfiring drivers), and it features RoomFit room correction. There are two extra audio modes: AI-powered dialog enhancement, and a night mode to help you stay friendly with your neighbors.

Streaming support includes nearly all the big names: Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, Google Cast and Roon, and streaming via the WiiM app takes the number of supported streaming services past 20.

However, as with other recent WiiM releases, this doesn't include Apple Music or AirPlay 2. We'll cover this more later, but we asked Dr Zhao why WiiM hasn't included AirPlay, and his answer — which we're not entirely convinced by — implies that it's about AirPlay's compression of audio.

"If you're using Spotify, we want you to use Spotify Lossless instead of a compressed [stream], right? So we are seeing a lot of confusion in people using Spotify Connect versus other options you just mentioned [AirPlay 2]," he said, referencing the fact that AirPlay 2 is still limited to compressed streaming through official support.

Spotify Lossless has existed for less time than WiiM been avoiding AirPlay support, so the timeline doesn't really work for this specific explanation, and WiiM offers Bluetooth and its compressed audio happily enough — but this is all the answer we're going to get officially.

The WiiM Bar has HDMI eARC, but no passthrough port, so you'll have give up the use of one of your HDMI ports for it. "We think that people will connect most of their devices through the TV because you have multiple HDMI ports in the TV," says Dr Zhao. Passthrough was considered, but the decision was made to keep things focused on "simplicity" — which is Sonos' claimed reason for not offering passthrough too, but has never really convinced our team (having to swap HDMI cables in the back of your TV because you've run out of ports does not aid simplicity).

This may be the firm's first soundbar, but Dr Zhao he doesn't consider it to be WiiM's first home theater product: the firm's amplifiers can be used as an HDMI-ready sound system, albeit in 2.1 channels. The soundbar is intended as a standalone device for people who, like Zhao, want big sound without lots of separates taking up space.

"We don't want to make a legacy AVR. People want one powerful all-in-one device in their living room." Those people include Dr Zhao: "I want something simple to use, I really like Dolby Atmos and I want it to fulfill both my music and my TV experience," he says. "So it's both for our own use as well as a request from our community."

It's an impressive specification, and the price is decent too: the official price is $479 / £449 (about AU$840). The WiiM Bar will be released in July, with pre-orders starting from 3 June 2026. It'll be really interesting to see how it compares with the equivalent Sonos when we get it in for testing.

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Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of the Blu-ray Bounty! In this month’s list, May 2026, we’ll be looking at five new 4K Blu-rays that could make for excellent additions to your growing collection.

If this is your first visit to the Blu-ray Bounty, welcome: you can check out previous editions of the Blu-ray Bounty at the link. In last month’s April 2026 list, we looked at a mammoth 8 discs: Ben-Hur (1959), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Gilda, Crime Story, The Devil’s Backbone and The Blade.

4K Blu-ray is a big deal for us here at TechRadar, as not only is it our primary source for testing the best TVs and best soundbars (thanks to its superior picture quality and lossless soundtracks), but we’re big collectors ourselves: we’re always on the lookout for more discs to add to our collection!

I’ll be using our reference setup to test this month’s discs, which consists of the LG G5, one of 2025’s best OLED TVs; the Panasonic DP-UB820, one of the best 4K Blu-ray players on the market and the Samsung HW-Q990C, an 11.1.4 channel Dolby Atmos soundbar system.

I won’t be writing about the movies themselves here: I’ll only be commenting on their picture and audio and how they could be a great way to show off your home theater system.

Fight Club (20th Century Studios)

Based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club tells the story of an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) who meets a charismatic soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and together they start an underground fight club. Endlessly quotable, it was one of the most controversial movies of the 1990s.

Fight Club looks excellent on 4K. Textures have been upscaled well, and appear extra crisp. Close-up shots of characters' faces show fine details such as skin marks and hair with real clarity. While colors don’t play a major role in the movie, any that do have nice pop while still looking realistic. Tyler’s red jacket shows great color depth, as does the neon sign of Lou’s bar. The 4K disc also delivers strong contrast with deep black tones, accurately depicting the grimy nature of Tyler’s house and the Fight Club basement.

The disc itself doesn’t support Dolby Vision and while this would have potentially added more clarity and stronger contrast, the disc looks great. However, after online discussions of changes made by director David Fincher, I confirmed there have been some alterations. The most notable, which I confirmed from online chatter, is the clean-up of Marla’s face. While some viewers may find this distracting, I still feel the disc looks superb and is the best-looking version of this movie to date.

For audio, there’s no Dolby Atmos soundtrack, as it instead features a DTS-HD 5.1 MA mix. This mix is fantastic. It utilizes surround channels particularly in a very effective way, precisely mapping the sound during moments with fast moving camera shots. One in particular is the opening sequence where the camera drops down through the building, the sound accurately travels with the camera.

Elsewhere, there’s plenty of impact from the front channels during fight sequences, with the low-end providing some added rumble. Speech is clear for the majority of the movie, with the narration nice and clean throughout. I did find some instances where other effects drowned out the narrator’s voice, but this was only a handful of scenes.

Some Like It Hot (Altitude Films/Capelight Pictures)

Starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curts, Some Like It Hot tells the story of two men Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon), two musicians who flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. They disguise themselves as women and join touring singer Sugar’s (Monroe) band. A classic comedy, the movie was nominated for several Academy Awards and earned Golden Globe wins for Lemmon and Monroe.

A quick note: this 4K restoration I’ll be discussing is from Altitude films and is mainly targeted for the UK market. There is a Criterion Collection release available (first launched in April 2025) in the US and other regions.

This 4K disc is another great example of what 4K can do for classic black and white movies. With Dolby Vision support, there’s excellent range between deep black tones and bright white tones, with plenty of gray tones in between to create a dynamic, engaging picture. Textures have been upscaled beautifully, meaning skin is clean and crisp, with some parts looking 3D-like in quality. Objects have some nice refined detail as well, with close-up shots of Jack and Joe’s instruments and the handles of a coffin, both in the opening scenes, showing off the 4K restoration’s detail. Cinephiles will be pleased with the amount of grain retained as well.

There are two main audio options included: a PCM, 2.0 mono mix and a DTS-HD 5.1 MA mix. The 2.0 mix is much more direct and loud, with speech at the forefront. I preferred the 5.1 mix as it added some nice detail throughout. Scenes with gunfire mapped ricocheting bullets to the rear channels accurately and musical sequences had a lot more depth in the 5.1 soundtrack. I did need to bump the volume up for louder speech, but it was worth it to get the balance.

“Wuthering Heights” (Warner Bros)

“Wuthering Heights” is Emerald Fennell’s (Saltburn) re-imagining of Emily Brontë’s classic novel of the same name. It follows the story of the Linton and Earnshaw families, both wealthy landowners in the Yorkshire moors. The story in particular centers on the relationship between Catherine (Cathy) (Margot Robbie), the daughter of the Earnshaw family and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), a boy that the family fosters, as the two fall into a forbidden love.

“Wuthering Heights” looks visually striking in 4K. Where it stands out most is in its color reproduction, where intentionally vibrant colors are used throughout. Dolby Vision really makes these colors vivid with plenty of pop, particularly the bold reds that Cathy often wears and the red floor of one of the Linton estate rooms. Whites and blues are another highlight.

There are plenty of high contrast scenes as well, with rich black tones during night scenes and vibrant whites during the movie’s winter section. The movie has plenty of gorgeous cinematography of the surrounding landscapes, which look phenomenally detailed and strikingly realistic. Close-ups of the various cast members also look incredibly refined and intricate.

The 4K disc supports a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which is punchy and detailed. While you won’t get many action-packed scenes, speech is crystal clear throughout and the movie’s soundtrack, written by Charlie XCX and John Cale, is engaging. Subtle details are accurately delivered too, such as the creaking of the ropes of the swing Isabella pushes Cathy on in one scene.

Leaving Las Vegas (StudioCanal)

Leaving Las Vegas follows the story of Ben (Nicolas Cage), an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who plans to drink himself to death in Las Vegas before striking up a relationship with callgirl Sera (Elisabeth Shue). Cage earned an Academy Award for his portrayal of Ben.

A note that this release is the StudioCanal version released in the UK and Europe. US readers’ most local version is the Shout Factory version released in December 2025.

Leaving Las Vegas was shot in 16mm film as opposed to 35mm — something you’d expect from movies on a lower budget. While this means the overall look of the film is on the softer side, there is definitely some great upscaling in this 4K restoration. Shots of Ben’s face show excellent detail in his pale skin and the dark circles around his tired eyes. Colors also have a nice vibrancy to them, mainly thanks to the neon-clad streets of Las Vegas, which really pop whenever they’re on screen. Ben and Sera’s sometimes brightly colored clothing also looks natural. The movie’s night scenes also present solid black levels too. Overall, a very good restoration.

This disc supports a DTS-HD 5.1 MA mix which is effective. Speech is clearly presented throughout and balances well with other sound effects. The movie’s score, which features a blend of smooth and chaotic jazz, is presented with excellent clarity and is nicely balanced across all channels, evenly spread across the four units of the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar system I was using.

Point Blank (Criterion Collection)

Point Blank tells the story of Walker (Lee Marvin), a man who is left for dead by his partner Mal Reese (John Vernon) after a robbery. Upon recovering, Walker seeks revenge on Reese and others who have wronged him.

This is yet another great restoration from Criterion, a common theme that’s been happening on the Blu-ray Bounty for some time now. Textures have been cleaned up well, with object detail and people’s skin showing the benefits of a 4K restoration. Where Point Blank really shines is with its colors. As it was made in the 1960s, there’s plenty of bold colors throughout to fit the aesthetic of the time period, from the yellow-themed apartment Walker and Chris share to the green office the antagonists use. Colors crucially though are also true-to-life throughout, never looking oversaturated. There’s also some high contrast scenes during the night with strong shadows cast across people’s faces that looked fantastic on the G5 OLED I used for viewing.

There’s only a monaural soundtrack option for this disc and while it would have been nice to have some form of surround option to capture the movie’s more action packed driving and shootout sequences, the monaural is solid. Speech is clear throughout the movie and there’s still some good impact from gunshots and car crashes. It’s also accurately mapped, capturing Walker’s frantic driving as he intimidates a crooked car salesman.

Sonos has offered the ability to add wireless rear speakers to its soundbars, creating an effective compact surround-sound system, for well over a decade. But this setup really hasn't changed much from the Playbar to the Sonos Arc Ultra — you can still have the soundbar with two rear speakers, and one or two subwoofers.

For years now, Sonos superfans have been begging the company to expand these options with the ability to use its wireless speakers as true front left and right channels for a home theater setup.

The frustration is width: elite soundbars like the Arc Ultra have angled drivers so that the audio sounds much wider than the soundbar itself, but there are diminishing returns with 'virtualized' width compared to the real width of just having speakers on either side of your TV, the way you would in a five-channel surround sound system made from separate speakers. And we just had a reminder from a Dolby exec about how important width is in recreating Dolby Atmos mixes.

People love the simplicity of a wireless Sonos setup compared to building out a wired separates system, and many are enamored with Sonos' sound profile. But as time goes on, the failure to innovate in the kinds of setups available starts to look stubborn at best.

Imagine that you have a Sonos Beam 2nd Gen connected to your TV over HDMI, and it receives the Dolby Atmos sound and then streams it out to a Sonos Era 300 to the left of your TV and one to the right of your TV.

These would deliver real width, especially since the Era 300 has left and right drivers, as well as forward-facing. The Beam serves as the center channel for clear dialogue, and the Era 300s deliver powerful side channels and height channels. And, of course, you could combine with wireless rear speakers, as Sonos does already.

People are choosing to buy bigger and bigger TVs, which need wider and wider sound to match their scale. We can't keep making soundbars bigger to compensate (well, we can, but I'm not sure it'll really please anyone).

Sonos has been in the perfect position to capitalize on this, and yet somehow Sony beat it to the punch by announcing the Sony Bravia Theatre Trio, an 'LCR' (left, center, right) wireless system that's more or less exactly the setup I described above, but with Sony speakers.

Here's what really galls the Sonos superfans: the tech already exists, unofficially, to do this, and many have tried it. There is a whole subreddit dedicated to a third-party app called Sonosequencr, and the developer makes it clear that they're not hacking the speakers to make this possible: they're tapping into tech already dormant in Sonos' system, that Sonos has never fully enabled.

Using Sonosequencr comes with tradeoffs, with the main one being that you can't use Trueplay to correct the sound for your room, so in some cases it's possible you're better off sticking with a regular Sonos setup that compensates for your room's reflections, especially if you have a smaller space — but in some large setups, the addition of real speakers might be the better option. Sonos could also break the third-party app at any time, since it's all unofficial.)

There were leaks that Sonos was planning to enable this kind of setup using its canceled streaming box as the centerpiece, but this obviously never came to fruition (but the tech that Sonosequencr taps into might be the vestigial remains of it, or an earlier version of it).

I wrote at the time that I hoped it would retain the exact feature I'm talking about today, but there's been no sign of it since then. That's probably partly because Sonos spent a year just trying to fix its app's problems and getting things ready for multiple launches this year (which started with the Sonos Play).

Maybe Sonos is getting ready to unleash a new world of home theater flexibility on us — when I interviewed CEO Tom Conrad, I asked him about Dolby Atmos FlexConnect and its ability to work with really flexible speaker placement, he said: "We're interested in that entire space, the entire domain of: How do you get the bits from the source to the speakers? How do you position the speakers in three-dimensional space? And how do you render? We'll continue to work on our roadmap."

In response to a question about TV makers launching their own wireless speaker tech and pushing Sonos out, Conrad said: "We're the pioneer in wirelessly distributing audio around the family room, and we'll have our own things to say about how that evolves in the coming quarters."

So it definitely sounds like Sonos has something planned for home theater this year, and I really hope it takes the chance to finally unleash extra speaker positions. The fact that Sony got there first really surprised me, but Sonos has a key advantage: price.

Sony's system costs £2000 (about $2,690 / AU$3,750) for the front three speakers. The closest Sonos setup in terms of Dolby Atmos performance would be the Beam 2nd Gen and two Era 300 speakers, as I mentioned above. At the time of writing, that costs $1,127 / £1,077 / AU$2,297 — but you could swap the Era 300s for a pair of Era 100 SL speakers, and the price would drop to $707 / £657 / AU$1,377.

When I think about the scale of performance you could get from that setup for that price… well, like I said, the whole thing

• Dolby exec says movie mixers independently made the same changes in Dolby Atmos mixes
• They moved the music "into the room", away from the screen and the dialogue
• The change was "immediately, obviously better"

Home theater fans often have very strong opinions about soundbars versus separates-based surround sound systems (as a comment on our recent article on the choices in the Fight Club 4K Blu-ray evidences), arguing that even the best soundbars simply can't deliver the same width, depth and immersion of a separates-based surround system.

And recent comments from Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Dolby Laboratories, John Couling, arguably backs them up: he describes a change in the way movie audio was mixed due to the transition to Dolby Atmos, and it struck us that it ties strongly into one part of why separates-based systems are likely to deliver a better experience with movie soundtracks.

What moviemakers are doing with their audio mixes

Posting on LinkedIn, Coulis described the early days of Dolby Atmos. "We would continuously ask questions and take notes as teams of film mixers started to explore the technology," he says, "and we noticed that almost every mixer, without being told to, instinctively did the same thing."

He continued: "They took the film's music from the left and right speakers and pulled it just slightly into the room — down the side walls, away from the screen. The screen became more about action and dialogue, while the music became part of the atmosphere surrounding the audience."

The change was "immediately, obviously better," Coulis says. "The front stage had more clarity, and the music found its proper place."

That's great on a full set of surround-sound speakers where the music's moving out to left and right speakers that are fully past the left and right sides of your TV or projector screen. They're capable of delivering the kind of width necessary to get the full effect of what Coulis is talking about.

But, of course, standalone soundbars don't have speakers out to the sides, so with budget soundbars you're going to miss out on this intentional separation of the dialogue and music in the 3D Atmos space.

Bery expensive standalone soundbars with angled drivers, virtualization and clever digital processing will do a far better job of this, but they're ultimately compensating for what isn't physically there: there's no real substitute for having strong speakers out side.

That's not to say soundbars are bad; of course they're not. Some of the best ones are truly exceptional and even the budget ones are a big audio upgrade compared to your TV. They're a lot more convenient and often a lot less expensive too.

But Coulis' comments are a fresh reminder and a new perspective on the idea that if you're serious about soundtracks, separate speakers are likely to deliver the most realistic results.

Sony has just announced the Bravia Theatre Trio, which is a new Dolby Atmos wireless system that splits the difference between a proper surround system and a soundbar, and is particularly designed with huge TVs in mind, to make sure the soundscape is wider than the TV itself — but will be tempting to anyone who wants a physically more separated sound than the best soundbars alone can deliver.

It can also be expanded into a fuller wireless surround setup, and I got to hear this full-force system in action. But first, let's go over the basics.

The Sony Bravia Theatre Trio is, as the name implies, three wireless speakers in a package. It's what home theater fans call an 'LCR' system — meaning left, center, and right channels.

There's a center speaker that's like a mini soundbar, which connects to your TV over HDMI eARC. And there are left and right speakers that look like little pillars with a flat section added to the back, so they can be wall-mounted.

The center speaker has two woofers and a tweeter, while each of the the side speakers each has a woofer and tweeter facing forward, and then an 8cm upfiring driver for Dolby Atmos height channels.

In the simplest terms, this is a 3.0.2-channel system, though Sony says that the system is built heavily around virtualization of more in-depth speaker setups. This initial three-speaker system can apparently mimic 24 phantom channels.

Sony says that it's done some smart stuff with its virtualization tech in the Bravia Theatre Trio, including rethinking how those phantom channels work: they're now designed not just to mimic the placement of a more elaborate speaker setup, but also to mimic the "indirect sound sources" of a cinema room's acoustic signature, including reflections.

So yes, for those keeping track of how psychoacoustic virtualization works, it may be the case that this system is using the reflections of your room to create the sense of an entirely different set of reflections…

To help the system do this as well as possible, it comes with a USB-C microphone that you can use for room calibration. Just plug it into your phone or tablet, fire up Sony's app, and follow the instructions so it can do its best work.

As I mentioned above, this three-speaker core setup can be expanded with add-on rear speakers or a subwoofer as well.

You have two choices of subwoofer: the new Sub 8 is a mid-range option, while the Sub 9 is an absolute massive beast of a sub by lifestyle tech standards. It looks like two Sub 8 units glued together with a vent in the middle, and while Sony didn't confirm the specs, I wouldn't be surprised if that's not far from the truth.

You also have two choices of rear speaker: there's the existing Bravia Rear 8 or the new Bravia Rear 9, which are more or less the same speakers as the front left and right (woofer, tweeter and upfirer combo — in the same design).

Of course, these add-ons will cost you — and the core Bravia Theatre Trio package isn't cheap either. Here's the breakdown of all those options (Sony was only able to provide UK pricing pre-launch and Australian info for the Theatre Trio only, but we'll update with other pricing as we get it):

Sony eats Sonos' lunch

Before I get to my experience of the performance of these speakers, something that immediately struck me is that this kind of setup is what Sonos' users have been begging to company to do for years.

Given that Sonos' whole thing is wireless satellite speakers, its users have asked many, many times (directly and on the r/sonos subreddit) for the ability to use separate front left and right speakers in an LCR setup with its soundbars.

There's even a third-party app that enables this called SonoSequencr, which is quite popular among Sonos home theater enthusiasts.

It seems wild that Sony has offered this before Sonos, and with a better spec list than Sonos can offer, because the Bravia Theatre Trio offers both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support (Sonos lacks DTS), and has an HDMI passthrough port (supporting 4K 120Hz) so you don't lose an HDMI port by using it.

Of course, if Sonos did end up offering a setup to compete with this, it could have a major price advantage. You can get a Sonos Beam Gen 2 (as the center channel) and two Sonos Era 300 speakers (as spatial audio side speakers) for £1,077 at the time of writing, compared to £2,000 for the Sony system.

And there's also the small issue that in my demo of the Sony system I found it to be quite hit and miss…

Mixing it up

I didn't get to hear just the Bravia Theatre Trio core setup on its own at Sony's event; instead I heard the fullest setup, with the original trio, two Rear 9 speakers, and two Sub 9 subwoofers (though, somewhat oddly, these were placed next to each other rather than spaced for even bass distribution).

In terms of pure physical channels, this is a 7.2.4 setup, but Sony was unable to confirm exactly what the virtualized channel setup it creates using the phantom channels would be — though Sony confirmed that you get 24 phantom channels regardless of how many physical speakers are involved.

First up we watched the big music performance in Sinners at the juke joint. What jumped out straight away is that the system provides a really powerful and warm sound, which is really well suited to the pounding of drums and making the tonality of guitars feel solid and electric.

However, I wasn't that impressed with separation of different elements in the mix, despite all the Dolby Atmos power going on — and in particular I felt that the vocals were more subdued than I'd expect, especially for a system with an actual separate center speaker.

Moving onto the car shoot-out in No Time to Die, the surround and positioning effects got a particular chance to shine. The rear effects were solid, but the side effects were especially impressive considering there are no real speakers there.

Building on that, I thought the way sound moved from the front, around the sides, and to the back was especially impressive — it felt like the sound moved smoothly the whole way, and didn't jump from the front to the back, which is how it can feel in some simple five-channel systems.

But this demo also showed the same apparent weakness with vocals, with dialogue feeling soft and a little muddy even in the quieter moments — and even some of the mid-frequency effects seemed to not pop quite as strongly as they should (I have seen this scene a lot in demos).

The final demo was the first racing scene in Ready Player One, and the system produced a lot of sound and fury all around me here… but I thought there was a slight softness to the fine details that held it back — the very sudden sounds didn't seem quite as dramatically sudden as they should, which robbed them a little of impact, scale and spectacle.

That last point wasn't helped by the fact that in all three demos I noticed that the sound and visuals weren't quite in sync. This isn't uncommon in HDMI ARC-based systems at all, but I don't normally notice it as strongly as I did here — and I think it made a difference when experiencing the crunching crashes of Ready Player One if you see the impacts before you hear them.

Of course, this is far from a review — and I'm really interested to see how just the core Bravia Theatre Trio set performs on its own. But at this early stage, I'm kind of torn: I love the overall concept and the design, but I'm concerned about the high price based on the performance I heard so far.

I think it’s fair to say that Fight Club has been one of the most anticipated 4K Blu-rays in recent years. Although it seemed like it would never launch, in May 2026, the eagerly awaiting disc finally arrived.

Not only was it one of my picks for my most anticipated 4K Blu-rays for May 2026, but it was one of my most anticipated ever. It’s one of those movies that has stuck with me and until now, it has only been available on standard Blu-ray (which has 1080p resolution) or HD on Disney Plus.

There was no better place to try out the 4K Blu-ray than our TechRadar testing labs, with the reference setup that I use for our monthly Blu-ray Bounty column in which we review the latest 4K releases (Flight Club will feature in the May 2026 edition).

The setup is formidable. It consists of the LG G5 (one of 2025’s best OLED TVs), the Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray player (one of the best 4K Blu-ray players on the market) and the Samsung HW-Q990C (one of the best soundbars in recent years).

As I fired up the disc, I glanced at the back of the case and noticed immediately that two big features were missing, and for some home theater fans, their absence might just be a dealbreaker.

No Dolby Vision or Atmos: why?

Yes, there is no Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos support for the Fight Club 4K Blu-ray. The disc instead supports HDR10 and a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack. Dolby Vision was apparently left off Fight Club at director David Fincher's request (according to a tweet from Feb 2026 from TheHDRoom on X). For some this may come as a surprise, and a potential disappointment, but there is a potential explanation. We need only look to another 4K title from Fincher’s back-catalogue for a clue.

Looking at the Se7en 4K Blu-ray we had in our testing lab, this doesn’t support Dolby Vision or Atmos either. Again, it offers HDR10 and DTS-HD 5.1 MA instead. Why is this? Well, we know Fincher made changes to the Se7en 4K restoration by using AI, according to a Rolling Stone article from January 2025.

As Dolby Vision uses dynamic metadata to analyze a picture shot-by-shot, this may have interfered with Fincher’s vision for the home release, presumably after making said changes. And thanks to some dedicated work from some Reddit users, we know for a fact that Fincher has made some alteration to the Fight Club 4K compared to the standard Blu-ray. And it’s been controversial to say the least.

Going through changes

Although not quite as drastic as George Lucas’ edits to Star Wars in the 1997 DVD release, Fincher has made some subtle (and a couple of not so subtle) changes to the Fight Club 4K Blu-ray. In a Reddit thread boosted to r/4KBluray by u/Kecofo8180, the top comment features a list of changes compiled by u/PhoneixBee32.

These run from added lens flare to a torch and a clean-up of some ceiling tiles, all the way to the a touch of spot-removal on Marla's face. The list was compiled based on a small selection of 4K Blu-ray vs standard Blu-ray comparison screenshots, meaning there are likely a lot more.

I decided to check out Marla’s appearance to see just how different she looked. Switching between the 4K Blu-ray and a HD stream of the movie on Disney Plus, the clean-up treatment was obvious. In the 4K shot, Marla has noticeably smoother skin with fewer spots and pimples, and the dark circles under her eyes have been reduced in comparison to the shot from the HD stream (see images above). It’s an odd choice considering the HD stream, with the more original look, feels more accurate to Marla’s character.

I also compared a brighter scene where the narrator is confronted by his boss. Looking at the two images, I was intrigued to note that the framing of the scene has been changed. In the 4K, the shot seemed to have been zoomed out — the narrator is fully in frame, as is an ashtray beside him. In the HD stream, his hand is partially cut off, his hair is brushing the top of the frame, and the ashtray is only half in shot.

There are some other tweaks I noticed, but a lot of them are so subtle that you wouldn't spot them unless you were studying the 4K Blu-ray and HD stream/Blu-ray versions side-by-side. Still, for those fans who like their 4K discs unaltered, this isn't welcome news.

Needless to say, there have been a number of Reddit threads discussing the 4K Blu-ray, and the response to these changes has been mixed. u/cheeseholidays commented "I do not understand filmmakers who do this", while u/epicmemetime15 wrote 'The editing of Helena's face is very weird" (referring to Helena Bonham Carter who plays Marla).

Other users have been more forgiving, and positive about how good the actual 4K looks. u/OK_Support2444 said, "Eh, I saw the remaster in theaters and it looked gorgeous" and u/requiuminadream commented, "I think this is looking phenomenal. Few minor tweaks here or there, but the image quality looks outstanding."

Still the best

Despite the alterations, as I was switching between the HD stream and the 4K Blu-ray, the 4K’s HDR strengths were obvious. While I’ll be sharing my full thoughts in the May 2026 Blu-ray Bounty column, I have some initial comments below.

Despite Marla’s smoothed skin, other details such as the whites of her eyes in a close-up shot, or the beads of sweat running down the narrator’s face, really pop thanks to those HDR highlights. The red of Tyler’s jacket is bold but realistic and exterior shots of Lou’s bar look excellent thanks to the vibrant neon signs.

The HDR also really helps deliver high-contrast scenes, including the Fight Club fights themselves, balancing the light tones from the overhead lamps with the dark tones of the dingy, grimy walls and floors.

The 4K disc’s DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack also sounds great. There’s plenty of impact during fight scenes, with punches sounding worryingly realistic, with good bass as people tackle each other to the floor. But it’s the use of the rear speakers that’s really fascinating. During the opening, as the camera pans down from the top floor where the narrator and Durden are to the basement, the sound moves too. With the Samsung soundbar system I was using, the sound shifted from the front channels to the rear channels.

While these are only my first impressions, I can safely say the Fight Club 4K is excellent so far. Yes, Dolby Vision would have been welcome for those dark and high contrast scenes, and Dolby Atmos may have added more to the movie’s meaty fight sequences, but based on my first viewing on our reference system, this is a superb-looking and -sounding 4K Blu-ray.

It seems users are torn, so I decided to stop the comparison and just watch the 4K Blu-ray.

While a lot of people will be considering a visual or audio upgrade to their home setup in time for the World Cup, which kicks off June 11, one football fan's setup is going to make your plans feel… inadequate. It's an elite home theater designed with sports in mind, and it's won two CEDIA awards.

The project is called the Buzzards Road Home Cinema, and it was developed and executed by IndigoZest and Cinema Luxe. It uses a Sony 4K projector, an acoustically transparent screen (where LCR speakers were positioned behind the screen), and a 9.4.4-channel Dolby Atmos sound system.

Driving the system is a Artcoustic CPH1000D digital amplifier, an Anthem MCA 325 v2 power amplifier, and an Anthem MRX 1140 v2 Dolby Atmos AV receiver.

For speakers, Artcoustic made up the majority of the speaker configuration. Artcoustic Spitfire A10 wall speakers, Artcoustic SL 2-1 three-way monitor speakers and Artcoustic SL Architect PAS SPL in-ceiling speakers were used. For subwoofers, there were two Artcoustic Spitfire Sub 3 and two Artcoustic Sub 2 units in use.

For pictures, a Sony 4K projector and a 145-inch Control4 Dragonfly Fixed Ultra AcoustiWeave Projection Screen acoustically transparent screen were installed.

Alongside this, a Kaleidescape Strato 4K UHD Movie Player was installed, a premium alternative to the best 4K Blu-ray players that we’ve used here at TechRadar and it’s legitimately the real deal.

This is a seriously immersive setup with plenty of power and you’ll often find Sony 4K projectors at the heart of a reference setup, like the one I saw at AWE’s headquarters back in 2024. But the AV equipment was only one part of this system.

Football fan paradise

One element crucial to the whole concept was the use of the room for showing football games (particularly Newcastle United).

Paul Laventure, Client Director at IndigoZest, said “Big sporting events are ultimately about shared experience, and that sits at the heart of how these spaces are approached. The ‘perfect’ setup goes beyond just a large screen and great sound; it’s about creating an environment that brings people together effortlessly”.

This was taken into consideration for planning not only the layout of the seating, opting for a more sociable layout to the traditional home theater seating, but also for control. The room's owner wanted to able to switch easily between movie viewing and football, but not just in a boring regular setup.

The installers used Control4, a smart control system focused on multi-unit control from one platform, the add a one-button ‘Football Mode’. Using this not only switches to watching football in the home theater room, but the match is also broadcast around the wider property.

For an added bit of smart control magic, whenever someone calls to the house on its gate intercom, the content on the screen — including live broadcast matches — pauses to make sure “nothing was missed”.

A good-looking room

While cinephiles and home theater enthusiasts may not be too worried about the look of a room, Buzzards Road was designed to be a social space that also reflected the look of the rest of the property. This is where interior designer Sinead Kelly Herbert came in.

Working with the AV team, Herbert worked to implement the best fixtures to make the cinema room feel more welcoming. Bronze lighting fixtures were used, as well as a fiber-optic star ceiling, CNC-cut panelling and a stone-finished bar at the rear of the room.

Alongside this, all the speakers listed earlier, and the projector, are hidden so the room feels as comfortable as possible. The result? “Today, it’s the most-used room in the house — a social space, a sanctuary, and a statement in refined entertainment,” says Laventure.

With all these visual touches and the focus on a social environment for a great atmosphere for football, not to mention the Football Mode and exquisite-looking list of equipment, this sounds like the ultimate World Cup watch party place. Alas most of us will just have to settle for the best TVs and best soundbars.

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• Dolby AC-4 was the preferred codec of multiple audio pros
• Better than existing Atmos audio without high bandwidth requirements
• Peacock is upgrading but other streamers haven't announced any plans

One of the biggest differences between streamed movies and 4K Blu-ray is the sound quality: even the most expensive streaming tiers deliver compressed audio with a clear reduction in dynamic range and clarity compared to disc-based playback.

But that might change thanks to a new version of Dolby's sound technology that audio experts apparently can't tell apart from uncompressed PCM, but that works at streaming bitrates.

The new technology is called Dolby AC-4, and it's a codec: an encoder/decoder for compressing audio. It's designed to deliver much higher audio quality than current streaming soundtracks, and can do so without requiring lots of bandwidth.

With a bit of help from the New York section of the Audio Engineering Society and Engine Room Audio, the audio pros at Immersive Machines in the US set up a double-blind listening test where audio experts heard mixes in multiple formats including the current streaming standard, DD+JOC (using the Dolby Digital+ codec).

Again and again the experts picked AC-4 as having the best sound quality of the compressed audio formats.

How Dolby AC-4 could make your streams sound sweeter

Most streaming apps use DD+JOC for immersive audio. It's a version of the tried and tested Dolby Digital standard, with the JOC bit standing for "Joint Object Coding". It enables Dolby Atmos to deliver positional audio without breaking support for 5.1-channel setups.

Dolby AC-4 is what Dolby calls a Next Generation Audio codec, and it's designed to more efficiently deliver audio for headphone and speaker listening, including 3D object information.

As Dolby explains: "The AC-4 coding system utilizes new aspects of object audio beyond what is already available with Dolby Atmos in other Dolby codecs for features like dialogue enhancement or commentator substitution." And significantly, it "can deliver equivalent channel-based audio quality at roughly half the bitrate of Dolby Digital Plus".

That's impressive, but does it deliver?

Immersive Machines' listening test used three formats: DD+JOC at 768 kbps, uncompressed PCM audio at 13,824 kbps, and AC-4 L4 at 448 kbps. The listeners heard them on a full 7.1.4-channel system, on the same system with specific speakers muted, and to individual speakers soloed. Each format was given the letter A, B or C and their identities weren't revealed until the test was done.

The test wasn't just based on vibes. Listeners were asked to identify compression artefacts such as gating, "swishing", loss of spatial precision and loss of frequency range. And with all the speakers on — ie, the way you'd listen at home — AC-4 was in a dead heat with the reference uncompressed PCM audio.

Compression was more noticeable in AC4 when individual speakers were soloed, but for a full home theater setup, AC-4 delivered sound that apparently matches lossless but while streaming just 3% of the data.

There are some caveats here, notably the sample size: a test with 16 listeners isn't hard science. But at the same time, 16 audio pros told to listen critically are going to be much more picky than you or I are likely to be, so it's still quite the endorsement.

The first TV/movie streaming service delivering AC-4 will be Peacock, although the technology is also being used by Amazon Music and TIDAL (but specifically for binaural headphones-based spatial audio). Other streamers may migrate but so far there haven't been more announcements since Peacock's news at CES 2026.

You can find out more about the Immersive Machines testing here, but while it does suggest that streamers could deliver similar sound quality to 4K Blu-ray in the very near future, it's worth noting that Dolby AC-4 doesn't address one of the other reasons people buy Blu-Ray discs: unlike streaming, bought Blu-Rays don't disappear from your library when streaming rights expire or the streamer decides to slim down its catalog.

Better quality has absolutely been a major driver for why people buy 4K Blu-rays, especially if you have a great home theater setup — but collection and ownership is growing as a reason why people are becoming invested in Blu-ray again, and AC4 won't change that.

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The 2026 World Cup is only a few weeks away, so if you're thinking of upgrading your home setup, now is the time. With new 2026 TVs appearing in stores now, 2025's models are at some of their cheapest prices, meaning you can grab a real bargain.

But, while you may be looking at a new TV or a new soundbar, I've come up with a few TV/soundbar combos in case you're looking to overhaul your whole home setup.

To be clear, any of these TVs will go great with any of these soundbars if you're looking to mix and match, but I've picked pairs to hit particular budgets that are ideal matches.

I've chosen some of the best TVs from the likes of Samsung, Hisense and TCL and the best soundbars from Sonos, Samsung and more.

Setup 1: Budget bang-for-buck

TV: TCL QM6K/C6K

The TCL QM6K, known as the TCL C6K in the UK, is a budget gem. It uses a mini-LED panel that delivers punchy colors, strong contrast with deep black levels and solid brightness all for an affordable price.

With a measured HDR fullscreen brightness of 594 nits in Standard mode for the QM6K and 706 nits in the same mode on the C6K, these TVs are more than bright enough to handle daytime viewing without distracting reflections. With games played at various times throughout the day in the World Cup, this is crucial.

The QM6K/C6K also make for great gaming TVs when you're not watching the World Cup. They support 4K 144Hz, FreeSync Premium, Dolby Vision gaming and ALLM: an excellent suite of features for a TV this price.

The QM6K/C6K's best feature is its price. A 65-inch model will cost $699 / £649 respectively, which is a bargain for what you're getting. This is easily the best option for the budget conscious.

Soundbar: Sony HT-S150F

The Sony HT-SF150, know as the Sony HT-S100F in the US and Australia, is our current pick for the best super-cheap soundbar on our best soundbars list. Why? Because it delivers impressive depth, clear speech and decent power and bass for a very low price: $99 / £99 / AU$199.

It also has a decent feature set including Bluetooth support for music streaming, an elegant design and easy setup and use: all big positives for a budget soundbar.

While it isn't the most sonically diverse soundbar, it's superb value and will really help add another level to your World Cup experience by boosting commentary and crowd noise more than your TV's speakers would.

Setup 2: The step-up option

TV: Hisense U8Q

The Hisense U8QG is an excellent-value mini-LED TV. It produces rich colors and powerful contras,t and has a strong feature set including both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, plus 4K 165Hz and VRR for gaming.

The U8Q also produces super-high brightness for a TV at this price point. A measured 3,337 nits and 2,888 nits peak HDR brightness in Filmmaker Mode and Standard respectively really help highlights pop on screen as well as producing strong perceived contrast.

With 744 nits HDR fullscreen brightness and even 600 nits of SDR fullscreen brightness, the U8Q is more than capable of handling bright rooms — perfect for daytime World Cup games.

At $999 / £1,299 / AU$1,599 for a 65-inch model, the U8Q is fantastic value for the performance it delivers and the features it comes with. If you're looking for a substantial upgrade at a fair price, this is top-notch value.

Soundbar: Sonos Beam (Gen 2)

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) may be a few years old now, but it's still one of the best all-in-one, mid-range soundbars you can get. It delivers spacious, punchy sound quality with plenty of detail. This compact soundbar is mightier than it looks.

Not only does it tick the boxes for movies, but it's fantastic for music too. It delivers the same detail it does for movies, offering a layered sound with strong, well-controlled bass, clear highs and natural sounding mid-tones.

The Beam also supports hi-res audio and Dolby Atmos, as well as Wi-Fi streaming support for better sound quality. At its usual $499 / £449 / AU$799 price tag it's a great value soundbar that will give any World Cup game an extra dimension — and occasionally it gets nice deals, too. It's great in its own right, but can be expanded with a subwoofer and rear speakers too for a fuller experience.

Setup 3: The premium option

TV: Samsung QN90F

The Samsung QN90F really is the perfect for TV for sport. Not only does it deliver high brightness thanks to its mini-LED panel, but it comes equipped with a Glare Free matte screen that makes it the ideal TV for those in a bright room because it totally squashes reflections even in darker scenes. Daytime sports viewing will be no issue for the QN90F.

Aside from the brightness, the QN90F has excellent motion handling. With the right settings (judder and blur adjustments set to 3), it delivers a smooth picture that will help deliver the games from the World Cup accurately and more clearly than basically anything else on the market.

The QN90F also delivers excellent contrast and color for movies and is a gaming powerhouse with 4K 144Hz, VRR and ALLM all supported across four HDMI 2.1 ports.

Since its release in 2025, its prices have dropped significantly. A 65-inch set costs $1,599 / £1,399 / AU$2,899 so while it's at the pricier end of the mini-LED market, it is excellent value, made even better by the big drop in price from its original $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$3,499 price tag.

Soundbar: Samsung HW-Q800F

The Samsung HW-Q800F sits at the top of our best soundbars list. It delivers a powerful, immersive sound with solid Dolby Atmos reproduction. Its subwoofer, which is a new compact, dual-driver unit, produces some serious bass that's precise and well controlled.

Speaking of precise, this is one of the Q800F's greatest strengths. Not only is its sound immersive, it's accurate too. Its mapping of different effects is pinpoint and is has excellent directionality. It will do a great job with the fast-paced action of a World Cup game and the feeling of crowd's ambiance exploding out of the soundbar and into the space all around the TV.

The Q800F also supports Wi-Fi music streaming and supports 4K 120Hz gaming in its HDMI in ports. And, it does all this for a fairly reasonable price too, costing $799 / £599 / AU$799. While that is getting to the pricier side of the soundbar market, it's worth every penny.

Setup 4: The elite OLED & surround experience

TV: Samsung S95F

The Samsung S95F was one of 2025's best OLED TVs. It delivers excellent picture quality, with vibrant, bold colors and strong contrast, as well as crisp textures and refined detail. It's also fully stocked for gaming with four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K 165Hz, full VRR including G-Sync, ALLM and HDR10+ gaming.

What sets the S95F apart from other OLEDs is its anti-reflection screen. A matte coating means mirror-like reflections are reduced to haze, making it a fantastic OLED for bright room viewing. With this TV, you'll get to watch daytime sports with OLED's color, detail and perfect viewing angles without worrying about reflections. While mini-LED is our typical recommendation for sports, this OLED changes the game.

However, as a flagship OLED, the S95F is in the premium price bracket. A 65-inch model costs $2,499 / £2,299 / AU$3,799 which is pricey, but if you're after an elite World Cup experience, then this OLED TV should definitely be on your list.

Soundbar: Samsung HW-Q990F

The Samsung HW-Q990F is a multi-box soundbar system that delivers serious power across 11.1.4 channels. It's sound is expansive and precise, creating a real Dolby Atmos experience at home thanks to its two rear speakers and subwoofer.

The subwoofer is a new, compact size but thankfully, none of the hefty, detailed bass has disappeared. The dual-driver sub delivers raw power which works wonders for movies. The rear speakers are excellent at delivering surround effects and the soundbar itself delivers clear speech, punchy audio and excellent separation.

If you're looking for a soundbar to capture the stadium atmosphere of the World Cup, this is it. This level of performance comes at a price though. At $1,599 / £999 / AU$1,399, this is a premium soundbar.

But for the performance and features it brings, including hi-res audio and Wi-Fi streaming support as well as 4K 120Hz passthrough for gaming, the Q990F is worth the investment if you have the budget.

• Denon unveils new X2900H and X3900H AV receivers
• Both have new audio architecture for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound
• X2900H is 7.2 channels; X3900H is 9.4 channels

Denon has unveiled two new AV receivers, including an update to one of the most popular bang-for-buck models around — and it's a pretty strong upgrade based on my early impressions from a demo session.

The new models are the Denon AVR-X2900H and the AVR-X3900H, and they're similar in a lot of ways, with the X3900H promising more "scalability" and "flexibility" over its little sibling.

They replace the X2800H and X3800H respectively, and Denon says they've been updated internally to improve the sound, including sharing a new 32-bit DAC system designed to deliver "improved imaging, clearer high-frequency detail and more confident low-frequency energy across every channel."

Both receivers support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and include Dirac Live and Audyssey support for sound correction. They both have six HDMI inputs and multiple HDMI outputs, with support for 4K 120Hz passthrough with Dolby Vision HDR (and 8K video at 60Hz). New this year is support for 1440p and AMD FreeSync passthrough, which is nice for PC gamers.

They also have Denon's HEOS wireless platform on board for music streaming over Wi-Fi, with support for major streaming platforms to play in hi-res — plus Bluetooth connectivity.

The differences come in just how elaborately all this is implemented. The X2900H supports 7.2 channels of sound at up to 95W (at 8 ohms) per channel, while the X3900H supports 9.4 channels at up to 105W (at 8 ohms) per channel.

The pricier X300H includes Auro 3D and IMAX Enhanced support as well as the two standard spatial formats, and offers more Dirac tools as optional extras. The X2900H offers two HDMI outs (one of which is eARC), while the X3900H has three HDMI outs (again one eARC).

The extra channels of the X3900H obviously require a load more speaker connections on the back, but the X3900H also includes more RCA inputs, including an MM phono input, and more pre-amp outputs.

Both models launch today, May 14. The Denon AVR-X2900H costs $1,349 / £899 (about AU$1,680), while the Denon AVR-X3900H costs $1,849 / £1,299 (about AU$2,430).

So, you've got the run-down on what they can do — but how do they sound? Happily, I got to hear them before their launch.

What are the Denon X2900H and X3900H like in action?

Denon's listening room at its Kawasaki office — used by its current Sound Master, Shinichi Yamauchi, to refine and provide feedback on the performance of its products — provided the setting for an all-too-brief demo of the new AVR models.

They were connected to the room's array of Bowers & Wilkins 801 speakers, which are probably a little more hardcore (at $55k / £34k per pair) than most people will connect to these amps, but at least I could be sure that the speakers weren't going to impose any kind of limitation on what I was hearing.

First, Denon gave me a demo comparing the existing X2800H AVR with the new X2900H that replaces it, showing a scene from Dune in the ornithopter (a word I'm now able to spell first time consistently, thanks to how frequently scenes featuring it in appear home theater demos).

This was a 5.2.2-channel demo in Dolby Atmos, maxing out the X2900H's 7.2-channel capacity with the five surround channels plus the two height channels, and then two subwoofers.

The key theme here is that small changes add up to a clear improvement. The dialogue clarity is a little stronger, standing out slightly more prominently from the beating wings of the ornithopter while still feeling natural.

The spatial effect of the surround channels is a little stronger as well, feeling like there's a touch more dynamic range and expansiveness to envelop you in what's around you.

The bass transients and low-end power also feel — say it with me — a little stronger. There's an extra step of liveliness and control to bass impacts that make them feel more tactile

Adding together multiple elements that are a little stronger, though, creates a whole that feels bigger, meatier and more complete. The upgrade from the X2800H to the X2900H isn't game-changing, but it's weighty.

After that, we got a comparison of the new step-up X3900H against the X2900H. The demo was Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert, which is a movie score concert film (but sounds like an animated movie where Hans and his team solve a Scooby-Doo-like mystery).

The X2900H played through the same speaker setup as above, but when we switched to the X3900H we added a couple of extra surround channels, taking us to 7.2.2 channels, in Dolby Atmos.

Interestingly, though, in the section of the Inception medley that Denon demoed for us, I couldn't hear as much difference between these two AVRs as I could between the X2800H and the X2900H, even though in this case two extra speakers were being added.

It may have been partly to do with the arrangement of the song just not taking that much advantage of the extra channels, but in general I'd say I didn't feel much of a difference in the expression and clarity of the instruments.

It's obviously very possible that further reviewing with more scenes will reveal more nuance, so I'll have to reserve full judgment on the X3900H — but obviously, at the very least, even if its performance turns out to be very similar to the X2900H, it still provides more channels and higher power output for speakers that really benefit from it, so may be worth the upgrade anyway.

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May is looking to be an exciting month for 4K Blu-rays, with major releases including arguably one of my most anticipated discs to date. While the list of May’s releases looks to be extensive, I’ve narrowed it down to four.

We’re big fans of 4K Blu-ray at TechRadar. It’s the best source for testing the best TVs, due to 4K Blu-ray’s higher bitrate for better picture quality, and best soundbars, as soundtracks are uncompressed, meaning you’re getting full-fat Dolby Atmos and DTS.

I’m hoping to get my hands on these discs to feature in our monthly feature, the Blu-ray Bounty, where we test the latest 4K releases from each month that we think will make for a good showcase for your home theater system.

In last month’s most anticipated 4K list (April 2026), I picked Gilda, Hamnet, Marty Supreme and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and all four were featured in the April 2026 Blu-ray Bounty and, spoiler, they all looked great!

As I’m based in the UK, the following picks are based on UK 4K releases, so don’t be surprised if your pick is missing!

Fight Club (20th Century Studios)

Instantly quotable and one of the best movies of the 90s, Fight Club tells the story of an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) who befriends a soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), and together they start an underground ‘fight club’. The movie also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Meat Loaf. Easily one of my most anticipated discs ever.

Fight Club is a visually striking movie. While a lot of its scenes have a grimy, murky look, these dark scenes make for an excellent contrast test, with plenty of black tones. I use this movie as one of my SDR tests, as on Disney+ it’s only in HD. I’m excited to see what it will look like in all its gruesome detail in 4K, and I’ve got high hopes after how good another of Fincher’s iconic movies, Se7en, looked when it came to 4K for the first time last year. While there’s talk of no Dolby Vision included, that didn’t stop Se7en from looking great.

There are plenty of audio moments in Fight Club that sound realistic and brutal, not limited to the numerous fight scenes in the club itself. With a solid soundtrack, be that Dolby Atmos or DTS, these scenes could be really impactful and be a perfect way to test the meatiness of your chosen sound system.

Release Dates

US: May 12, 2026

UK: 18th May, 2026

Some Like It Hot (Altitude Films)

Some Like It Hot is the legendary comedy featuring Marilyn Monroe as ‘Sugar’ Kane, a traveling musician who is unaware that two of her fellow band members in her all-female band are men (played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) on the run from the mob. A classic comedy, it was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. It’s worth noting this isn’t the 4K Criterion release available in the US, but rather a new version from Altitude.

I’ve been a believer in what 4K can do for classic movies for some time now, and that only seems to grow every month. Black-and-white movies like Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and 3:10 To Yuma (1957) have looked incredible, and I have high hopes for Some Like It Hot, too. While I’m disappointed it’s not the Criterion release, I’m still hopeful to see this iconic movie revived.

As with a good number of these older releases, I’m not expecting a new, mind-blowing sound mix here, but Some Like It Hot has plenty of musical sections with classic songs like the titular track and ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’, both elegantly sung by Monroe.

Release Dates

UK: 18th May, 2026

US: N/A, Criterion version released April 8, 2026

Leaving Las Vegas (Studio Canal)

Leaving Las Vegas is the story of Ben Sanderson (Nicholas Cage), a struggling alcoholic who develops a relationship with a prostitute named Sera (Elisabeth Shue). The movie earned Cage the Academy Award for Best Actor, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Shue.

Interestingly, Leaving Las Vegas was shot on 16mm film, as opposed to the more mainstream 35mm. While I’m not expecting blockbuster visuals for this modestly-budgeted movie (approx $4 million), there are plenty of scenes showcasing the gaudy neon glow of Las Vegas that should make for some interesting visuals.

I’m not expecting any blockbuster moments from Leaving Las Vegas audibly, but it does have an interesting score and some licensed songs from Sting, including ‘Angel Eyes’, that with the right sound mix will hopefully complement the picture.

Release Dates

UK: 18th May, 2026

US: N/A — Shout Factory released December 16, 2025

“Wuthering Heights” (2026) (Warner Bros.)

A loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, Jacob Elordi stars as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Cathy in Emerald Fennell’s (Saltburn, Promising Young Woman) take on the classic period romance/drama. Fennel intended this version to "recreate the feeling of a teenage girl reading this book for the first time" (quote from a Vogue interview on YouTube).

While the film itself may be incredibly divisive, visually, it has plenty of moments that should look stunning on 4K. There are plenty of vivid, vibrant colors that explode on screen, along with breathtaking shots of the surrounding moors. There’s also plenty of stylized, contrast-rich shots that should make for a real showcase on a home theater system. And with Dolby Vision supported, “Wuthering Heights” should look excellent.

Audio-wise, the main talking point is Charlie XCX’s soundtrack. Thankfully, there’s a Dolby Atmos mix included, so it should deliver this soundtrack with real clarity and immersion. The pulse-pounding, big electronic sound XCX has become known for is a highlight, so it’s sure to sound great on a big sound system.

Release dates

US: May 5, 2026

UK: 11th May, 2026

Highlighted releases May 2026

Below is a list of highlight releases for May 2026. Both US and UK release dates are featured here (these are indicated). Release dates may vary by region, with some coming later in the year or already released. Titles featured in my list above are in bold.

May 4 / 5

• Alice in Wonderland (1951)
• Blue Thunder
• “Wuthering Heights” (2026) (UK release 11th May)
• GOAT
• Point Blank (US release date April 21 2026)

May 11/12

• Fight Club (UK release 18th May)
• Mona Lisa (UK)
• Moneyball (US, UK release TBC)
• Bridesmaids

May 18/19

• Leaving Las Vegas (UK)
• Speed Racer (US, UK release 15th June)
• Avatar: Fire and Ash (US, UK release 1st June)
• Boy Heat
• The Walk
• The Bride!
• Some Like It Hot (UK)
• Witness (UK)
• The Dollars Trilogy (UK, Arrow Video)

May 25/26

• Robin Hood: Price of Thieves (US, UK release March 2023)
• Harry and the Hendersons
• The Great Outdoors
• Lenny
• Sirat
• Zulu Dawn
• The Cars That Ate Paris
• Insomnia (1997 original)

Welcome to the April 2026 edition of the Blu-ray Bounty, where we check out the latest 4K Blu-ray releases from each month, assessing their picture and audio to see if they make a worthwhile addition to your 4K Blu-ray collection. This month is our largest list to date, with a whopping 8 discs.

If you want to check out previous editions of the Blu-ray Bounty for some disc recommendations, they can be found at the link. In last month’s March 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, I tested 6 discs: Wicked: For Good, The Running Man (2025), 3:10 To Yuma (1957), The Breakfast Club, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and Cutter’s Way.

We’re big fans of 4K Blu-ray here at TechRadar. It’s our go-to source for testing the best TVs and best soundbars, because it has excellent picture quality due to its high bitrate and uncompressed soundtracks. We’re also collectors ourselves!

I’ll be using our reference setup for this month’s edition, consisting of the LG G5, one of 2025’s best OLED TVs; the Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray player, the best 4K Blu-ray player on the market; and the Samsung HW-Q990C, an 11.1.4 channel, Dolby Atmos soundbar system.

I won’t be analyzing the movies of these discs themselves: only their picture and audio to see how much they’ll show off your home theater setup.

Ben-Hur (1959) (Warner Bros.)

One of Hollywood’s most iconic epics, Ben-Hur stars Charlton Heston as the titular Judah Ben-Hur, a former Jewish prince condemned to slavery after he is accused of treason. The story follows his quest for freedom and revenge on those who betrayed him. At the time of production, it was the largest-scale movie ever released, costing roughly $15 million ($170 million today).

Much like Lawrence of Arabia 4K from the February 2026 Blu-ray Bounty, Ben-Hur is a staggering 4K Blu-ray. The restoration here upscales textures to an almost modern-day look, with accurate, lifelike skin tones and refined details such as rocks, grass, and buildings throughout. Colors are rich and vibrant: from the reds of the Roman soldiers' capes to the glorious blue sky, every color pops on screen.

There’s some nice brightness to this disc, too. Soldiers' gold uniforms gleam in the sunlight, and the sand-colored buildings of Jerusalem dazzle without ever over-exerting the brightness. Even the movie’s darker scenes display rich blacks with powerful contrast. As the slaves row the ship, the dark tones of the walls contrast with the light from the torches beautifully.

Ben-Hur has received a serious audio upgrade as well as a visual one. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack does wonders for the bombastic and mighty horn-led score, which sounds clean, refined, and powerful. Surround channels come into play frequently, such as the hustle and bustle of the markets in Jerusalem or during the chariot races in the latter parts of the movies, with galloping hooves and the roaring crowd delivered with real precision. The hooves also make for a great workout for your subwoofer.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony Pictures)

The fourth installment in the 28 Days Later franchise, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is a direct sequel to 28 Years Later and follows Spike (Alfie Williams) as he is indoctrinated into the cult of Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Ralph Fiennes returns as Dr. Ian Kelson.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a visual feast for the eyes. In daytime scenes, as characters walk through nature, colors like the bold, red flowers and lush green trees have some serious pop. Textures are 3D-like in appearance, with all the dirt, blood, and scars on Kelson’s body looking incredibly detailed and realistic. Highlights have some serious shine to them too, with Crystal’s gaudy gold chains looking suitably vibrant.

Night scenes look superb too. Blacks are consistently deep throughout and looked great on the G5 during my testing. Contrast is powerful, with any scenes involving fire balancing beautifully with the rich, black surroundings. Again, fire really showed off the punchy brightness in peak areas too.

Equipped with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a showcase for speakers. Moments of violence sound gruesome, with every hit, stab, and puncture given a skin-crawlingly realistic level of detail. The Atmos soundtrack is utilized well. As projectiles were fired during the barn scene, they seemed to come from all directions where I was sitting. Speech is crystal clear throughout, and don’t worry, Kelson’s pyre scene (which we won’t spoil) sounds excellent.

Hamnet (Universal Pictures)

Hamnet dramatization of playwright William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Agnes Hathaway (Jessie Buckley), as they deal with the death of their son Hamnet. Nominated for multiple awards, Buckley earned an Academy Award for her portrayal of Hathaway.

A gorgeous-looking disc, especially in Dolby Vision, Hamnet delivers some lovely visuals. Colors have some nice punch, such as Hathaway’s red/orange dress at the start of the movie, but also appear true-to-life, with the greens of the countryside around Shakespeare’s home, looking great. Textures are strikingly realistic, with close-up shots of people’s faces showing freckles, stubble, and aging lines with impeccable detail.

Darker scenes look great too. As the family eats dinner at night, the black surroundings are deep and balance nicely with the flame of the candles on the table, creating a strong contrast and casting strong shadows.

Hamnet has a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and makes use of it. The score throughout sounds excellent, with the opening choral track filling our testing lab nicely, and the melancholic strings sounded refined throughout. Dialogue is consistently clear, and there are some good Atmos scenes, with scenes in the forest featuring birds flying overhead utilizing height channels.

Marty Supreme (A24)

Marty Supreme is the story of Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a table tennis player in the 1950s who vies to become world champion. The character of Mauser is loosely based on real-life US table tennis player Marty Reisman.

Marty Supreme looks great in 4K. The movie’s table tennis tournament scenes demonstrate strong contrast between the lit-up tables and players and the crowds, who are encased in deep shadows. Colors can also look rich, whether it’s the bright red of the paddles or the sometimes bold 1950s aesthetic, namely loud-looking greens and pinks. Textures look both crisp and true-to-life, with stubble, wrinkles, and hair looking refined.

This disc’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack has plenty of fantastic moments. Any scenes involving ping-pong are accurately mapped, with a strong connection between the sound and the action on screen and pinpoint directionality. One scene where Marty plays in a bar delivered great surround sound, with the rattle of ping pongs coming from the rear speakers as Wally (Tyler, The Creator) talks to another patron. The movie also features notable tracks from the 1980s, such as Alphaville's ‘Forever Young’, and all of these sound authentic and engaging.

Gilda (The Criterion Collection)

Another iconic movie of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Gilda follows the story of Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford), a card counter who begins to work for casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready). Mundson returns from a trip abroad with a new wife, Gilda (Rita Hayworth), whom Farrell recognizes from his past. This movie was a star-making turn for Hayworth.

Gilda is yet another home-run restoration from Criterion Collection. Textures have been cleaned up beautifully to look more refined and crisp, which is especially apparent in people’s skin. Contrast is great with deep dark tones and bright white tones and there’s a great range of gray tones in between. Cinephiles will be happy with the level of grain included, but make no mistake, this is a very clean 4K restoration that looks top-notch.

This disc only supports a monaural soundtrack, but dialogue is crystal clear throughout, and sound is accurately mapped. Shattering glass, bullets, and the hubbub of the casino all sound great. Musical sections also sound very good with a nice balance and strong detail. Not a showcase soundtrack for a home theater system, but very well cleaned up.

Crime Story (88 Films)

Crime Story is an action-thriller starring Jackie Chan as Police Inspector Eddie Chan, who is tasked with finding missing businessman Wong Yat-fei. His journey takes him from Hong Kong to Taiwan, where he encounters powerful mobsters. The film is based on the real events surrounding the kidnapping of businessman Teddy Wang in 1990.

This 4K restoration from 88 Films is excellent. The picture has been cleaned up to deliver crisp textures that appear lifelike throughout. There’s a nice mix of scenes to show off all aspects of a display, from the punchy colors of the neon-clad Taipei markets to the shady, shadowed rooms where gangsters hang out, which deliver a strong contrast with deep black tones. Film grain fans also need not worry, as there’s a healthy amount maintained as well.

There are both Stereo 2.0 LCPM and DTS-HD 5.1 soundtracks on offer here in both the original Cantonese and suitably overacted, cheesy English dub. I opted for the Cantonese 5.1, and as you’d expect from an action-packed Jackie Chan movie, there’s a lot going on. Explosions and gunfire deliver plenty of meaty bass with serious impact, and ricocheting bullets are accurately mapped to a nice, wide soundstage. Dialogue is very front-end in the 5.1 mix, sometimes at the expense of other elements, but it’s always clear.

The Devil's Backbone (Studio Canal)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, The Devil’s Backbone is a Spanish gothic horror movie that follows the story of a boy who finds himself in an abandoned orphanage at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The orphanage is haunted by a recently deceased boy.

The picture quality of this restoration from Studio Canal is fantastic. Daytime scenes have a stunning brightness to them, with accurate color reproduction of the beige sands of the desert surrounding the orphanage, while instances of red really pop on screen. Night sequences have excellent black depth, balancing well with the light from the moon or candles as they creep into the darkness.

There are both DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 LPCM sound mixes. I used the DTS-HD 5.1, and it’s brilliant. Everything sounds natural, especially the dialogue. The score is consistently strong and presented with real clarity, particularly during the movie’s more eerie scenes, accurately delivering the chill factor. Moments of impact, such as punches and door slams, deliver deep, engaging bass. Overall, an excellent sound mix.

The Blade (The Criterion Collection)

A wuxia movie (a genre based around the adventures of martial artists in ancient China), The Blade tells the story of Ding On (Vincent Zhao),a factory worker who learns martial arts to seek revenge on his father’s killer.

The Blade’s picture looks stunning and is yet another awesome job by Criterion. Colors are bold and vibrant throughout, but also appear natural. This can be seen in the movie’s many fight scenes, where different color filters are used to create striking, dynamic images, and other colors, such as blood and costumes, pop. There are a good number of high contrast scenes where the light from torches balances well with the rich black tones. Textures have also been refined, with skin tones and textures in particular looking very natural.

This disc only supports a monaural soundtrack (both in the original Cantonese and a dubbed English track), but it delivers clear dialogue that’s well balanced with other effects. The movie’s many fight scenes have plenty of impact and accuracy, with the clashing of metal blades in particular sounding satisfying punchy.

• Fyne Audio launches new range of home theater speakers from £950 / $1,300
• High SPL drivers and sub designed to "visually disappear"
• Made with large setups and professional installation in mind

Fyne Audio, a much-revered Scots maker of high-end hi-fi, has expanded its home theater line-up with three new models: two new monitors and a subwoofer.

They're designed to be heard and not seen, with high SPL levels, "reference" sound quality and a design made to "visually disappear"… although given that they're big black boxes, you'll need to put them behind a fabric panel or projector screen or something to actually achieve this.

Here is Fyne Audio's depiction of a home theater that uses them. Don't waste your time Where's Wally-ing, it's just an image of a home theater without any visible speakers. They're so well hidden!

The three models are the eight-inch F708TM, the 12-inch F712TM, and the 12-inch F7-12TM subwoofer. Yes, that's an exceptionally confusing way to name the last two, but here we are.

All three are intended for professional installation (although there's nothing to stop you doing it yourself) in the kind of home theater setup that sadly I can only dream of.

Although they're made, tested and finished by hand in Glasgow these speakers won't launch first in Scotland or the wider UK; they'll be available in India in July or August 2026 (debuting at the Smart Home Expo 2026 in Mumbai), before rolling out elsewhere shortly afterwards.

What's so Fyne about these home cinema speakers?

The three models pack a punch: the smaller F708TM's IsoFlare driver puts out a peak of 117dB, while the considerably bigger F712TM delivers a peak of 126dB. The F7-12TM Sub peaks at 126dB.

The monitor models can be installed in portrait or landscape orientation and feature M10 threaded flying points for suspension as well as rear-mounted VESA-compatible M8 inserts for wall mounting.

There's integrated rear cable management for flush fitting, and Fyne says that the cabinet geometry and fixing architecture have been developed with experienced installers and industry standards in mind.

As for that "visually disappear" bit: that's because the monitors and sub have been designed to be completely unobtrusive, and they're finished in a low-sheen black so they don't stand out even if you don't cover them.

Prices are still subject to change but are expected to be:

• F708TM: £950 / $1,300 / €1,100 (about AU$1,790)
• F712TM: £1,700 / $2,300 / €1,950 (about AU$3,205)
• F7-12TM: £1,250 / $1,700 / €1,450 (about AU$2,358)

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For many of us, being able to watch movies and TV shows in the best possible quality at home is something we aim to achieve. Realistically, that will mean pairing one of the best TVs with one of the best soundbars. For the fortunate few, however, the possibility of having a dedicated home theater space, complete with rows of chairs, soundproofing and a cinema-like projection system is one that’s very real indeed (the rest of us are still able to drool over enviable custom install theaters, of course).

And nobody does custom home theater installations quite like David Moseley and his company, Wavetrain Cinemas. Based in Australia, Wavetrain Cinemas has the distinct recognition of being awarded Best Global Home Cinema on two separate occasions by CEDIA, the international trade association representing the professional home automation/smart home technology industry.

While it’s easy to just look at images of Wavetrain installations and think “I’d love to have something similar one day”, the more interesting question is how each space is actually designed to perform at such a high level. I was recently able to put some questions to David, and according to him, the answer starts with a framework rather than a product list.

Wavetrain is guided by CEDIA’s RP22 recommended practice for immersive audio design, which sets out key parameters including sound pressure level (SPL) capability, speaker coverage, seating geometry and overall system design. Within this structure, David has formed his own priorities that he believes make for the best home cinema install: seat-to-seat consistency, low distortion at reference levels and controlled decay times.

No more sweet spot

That first point is especially important. For Moseley, consistency means every listener should experience the same tonal balance, imaging and impact regardless of where they sit. I know for me, whenever I visit my local cinema, I do try to make sure I’m able to grab the centermost seat, as I feel it will give me the most immersive experience, particularly where sound is concerned, as all the speakers will be firing into the room’s central position. For each seat in a smaller cinema to receive the same level of performance is no easy task.

For Wavetrain, it is that goal which drives choices around speaker selection, placement and room geometry. The second priority is effortless dynamics — the ability to reach reference-level SPL without distortion or strain. The third is time-domain performance, particularly decay times, so that the room preserves detail, clarity and spatial cues instead of delivering a sound that’s entirely muddied.

David admits it’s not always as easy as just running some software to give accurate calculations. He says that “every cinema design involves compromise, and that inexperienced designers often get stuck trying to make a theory-driven layout work even when it doesn’t sound right in the room.” David takes a different approach to compromises, if they’re to be made at all. “We never allow a design decision that results in a compromise the client can actually hear”, he says.

His installations are never rushed either, as you might expect, and instead he and his team will spend a lot of time upfront with clients — often three or four hours — to explain the technology options, the expectations and the consequences of different choices before a single decision is locked in.

It’s not the size that counts, it’s how you use it

For David, the majority of a cinema installation’s design process relates to the room itself and how its acoustic properties will affect the resulting performance. Indeed, the company’s primary metric is “reverberation time across the full audible range.”

If you’re reading that line and not really understanding what David means, he explains it quite clearly when he says, “You can hear this in everyday life, your voice changes as you move from one room to another.”

“A cinema is no different. Every sound is shaped by the space it exists in.”

And finding the perfect sound for any room isn’t dictated solely by numbers, “This is where acoustics moves beyond pure science and becomes an art form”, says David.

"There are simply too many variables for it to be automated effectively. Measurement data must be interpreted by someone who understands both the physics and how we perceive sound.”

Good acoustics may be invisible, but they are what make the difference between a system that merely measures well and one that truly feels right to listen to. As he puts it, "nothing can replace good room design."

Effective home upgrades

If you’re in the process of completing your own custom install, or you have plans for the future, and if you’re working with a limited budget, that philosophy has practical implications too. Moseley argues that the highest-impact improvements are often the simplest ones, “move seating away from walls to improve bass consistency”, he says.

Other simple adjustments can include adding basic acoustic treatment to improve dialogue clarity, while also eliminating rattles and unwanted noises, and sitting closer to the screen and speakers so the system doesn’t have to work as hard, which can also have positive effects. He also notes that there is always a performance “sweet spot”, beyond which gains become disproportionately expensive. In other words, the smartest upgrade is not always the most expensive one.

For the rest of us with more conventional living room setups, there are still things you can do to maximize performance. While a TV and soundbar combo won’t match the isolation of a dedicated home cinema, the underlying principles don’t change. As David explains, “CEDIA RP22 is a recommended practice for immersive audio, not just dedicated cinemas, so the same standards apply to any multi-channel system in any space.”

There are extra challenges of course, in layout, materials and sound isolation, but David says with the “right approach to acoustic treatment, system design, and integration, a living space can still deliver exceptional performance.”

“In many cases, acoustics can be seamlessly integrated into the design through elements like curtains, rugs, joinery and furniture, rather than being visually obvious.”

Elementi, my dear movie lover

That is also where Elementi, Wavetrain’s speaker brand, comes into the picture. Moseley positions it as a bridge between premium hi-fi and commercial cinema systems, but with a more refined approach. He says that “most high-end hi-fi speakers are designed for nearfield listening, typically within one to two and a half meters, and many will struggle to maintain performance beyond three meters.”

Conversely, he adds that commercial cinema speakers are designed to meet specific SPL requirements set by organizations such as Dolby. Elementi speakers have been designed to “bridge this gap”.

That means they’re built to be able to sustain high output continuously, while keeping distortion to an absolute minimum, and doing so through a fully active design with dedicated amplification for each component.

Going down an active route has multiple benefits, and David says that one of the biggest is that it “reduces impedance-related losses and eliminates many of the issues associated with long speaker cable runs, which in home cinemas can often exceed 10–30 meters.”

Location, location, location

With regard to speakers, I asked David which had greater impact, the speaker itself or how it’s integrated into the room. He said, “both matter, but integration has the greater impact.”

“A speaker must be fundamentally suited to its intended application, but even the best speaker will underperform if it’s poorly positioned or placed in an inadequately designed room.”

If you’ve ever listened to a traditional 2.0 hi-fi speaker setup and moved yourself around the room, you would have noticed that the overall sound can change. This is due to the way soundwaves are delivered into the room, and how they’re picked up by your ears. It’s a similar story for home cinema setups, “Speaker placement directly affects the soundstage”, says David.

“Small errors can have significant consequences. And while some of this may sound obvious, in practice we still see it done incorrectly far too often.”

He adds that when he’s inspecting a client’s current space, “we regularly come across ceiling speakers aimed straight at the floor rather than the listener, front wide speakers firing across the room instead of into the seating area, or surround speakers positioned in ways that completely confuse spatial perception.”

And don’t think that subwoofers can get away with being placed anywhere in the room, as David argues that “low-frequency performance is also heavily influenced by placement.”

“The goal of a well-engineered system is to allow the listener to experience the full capability of the speakers they’ve invested in. That comes down to three things, in order: room design, speaker positioning and finally calibration.”

Source it to me

Moseley is equally focused on the quality of the source material feeding the system. He places strong emphasis on low-jitter digital playback, arguing that jitter introduced in the digital domain ultimately becomes noise after conversion. In his view, those small imperfections add up, especially in systems built to the highest standard. That is one reason Kaleidescape has become so common in Wavetrain projects — it offers exceptional build quality, low jitter and a large 4K library with lower compression than UHD discs in many cases.

I’ve personally had some experience with Kaleidescape, having reviewed the Strato E 4K player last year. While I was aware of the potential visual and audible benefits it would bring compared not only to streaming services, but 4K Blu-ray discs too, I wasn’t sure just how much of a difference there would be.

Sound was perhaps the biggest differentiator, and I felt I was able to unlock even more potential, even from my humble Sonos home theater setup. I can only imagine the level of performance achievable in a dedicated space such as a Wavetrain cinema.

“For us, performance begins with a clean, stable signal”, says David.

“Kaleidescape’s exceptional build quality is a key reason it measures as the lowest-jitter source currently available. Combined with the largest 4K media library — often with lower compression than UHD discs — it becomes an ideal media source. It’s no surprise that nearly every cinema we’ve delivered over the past five years has included Kaleidescape.”

If a custom home theater installation is something that you'd be interested in, then be sure to read David's in-depth guide to designing the ultimate home cinema.