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.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
