Amazon Studios premiered the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power at 3:00 PM Eastern Time on August 29, 2024. The launch includes the first three episodes, all of which are at least one hour, with Episode One running the longest at 76 minutes.
We didn’t think the new season could look or sound any better than Season One, but it does. The wide dynamic range for a streaming image is remarkable, displaying deep blacks and bright whites while retaining a ton of details. The extended color depth is most appreciated on a screen that supports HDR10 (Amazon’s default HDR format unless you have the Ad-Free Prime Video upgrade that includes Dolby Vision and Atmos), which allows 10-bits of color information as opposed to 8-bit on traditional standard dynamic range TVs.
There are so many visual moments that are absolutely gorgeous in 4k with Dolby Vision/HDR10. The eruption of Mount Doom, the Elven realm “Eregion,” and the destruction of the Dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm all display incredible color depth and detail. Take a look at the cropped projection screen photos of Adar (above) and Halbrand (below) to get an idea of the cinematic quality of this show.
There are some really dark moments though (which may bring back bad memories of the obscure Game of Thrones episode “The Long Night“). In Mordor, there are scenes with Halbrand and Adar that are almost invisible, as well as some of the night footage with the Stranger, Nori, and Poppy that seems to use the moon, literally, as the key light source. LED, OLED, and QLED displays render the scenes much brighter than a projection, but are still best viewed in a dark space with minimal ambient lighting.
The audio quality of ‘The Rings of Power’ is exceptional on a surround sound system with subwoofers and height speakers that distribute the Dolby Atmos channels. One of the more impressive audio moments is in Episode Two when the Stranger summons a sandstorm that sweeps Nori and Poppy away. All speaker channels are enabled and the low frequency sound puts you right in the storm. Subwoofers are again activated when Khazad-dûm is leveled and Prince Durin IV and Disa hit the ground (you might too!).
Ambient sounds are omni present in some scenes more than others, but the surround sound effects are definitely not overused. Dialogue, is clear and crisp, mainly delivered from the center channel. There are some quiet moments, however, in which you might need to increase the volume to hear the characters speaking. But, lower-level dialogue has become sort of a trend these days as is the use of subtitles.
The show was reviewed on a 100″ Epson SilverFlex screen and LS800 short-throw laser projector setup as well as a 75″ Sony Bravia 4k Dolby Vision LED TV. The sound was reviewed on a 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos system, Arcam receiver, KEF speakers and one SVS subwoofer.
Episodes “Elven Kings Under the Sky,” “Where the Stars are Strange,” and “The Eagle and the Sceptre,” from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season Two are now available to stream on Amazon Prime. The remaining five episodes will release weekly through October 3, 2024.
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