George RR Martin’s Sandkings book, which came out in 1979, is getting a film adaptation on Netflix. Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is taking on this project, according to a latest update with Collider. What can we expect from the Sandkings movie?
George R. R. Martin’s Sandkings
The book Sandkings was written by George RR Martin, better known for his Game of Thrones book series. Sandkings is about a child named Simon Kress, who has a love for collecting exotic animals. One day he buys a terrarium with four colonies of all animals, called the Sandkings. These animals eventually grow to be as big as the tank they are in. The four colonies compete against each other and eventually escape from the terrarium.
This story will eventually be made into a film by Gore Verbinski. Yet the production of the film is not far along at all. Verbinski is only now working on creating new ideas for the new film, it is not known when real production will start.
Gore Verbinski
Sandkings is Verbinski’s latest project. He says he thinks RR Martin’s book is a brilliant short story that he loves very much. But Sandkings is not the first major project he has made in his life. What other films has he created?
Gore Verbinski is best known for directing the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, in which Johnny Depp played Jack Sparrow. He has also directed films such as The Weather Man with Nicolas Cage, Rango, The Lone Ranger and A Cure For Wellness. Sandkings is the latest title he can add to his name.
Are you unable to adjust the brightness of your smartphone screen when watching Netflix and do you find the image too bright? Then there is one working solution and we will explain it step by step here.
Netflix: HDR content is much too bright
There are tens of millions of Netflix subscribers worldwide. You can watch your favorite series, documentaries or films via a television, tablet or of course your smartphone. Many people have problems with the latter. The brightness of the screen while watching cannot be adjusted. Not in the app itself, but not via the phone settings.
For example, the screen here is at a very low brightness in the evening, but if I open something on Netflix I can often light up the entire room. The problem occurs with so-called HDR content, which stands for . The differences between the maximum brightness and darkness of the screen are then greater than content without an HDR stamp. This should make the image stand out more and details be more visible.
Normally you can adjust the brightness via a button on the left while watching, but for many people this does not work when they view HDR content. You can check this with every film, series or documentary using icons. In addition to HDR, you can also see, for example, whether it was recorded in HD or 4K resolution.
Various solutions are also circulating online, all of which we have tested. Only one worked and that solution is not even ideal. Does the smartphone screen become too bright when you start Netflix? Then grab your phone and follow the steps below.
Open the settings and tap ‘Apps’;
Find ‘Netflix’ in the list and tap it;
Tap ‘Storage & Cache’;
Clear the storage and cache.
You need to log in again
Please note, because once you have performed the above steps, you will have to log in to the Netflix app again. But, there is still a catch. You have to use the digital slider in the app itself to adjust the brightness do not use anymore (with HDR content). If you touch it anyway, the screen will immediately shine at its brightest again until you repeat the steps again.
Should the screen shine a little brighter or less brightly while viewing? Then you have to adjust the overall brightness of the display in your phone’s settings itself – and that’s a bit annoying.
There are more solutions to this problem on the internet that you can try. For example, certain versions of the app are said not to have this problem. You can try to install an older version of Netflix yourself by .
Sometimes restarting your phone can work. It is also said that you have to activate the picture-in-picture mode and then switch back to the app itself, after which the brightness can be adjusted again.
If you have installed a third-party app to control the brightness or adjust the blue light level, turn that off as well. Finally, you can check whether you have enabled a special image enhancer in the settings.
Most streaming platforms offer different playback qualities to their users. These have settings in the respective apps, although companies Limit aspects like resolution or HDR to select Android phones. How do you know which ones are compatible with the highest quality? We teach you how to find out.
Mobile not only provides access to messaging and games, but watching movies and TV shows is generally one of the ways to take advantage of the phone’s growing screens. And Netflix is generally one of the most used, along with other platforms like Amazon Prime Video or Disney +: all offer a more or less voluminous catalog that can be viewed in different qualities. As usual, not all mobiles can access the best breeding conditions. But do you know why and how to know if your mobile is suitable? The key is in Widevine, a file protection or DRM system.
Widevine, the DRM that dictates reproduction quality
This is one of the key aspects of any Android mobile and the first thing to know whether your mobile can play high resolution streaming content or not. Widevine is a protection system or DRM which ensures reproduction of protected content to avoid copying and sharing. On Android, most platforms use this system. And manufacturers certify their phones with Widevine so they can access streaming apps.
One of the key aspects of Widevine DRM is that it Divides devices into two levels for their playability: L1 and L3 (Widevine is L2 level, but not used on Android). In terms of resolution, here’s how the two certifications work:
These mobiles Widevine L3 certified They will have access to playback on Netflix, Disney + or Amazon Prime Video up to maximum SD resolution (standard or basic, up to 720p).
Widevine L1 offers high resolution playback, above 720p. The decoding process is more demanding than Widevine L3, many midrange to low range mobiles are not certified for the top level (the reason is often attributed to the material contained). Additionally, having a Widevine L1 certified mobile means that it is also compatible with the lower level, L3.
Having a phone with Widevine L3 or L1 makes a remarkable difference as the reproduction quality differs greatly from one to another. It doesn’t matter if your mobile phone has an FHD screen if it is certified with Widevine L3: Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video and the rest of the usual platforms they will only download the SD version of the streaming; so you can see the somewhat pixelated content.
As long as your mobile has a high resolution screen, if your mobile has Widevine L3, you will see Netflix in SD
How do you know which Widevine level your mobile understands? You can check it as follows:
Download an app that can read DRM certification. For example, DevCheck Hardware and System Info. This app offers a wealth of information with everything your Android has, hardware and software.
Open the app and go to the « System » tab.
Go down to where it says « Widevine » and look at the security level, « Security Level ». It will appear there if you have L1 or L3. If your mobile is not Widevine certified, this part should appear blank.
Widevine L1 Safety Certified
With Widevine, you can access content in SD or HD resolution, depending on the level of security in DRM. And if your mobile doesn’t incorporate any certification, such as cooked ROMs, you may be able to use a Magisk module, like the one from XDA developers.
Can your mobile phone stream Netflix in HDR?
Besides resolution, which is a fundamental aspect of the quality of any video, Netflix offers HDR playback to just a few phones. And it does not matter here that your mobile has a screen compatible with HDR standards: Netflix will only play this way if the phone is certified by the platform for it.
To know Which phones are compatible with Netflix in HDR you need one of the following:
MARK
MODEL
GOOGLE
Googloe Pixel 3 et Pixel 3 XL
HONOR / HUAWEI
Honor 10
Honor play
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Huawei Mate 20
Huawei P20
Huawei P30 and P30 Pro
LG
LG G6
LG G7
LG G7 One
LG Q9 One
LG X5
LG V30
LG V35
LG V40
ONEPLUS
OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro
RAZER
Razer Phone
Razer Phone 2
SAMSUNG
Samsung Galaxy Fold et Fold 5G
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 et Note 10+
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
Samsung Galaxy Tab S4
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Samsung Galaxy S9 et S9 +
Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite
Samsung Galaxy S20, S20 + et S20 Ultra
SONY
Sony Xperia 1
Sony Xperia 1 II
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Sony Xperia XZ1
Sony Xperia XZ2
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
Sony Xperia XZ3
TCL
TCL 10 Pro
XIAOMI
Xiaomi Mi 9T and Mi 9T Pro
Xiaomi Mi 10 et Mi 10 Pro
Xiaomi Redmi K20 et K20 Pro
Whether you meet the requirements does not imply the highest quality
Ok, your mobile is compatible with Widevine L1. It’s even certified to play HDR content. Now, are you still going to get access to the highest quality streaming available? The answer is no, because other factors also come into play.
In addition to compatibility with certificates and reproduction standards, streaming depends on the quality of your network, whether it is WiFi or mobile. This way if your internet connection is saturated, surely you can only access SD playback. You will even enjoy terribly pixelated scenes with drops of « frames » against which you can do nothing. And there is one final point to keep in mind: most streaming platforms has reduced quality by confinement, you will therefore not appreciate the 100% clear image at all stages of the day (the platforms have chosen to lower the « bitrate » or the flow, the amount of information that passes per second).
Over the past few months, due to lockdown and demands from the European Union, major video streaming services have reduced bitrate or bit rate and resolution which in several cases has become too visible.
When practically all the services returned to normal (Netflix partially, Amazon did not confirm anything), we wanted to compare the speed and the resolution of the main services, in order to be able to determine what are the image quality indicators in this new normal.
The tests we carried out with a tool for developers of Apple TV 4K, we will therefore only include data from applications present in the device’s App Store, so that all data is directly comparable. The flow rate that we will show in the comparison table is the average number, not the peaks, as the tool shows. The maximum quality may vary by title, but we’ve picked some that represent the best of each platform.
Apple TV + dominates, Disney + and Netflix follow
PLATFORM
BITRATE 4K
BITRATE 1080p
BITRATE 720p
Apple TV +
26 Mbps
8,84 Mbps
2,56 Mbps
Disney +
16,59 Mbps
7,42 Mbps
4,42 Mbps
Netflix
16,64 Mbps
6,44 Mbps
3,06 Mbps
Video premium
10,02 Mbps
5,12 Mbps
3,18 Mbps
HBO
ND
3,75 Mbps
2,55 Mbps
The movie
ND
4,13 Mbps
2,57 Mbps
FlixOlé
ND
6,66 Mbps
2,68 Mbps
Atresplayer Premium
ND
3,68 Mbps
2,4 Mbps
RTVE Alacarta
ND
ND
2,79 Mbps
Sky
ND
ND
3,26 Mbps
FuboTV
ND
ND
3,2 Mbps
As we have seen in our tests, The category’s highest dominator at 4K is Apple TV +, and it’s a newcomer. The speed exceeds by almost 10 Mbps that of its maximum competitors in this regard, Disney + and Netflix, who are more or less couples after childbirth (Not all Netflix series and movies are 100% quality today.)
Amazon is also far from the podium, but maybe that’s because they haven’t restored their peak quality yet (although they do offer 4K, which they did not do while in custody). We asked the company about this, to no avail. According to data from Flatpanels, the maximum quality in 4K should be around 15 Mbps, equal to that of the rest of the big ones in 4K.
Try Apple TV +
Try ‘Altered Carbon’ on Netflix
Try ‘Avengers: Endgame’ on Disney +
From here, 4K and HDR run out, and practically with it also what we can consider very good picture quality with the codecs they use. In 1080p, history repeats itself, with the podium again being led by Apple and followed by Disney + and Netflix. After them and Amazon comes the first surprise: a platform like FlixOlé, depending on the content chosen, can have a correct speed of 6.66 Mbps, higher than that of HBO and FILMIN, depending on the titles and scenes, they have a quality that can be problematic, as we saw with chapter 8 × 03 of “Game of Thrones” compared with the Blu-Ray version.
“Westworld” on HBO. Low bit rate with AVC / H.264
RTVE Alacarta, Sky and FuboTV do not have content available in 1080p, so they have to be content not to make a mistake at 720p, but of course, it’s bad video to fill as many millions of pixels as a 4K or 8K display implies. In the arena where they go head to head, the 720p Arena, the winner is Disney +, and Apple drops a bit, although now we will analyze why it looks better than some of its weaker rivals having even lower bitrate, because there is life beyond the numbers.
The numbers are not everything to explain the quality of the image
Despite the fact that Apple doesn’t win at 720p, it still looks a lot better than others with similar bitrate numbers. The key is in the codec: QHVC section of HEVC.
Throughout the article and looking at the table, we mentioned that the quality of the Apple TV + is a step or a step and a half above the rest at 1080p and 4K. And it’s true, however, Even if there had been a connection between Apple TV + and HBO, the painting wouldn’t tell the whole story.
And that wouldn’t be because, in the first place, it doesn’t count that Apple (and the two that top the list) offers its original content in HDR Dolby Vision, which can be much larger than the resolution to have a spectacular color gamut and, above all, enormous detail in highlights and shadows, those in which with the standard dynamic range (SDR) it is difficult to distinguish what is going on in them.
The numbers don’t explain everything, but Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Disney have all the extras to deliver the best in addition to speed.
But there is more. A good bit rate is just as important as a good compression algorithm and a good codec. And this is what explains that despite the fact that Apple TV + is one of the losers in 720p bitrate, then it looks much better in this resolution than HBO, FILMIN, Atresplayer, etc. The explanation is that all of these platforms, the ones that don’t have 4K or HDR, encode using H.264 / AVC, which is much less efficient than H.265 / HEVC or similar than Apple and others use it with their HDR content. With SDR content and only available in Full HD, the big ones also encode in AVC.
So, All things being equal, between HBO and Apple TV + at 720, Apple’s video looks much better.. So, 4K video compressed in H.265 can be viewed just as well (or even better for other exclusive features) than H.264 32 Mbps. And H.266 again promises a similar advance. This is why it is so important that departments embrace technical innovations presented by hardware manufacturers and consortia.
It is not yet certain whether there will be a fourth season of Netflix’s popular series Undercover, but Netflix still has good news for fans of the series. The streaming service has announced that a spin-off series about Ferry Bouman is in the works.
The series is called Ferry: De Serie and tells how Ferry Bouman started as an ecstasy producer in the Brabant underworld. Netflix previously made a prequel film about Ferry, which showed the young years of the drug criminal, including how he met Danielle. The new series is set after the movie.
Order a TV with a discount to stream Netflix now!
Frank Lammers and Elise Schaap, who play Ferry and Danielle, will of course return in the spin-off. Whether we will also see other familiar faces is not yet known. In any case, Lammers is looking forward to it:
Will Undercover get a season 4?
The series is still in its early stages, so it will be some time before the series is available on Netflix. It is not yet clear whether we can enjoy a fourth season in the meantime. Netflix has not yet released an official statement, but Frank Lammers and Tom Waes certainly like it. Lammers indicated that he wants to keep playing Ferry as long as the scripts are good.
A new cyber-scam is now targeting Netflix users: the INCIBE (National Institute of Cybersecurity) has given notice of the massive sending of malicious e-mails announcing to users that their Netflix subscription has expired. Cybercriminals are, however, ‘generous’ and offer a free 90-day extension… however, behind this offer is an attempt to steal information.
And it is that, if we accept, we will be asked to enter our personal data (including credit card data) before granting said extension, in what constitutes the typical phishing attack, which not seen a thousand times seems to lose effectiveness.
What is the phishing attack?
Fraudulent emails, with subjects such as , alert the user about the expiration of their subscription to the streaming platform.
As a supposed loyalty strategy, they promise a free extension of 90 days if the user links a credit card to validate the account. They ensure that no charges will be applied to the card provided.
By clicking on the link included in the email, users are redirected to a fake website pretending to be the official Netflix platform (see main image). On this page, the company logos and the same subscription expired message are displayed, along with a button to extend the subscription for free.
However, as we said before, the hidden objective is to convince the user to provide their personal and credit card information in a form.
The mistake, however, we have made at the same moment that we have opened the e-mail and we haven’t checked the sender address. If it had, we would have verified that it does not correspond to an official Netflix address.
And that is precisely one of the first details that we always have to check in these cases.
What to do if you have received this type of mail?
If you have received a similar email and have not provided information, it is essential Mark it as spam and remove it from your inbox.
On the other hand, if you have fallen into the trap and have given your personal and bank details in the form, you should not delete anything: on the contrary, You should immediately contact your bank to notify them of the situation and take the necessary measures. This could involve canceling the credit card involved to prevent potential unauthorized charges.
Next:
Regularly review the movements of your bank account to detect possible unauthorized charges.
Collect evidence of fraud, saving emails and screenshots of the process. These tests can be useful if you need to file a complaint.
Get in touch with the State Security Forces and Corps (FCSE) and report the facts, providing the evidence collected.
Do regular “egosurfing” to check if your personal or banking details have been exposed online. If so, follow the process provided by the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) to request its deletion through suppression to oblivion.
