UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[MichaelB]

4K masters have far more fine detail than standard HD/2K ones, which means that they need very careful handling at the encoding stage when downscaling to 1080p - and all too often they don't get it.

And sometimes they simply throw in the old BD - for instance, the 4K of Gladiator comes with the much-criticised 2009 disc instead of anything derived from the newer master.

[EddieLarkin]

True, it makes sense that the higher the resolution and the more fine detail and grain that is present, the harder it'll be to encode for Blu-ray vs UHD. But that doesn't explain entirely why this one particular authoring house would get good results on UHD and very poor results on BD, because there are other authoring houses that get very poor results with both formats! Studio Canal have always put out shoddy encodes on BD and they've got worse if anything with UHD (except of course when they hire David M now and again), and to a lesser extent the same can be said of Shout Factory and Kino. It may just be the case that Pixelogic lucked out and happened to hit on better software or better working practices when they started authoring UHDs, vs. what they've always done for BDs.

[Glowingwabbit]

Why is the Criterion Citizen Kane in the 1st tier? I understand that their are parts that look spectacular but it definitely has issues.

[MichaelB]

Why is the Criterion Citizen Kane in the 1st tier? I understand that their are parts that look spectacular but it definitely has issues.

But are these “issues” to do with the encode or the source materials, given that the original neg no longer survives?

[Glowingwabbit]

Why is the Criterion Citizen Kane in the 1st tier? I understand that their are parts that look spectacular but it definitely has issues.

But are these “issues” to do with the encode or the source materials, given that the original neg no longer survives?

Perhaps I've just misunderstood what this means then:

Reference 4k titles and/or spectacular upgrades from the most recent BD:

[hearthesilence]

Why is the Criterion Citizen Kane in the 1st tier? I understand that their are parts that look spectacular but it definitely has issues.

But are these “issues” to do with the encode or the source materials, given that the original neg no longer survives?

Which reminds me, in case anyone missed it, the negative may have been accidentally destroyed by some asshat who made a colossal mistake. Nicolas Falacci, co-creator of the television series NUMB3RS, related a story this year on Twitter about Turner Entertainment’s restoration of the RKO Pictures film for its 50th anniversary back in 1991 - Falacci was working in a lab involved with finding the best elements, and the rest is in that link.

[therewillbeblus]

Is there any opinion on whether the Interstellar UHD is worth upgrading to from the current BD (I have the Canadian version, though from what I understand it's the same transfer)? It's been out for four years apparently, I don't see it on the first page's master list, and it seems like the perfect film to upgrade *if* the quality-jump is noticeable

[swo17]

First two reviews I found in a Google search say it's exceptional and a noticeable improvement on the already great Blu-ray

[therewillbeblus]

Hmm yeah but then the comment sections from consumers detract from these accolades and say there's hardly a difference, or at times it's worse. I'll be curious to hear if anyone here owns it and has detected a difference to warrant the upgrade on a visual level (I don't have an audio setup to get the most from the UHD Dolby upgrade).

[mfunk9786]

It looks much better on my OLED, tested both discs once upon a time. Would be generally distrustful of "hardly a difference" comments - if you're not seeing a difference in a movie shot by Nolan in (at least partially) 65mm, you should stop commenting on home video sites altogether and save up for nicer equipment. Interstellar is a great example of how black levels alone can be vastly improved by the format in a way that changes the viewing experience.

[EddieLarkin]

They used a far superior source for the IMAX 15/70 shots on the UHD than they did the BD, and the difference is huge. I've seen the disc and thought it looked fantastic, with nice HDR.

The normal 35mm shots look softer than one would usually expect, but this is directly a result of how Nolan insists his films are presented on home video. He does not allow the OCN to be used as a source, insisting the IP be used instead. So that ultra detailed ultra fine grain OCN look we're used to seeing on UHD and even BD is sadly lacking in Nolan's films (naturally the IMAX moments help make up for this), regardless of format. It's particularly ironic because he's really the only major filmmaker that does not post-produce his films in the digital space, meaning they are not locked at 2K like just about everyone else's are (even Tarantino, film stock lover that he is, post produces in digital, which is why Inglourious Basterds had to be upscaled from its 2K DI for UHD release, as will Kill Bill, Death Proof and Django Unchained when they reach UHD).

Anyway, all the Nolan films are worth upgrading to UHD, they're all fantastic, with the exception of Batman Begins, which has been DNR'd to shit. And yes, ignore comments from the great unwashed (and heck, professional reviewers for that matter), few of them have any idea what they're talking about, let alone understand how their equipment affects the images they are seeing.

[Finch]

Citizen Kane was listed in both the Reference UHD and Solid upgrade tiers but I removed it from the top column given how many people expressed concerns here and in the Kane thread over how they applied HDR to an admittedly problematic source.

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks mfunk and EddieLarkin! Looks like there's a Nolan 4K collection box set with his Dark Knight trilogy, and The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk, which I imagine is all the same up-to-date UHD discs available for those films at the moment

[EddieLarkin]

Yes, that's what I have.

[mfunk9786]

Thanks mfunk and EddieLarkin! Looks like there's a Nolan 4K collection box set with his Dark Knight trilogy, and The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk, which I imagine is all the same up-to-date UHD discs available for those films at the moment

Yeah, it's often quite heavily discounted, think I got it from Amazon Italy. Same exact discs you'd get in the US. Worth every penny.

[EddieLarkin]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

[mfunk9786]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Anyone lurking in this thread wondering what the big deal is with HDR, take a look at the last two examples provided in this post!

[Finch]

Added WFRR as a reference disc. The color in the screens from the opening cartoon were divine.

[Finch]

Another Kino UHD added to the Disappointing disc list, Hard Target has a muddled 2.0 track and the 5.1 channels are reversed.

[Finch]

Hard Target getting a replacement and caps a holic caps are out. If the replacement disc turns out fine, I'll move it to the Solid/Appreciable update tier. Also added a note to Apocalypse Now regarding the bad compression on the BD included with the UHD (thanks brundlefly!).

Also: Amazon as of today have My Fair Lady for $15.99.

[Finch]

Mulholland Drive added: Studio Canal's disc is a reference title for video and audio but you might want to hang on to the previous SC Blu-Ray for the extras as they've inexplicably dropped quite a few interviews from the new release. The enclosed Blu-Ray is also the version to get for this film as it's sourced from the same 4k restoration and compressed by David McKenzie too (as was the previous Blu-Ray).

Criterion's UHD is not quite as good as the Studio Canal because of the inferior compression but is still a very respectable disc and far superior to their dreadful Blu-Ray (cheapskates didn't bother to upgrade the 1080p disc). It also has all the extras so the biggest fans of the film will want either both UHDs or a combo of the Studio Canal UHD with whichever Blu-Ray they can get cheapest for all the bonus stuff.

best video: Studio Canal UHD
best audio: tie between the UHDs
best extras: Criterion UHD/BD & Studio Canal's previous BD of the film

[Stefan Andersson]

For two pages of forum discussion, in French, about the 4K UHD restos of Kieslowski´s Three Colours trilogy (upcoming from Potemkine on UHD), go here:
https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewto ... 6&start=15
Includes links to relevant screencaps and videos.

[MichaelB]

Handily, White was always my favourite of the three, so it's good to know that it's come out the best.

Although I don't think I'll be in any hurry to pick this box up.

[videozor]

Could anyone please comment on Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop?
I was about to order them, then realized both are listed in Eclair thread as having Paramount sort of signature.
How bad are they? I don't have either even on VHS to compare...
Thank you in advance!

[tenia]

They're both very competent restorations, it's just that Paramount as slightly uniformising the color palettes of their restorations and those 2 are part of a certain shared look within those.