The Official Films Thread

The differences between the 1080p Blu-ray and this native 4K (shot at 8K) 2160p/Dolby Vision-enhanced UHD release are immediately obvious and fairly startling. The UHD appears magnitudes sharper, offering one of the most drastic improvements to overall image clarity and detail over the standard Blu-ray yet, and that's even considering that the Blu-ray is terrific in its own right and was awarded five stars for its image transfer quality. The UHD's image is remarkably efficient, boasting some of the most rawly razor-sharp details the format has yet seen. Intimate character close-ups are superb, revealing a level of definition and detail that is rare even on this format. A slave trader seen at the 52-minute mark is a great example. He wears a coat made of buttons, on each of which are distinct, individual details of wear and tear, some more significant than others. The pores, the hair, the beard, the teeth, the level of clarity at which the character is revealed is undeniably striking. Two close-ups featuring Hester Shaw are of note, too. The first, seen at the 17:44 mark, reveals the UHD's improvements to skin clarity, intimate definition, and overall sharpness of not just skin but individual eyelashes and eyebrows, not to mention the texture on the bandana and the individual strands of hairs on her head. Another example comes at the 43:48 mark where the depth of the character's facial scars and skin blemish clarity are off-the-charts. The shot is also a good point of reference for the Dolby Vision color grading, which can leave some skin tones appearing more pasty in certain scenes but also increasing brightness while adding depth and brilliance to points of color like Hester's blue eyes and red lips.

Color depth overall is much improved, and skin tones, generally, are very healthy and full. There's a significant add to range and nuance across the board. Contrast is boosted quite a bit, almost to the point that the image borders on looking like a cartoon in a couple of places, including Hester's intro scene where the red bandana's color is so deep and the contrasting skin so pasty that despite the obvious add in color depth and textural resolution the character looks almost entirely artificial. Fortunately such extremes are rare. For the most part, the vast increases in both color saturation and textural depth -- even on digital constructs and machinery close-ups that reveal wear and tear with exponentially more detail -- make the image a remarkable UHD specimen. Fang's red attire and and airship and Shrike's green eyes are also amongst the standouts for intensity and luminance, the latter in particular against some darker backdrops. Black level depth and density are also improved over the Blu-ray. Noise is kept to a bare minimum and no other source or encode flaws are apparent. This is a new reference quality UHD release from Universal.