Displaying items by tag: 4K Ultra HD Bluray

All right, let’s talk about the latest news from CES 2018 in Las Vegas related to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and HDR…

First up, the HDR10+ Alliance has announced that Warner Bros. has joined Samsung, Panasonic, 20th Century Fox, and Amazon in supporting their open standard “dynamic metadata” competitor for Dolby Vision. Any content producer who wants to use HDR10+ for their media needs only to pay an small annual fee, but there are no royalty fees, unlike Dolby Vision which requires a license fee for every use.

It will be interesting to see what impact Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox might have on this alliance, if any. Will Disney join or will Fox’s participation become more passive?

On a related note, our friends at Scenarist – which creates software and systems for Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and Ultra HD title authoring – is adding HDR10+ support into the work flow of its Scenarist UHD authoring system, currently used to create many Ultra HD Blu-ray releases. They’re actually demonstrating it in person at CES 2018. So you can expect movie software that supports HDR10+ to start arriving this year. Word is that Amazon will be adding HDR10+ to its 4K streaming offerings in the next few months as well. [Read on here…]

With so many good new and catalog titles finally coming to the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format from all of the major Hollywood studios – and a few indie studios too – we wanted to make a list of all of the titles currently available, announced for release, and/or known to be coming in the U.S. and U.K. markets based on our sources. We also have a second list for International releases. We’re grouping them by studio first and then by street date. Note that this is NOT meant to be a list of every possible SKU, every regional variation, every retail exclusive version, etc – rather, it’s simply a list of all the films available on the format.

We’re also noting which titles are native 4K and have Dolby Vision HDR – if not indicated, assume the title is a 2K up-sample and/or that it has HDR-10. We’re also indicating the object-based audio format used (if such is included) and noting reference-quality titles with an asterisk (*). If the title has been reviewed here on The Digital Bits, we’ll provide a link to our review. Finally, each title has a purchase link for Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or other international Amazon, if available. Alternately, you can use one of these button links...

Here’s a the link to the list (or simply scroll down). We hope you find it useful!

The 4K Ultra HD Release List (U.S./U.K.)

The 4K Ultra HD Release List (International)

All right, let’s have more on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from CES 2017, plus a bit of regular Blu-ray announcement news too...

First up, we have reliable word that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is listing Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element for release on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format on 7/11. That makes a ton of sense, because Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) arrives in theatres on 7/21 (from STX Entertainment).

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also just officially set Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk for 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo, and DVD release on 2/14. The 4K release will be presented in full 4K and 60 fps, with HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. It features an exclusive 4K Featurette with Ang Lee and Tim Squyres discussing the film’s groundbreaking frame rate technology. The Blu-ray versions will include delete scenes and 4 featurettes (Into Battle and Onto the Field: Stepping Inside Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Recreating the Halftime Show, The Brotherhood of Combat, and Assembling a Cast). You can see the cover artwork to the left.  [Read on here…]

All right, the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show is finally under way in Las Vegas today, with a number of the major CE manufacturers holding big press conferences to announce their product line-ups for the year. In fact, I’ve just now sat through Samsung’s big press event (more on that in a minute). I’ll check back in with more tomorrow, but for now let’s get to what news we have so far concerning 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray at the show...

In terms of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player hardware, obviously Oppo Digital has just launched their debut player on the format, the UDP-203 (SRP $549). I’ve been testing this unit for about a week now and it’s just tremendous. For a first-generation player, it’s very solid, very fast, and it plays just about everything – Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, DVD-Audio, CD, and SACD, plus a wide variety of digital video and audio formats via network and USB. It’s compatible with HDR-10 right out of the box, and it’s also hardware compatible with Dolby Vision; a firmware update in the months ahead will add full Dolby Vision compatibility (keep in mind that no Dolby Vision UHD BD software is yet available, though software is forthcoming – again, more in a moment – and you can stream it now via Netflix and Vudu). Oppo is also working on an audiophile-upgraded version of this player, the UDP-205 (SRP around $1K), due for release later this year. [Read on here…]

Today’s update is quick one, as we’re doing a lot of disc review work here this week.

To wit... our own Tim Salmons has just checked in with his thoughts on Shout! and Scream Factory’s new limited edition Blu-ray titles, including Message from Space, The Velvet Vampire, and Time Walker. They’re only available from the Shout! website and are limited to 1,000 copies each. Do give the reviews a look. Message from Space in particularly is worth your time.  [Read on here…]

Here is a list of known 4K Ultra HD titles released, announced, or in the works for the International market before the end of 2017 (and into early 2018), compiled from our sources’ best-available information.

Let us know if we’ve missed one.

Please keep in mind that TBA titles and dates are ESTIMATES based on best-available information from sources and are NOT to be considered official until the studios in question make their respective announcements.

** = Reference title, * = Standout title, N4K = Native 4K, DV = Dolby Vision HDR
(Note: All titles not listed as DV = HDR10 by default)
(FR/DE) = Amazon purchase links, DA = Dolby Atmos audio, X = DTS:X audio
(Information included where known)

4K Content Hub

• Best of UHD: The Original – 9/23/16 (Germany)

Arthaus

• Puccini’s Tosca – 10/6/17

Busch Media Group/Alive/KSM GmbH

• Best of 4K: Ultimate Edition – 5/6/16 (Germany)
• Timescapes 4K – 5/6/16 (Germany)
• USA: A West Coast Journey – 5/6/16 (Germany)
• Kaminfeuer 4K – 5/12/16 (Germany)
• Europa 4K – 5/23/16 (Germany)
• Moon Shots 4K – 5/23/16 (Germany)
• India 4K – 8/1/16 (Germany)
• Aquarium 4K – 11/11/16 (Germany)
• Red Sea 4K – 12/12/16 (Germany)
• Namibia: The Spirit of Wilderness – 12/19/16 (Germany)
• Die Verfluchten Der Pampas (Savage Pampas – 1966) – 12/19/16 (Germany) – DV
• Best of 4K: Ultimate Edition 2 – 4/21/17 (Germany)
• 187 – 5/28/17 (Germany)
• Iceland 4K – 7/14/17 (Germany)
• Regenwald 4K (Rainforest) – 7/14/17 (Germany)
• Grand Canyon 4K – 7/14/17 (Germany)
• Borneo 4K – 7/17/17 (Germany)
• Khatia Buniatishvili: Beethoven/Liszt – 7/21/17 (Germany)
• Flying Clipper – 7/28/17 (Germany)

Concorde Video

• Iron Man – 4/6/17 (Germany)
• Iron Man 2 – 4/6/17 (Germany)
• Iron Man 3 – 4/6/17 (Germany)
• Iron Man Trilogy – 4/6/17 (Germany)

Constantin Film

• Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders – 12/1/16 (Germany)

Cargo Records GmbH

• Wildes Venedig – 5/20/16 (Germany)
• No Limits – 7/29/16 (Germany)
• Der Lauf Seines Lebens (The Flying Sikh) – 11/11/16 (Germany)

Euroarts

• Mozart: Die Hochzeit des Figaro – 11/25/16 (Germany)

EuroVideo Medien GmbH

• America: The Beautiful Country – 10/27/16 (Germany)
• Serengeti: Nature’s Greatest Journey – 10/27/16 (Germany)
• Hawaii: The Magical Volcano Islands – 11/10/16 (Germany)
• Adventure Yellowstone – 11/10/16 (Germany)

Koch Media

• Dario Argento’s Zombi: Dawn of the Dead – 11/24/16 (Italy)
• The Neon Demon – 11/10/16 (Germany)

LCJ Editions

• Le vieux fusil (The Old Gun – 1975) – 9/27/17 (France)

Lighthouse Home Entertainment

• Passenger – 5/20/16 (German)
• Der Wilde Pazifik: Die Schönheit des Lebens – 5/20/16 (Germany)
• Island 4K: Die Magische Insel – 11/18/16 (Germany)
• Zurück zum Urwald: Der Nationalpark Kalkalpen 4K – 12/9/16 (Germany)
• Die Kanarischen Inslen 4K – 3/17/17 (Germany)
• Shorebreak: Die perfekte Welle – 12/8/17 (Germany)

In-Akustik

• Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock: On a Mission – Live in Madrid – 7/29/16 (Germany) – DV

Soulfood Music Distribution

• Jane’s Addiction: Alive at Twenty-Five – 8/25/17 (Germany)

Studio Hamburg Enterprises

• The Fourth Phase – 11/25/16 (Germany)

TFI Studio

• Alibi.com – 6/20/17 (France)

Toho

• Shin Godzilla – 3/22/17 (Japan)

Turbine Medien

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – 6/17/16 (Germany)

Universal Music

• Wagner: Lohengrin – 7/7/17 (Germany)

Note that many U.S. titles have and are being released internationally, but are not included here. You’ll find them in the U.S. list instead.

We’re starting today with a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews, and the films couldn’t be more different.

The first is my take on Warner’s animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, the iconic 1988 graphic novel by Alan Moore. The film version is... interesting. You should check out the review. Also today, I’ve taken a look at a film that’s one of my absolute favorite indie discoveries of 2016: John Carney’s Sing Street. If this film had come out in the 1980s, we’d all consider it a classic today. It’s an absolutely wonderful celebration of music and coming of age, and I can’t recommend it to you all more highly. So again, do check out the review.  [Read on here…]

Okay, there isn’t a ton of release news to report early this week, so we’re going to be focusing mostly on review work...

As such, I’ve just posted my thoughts on Warner’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Ultimate Edition on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. It’s a complicated film to discuss, and one that’s neither as bad nor as good as the most ardent critics would have you believe. But at least it’s a better experience than the theatrical cut. Do check it out. I’ve taken a look at Shout! Factory’s new Humpback Whales on 4K as well. And yesterday, in case you missed them, we posted regular Blu-ray reviews of Bite from Shout! Factory via our own Tim Salmons, as well as Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics via Jim Hemphill. Enjoy.  [Read on here…]

We’re kicking things off today with a great new View from the Cheap Seats column from our own Bud Elder in which he muses over classic film scores, catches up on some of the recent deep catalog releases coming out on Blu-ray from the indie distributors, and has a few things to say about a fella named George Hamilton too. Do check it out!

Also available today is a new Blu-ray review from Jim Hemphill, none other than Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s A Perfect Day (2015), now available on disc from IFC Films and MPI Media Group.

Now then, in announcement news this afternoon… [Read on here…]

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All right, today’s update is a quickie, but we do have a trio of new disc reviews for you to enjoy…

First up, Tim Salmons has checked in with a new Pick-Ups column review of the new The Taking of Pelham One Two Three: 24th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The disc streets on 7/5. Also, Jim Hemphill has turned in his thoughts on Twilight Time’s new Blu-ray edition of Jerry Schatzberg’s 1971 film The Panic in Needle Park. And finally, I’ve just completed my in-depth review of Ridley Scott’s terrific new The Martian: Extended Edition, which streeted on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on 6/7. Specifically, I’ve looked at the 4K release, which Fox has finally just provided for review. It was worth the wait. I think you’ll enjoy all three reviews and all three titles too, so do give them a look. [Read on here…]