STACK NZ Jul #75

4K FEATURE

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HIGHER DEFINITION Has the quest for video and audio perfection in our home theatres reached its zenith with the arrival of 4K Ultra High Definition discs? For now, it appears so. Until we begin interacting with movies in a Star Trek holodeck kind of way, 4K UHD represents the pinnacle of home entertainment formats. It’s as much a quantum leap upwards in quality from Blu-ray as HD discs were from DVD. Words: Scott Hocking

4K

S o how much better can 4K UHD actually look, given Blu-ray provides reference quality transfers of film and television content? The answer lies in the 4 and the K. It’s all about the number of pixels, those tiny dots that make up the image you’re seeing, and 4K offers 4,000 of them for horizontal resolution and 2,000 for the vertical on an Ultra HDTV. By comparison, Full HD 1080p (the resolution standard for Blu-ray) is 1920 x 1080, so the image quality is four times greater. Moreover, the digital cinema standard is 2K, so you’re effectively getting a better image at home than at the movies, and the savings on overpriced candy bar items can now be invested into 4K discs. 4K UHD also offers HDR

another time and outline in layman’s terms how to get the most from your 4K discs, and what's on offer for your viewing pleasure.

who wants an all-enveloping IMAX-like experience at home, you can comfortably move the couch in a little closer. We’ll leave the finer technical details and terminology for

(High Dynamic Range), combining three images to

deliver better contrast, deeper blacks and brighter whites. It’s this function that truly brings the 4K experience to vivid life. You’ll immediately notice the upgrade in black

levels, colour saturation and sharpness, providing greater detail and the depth of a 3D image without the glasses. We road tested Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool and The Lego Movie in 4K with HDR and the difference was immediately apparent from the opening frames. The high pixel density means you can now sit closer to a large screen TV and the image will remain just as sharp as when viewed from 2–3 metres away. So if you're the type

JULY 2016

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