A Few Words About A few words about...™ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[gadgtfreek]

I guess I dont get it. I have been watching UHD Blu since it came out in Mar of 2016, and I was not impressed with HP1 at all. A few daylight scenes looked nice and natural, but a lot of scenes were soft and blown out. I have seen several older films redone with HDR and they whoop this movie's butt. I only own the DVD, so maybe it is better than the 1080p blu, but not impressed.

 

[johnmcmasters]

My equipment: Oppo 203, LG OLED55C6P, Marantz NR1603, AKG K 172 Headphones.

For what it is worth, I’ve owned the Potter films on DVD, Blu-Ray, and now 4KUHD (via the HDR10 UK set of all 8 films). I also own streaming versions in HDR and HDR Dolby Vision of “Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone” (Vudu and Fandango) and “Azkaban” in HDR Dolby Vision (Vudu).

Yesterday, I finally received the UK set of all 8 films (the set contains only 4KUHD discs, no Blu-Rays, and no extras with only the films). As I went through the set, comparing the individual films to my Blu-Rays and to the streaming versions, to my eyes the HDR10 set looks sublime. Colors seem just more accurate on the 4KUHD Discs, and this was the first time I’d really consciously noted the subtle shift from a bland and rather bright image in the opening Muggles sequences of Film 1 to a darker, richer, more nuanced pallet that starts when Harry enters Diagon Alley and continues on as the boys later go through Platform 9 ¾ and first espy the Hogwarts Express. The color pallet, on my equipment, to my eyes, seemed enhanced and extended tremendously on the 4KUHD Discs. Details were sharper across the board. Some blacks were a bit impenetrable, it is true, but it never took me out of my experience. When Film 3 begins in total darkness, I was sitting in my blacked out viewing room, and suddenly there was a blip of light in the darkness – the flash of light of Harry’s window that grows and grows and is slowly surrounded by titles and glowering, moonlit, clouds. The light really seemed to emerge from the darkness of my own living room. Stunning!

The streaming versions, for whatever reasons, don’t match the discs on my system. The Dolby Vision versions on Vudu when first viewed, were blown-out, lacking in detail, and bland – and sometimes seemed to be swimming in grain. It required a great deal of tweaking on my part on my OLED settings to make them watchable. The HDR version on Fandango of Film 1 seemed too dark on my equipment, and required different tweaks. The 4KUHD HDR10 discs were fine from the get-go on the settings that I use most of the time.

Over the past few months since upgrading my system, I imagine that I’ve watched about 100 films and programs in 4KUHD. For the first time while watching “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” the delivery medium itself seemed to disappear and it felt, for the first time in my home environment, that I was experiencing just the films without any intermediary between me and my experience of the films. Really breathtaking.

Just my entirely amateur response to the UK 4KUHD BoxSet.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Yesterday, I finally received the UK set of all 8 films (the set contains only 4KUHD discs, no Blu-Rays, and no extras with only the films).

I can't quite get by this. You probably just paid a bundle for those 8 4K Harry's and no extras at all? That sucks! They have plenty of extras ready to go without extra effort and the can't include them?

 

[johnmcmasters]

I can't quite get by this. You probably just paid a bundle for those 8 4K Harry's and no extras at all? That sucks! They have plenty of extras ready to go without extra effort and the can't include them?

Actually, I bought the UK set precisely because it did NOT have the extra discs or supplements (which I already have on my current blu-ray set) and, thus, is considerably less expensive than the US set. So the lack of extras was a plus for me as it would have meant only utterly meaningless duplication of what I already own.

 

[David Norman]

Actually, I bought the UK set precisely because it did NOT have the extra discs or supplements (which I already have on my current blu-ray set) and, thus, is considerably less expensive than the US set. So the lack of extras was a plus for me as it would have meant only utterly meaningless duplication of what I already own.

That was my plan since I already have the Ultimates and Hogwarts. No reason to duplicate those discs yet again. $80-100 is still too rich for the 4K discs (for me). I'll wait until the set drops to $50 of so. Since the US full set has already been as low as $75 I see no reason to believe the 8 disc UK set won't be $40-50 at some point.

 

[Tino]

The streaming versions, for whatever reasons, don’t match the discs on my system.

The physical discs always look better than streaming versions due to compression limitations in my opinion. I own them all physically and digitally and there is a noticeable difference.

 

[Dave H]

Watched this at 124" on my scope screen with a JVC RS440 (Pro cal'd). I thought it looked very good, but the shadow detail indeed was lacking. I found this largely the case with the second film as well. Things improve as the movies go forward.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Actually, I bought the UK set precisely because it did NOT have the extra discs or supplements (which I already have on my current blu-ray set) and, thus, is considerably less expensive than the US set. So the lack of extras was a plus for me as it would have meant only utterly meaningless duplication of what I already own.

Does the UK set include Sorcerer's Stone or Philosopher's Stone?

 

[Matt Hough]

Does the UK set include Sorcerer's Stone or Philosopher's Stone?

The latter I would guess.

 

[David Norman]

Philosophers Stone. I would say like they all should be, but too many toes in that pile