A few words about…™ The Sting– in 4k

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll have to think about this before buying a less-than-perfect 4K disc.

I still have my HD DVD disc and even though that format was discontinued years ago my player still works. Did not get around to buying the Blu-ray so this will be a easy buy for me.

Robert Harris said:

which was an early problem is not spot on,

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Should that be "now"?

Peter Apruzzese said:

Should that be "now"?

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It should. Please correct. Auto-kerEnt strikes again.

Angelo Colombus said:

I still have my HD DVD disc and even though that format was discontinued years ago my player still works. Did not get around to buying the Blu-ray so this will be a easy buy for me.

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I was perfectly satisfied with the transfer on my HD-DVD, and then the disc died, and I was forced to buy it on Blu-ray where I was tremendously dissatisfied with the overuse of DNR. I'm encouraged with RAH's opinions about the new UHD transfer. It's one of my favorite movies, but I haven't watched it lately because of that inadequate Blu-ray.

Robert Harris said:

The Sting is one of those films that's not only near-perfect, but gets better with each viewing. The pleasure of re-discovery always remains.

Universal has released the film in 4k on Blu-ray, and the results are worth the upgrade.

Grain structure, which was an early problem is now spot on, along with resultant resolution.

Black levels are perfect. HDR has been gently applied.

The overall imagery is virtually perfect. The only minor problem noted involves occasional skin tones, which seem to go off in an odd direction.

Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1, and is crystal clear.

A necessity for any serious 4k library.

Image – 4.8

Audio – 5 (DTS_HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Absolutely

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

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Yesterday, one poster stated it was too grainy and another poster stated it was degrained. Now, RAH states the grain structure is spot on. My 4K disc still hasn't arrived, but I'm looking forward to formulating my opinion about this video presentation.

Robert Harris said:

The Sting is one of those films that's not only near-perfect, but gets better with each viewing. The pleasure of re-discovery always remains.

Universal has released the film in 4k on Blu-ray, and the results are worth the upgrade.


RAH

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Have you taken a look at the enclosed Blu-ray? I'm curious if it's a new transfer or just a repackaging of the old one.

Richard Gallagher said:

Have you taken a look at the enclosed Blu-ray? I'm curious if it's a new transfer or just a repackaging of the old one.

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I, too, would like the answer to this question.

haineshisway said:

I, too, would like the answer to this question.

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The enclosed blu-ray is a shiny new copy of the old blu-ray including reference to BDLive when you play the disc and no grain to be seen (in the titles anyway).

Matt Hough said:

. . . . on Blu-ray where I was tremendously dissatisfied with the overuse of DNR. I'm encouraged with RAH's opinions about the new UHD transfer. It's one of my favorite movies, but I haven't watched it lately because of that inadequate Blu-ray.

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That's exactly my position.

Richard Gallagher said:

Have you taken a look at the enclosed Blu-ray? I'm curious if it's a new transfer or just a repackaging of the old one.

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Appears to be the previous release.

Robert Harris said:

Appears to be the previous release.

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That is disappointing. How difficult would it have been for Universal to make a fresh BD from the new 4k transfer?

Richard Gallagher said:

That is disappointing. How difficult would it have been for Universal to make a fresh BD from the new 4k transfer?

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That practice sucks and is another example as to how the industry continues to screw its consumers.

Robert Crawford said:

That practice sucks and is another example as to how the industry continues to screw its consumers.

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Could not agree more - it's nauseating.

haineshisway said:

Could not agree more - it's nauseating.

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I fully agree however, releasing a new blu might create more problems for them - as some unscrupulous folks might buy the 4k replace the new blu-ray with the old and return it for a refund.

So long as your 4K player supports it, you can output to 1080p (so long as you use a 4K rated HDMI cable). I'm not sure why Universal even included a blu-ray at all.

At bare minimum they should have re-authored the blu-ray to remove the archaic (from 2013!) references to BDLive (a "feature" that have caused issues in the past if you are not connected to the interwebs or had a slow connection to same). Especially since Universal basically used BDLive to send push ads to the screen to entice you to see their latest popcorn muncher which had no relation to the film you were watching.

B-ROLL said:

I fully agree however, releasing a new blu might create more problems for them - as some unscrupulous folks might buy the 4k replace the new blu-ray with the old and return it for a refund.

So long as your 4K player supports it, you can output to 1080p (so long as you use a 4K rated HDMI cable). I'm not sure why Universal even included a blu-ray at all.

At bare minimum they should have re-authored the blu-ray to remove the archaic (from 2013!) references to BDLive (a "feature" that have caused issues in the past if you are not connected to the interwebs or had a slow connection to same). Especially since Universal basically used BDLive to send push ads to the screen to entice you to see their latest popcorn muncher which had no relation to the film you were watching.

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Really, I doubt there are enough of those folks going through all that trouble to cause issues for the studio's profit margin.

4K version now available on iTunes. I'm curious as to what this means if you play the iTunes file on a 1080p TV.

Stephen_J_H said:

4K version now available on iTunes. I'm curious as to what this means if you play the iTunes file on a 1080p TV.

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Shouldn't mean anything except your TV will not display it in anything higher than 1080p.

Malcolm R said:

Shouldn't mean anything except your TV will not display it in anything higher than 1080p.

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Not necessarily. Sometimes iTunes uses the new master for 1080p, sometimes the old one. Fatal Attraction, The Hunt for Red October and The Mummy (1999) all default to older transfers for 1080p playback, and I'm sure there are other examples.