Why does Criterion not release 4K blu rays?

[HenriDeadMort]

They (almost) always do 4k restoration of movies, yet only release it on regular blu ray in 1080p.

Why????

[kylor]

Criterion’s response regarding 4K UHD releases

[HenriDeadMort]

Originally Posted by kylor

Criterion’s response regarding 4K UHD releases

[Show spoiler]

So basically

"don't know, because"

[dvining]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=314115

[Mothravka]

They will soon. Someone on Criterion Forum said recently (a couple of days ago) that a future 4K UHD Blu-ray from Criterion actually is on the way. I imagine that there will be more than one as time goes on. It was a confirmation from a studio reprensentative and it has been validated by the mods on the site as legit.

[kylor]

Originally Posted by HenriDeadMort

So basically

"don't know, because"

Yeah I'm not sure what's going on there. That response they gave isn't exactly recent either.

[Lee A Stewart]

But while we’re on the topic of Criterion, here’s something very interesting: We now have multiple industry sources suggesting to us that the company may finally be getting ready to announce its first physical 4K Ultra HD titles. As we’ve reported previously, Criterion was evaluating 4K releases way back in late 2019, but of course the COVID pandemic happened and a lot of things got put on hold. Now it looks like the company has finally circled back to the subject and may be preparing to announce titles before the end of 2021. I know (from multiple sources) of at least three titles the company is either working on or considering. It’s too early to start discussing the specific titles here at The Bits, because we’d like to see Criterion adopt 4K as much as anyone, and we’d rather not complicate their work for them. But one of the titles celebrates a major anniversary this year, and—if you’re a longtime fan of Criterion—it makes perfect sense for them. In any case, we hope to hear official announcements in the weeks and months ahead.

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...ts/071621-1330

[kylor]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...ts/071621-1330

A movie that doesn't already have a 4K release that has a major anniversary near the last half of 2021.. hmm.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by kylor

A movie that doesn't already have a 4K release that has a major anniversary near the last half of 2021.. hmm.

It's the 30th anniversary of Highlander II: The Quickening

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by HenriDeadMort

They (almost) always do 4k restoration of movies, yet only release it on regular blu ray in 1080p.

Why????

Why start a new thread about this topic in the Movies section, when there's a well established Criterion thread already where this topic has been discussed at length in the past couple of weeks?

[Zepfanman]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Why start a new thread about this topic in the Movies section, when there's a well established Criterion thread already where this topic has been discussed at length in the past couple of weeks?

I'm guessing OP hadn't seen the "4K Wish Lists" thread, which @dvining also linked to above: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=314115

Also, to answer OP's question, I remember hearing a podcast where a staff member from Kino or Criterion mentioned that they scan the content in 4K or higher so they can use it in the future. It takes considerably more processing time for Criterion to clean up a 4K file compared to something down-scaled to 2K, if that makes sense. It's faster and more economical to edit the 2K content as opposed to 4K when the majority of Criterion/Kino customers are not demanding 4K UHD discs.

[HenriDeadMort]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Why start a new thread about this topic in the Movies section, when there's a well established Criterion thread already where this topic has been discussed at length in the past couple of weeks?

Originally Posted by Zepfanman

I'm guessing OP hadn't seen the "4K Wish Lists" thread, which @dvining also linked to above: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=314115

I wouldn't think to look in "4K wishlist" since it isn't something i want.

There's maybe 1 or 2 movies i'm interested in, but that's about it.

So yeah, that's why i posted a new thread, didn't know there was one already.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by HenriDeadMort

I wouldn't think to look in "4K wishlist" since it isn't something i want.

There's maybe 1 or 2 movies i'm interested in, but that's about it.

So yeah, that's why i posted a new thread, didn't know there was one already.

I'm not talking about a wishlist thread, I'm talking about the actual Criterion thread. It's only the most visited thread on the entire website:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=87316

[HenriDeadMort]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

I'm not talking about a wishlist thread, I'm talking about the actual Criterion thread. It's only the most visited thread on the entire website:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=87316

Why is it in "Blu ray north america"?

Criterion also sells Blu rays in europe

[Canada]

Second paragraph down they talk about Criterion joining the 4K game.