King Kong 4K UHD (2005) (Ultimate Edition)

[Ambler1980]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I like it overall but it looks pretty damned weird at times and is more uneven than a carpet laid over a bunch of legos, looking processed to **** one minute and lovely and organic the next. It'd be great if we could find out if Peters Jackson or Doyle (the original DI colourist) had anything to do with this HDR grade.

Bought this and so far this is what I'm experiencing. At first the image seemed overly sharpened (weird halos around things), had to check to see if my sharpness control was turned up (it's usually set to zero). Then the extreme brightness and I had to turn down my backlight more than usual. Then certain shots seemed blurry and others completely normal. Then actors faces would occasionally look like it had been DNR'd and then back to normal, sometimes in the same scene! Sometimes one actors face would be smooth and waxy and then cut back to the other actor and their face would look normal. Most inconsistent transfer I've seen yet on this format. I'm not really even a fan of the movie but it was cheap and I felt like an action movie to spend the evening.

[Ambler1980]

Bought a new LG UBK90 player and watching this on Netflix I am way way more impressed than the UHD, which looks washed out in comparison. There is none of the DNR/EE and the colors are much better. The Netflix version obviously has less raw resolution (being 1080p upscale) and is more compressed but the image is less offensive looking. I was appalled by the UHD and it's shortcomings, barring the occasional great looking shot. Makes me realize something was done to the UHD in terms of processing because the Netflix stream looks comparatively normal.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Ambler1980

Bought a new LG UBK90 player and watching this on Netflix I am way way more impressed than the UHD, which looks washed out in comparison. There is none of the DNR/EE and the colors are much better. The Netflix version obviously has less raw resolution (being 1080p upscale) and is more compressed but the image is less offensive looking. I was appalled by the UHD and it's shortcomings, barring the occasional great looking shot. Makes me realize something was done to the UHD in terms of processing because the Netflix stream looks comparatively normal.

The UHD should not look washed out at all. What set do you have? Might be an HDR issue there. As for the smoothing on Watts' face and whatnot, I'm pretty sure that's there on all versions and baked into the DI. It's just more noticeable in 4k.

The only real issue with the UHD from a disc standpoint is the blazing hot contrast.

[levcore]

I thought the UHD looked great. Yes it has a different look to the blu ray and more earthy tones but it blew me away with how gorgeous the whole movie looked.

[Ambler1980]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

The UHD should not look washed out at all. What set do you have? Might be an HDR issue there. As for the smoothing on Watts' face and whatnot, I'm pretty sure that's there on all versions and baked into the DI. It's just more noticeable in 4k.

The only real issue with the UHD from a disc standpoint is the blazing hot contrast.

Washed out in comparison. It's about context.

The colors on the Netflix stream are stronger. My set has WGC and local dimming so there are no issues with my TV.

I suggest checking out the Netflix stream and comparing it to the UHD. The difference was quite striking.

I did not like the UHD for the most part save for a few decent shots here or there. Very processed looking.

It should be noted my LG player forces DV for netflix. As a result Netflix looks much better than the app version in my TV.

[Geoff D]

So you're watching the netflix version forced into DV and it looks better than the UHD? Do you not see the disconnect there? It's not just about having "WGC and dimming" but about what your TV does with it, i.e. the tone mapping, so clearly the mapping for the forced DV is far more agreeable than what your TV is doing to the HDR10 off of the disc.

[punisher]

aahh streaming..and local dimming aka an LED/LCD TV. Well that explains it. You get what you pay for.

[Ambler1980]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

So you're watching the netflix version forced into DV and it looks better than the UHD?

Subjectively yes. In some ways it looks worse for obvious reasons (compression, upscaling), in some ways better (no DNR/EE). The technical reasons for why this is don't bother me. I enjoyed watching the Netflix version more than the UHD. As always YMMV.

[Geoff D]

That you're loving is cool, I haven't got a problem with that. It's unequivocally declaring that the stream is so much better than the UHD without saying that you're running it through a non-standard mapping. What format is the Netflix stream anyways, 2160p HDR?

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That you're loving is cool, I haven't got a problem with that. It's unequivocally declaring that the stream is so much better than the UHD without saying that you're running it through a non-standard mapping. What format is the Netflix stream anyways, 2160p HDR?

He said above it's a normal 1080p Netflix stream. Not judging, but his assessment only makes sense if he's not getting a good HDR picture.

[Geoff D]

If his Netflix stream is 1080p SDR forced into DV then that's all kinds of ****ed up.

[bradnoyes]

I’d never seen this before. Somehow my wife and I managed to stay awake for the entire 3+ hours tonight and she really summed it up nicely when she said “watching this movie is like watching Peter Jackson’s mind slowly unravel.” It’s also the weirdest looking UHD I’ve ever seen. And that’s all I have to say about this one.

[Mobe1969]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

I’d never seen this before. Somehow my wife and I managed to stay awake for the entire 3+ hours tonight and she really summed it up nicely when she said “watching this movie is like watching Peter Jackson’s mind slowly unravel.” It’s also the weirdest looking UHD I’ve ever seen. And that’s all I have to say about this one.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of UHDs people dump on, like say Goodfellas, and loved the transfer, but King Kong was the first UHD I've seen where I really didn't like the I quality.

[bradnoyes]

Same. This disc is a hot mess.

[andreasy969]

I believe this wasn't posted before (?). Just "found" it by coincidence and think it never made it to the top at caps: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=12395&d2=12394&c=4881

I know very well that these aren't accurate, but I still don't like (at all) what they did there to put it mildly. (I've seen a lost comparison myself before)

[aetherhole]

This one kind of shows me that the UHD is doing just the opposite of what it should be here. Link

The whole point of HDR is to bring out the detail of the image, but if this is accurate detail is being lost. Look at the reflections on the water. The reflections are being blown out in order to achieve a brighter image.

While I didn't have a whole lot of problem when I watched this disc, I can agree that it did look a bit strange. This example confirms to me the strangeness and reaffirms what I thought when was watching, "they just bumped up the overall APL."

[nick4Knight]

Originally Posted by aetherhole

The whole point of HDR is to bring out the detail of the image, but if this is accurate detail is being lost. This example confirms to me the strangeness and reaffirms what I thought when was watching, "they just bumped up the overall APL."

I have taken a pass on this one so far. Tough to tell if one like this would get re-released, though? Maybe 2020 for the 15th. Universal LOVES anniversary releases...

I guess if it's not an objectively muffed disc it wouldn't warrant it.

[HeavyHitter]

The DNR used at times I find very jarring.

While I find the disc bright, it's handled pretty nicely with my 820 tone mapping. Prior to that I was using Arve curves and it was insane.

[aetherhole]

Originally Posted by nick4Knight

I have taken a pass on this one so far. Tough to tell if one like this would get re-released, though? Maybe 2020 for the 15th. Universal LOVES anniversary releases...

I guess if it's not an objectively muffed disc it wouldn't warrant it.

I doubt it would get a re-release since this is already the the extended edition release. If it did, I'm not sure they would do anything to change the look from what they did for the UHD already.

[StingingVelvet]

Brightness arguments aside, a lot of what people dislike about this disc is baked into the DI. They're not gonna re-build the movie, so it is what it is on most fronts.