PLANET EARTH II: This new documentary gem is the first TV series shot and released in the new 4K UHD Blu-ray format. (All formats include making-of "Diaries.") List prices: $36 DVD/$45 Blu-ray/$60 4K UHD, out from BBC Earth.
There's always a hot new thing in home viewing. Ten years ago, it was high-definition video, as early adopters flocked to the Blu-ray format to savor the eye-popping detail of what critics were calling the most gorgeous TV show ever _ 2007's BBC-made docuseries "Planet Earth."
Now there's another hot new format _ 4K UltraHD disc. And there's another nature masterpiece demanding to be seen at today's upgraded resolution.
"Planet Earth II" this week becomes the first TV series shot and released on 4K UHD, in those small black cases now hitting store shelves alongside Blu-ray's translucent cobalt. For viewers equipped with 4K UHD TV sets and full-4K UHD Blu-ray players, this new view of animal life provides another impressive leap of visual quality _ a heady new dose of the you-are-there "wow" factor that made Blu-ray big.
Pause the series' sixth hour, "Cities," near its two-minute mark and look into the eyes of a langur monkey, shown adapting to life in an Indian megalopolis. An extreme close-up viewed in 4K UHD reveals not just the tissue lines of his face, not just individual facial hairs, but even the specks of pollen collected on them. The animal's eyelid edges are deep black-black, the sunlight streaming through his hair is blinding white, and his irises fairly define the color amber. It's the kind of picture you'd find on a magazine cover _ and which populates most every minute of "Planet Earth II."
But of course, these pictures move, and so do the emotions evoked through the narration of legendary naturalist David Attenborough (now 90), his dulcet tones caressing the work of camera operators and script writers into something approaching poetry. As viewers know from BBC America's recently concluded TV debut, "Planet Earth II" is worth watching at any resolution. But it's absolutely superb to see in 4K UHD.
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