I am looking to purchase a movie or two to test a new 4k HDR TV. What is the best looking 4K Dolby Vision movie currently available to purchase on iTunes?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Reference 4k HDR Movies?
- Thread starter CouldBeWorse
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There are of number of things that you can consider when evaluating a 4K display. Black levels, Color Accuracy, HDR, detail, etc.
You can scroll through the Sound and Vision reviews to find a movie you like and which has the picture or sound quality you are looking for:
www.soundandvision.com
I also look at the TV reviews for the reference disks that the reviewers use:
For example, reviewing an LG OLED black levels:
www.soundandvision.com
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is one of the darkest films I know of almost from beginning to end.
Black levels and shadow detail on the Prometheus Blu-ray
Samsara is an exceptional, though occasionally disturbing, documentary. It is available in 4K on iTunes.
[I just rented this disk from Netflix and the even the 1080p disk is spectacular]
Guardians of the Galaxy No.2 is a superb transfer that I've used frequently in the past for TV evaluations.
Pixar's Inside Out is also a riot of color and bright HDR highlights.
Two disks which are on Cinefixs' Top 10 Most Beautiful Disks of All Time are The Fall and Curse of the Golden Glower. I have both on blu-ray and the color is like nothing you have ever seen.
You can scroll through the Sound and Vision reviews to find a movie you like and which has the picture or sound quality you are looking for:
Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
I also look at the TV reviews for the reference disks that the reviewers use:
For example, reviewing an LG OLED black levels:
LG OLED65GXPUA OLED Ultra HDTV Review Page 2
The 65GX supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) high dynamic range formats, but not HDR10+. A user-selectable Dynamic Tone Mapping control analyzes the source to convert HDR10's static metadata (constant for the whole film) to dynamic metadata frame-by frame for optimum...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is one of the darkest films I know of almost from beginning to end.
Black levels and shadow detail on the Prometheus Blu-ray
Samsara is an exceptional, though occasionally disturbing, documentary. It is available in 4K on iTunes.
[I just rented this disk from Netflix and the even the 1080p disk is spectacular]
Guardians of the Galaxy No.2 is a superb transfer that I've used frequently in the past for TV evaluations.
Pixar's Inside Out is also a riot of color and bright HDR highlights.
Two disks which are on Cinefixs' Top 10 Most Beautiful Disks of All Time are The Fall and Curse of the Golden Glower. I have both on blu-ray and the color is like nothing you have ever seen.
Last edited:
Lawrence of Arabia is great but not HDR
Space Odyssey is 4K HDR
WestSide Story (I think only 4k, not HDR, but not sure)
Samsara as HD Fan said is also great. Common factor in all of these is that they were filmed on 70mm which is nearly if not fully equivalent to 8K. (35mm = 4k, super 35mm = ~6k). 70mm is incredible and I wish it had been more prevalent than it was
Space Odyssey is 4K HDR
WestSide Story (I think only 4k, not HDR, but not sure)
Samsara as HD Fan said is also great. Common factor in all of these is that they were filmed on 70mm which is nearly if not fully equivalent to 8K. (35mm = 4k, super 35mm = ~6k). 70mm is incredible and I wish it had been more prevalent than it was
There are of number of things that you can consider when evaluating a 4K display. Black levels, Color Accuracy, HDR, detail, etc.
You can scroll through the Sound and Vision reviews to find a movie you like and which has the picture or sound quality you are looking for:
Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
I also look at the TV reviews for the reference disks that the reviewers use:
For example, reviewing an LG OLED black levels:
LG OLED65GXPUA OLED Ultra HDTV Review Page 2
The 65GX supports the HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) high dynamic range formats, but not HDR10+. A user-selectable Dynamic Tone Mapping control analyzes the source to convert HDR10's static metadata (constant for the whole film) to dynamic metadata frame-by frame for optimum...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is one of the darkest films I know of almost from beginning to end.
Black levels and shadow detail on the Prometheus Blu-ray
Samsara is an exceptional, though occasionally disturbing, documentary. It is available in 4K on iTunes.
[I just rented this disk from Netflix and the even the 1080p disk is spectacular]
Guardians of the Galaxy No.2 is a superb transfer that I've used frequently in the past for TV evaluations.
Pixar's Inside Out is also a riot of color and bright HDR highlights.
Two disks which are on Cinefixs' Top 10 Most Beautiful Disks of All Time are The Fall and Curse of the Golden Glower. I have both on blu-ray and the color is like nothing you have ever seen.
Thank you for the recommendations. I have read that Samsara is a feast for the eyes. I’ll likely use it along with Interstellar.
While not movies, the benchmark 4k HDR content know are Planet Earth 2 and Blue Planet 2 on UHD. These show remarkable details on a good set and are definitely 'wow' content. These are also on iTunes, but really UHD is the benchmark still.
The Interstellar 4K blu-ray is on sale now at Amazon for $14.96. You get a digital copy and you can sell the Blu-ray. Unable to see iTunes price as I had redeemed a digital copy earlier on Movies Anywhere (which show in iTunes). And in contrast to some other 4k movies redeemed in 4K on Movies Anywhere it plays in 4K on iTunes.
Interstellar (4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital)
Interstellar opens on Earth in the distant future, as Mother Nature is waging war on humanity. Famine is widespread, and all of mankind's resources are now dedicated to farming in a desperate fight for survival. A former NASA pilot and engineer named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) has become a home...
www.amazon.com
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
iTunes is too low bitrate to really showcase anything properly. Highly compressed.
Can't recall if they are Dolby Vision...
But any of the Nolan 4K movies are fantastic, properly full 4K-DI and HDR. Dunkirk, Dark Knight, and Interstellar even have the ratio switching that fills up the screen.
It's not a true 4K-DI.. it's only 2K-DI, but Coco's HDR and color really POPS, and is one of my favorite HDR showcases.
some Docu's
Planet Earth II, National Park Adventure, Journey to South Pacific all look fantastic.
Sadly iTunes offerings are by no means a decent way to test a 4k TV. The video itself is degraded to some level to provide a smaller file to push to your system. You would need a decent 4k disc player and a selection of discs that will allow you to see the depth of black or if it is crushed, the range into brightness before being washed out, subtle changes in tones and more. There was some good recommendations for 4k (Blue Ray UHD) made by others.
Here are some just by memory - John Wick, John Wick 2, Inception, Guardians of the Galaxy II, Planet Earth II, Ready Player One. Some of these will look familiar because I happen to agree with the others who mentioned them. If you want to see an interesting redo of a film that had heavy CGI and the studio put in time to fix - try the latest release of Star Troopers. Sony did a great job on this one. Also - overlooked is the latest release of The Matrix. They removed that blue-green tint that was added to match the other films. It looks very very good and the shadow detail is akin to the movie when initially released and the saturation level when their is colour is worth noting (including skin tones).
Here are some just by memory - John Wick, John Wick 2, Inception, Guardians of the Galaxy II, Planet Earth II, Ready Player One. Some of these will look familiar because I happen to agree with the others who mentioned them. If you want to see an interesting redo of a film that had heavy CGI and the studio put in time to fix - try the latest release of Star Troopers. Sony did a great job on this one. Also - overlooked is the latest release of The Matrix. They removed that blue-green tint that was added to match the other films. It looks very very good and the shadow detail is akin to the movie when initially released and the saturation level when their is colour is worth noting (including skin tones).
Only the first John Wick is full 4K. Guardians II is not, neither is Ready Player One.
The Ready Player One copy that I have in iTunes, imported from Movies Anywhere, is 4K.
Yes you are correct but I think what Menel is getting at is it’s not real 4K, it’s an upscale as it was shot in 2K.
Correct however - I suggested those movies for the HDR quality, as well dolby goodness and more. They remain a fair measure of what is out there presently (as you identified, not all are true 4k) and items like RP1 and its CGI give as some would say an impressive screen presentation. I will say again you are correct and my thinking was more about presentation and HDR etc. Btw, some 2k or 2.8k up-scaled can match or look better than some native 4k.