Due to a recently increased upload speed, I can now stream to some of my users 4K content from my Plex server. However, I do not have infinite hard drive space, so I would, at least initially, prefer to limit my 4K collection to films and TV show shows that actually benefit from it.
Personally, and with several of my friends, we’ve come to the agreement that 4K video has about as much advantage as 720 versus 1080. It’s not that big of a leap, and often not entirely worth the upgrade (when accounting for the hard drive space consideration, the added darkness, etc). However, with some films and TV shows, it really does make a huge difference.
With that in mind, what films and TV shows would you recommend that definitely benefit from 4K viewing?
Lawrence of Arabia
Optimal viewing experience of Lawrence in Arabia was in real life
I found that movie to be just a bit disappointing. But it did look good.
Edit: downvoted because I didn’t like a particular film? wtf Lemmy
Yeah definitely outdated and flat racist at parts (especially when you learn how little of it actually happened), but it’s an incredible looking film especially when you realize the time it was made.
What most people are describing here as an improvement is actually HDR rather than a straight resolution upgrade. Not all 4k downloads (or even actual streams) include HDR for all films, so concentrating on films with HDR and preferably Dolby Vision, assuming your TV supports it, is what I would recommend.
Obviously, not all films are going to be better just because they now have HDR. Even if they have good HDR, there might be other issues such as the green tint for Fellowship of the Ring or the recent problems with the Aliens AI remaster.
Final thing, if your TV is only average at HDR, then it might not even be worth seeking them out. I went from an average 7 year old LED with basic HDR support to a top of the range LG oled, and it’s night and day better with HDR for good material.
It probably comes down to how the show was originally shot and/or upscaled. IMO it also comes down to your vision, screen size, and viewing distance.
I remember the early 00s having a high prevalence of, “raa, your eyes can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080 at 10+ feet unless you have a bolliondy inch display!!!”. I would argue that you can see say 1080 vs 4k on a 50ish inch screen at 10 feet, but the difference isn’t that significant. At least with my vision. It’s the most obvious with high contrast items, like black text on white background.
Newer movie/show shot with sharp modern glass on a high resolution media? 4k. Older upscaled show? I would lean 1080, unless it was shot on film and they rescanned it.
It will also really matter how the video was compressed. I’ve seen low resolution videos look much better than higher resolution videos thanks to the codec and/or settings that were used for the higher resolution video.
It probably comes down to how the show was originally shot and/or upscaled.
Do you have any that you would recommend?
Tentpole blockbusters like Avatar or Oppenheimer are gonna be your best bets. Look for films that were filmed on iMax to get that maximum pop.
No, sorry :( I am just a camera hobbyist, but don’t consume much traditional media.
OK, thanks. 👍