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At TechRadar, we love 4K Blu-ray – the best way to see your favorite movies and TV shows in the best picture and audio quality – so much so that we’ve created a new regular feature to share Blu-ray Bounty.

To get you started, we’re offering a trio of 4K Blu-ray discs that will make great additions to your existing 4K Blu-ray collection, or even get you started on your 4K Blu-ray journey. When played on one of the best 4K Blu-ray playersthese films will look great on the best televisionsand sounds good thanks to one of the best soundbars.

For this roundup, we won’t be looking at the films themselves; we are simply commenting on the quality of the picture and sound. The three films this month are Double compensation, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, And The power of the dog – a classic film noir, a modern action blockbuster and a dark but beautiful drama, so three completely different films to begin with!

For the tests, the films were broadcast on a Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray Player connected to a Panasonic MZ1500 OLED TV And Samsung HW-Q990C soundbarpredecessor of Samsung HW-Q990Done of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.

Double Indemnity (The Criterion Collection)

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Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, is a classic film noir that many believe helped define not only the genre but modern cinema in general. It tells the story of an insurer (Fred MacMurray) who conspires with a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) to murder her husband in order to capitalize on her life insurance using a double indemnity clause.

Double compensation looks great in 4K with Dolby Vision, with textures taking on a realistic look. The Criterion Collection’s 4K black-and-white restoration does a fantastic job of defining the film’s light and dark tones, with plenty of gray in between. There’s a fair amount of film grain present, which movie buffs will appreciate, although it’s worth noting that some grain has been cleaned up. Double compensation is a great example of a 4K output of a classic film done well, and it looked fantastic on the Panasonic MZ1500 OLED TV.

The soundtrack is monophonic – no Dolby Atmos here. Still, the sound was cleaned up nicely, with clear dialogue and a good balance between the melodramatic, brass-heavy score and the other sound effects.

The Power of the Dog (The Criterion Collection)

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The power of the dog (2021), directed by Jane Campion, is a Western drama that tells the story of two ranchers and brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jessie Plemons) who navigate life after George brings home a new wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her son.

Beautiful landscapes and natural environments are used throughout the film, and the wide open spaces, mountains and valleys are simply breathtaking. Criterion’s 4K Dolby Vision processing brings out plenty of detail not only in these landscapes, but also in the characters’ facial features, and there’s strong contrast in the film’s many nighttime scenes. On the MZ1500 OLED, every aspect of the movie image looked incredible.

The power of the dogThe Dolby Atmos soundtrack gives the mournful, string-heavy score a real sense of space and weight. Scenes in nature seemed expansive, with bird calls, crackling branches, and gravel precisely placed throughout and clearly heard through the Samsung HW-Q990C’s rear speakers.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Disney/Buena Vista)

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) is the fourth installment in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise – following on from Get up, dawn, And War for the Planet of the Apes, respectively. With the apes now in full control of the planet, a young ape (Owen Teague) discovers truths that make him question everything he’s ever known about the ape world.

Kingdom of the Planet of the ApesThe biggest strength lies not in its visuals, but in its sound design. Featuring a Dolby Atmos mix, this film is the definition of an action blockbuster, with thunderous music, crisp battle scenes and vibrant, open environments. Whether it’s an eagle soaring over vast landscapes in the film’s opening or the deadly fight scenes between warring monkey clans, this film is a perfect test for your sound system.

Visually, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes features beautiful natural environments and some very good CGI creations of the various monkeys throughout the film. The 4K Dolby Vision transfer is detailed and dynamic and will show off what your 4K TV and Blu-ray player are capable of.

Want to collect the equipment we used for testing? See the links to this equipment below. In some cases, we offer alternatives that are more current or available in your area.

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