It should go without saying that 4K Blu-ray is a big upgrade over DVD. Not only does the resolution go from 480p to 2160p, but there’s also much better audio quality thanks to the increased disc size and support for modern audio formats. What you might not realize is that there’s also a sizable jump from Blu-ray to 4K Blu-ray. I wouldn’t say it’s as large as the one from DVD, but it’s there.
HDR is a big reason for this. If you have a TV that can handle HDR well — your OLEDs and Mini-LEDs of the world — then you can see a 4K disc pop off your screen in any of the HDR formats. Even without HDR, many 4K discs benefit from the addition of a newer scan of a movie, and it’ll definitely show in older movies. There are quite a few Blu-ray discs that are showing their age, and there are plenty, as good as they are, that are just better in the 4K Blu-ray format. There are many, many examples of 4K being better than Blu-ray, but I’m just going to highlight a few of them here.
Quiz
UHD Blu-ray technology
Trivia challenge
4K discs, Dolby Vision, and beyond — how much do you really know about UHD
Blu-ray?
4K VideoAudioHardwareFormatsStandards
What is the maximum video resolution supported by the UHD Blu-ray format?
Correct! UHD Blu-ray supports a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160,
commonly known as 4K UHD. This is four times the pixel count of standard 1080p Full HD Blu-ray,
delivering stunning on-screen detail.
Not quite. The answer is 3840 x 2160, which is standard 4K UHD
resolution. While 8K (7680 x 4320) exists as a consumer format, UHD Blu-ray tops out at 4K — still a
massive leap over traditional Full HD discs.
What is the typical maximum data capacity of a dual-layer UHD Blu-ray disc?
Correct! A dual-layer UHD Blu-ray disc can hold up to 100GB of data.
This extra capacity over standard Blu-ray’s 50GB ceiling allows studios to pack in high-bitrate 4K video
alongside lossless audio tracks and bonus features.
Not quite. The correct answer is 100GB for a dual-layer UHD Blu-ray
disc. Standard Blu-ray maxes out at 50GB on a dual-layer disc, but UHD Blu-ray needed more headroom to
accommodate the much larger 4K video files and premium audio formats.
Which of the following lossless audio formats is natively supported on UHD Blu-ray
discs?
Correct! DTS-HD Master Audio is one of the lossless audio formats
officially supported by the UHD Blu-ray specification. It delivers bit-for-bit identical audio to the
studio master, making it a favourite among home cinema enthusiasts.
Not quite. DTS-HD Master Audio is the correct answer. Dolby Digital Plus
is actually a lossy compressed format, not lossless, while MP3 Surround and AAC 5.1 are not part of the
UHD Blu-ray audio specification at all.
Which High Dynamic Range (HDR) format was mandatory in the original UHD Blu-ray
specification?
Correct! HDR10 is the mandatory baseline HDR format for all UHD Blu-ray
discs. It uses static metadata and supports up to 10-bit colour depth with a peak brightness of 10,000
nits, significantly improving contrast and colour range over SDR content.
Not quite. HDR10 is the mandatory HDR format in the UHD Blu-ray spec.
Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are optional enhancements that some studios add on top, but every UHD Blu-ray
player and disc must support HDR10 as the baseline standard.
What laser colour is used in UHD Blu-ray players to read discs?
Correct! UHD Blu-ray players use a violet (blue-violet) laser with a
wavelength of 405nm, the same as standard Blu-ray. This shorter wavelength compared to the red laser
used in DVDs allows data to be packed much more densely on the disc surface.
Not quite. The answer is violet — specifically a blue-violet laser at
405nm. DVDs use a red laser at 650nm, and CDs use an infrared laser at 780nm. The shorter the
wavelength, the more data can be stored, which is why Blu-ray outpaces its predecessors.
What maximum video bitrate does the UHD Blu-ray specification allow for video
content?
Correct! The UHD Blu-ray specification allows a maximum video bitrate of
82 Mbps. This is substantially higher than standard Blu-ray’s 40 Mbps ceiling, enabling richer detail,
smoother gradients, and less compression artefacts in 4K content.
Not quite. The correct maximum video bitrate is 82 Mbps. Standard
Blu-ray tops out at 40 Mbps, and while streaming services like Netflix offer 4K, they typically deliver
it at just 15–25 Mbps — making physical UHD Blu-ray the highest quality option available to consumers.
Which video codec is most commonly used to encode 4K content on UHD Blu-ray discs?
Correct! H.265, also known as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), is
the dominant codec used on UHD Blu-ray. It offers roughly twice the compression efficiency of H.264,
meaning studios can deliver 4K footage at high quality without exhausting the disc’s storage capacity.
Not quite. H.265 (HEVC) is the correct answer. While H.264 was the
workhorse of standard Blu-ray, it simply isn’t efficient enough to handle 4K video at acceptable quality
levels within the disc’s bitrate limits. AV1 is a newer codec but isn’t part of the UHD Blu-ray spec.
Which of the following connection types is required to pass a UHD Blu-ray signal at
full 4K HDR quality from a player to a TV?
Correct! HDMI 2.0 or higher is required to carry a 4K HDR signal from a
UHD Blu-ray player to a display. HDMI 2.0 supports the 18 Gbps bandwidth needed for 4K at 60fps with
HDR, whereas HDMI 1.4 maxes out at 4K/30fps without HDR support.
Not quite. HDMI 2.0 or higher is the correct answer. HDMI 1.4 can
technically carry a 4K signal but only at 30fps and without HDR, making it insufficient for the full UHD
Blu-ray experience. Component video is an analogue connection and cannot carry 4K signals at all.
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Predator is a big improvement over the old Blu-ray
Like, a really big one
Predator was one of the early Blu-ray releases plagued with a bad scan. Yes, it was still the best way to watch Predator at home, but it’s clear there was still a lot to be desired with the Ultimate Hunter Edition version of the movie. The Blu-ray.com review notes that it didn’t look bad in a vacuum, but when you compared it to other Blu-ray discs coming out at the time, it was a drop in quality. The review said it had a drab and dirty look to it that wasn’t there in other home video releases.
The 4K release of Predator solves these problems, and I don’t have any problems with it. It’s also quite easy to pick up, as you can get it as part of a Predator 4-movie collection for about $40 at any given time. Sure, you might not be a fan of the rest of the collection, but all of the movies are worth at least one watch, I’d say.
Brendan Fraser Mummy movies look great
HDR does a lot of heavy lifting here
Like many people, I was a huge fan of the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies growing up, and I still watch them quite a bit. I never thought there was much of a problem with the Blu-ray version of the movie, and I still don’t really, but the 4K is a much better experience. The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns, both look excellent in 4K. I’ve talked in the past about how HDR is worth the price of admission, and The Mummy is a perfect example of how well implemented it can be, and I’d call it a very underrated movie in my collection when it comes to that.
Blu-ray discs don’t have HDR at all, so while the colors can still look good and Blu-ray still gets plenty dark, it doesn’t feel like the colors jump off the screen the way they do in 4K. The set that also includes The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor goes on sale often enough that I’d say it’s worth pulling the trigger, even if you’re like me and never go back to the third entry.
Blade Runner and its sequel are an excellent showcase
Just adds to the presentation
The original Blade Runner has come a long way on physical media, and it feels like there are so many different ways to pick it up. You don’t have to worry about things like that anymore because I can safely say the 4K Blu-ray is by far the best available option for it. Even without Dolby Vision, the HDR10 is superb, the picture looks crisp, and the Atmos soundtrack is excellent on both Blade Runner films.
Sci-Fi movies feel unfair to point out, because HDR feels like it’s made for those moody cyberpunk settings. I don’t recommend going out and upgrading all of your Blu-ray discs, mainly because that’d be very expensive, but I would say it’s worth doing here. Blade Runner and its sequel are movies I keep coming back to. I might even like Blade Runner 2049 better than the original, but that’s a discussion for a different day.
The Bela Lugosi Dracula is one of my favorites
Black and white still reaps the benefits of 4K
You might not feel like a black and white movie from 1933 could pop in 4K, but that’s where you’d be mistaken. There’s a good reason all the Universal Monster collections are being converted to 4K, and that’s because they look great. Some scenes look softer than others, and I wonder how much of that comes down to the age of the film, but it still looks great overall.
The reason I single out Dracula is that the HDR10 scan makes the blacks look darker, and that greatly enhances the moodiness of the film. The Blu-ray still looks good, but I think the 4K version takes the cake here and is worth the upgrade. No matter what you watch the movie on, it still feels amazing that we can have a movie that’s nearly 100 years old look as good as it does in my lviing room.
