New to Blu: July 14 – 20

The last two Hitchcock classics to be remastered in 4K-UHD (for the time being) go on sale this week.

The Birds and Psycho were released with Rear Window and Vertigo as part of a box set in the US but here are available only as separate editions.

“I was both excited and a little trepidatious to see The Birds in 4K UHD,” High-Def Digest observed.

Excited because of the lush colour and enhanced clarity; trepidatious because I worried the myriad process shots and antiquated special effects might look cheesy and amateurish under the ultra high definition microscope. Well, my excitement was warranted and my fears were unfounded. The 2160p/HEVC H.265 HDR10 transfer looks every bit as lustrous as I imagined and blends the always problematic visual effects into the film’s fabric as seamlessly as possible.

AVForums wasn’t quite as effusive but still impressed: “As a 4K-UHD, the disc is pretty good, the new native 4K image reveals a little more detail, adds to the depth of the colouring and improves on the black level, but it’s not a massive departure from what we’ve seen before.”

“Psycho earns a rather substantial overhaul for its UHD release,” Blu-ray.com said.

Universal’s 2160p/HDR UHD presentation, released simultaneously with a remastered Blu-ray, shows significant adds to sharpness and grayscale rendition compared even to the new 1080p image, no slouch in its own right and a good update to the original 2010 VC-1 disc.

The set includes two versions of Psycho: the extended cut that was released theatrically in 1960 and the standard version that was subsequently seen in cinemas and TV broadcasts and on home video.

“As the theatrical re-release and ‘uncut’ versions are seamlessly-branched there is no difference in the quality between the cuts,” DVDBeaver said.

“This 4K-UHD improvement over past digital editions is readily apparent but can appear subtle in just how much better it is.”

Like the previous two seasons before it, Yellowstone’s third season Blu-ray looks fantastic,” Blu-ray.com said.

The picture is absolutely sharp, bringing the essentials and the intimates to life with breathtaking visual accessibility. The picture shines at every opportunity, particularly as it allows audiences to soak in the Western vistas where crystal-clear grasses, skies, and other natural niceties delight with superior sharpness at distance, allowing the viewer to practically stand in the landscape which is vital for appreciating not just the cinematography but also the story and the stakes and the people involved in it.