New to Blu: July 18-24

The high school undercover action-comedy, 21 Jump Street, won’t have all fans jumping for joy over its HD picture quality given the mixed reviews.

“21 Jump Street probably won’t become a go-to title for Blu-ray video demonstration purposes — it’s technically proficient but visually bland — but Sony’s transfer shouldn’t hinder one’s enjoyment of the movie.”

“There’s nothing glaringly wrong with it, but the grading seems to be a little on the bleak side for all scenes not in the outdoors.

“Everything indoors seems a little dark and dull, and certainly doesn’t pop as you might expect from a comedy of this nature.”

However, others thought the image impressive. “This is an excellent Blu-ray transfer.

“Colours are vibrant and well saturated, shadow detail and fine detail are great throughout, contrast is uniformly sharp, and grain and DNR are minimal to non-existent.”

“The one drawback to this otherwise delightfully-sound video presentation is that the CG special effects used in the movie stick out like a sore thumb.”

Arthouse hit Headhunters also is new on Blu-ray, along with Duran Duran: Diamond in the Mind, seasons one to five of Stargate: Atlantis and, ahead of next month’s Blu-ray launch of the US version, series four of Being Human.

Going direct-to-disc are Decoy Bride (“retains a naturally filmic look, with no digital noise reduction or edge enhancement tainting the medium-grained image”), The Viral Factor, Miracle at St Anna, The Philly Kid and Demoted (U-G-L-Y! That’s the easiest way to describe this flat, one-dimensional, murky 1080p transfer” versus “this Blu-ray holds its own and should satisfy purists who demand a transfer that’s reflective of the original source”).

Back-catalogue collectibles include Koyaanisqatsi and Jagged Edge, which “has a consistent and healthy appearance that is easily an advance on the any SD-DVD of the film.”