TVs Are Too Good Now

Why does Home Alone look better than the latest Marvel fare on the most advanced displays?

- By Lane Brown

WHEN I PLUGGED IN MY NEW 4K ultra-high-definition television for the first time, I expected more than an upgraded picture. With four times as many pixels as my old TV, plus a high-dynamic color range, I was hoping for a consciousness-expanding experience-something that felt like filling a new eyeglasses prescription while doing peyote. And at first, it delivered. On a 4K Blu-ray disc, 2001: A Space Odyssey revealed details I'd never spotted in any previous home viewing, down to the razor burn on Keir Dullea's neck. The darkened earth tones of Back to the Future Part III made it feel less like a cartoon and more like a real western. The Blues Brothers might as well have been painted by Botticelli. I could see the texture of the film grain, which gave images a depth and character they had lacked in normal HD. It was a little like having a 35-mm. projector in my living room. I put on 2015's The Revenant next, and it looked pristine until the bear showed up. On my old TV, the grizzly had been photorealistic. In 4K, it looked a lot more like the digital figment it was, blurry around the edges and lighter on its feet than a real 700-pound mammal would be. The CGI wasn't bad, just soft, especially against the sharpness of the live-action Canadian wilderness. It became distracting to the point that I could hardly enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio's mauling.