10 years after the original, stunning and award winning “Planet Earth” was released, the BBC unveiled the even more impressive sequel “Planet Earth II”, which is now finally available in even more stunning 4K UHD resolution with HDR.
Now, the BBC is also putting together the sequel to their other major nature documentary series “The Blue Planet” a full 15 years after its 2001 release. Blue Planet II will consist of seven hour long episodes of some of the best underwater nature video ever captured and will be featured for public release by the BBC and affiliated sources later in 2017 in the same 4K resolution with HDR as “Planet Earth II”
The new Blue Planet series is the result of four years of intensive worldwide filming by the BBC’s Natural History Unit (NHU) and just like both Planet Earth series and the original “The Blue Planet”, it will be narrated by the rather distinguished voice of Sir David Attenborough.
As for Attenborough’s own opinion of the sequel, “I am truly thrilled to be joining this new exploration of the underwater worlds which cover most of our planet, yet are still its least known,” claimed the broadcast TV legend in a BBC public announcement.
The filming process for BPII was handled by the BBC recording crew through the use of the latest in ultra HD camera technology and as a result, the final 4K release of the seven episodes will not consist of mere upscaled HD content but true native 4K video footage that contains all the rich detail a documentary series of this kind deserves. We’re fairly sure that a downscaled HD version of the Blue Planet sequel will also be unveiled at the time of its release, as was the initial case for “Planet Earth II”
Some of the recording done for the 2017 documentary release is also downright fascinating in how it was organized. The film crew at times used suction cameras attached to the bodies of some of the world’s largest marine animals to capture an undersea perspective of animal behavior that few have ever managed to see with their own eyes. Other, much smaller UHD prove cameras were also used to record the behavior and movements of some of the ocean’s smallest and most difficult to observe creatures right inside their hidden natural habitats.
One thing we’re hoping to see with the “Blue Planet II” release is a much broader 4K version right from day one of its public availability. “Planet Earth II” was the BBC’s first ever 4K series with significant UHD filming as part of its production but the BBC first only released an HD version to the public and later unveiled only a few minutes of 4K ultra HD footage from the documentary to a limited audience. A full 4K version of “Planet Earth II” will be coming out on UHD HDR Blu-ray but only in March.
Surfing dolphins
Story by 4k.com