Rebooted Star Trek movies will be Paramount’s first 4K UHD Blu-ray releases

By Kris Wouk Published April 5, 2016

It’s been a long road, but 4K is finally in the wild with both 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and players available to consumers. Still, we’re in the early days of the format, so there remains a lack of available content compared to HD Blu-ray, but the 4K catalog continues to grow, and another company has just revealed its first pixel-packed release.

Paramount Home Media Distribution has announced its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases will be 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, Variety reports. Both will be released on June 14 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek TV series.

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In addition to the increased resolution and color gamut that the 4K UHD Blu-ray format brings, the releases of both films included remixed Dolby Atmos soundtracks meant specifically for home theater viewings. Each film comes in a three-disc combo pack featuring UHD Blu-ray, HD Blu-ray, and Digital HD versions of the film.

Star Trek will include commentary from J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci, but its sequel seems to be the more feature-rich release. Star Trek Into Darkness includes the Imax version of the film, as well as over two hours of special features.

Even with the included extras, the price might come as a bit of a shock. Each film will retail for $50, while a cursory glance at Amazon reveals that standard Blu-ray releases of either film can be had for less than a third of the price. That said, this is generally the way pricing goes for all 4K releases, at least for now.

In the meantime, plenty of other releases are already available in the new format, so if watching the Star Trek reboots isn’t enough to satisfy all of your 4K needs, take a look at our guide to the best Ultra HD movies to show off your home theater.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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Audio / Video

Optoma’s CinemaX 4K laser projectors now have faster response times for gamers

People using the Optoma CinemaX D2 outdoors.

Optoma is expanding its 4K UHD home theater projector line by introducing the CinemaX D2 Series. Optoma says this is an upgrade from the previous CinemaX P2 projector, and the improvements are based on user feedback. The series includes the CinemaX D2, a 4K UHD ultra short throw laser home projector, and the CinemaX D2 Smart, which adds smart TV features courtesy of an included Android TV dongle.
Ultra short throw projectors are ideal for people with limited space in their room as they can cast an image on the screen from small distances. Traditional short throw projectors need at least four feet to eight feet of distance from the screen to be able to produce high-quality images, but not all rooms have this much area to spare. That's where ultra short throw projectors can help. The CinemaX D2 Series, for example, can cast up to 100-inch images from less than a foot away from the screen. If you increase the distance a bit more, you get up to 120-inch images.
The CinemaX D2 Series features 3,000 lumens and a 1,800,000:1 contrast ratio, which, oddly, is a bit of a step down from their predecessor, the CinemaX P2 projector, which offers the same brightness, but with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

The biggest boost this series offers is an Enhanced Gaming Mode that claims "blur-free visuals and low lag" with the help of its 16ms response time in 4K at 60Hz and 4ms in 1080P at 240Hz. The 30,000-hour life span (same as its predecessor) seems to be slightly higher than other ultra short throw projectors in this price range as well. Both D2 models have three HDMI 2.0 inputs, instead of the P2's double-HDMI 2.0 and single HDMI 1.4 inputs.

Audio / Video

LG’s latest 4K UST projector only needs 2.2 inches of wall clearance

lg cinebeam hu915qe ultra short throw 4k laser projector 01

LG's new flagship ultra-short-throw (UST) 4K laser projector, the CineBeam HU915QE, sets some impressive new benchmarks, with 3,700 lumens of claimed brightness, and the ability to be placed as close as 2.2 inches away from a wall. At that distance, it can create a 90-inch image, but if you move it just a little farther away, to a distance of 7.2 inches, that image size can increase to a massive 120 inches. We're still waiting to hear how much LG wants for the HU915QE, but the company says it will be available to order before the end of June 2022.

UST projectors are the perfect solution for those who crave super-large image sizes for their movies, sports, and games, and who don't want to contend with a projector in the middle of their room or suspended from their ceiling. LG is no stranger to laser-driven UST projectors and has produced several models over the past few years. The HU915QE is the second and most advanced LG UST projector to be announced in 2022 -- it follows the the previously released CineBeam HU715Q, which only delivers 2,500 lumens.

Entertainment

Paramount is planning to film Star Trek 4 later this year

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in Star Trek.

There's so much Star Trek television on Paramount+ that it's easy to forget that there hasn't been a feature film in the franchise since 2016's Star Trek Beyond. The good news for Trekkies is that the long hiatus between movies may be rapidly drawing to a close.

According to a report on Deadline, J.J. Abrams has confirmed that Paramount has resumed talks with Chris Pine for him to reprise his role as James T. Kirk in Star Trek 4. The report also indicates that Paramount wants the reboot cast to return. That includes Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, and Simon Pegg.