Planet Earth II coming to 4K Blu-ray in HDR, out on 13 March for £40

It has long been rumoured that, as Planet Earth II was shot and rendered in 4K, a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release would be forthcoming. And so it now is.

BBC Worldwide has announced the release of the nature documentary series in 4K with HDR (high dynamic range) picture tech, which will present the content in the very best possible way. It also has a 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack.

It’s coming on 13 March, costs £39.99 and is available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk now (just click on this link). The set also includes the standard Blu-ray edition.

It won’t be the first time you could see Planet Earth II in 4K, the Beeb added a short clip as a trial on BBC iPlayer.

However, few could see the HLG (hybrid log gamma) presentation as few manufacturers have TVs or boxes able to show it. The 4K HDR video on the UHD Blu-ray version is therefore the ultimate in picture quality you can attain at present.

• What is HDR, what TVs support HDR, and what HDR content can I watch?
• Best 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players 2017
• 17 best 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays available to buy now

“The picture quality is astonishing,” said Lesley Johnson, operations director for BBC Worldwide.

“For the first time viewers can experience at home the picture quality viewed in the edit suite. The vastly improved compression of UHD Blu-ray with HDR means the experience is up to 10 times better than any broadcast or streaming service can provide.”