The original Planet Earth won award after award for its beautiful HD photography. That was ten years ago, and its 1080i quality hasn’t held up. It’s still beautiful, but it’s not eye-popping like it was then.
Planet Earth II is winning rave reviews from viewers in Britain, but it hasn’t yet made it over here. It’s airing this weekend on several channels but if you want it in 4K you’ll need a DIRECTV Genie or a DISH Hopper 3.
If you have a 4K installation, set your DIRECTV DVR for channel 104 starting February 18 at 9pm Eastern. Every subsequent episode will air at 9pm Eastern on Saturdays as well. DISH subscribers with Hopper 3 and a 4K setup can watch and record on channel 540.
This promises to be a real treat for viewers even in HD, but in 4K it promises to be spectacular. The series was shot using the highest levels of technology avaiable today and I think it’s pretty clear that things have improved a lot since the original was shot. This should be hands down the best-looking nature documentary ever.
Best of all, it’s going to be shown in the US with the original BBC narration. When the original was shown in the US, it was overdubbed for some reason and viewers had to buy the Blu-ray to get the original David Attenborough narration. Mr. Attenborough is back on board, and his voice is probably even more soothing now.
Folks, even if you “have a life” and have better things to do on Saturday nights, be sure to record this and if you have DIRECTV or DISH, it’s just one more reason to love having satellite!
