The Croods: A New Age 4K UHD Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Oh the color. The brilliant, bright, vivid color. And so much of it. Croods: A New Age uses a variety rare even in animation. Grasslands, lava, water, sunsets, monsters... it's just endless Dolby Vision splendor. Every scene is worth painting. When the family arrives in a new land filled with flowers, butterflies, and whatever else expands the palette, that's almost certainly UHD's new "wow" moment.

Aided further by the DV, lovely contrast gives this animation bite and depth. Things like fire glow intensly, alongside sunlight and lava flows. Even at night, the awesome lighting keeps a glow working into the mix. There's not a visually dull moment.

Croods: A New Age defies any reservations regarding resolution. Certainly rendered at 2K, that's no matter. Hair and fur details look incredible, a little aliasing and minor noise aside. Lush grasslands/weeds equally define themselves. There's even skin texture, a testament to the source. Magic. All of this.

Audio

Using the rears frequently, activity swells in each channel. Without fear, voices stretch between the available channels. There's no subtlety, and that's no complaint. Accuracy is sublime. Action stretches into every speaker, perfectly utilizing the Atmos soundstage to its fullest - overheads aside. They hardly factor in.

There's not much range on display however. The low-end dulls, whiffing on its power. Drums and angry monkey punches push some bass, if limited. Fine, but minimal. At the climax, a mega ape charges around, and still the LFE disappoints. Smashing rocks, crushing walls, and still almost nada.