Crisis Blu-ray Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Ugly encoding causes constant problems for this imagery. At the source, Crisis is high on noise and that doesn't help, but the artifacting is severe enough to blot out the noise entirely. Backgrounds suffer banding regularly. It's a mess of digital-ness, and with none of the clarity benefits.

The result is marginal imagery, limited it fidelity and texture. Crisis shows some HD life, while overall sharpness matches that of a moderate stream, not a healthy disc-based bitrate. Other than extreme close-ups, facial definition flattens.

Choosing a restricted palette, controlled primaries excel where designed too. Crisis favors a bleached look, scenery often soaked in pure white light. While grading does involve specific palettes (a deep blue/teal mix for the morgue), the majority skews plain, slightly elevated flesh tones aside. Bland black levels don't help.

Audio

In Dolby Digital only, the design favors city ambiance in a wide stretch. Passing wind and/or cars fill the stereos, then push into the rears. For a dialog-heavy drama, this allows the soundstage to stay active. Compressed audio aside, mixing does utilize the fill width available.

There's hardly any low-end support to speak of. Crisis isn't high on action. Club music pushes minor thumping, if barely enough to notice.