In the Heat of the Night 4K UHD Review (Patreon)

Video

Fox first issued In the Heat of the Night on Blu-ray. It was a terrible disc. Kino's 4K disc is not, even with the distributor forgoing any HDR. Beautiful grain makes an immediate impact, improving the immense texture held on the film stock. Spectacular close-ups properly convey the intensity within the imagery, from sweat droplets to pores. Police uniforms resolve down to stitching and tin badges. Shots following alongside storefronts makes every piece of writing legible, resolution truly remarkable. Kino's encode doesn't struggle in the slightest.

Tone bounces between the pure darkness of night and the intense sunlight during the day. Even though this isn't HDR graded, there's enough range to make a convincing case that it is. Vivid contrast breaks from shadows, dimensionality looks sublime, and black levels retain pure black without issue.

Even the dense color can fool the eye. Flesh tones warm up the screen. Primaries glow. The fall season setting means leaves create ample yellows and oranges in the backdrops. There's energy in every aspect of this master, minus any errant processing that plagued Fox's now woefully outdated HD presentation.

Audio

Kino includes stereo and 5.1 options, both DTS-HD. There's little difference between them. Each features solid dynamics, although Ray Charles' theme music does expand organically in the surround mix. Otherwise, the mastering keeps the material focused and centered - mostly. Inside the mechanic's shop, hammers pound and torches light around the soundstage in the surround mix, a brief moment where the audio stretches outward.

Fidelity is on the rougher side due to age and nothing else. It's perfectly represented and clean. Some bass is generated from the soundtrack, naturally dropping into the subwoofer.

There is a slight audio drop around 41-minutes. The dialog is too low to hear, even at high volume. It's brief.