Computers & Electronics

4K Blu-ray UHD player

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  • Nov 24th, 2017 8:10 pm
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Apr 18, 2012
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4K Blu-ray UHD player

Hey guys,

I’m in the market for a 4K UHD player. I’m contemplating getting a Xbox one S or a stand-alone UHD player

Can someone shed some light whether if there are any major difference between the 2?

Does the Xbox produce good quality image? Is it on par with the standalone players?

I see it as a bonus getting the Xbox since I’ll get a gaming console plus a blue ray player.
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xbox one s?

from the CTO of TV manufacturer
Most HDMI sources send data island packets (4000-5000 in signal for delineation and alignment of data). The Xbox 1S is sending 150,000 data island packets in a flood. The excessive amount of concatenated null packets corrupts the data and our software send a re-auth request which causes a re-synch.

We are working on a way to handle this flood in a more robust way but have also talked with the Xbox team to find out why they are sending a Null Packet Flood and whether they can modify their software as well.
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Apr 18, 2012
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bogolisk wrote: xbox one s?

from the CTO of TV manufacturer

What does all this jargon mean? That I should not purchase one?
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If you are not into gaming then get a stand alone. Sony is selling for less than $300.
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We just got the Sony BDP-X800 on sale last month. Finally stepped up to 4K...this is a HDR capable player but our panel is from 2015 just before HDR was rolling out. Not an issue where we are concerned. The player has multi-disc capability so supports SACD which we're anxious to try out. There's also a second HDMI out for audio only if your AVR doesn't have HDMI 2.2 in order to switch the video - making a direct connection to the panel and another to the AVR a simple exercise.

Downside seems to be, from a community perspective, that it doesn't support Dolby Vision. Moot for us. It has Miracast so I was finally able to share the screen of my phone without hunting for the mini-hdmi cable...an unexpected bonus. Supports Bluetooth for another speaker in another room, which could be handy if the kitchen is nearby but inconvenient for clear audio.

I like the unit even though it has some minor quirkiness which can get irritating -- Some DVDs have secondary menus that are troublesome for the unit to deal with which means stepping back and back in again or engaging the menu and disengaging it. Oh, and no bloody screen saver. Our habits have revolved around a screen saver kicking in during snack getting or meal making but this thing doesn't have one! Instead there's a lame power saving mode which powers it down to standby; meaning that the panel has the 'no signal' message displayed until it too goes into standby (some BDs have their own screen saver (Universal) so at least they work).
Blurays look fabulous. UHDs so far are awesome (we only have Get Out and the first season of WestWorld).

All in all, probably the best UHD player of 2017. (http://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/blu-r ... ifications)
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Thanks, I guess I’ll lookout for Black Friday/ cyber Monday deal for a stand-alone device.

I just thought having a gaming console would be a bonus.
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Panasonic UB400 for top notch quality and features including industry’s best rated HDR to SDR conversion (if that matters to you) at a reasonable price.
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EugW wrote: Panasonic UB400 for top notch quality and features including industry’s best rated HDR to SDR conversion (if that matters to you) at a reasonable price.
I have a samsung 4K 8500 series.

The player looks great until I read it doesn’t support Atmos. I don’t get how these players are not supporting that format... all new AV receivers supports it and I am planning to buy a new receiver too
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ElDealioSupremo wrote:
Some DVDs have secondary menus that are troublesome for the unit to deal with which means stepping back and back in again or engaging the menu and disengaging it.
I just reported the above to Sony for their dev team. Hopefully they'll do something about that next firmware update.
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Best Buy will have the Sony UBP-X800 on sale for $199 and you can get the Panasonic UB400 on sale for $299 now.

Which one is a better player? Which one would u guys suggest
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snipe2014 wrote: Best Buy will have the Sony UBP-X800 on sale for $199 and you can get the Panasonic UB400 on sale for $299 now.

Which one is a better player? Which one would u guys suggest
I've made my preference but your needs may be different so the Panny may be a better fit. I can only suggest you look and read through a couple reveiws:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/sony-ubp-x800

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/p ... -dmp-ub400

To me, the picture difference described by 'excellent' vs 'superb' is telling, plus SACD support was the kicker. You'd also have to weigh up Sony vs Panasonic support as to how responsive they are to service issues; something which shouldn't be underestimated -- with all the handshaking that the DRM demands, these machines can get messed up and if you're needing to do a hard reset every other disc then the value proposition goes out the window.

You may want to look at the dedicated forums for these devices if you have time. The Avs official thread for the Sony unit is running at 8000 posts already - a staggering amount for a player.
Last edited by ElDealioSupremo on Nov 20th, 2017 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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If one of the goals is to play movie files off a usb port, instead of a commercial bluray disk, then be aware pretty much all Sony products have issues with displaying external subtitles for movie files. This pertains only to movie rips, not bluray disk movies. Sony knows about this, but refuses to fix it.
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No, I am buying this strictly to watch UHD Blu-ray Disc movies.

Currently I watch Netflix HDR and it looks okay to me. I also download a lot of 4K rips and they also look great.

However, my friend has been telling me that the quality of a UHD Blu-ray Disc is muchhhh superior than these rips and online steaming (iTunes, netlflix)

Can anyone chime in and advise if that’s true.

That’s really the ONLY reason I’m getting a Blu-ray player. Currently I get all the movies in 4K rip. Obviauky it’s not a true rip because AAC 2.0 is not yet cracked.
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snipe2014 wrote: No, I am buying this strictly to watch UHD Blu-ray Disc movies.

Currently I watch Netflix HDR and it looks okay to me. I also download a lot of 4K rips and they also look great.

However, my friend has been telling me that the quality of a UHD Blu-ray Disc is muchhhh superior than these rips and online steaming (iTunes, netlflix)

Can anyone chime in and advise if that’s true.

That’s really the ONLY reason I’m getting a Blu-ray player. Currently I get all the movies in 4K rip. Obviauky it’s not a true rip because AAC 2.0 is not yet cracked.
1080 or 720 compressed isn't the same quality as a 4k bluray. Netflix will inferior to all.
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badOne wrote: 1080 or 720 compressed isn't the same quality as a 4k bluray. Netflix will inferior to all.
Netflix app on my Samsung tv shows 4K HDR contents...
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snipe2014 wrote: I have a samsung 4K 8500 series.

The player looks great until I read it doesn’t support Atmos. I don’t get how these players are not supporting that format... all new AV receivers supports it and I am planning to buy a new receiver too
That's strange. It shouldn't be difficult for a player to output Atmos, since it's just bit streaming. Mind you, the K8500 is known as a buggy player.

As for image quality, the UB400 = UB900 according to HDTVtest, and both are supposedly better than the K8500. However, I don't know how the Sony compares.

Also, the UB400 and UB900 are superior to the Oppo flagship. The main advantage of the Oppo is its Dolby Vision support.



BTW, the Panasonics can also improve watchability in rooms with a lot of ambient light with their Dynamic Range Control for HDR video.

I should also point out that the Philips BDP7501 is basically a rebadged Panasonic with the extra features removed. So, I wouldn't consider the Philips. Dunno about the 7502 though.
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EugW wrote:

Also, the UB400 and UB900 are superior to the Oppo flagship.

The Oppo "flagship" is the UDP-205 (not the 203), which uses two ES9038PRO DACs. For audiophiles, there's no comparison. The UDP-205 walks all over UB900.

UDB900, in addition to not supporting Doby Vision, does not support SACD and DVD-Audio and also lacks HDMI 2.0 input with 4K HDR10 support. Possibly, Panasonic
players will support HDR10+ instead.

The Oppo players are closer to being universal players than either of the Panasonics mentioned. Choice depends on the user's needs.

Also, I would consider the lack of Dolby Vision support to be a deterrent (for me, since I own Spider-man: Homecoming and some other Dolby Vision titles, but there's not a lot of content out there):


HDTVTest prefers using an Oppo UDP-203 for testing:


Bottom line is that choice largely depends on what the user wants from a player.
Last edited by Guest1284983 on Nov 21st, 2017 9:26 am, edited 2 times in total.
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OBi200/202 Freephonline PDF guide (version 1.60) can be found here. OBi200 info can be found here. For OBi202 info, click here.
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Webslinger wrote: Also, I would consider the lack of Dolby Vision support to be a deterrent (for me, since I own Spider-man: Homecoming and some other Dolby Vision titles):
+1
HDR10 : maps source's colours to the colours of the director's TV
DV: maps source's colours to the colours of your TV

The difference is significant:
dv_vs_hdr10.png
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I’m not concerned about Dolby Vision. My TV is a Samsung 4K 8500 series and supports HDR 10 Only
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Webslinger wrote: The Oppo "flagship" is the UDP-205 (not the 203), which uses two ES9038PRO DACs. For audiophiles, there's no comparison. The UDP-205 walks all over UB900.

UDB900, in addition to not supporting Doby Vision, does not support SACD and DVD-Audio and also lacks HDMI 2.0 input with 4K HDR10 support. Possibly, Panasonic
players will support HDR10+ instead.

The Oppo players are closer to being universal players than either of the Panasonics mentioned. Choice depends on the user's needs.

Also, I would consider the lack of Dolby Vision support to be a deterrent (for me, since I own Spider-man: Homecoming and some other Dolby Vision titles, but there's not a lot of content out there):


HDTVTest prefers using an Oppo UDP-203 for testing:


Bottom line is that choice largely depends on what the user wants from a player.
Yes, if you want a UHD player with HDR10, the Panasonic is the winner.

However, if you want Dolby Vision, or other features completely unrelated to video like SACD and DVD-Audio, then the Oppo wins.

In my case I gave up on those audio formats over a decade ago. The OP has stated he is not interested in Dolby Vision, and I get the impression s/he is not interested in SACD or DVD-Audio either.

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