Here's a silly question, is it worth watching UHD on my Panasonic GT60 plasma?

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Soldato
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I have access to 4k material via Prime, Netflix and more recently Sky Q. I think I know the answer here, but I'm just wondering if it'd be worth me picking a UHD version of a movie to watch on Sky Q, rather than the standard HD. Does down-converted UHD resolution look better on a 1080p panel? Does the improved colour gamut in UHD carry over? :confused:

EDIT: Going through a Marantz SR5012.
 
The full benefits of the colour gamut won't carry through, though the UHD version might carry less-obvious colour artefacts so you could see less posterisation.

Resolution does generally have a positive effect. It won't be night and day, but a better quality source signal down scaled should look a bit more detailed in the wide angle shots.

Give it a whirl.
 
barmyllama said:
Prime and Netflix won't even play 4K content unless HDCP 2.2 protocols are met. Which I assume your TV won't meet, as it's 1080p?
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I remember having HDCP issues using a Virgin TiVo > Amp > TV and had to wire it up as Tivo > TV and SPDIF audio separately. However I've not had any issues with the Sky Q box going > amp > TV. Forgive my layman's terms but I believe HDCP 'knows' (doesn't care) if the TV/end point isn't compatible; it's only when you have something in the middle like the TiVo box or an old cable that it flips out. Maybe...

I guess I should give it a whirl. I did think it'd be worth trying for the resolution anyway when I first got Sky Q but then promptly forgot about it. Reading about the larger colour gamut rekindled my interest :o

VincentHanna said:
Can you even watch a 4K movie on Sky on a TV that isn't UHD?
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I don't see why not, my amp will just downres it. 4k in, 1080p out.

EDIT: I just realised I have a non-4k Apple TV and an old pre-4k FireTV box. So I guess this will be a Sky Q experiment only for now :o
EDIT2: Realised my Netflix membership is only the 2xHD one :p
 
I don't think your q box will play it back in 4k, I know that if I set my HDMI input on the tv to standard the Q box (which goes through my 4k avr) reverts to 1080p and all the 4k content disappears. However I have not looked in to scaling on my avr.
 
Hmn tried real quick on my Sky Q but it forces me to change output resolution to 4k at which point my AVR displays a message saying my TV doesn't support HDCP 2.2. Boo.

I would have thought the Marantz would simply downres? Maybe I need to play in the settings..
 
since streamed 4K is recognised as being equivalent (earlier posts ) to just having a local 1080p blue-ray disc , a downscaling option does not seem unreasonable.
can buy an hdcp stripper ... but not sure if someone sells a hardware downscaler.

(if sky were distributing hdr material , rec2020 colorspace, that would be a different game having to, also, convert that to plasmas sdr rec709 colorspace )

edit https://www.avforums.com/article/is-4k-netflix-better-than-blu-ray.10589 NO!
 
Scam said:
Hmn tried real quick on my Sky Q but it forces me to change output resolution to 4k at which point my AVR displays a message saying my TV doesn't support HDCP 2.2. Boo.

I would have thought the Marantz would simply downres? Maybe I need to play in the settings..
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Ah that's a shame, on my BT TV box it would let you watch the one UHD channel they have even at 1080p, looked pretty decent.
 
jpaul said:
can buy an hdcp stripper ... but not sure if someone sells a hardware downscaler.
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I have a cheap HDMI splitter which does that. I might give it a whirl at the weekend. I really don't understand why my amp won't take 4k in and down convert to HD out? I thought all those options were in the settings :confused:

EDIT: Looks like some folks on AVF have been asking the same thing after a quick google. Results sound impressive; https://www.avforums.com/threads/possible-to-watch-4k-shows-on-a-1080p-tv.2051940/

Downscaled UHD from Sky Q looks very good as well, definitely better than the equivalent broadcast 1080i because you don't get the artifacts associated with interlaced broadcasts.
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I did some testing last season with the football and it looks so much better watching the BT UltraHD football downscaled to 1080p than watching the same content on the normal BT HD sports channel on the same 1080p display. The upgrade is very significant, even on a 1080p display (and even more so on a proper 4k display)
I did have some handshake issues with my HDCP 2.2 amp but found a workaround using its 1 and only non HDCP 2.2 socket at the front of the amp.
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