*** 4K Player Thread ***

Associate
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General question - do current UHD players play region 1 dvds (in case I got the region wrong, I mean discs imported from the US). I had my dvd player from 20 odd yrs ago chipped, am now looking to replace it with a UHD player (not decided yet, prob a sony spinner) and imm wondering about the region 1 discs I have. If not or if its too much aggro/too expensive it may be easier buying UK replacements. Its some films and a couple of old tv boxsets
 
Associate
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btw, for anyone interested - you can get the lg up970 for £160 or less from Rainforest.

I got one from the warehouse for £130 (basically a returned unit with a small scratch on the side) when the price was still £200. Typical it was a build prior to Aug 17 which are infamous for 4k disks causing a huge vibration at the start and end of movies. I mean, this thing sounded like a lawnmower! Putting 4kg of weight on the top would stop it but that wasn't a very good solution ;)

Popped it open and mounted the optical drive using those rubber washer/dampener things you get for mounting hard disks to cases. Also stuck some of that thick double sided tape on the top of the drive (leaving the top of the tape unpeeled) although no idea if that was needed. Now can just hear the hum of where the disc spins up to ludicrous speed at start and end. Can't be heard over tv and definitely not if in cabinet so happy enough with that. When not going ballistic it's silent. Also not a whisper for normal blu-ray and DVD.

How did this thing ever get past QA?! Anyway, by far cheapest way of watching 4k discs with dolby vision. Looks blooming good too (fair enough, I've got nothing to compare it to!).
 
Soldato
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I'm very happy with the x800 which is basically the same player.
I caved in lol

What a player. Quick and quiet. The picture is not as brash as the xboxS.

Its also great to have the two HDMI’s so I can have Dolby HD and DTS HD soundtracks as well as 4k picture as I have an older amp.

I did laugh at the remote control but it’s functional not that I will be using it much as I have the harmony Elite.

I hope the form factor doesn’t put people off purchasing the player.
 
Associate
Joined
2 Jul 2003
Posts
2,436
btw, for anyone interested - you can get the lg up970 for £160 or less from Rainforest.

I got one from the warehouse for £130 (basically a returned unit with a small scratch on the side) when the price was still £200. Typical it was a build prior to Aug 17 which are infamous for 4k disks causing a huge vibration at the start and end of movies. I mean, this thing sounded like a lawnmower! Putting 4kg of weight on the top would stop it but that wasn't a very good solution ;)

Popped it open and mounted the optical drive using those rubber washer/dampener things you get for mounting hard disks to cases. Also stuck some of that thick double sided tape on the top of the drive (leaving the top of the tape unpeeled) although no idea if that was needed. Now can just hear the hum of where the disc spins up to ludicrous speed at start and end. Can't be heard over tv and definitely not if in cabinet so happy enough with that. When not going ballistic it's silent. Also not a whisper for normal blu-ray and DVD.

How did this thing ever get past QA?! Anyway, by far cheapest way of watching 4k discs with dolby vision. Looks blooming good too (fair enough, I've got nothing to compare it to!).

Well, this turned out to be a false dawn. Certainly fixed the vibrations when playing the thor disc. But the Justice League one (hadn't seen it so didn't believe it was a bad as folk said, I was wrong), which is dolby vision seemed to spin up to an even greater speed and sure enough I had a lawnmower under the tv again.

Sent back to Amazon. Think I'll wait and see now. Just can't justify the cost of these 4k players when an xbox is a similar price. It's madness. Just needs one manufacturer with the mettle to bring out one mass produced player with a decent build quality and offer the latest HDR options. Doesn't need any extra stuff as most folks will have tvs/amps that do it all already anyway. They'll clean up.

Or I'll wait for MS to sort the xbox and dream on that they'll release DV for it.
 
Associate
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16 Apr 2015
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Another general question - I'm confused with the picture formats on TV's. I grasp different makers have different formats, but does this extend to the spinners as well? Eg, sony are hdr10, if I had a (new) sony tv, would I need to look for a player that supports hdr10, instead of hdr10+, or DV or whatever? Or does all the magic happen in the tv, and it doesn't matter what brand of spinner supplies the picture to the tv, proviso being it just has to be able to play UHD?
 
Man of Honour
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Ah I'm glad the Gladiator picture is good, it's on the way for me, but was worried it wouldn't be great picture wise.

Saving Private Ryan next month, excited about that but given how they butchered the BluRay with the awful grain effect, my expectations are pretty low
 
Soldato
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Ah I'm glad the Gladiator picture is good, it's on the way for me, but was worried it wouldn't be great picture wise.

Saving Private Ryan next month, excited about that but given how they butchered the BluRay with the awful grain effect, my expectations are pretty low

It's very grainy and bleak, as per the directors intent. Definitely not a demo for picture, but still has incredible audio. It does have massively improved colour accuracy I'd say, and there's a lot of texture to everything. But it's very much a gritty and bleak style, do not expect a digital esque picture.
 
Soldato
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Cumbria
Another general question - I'm confused with the picture formats on TV's. I grasp different makers have different formats, but does this extend to the spinners as well? Eg, sony are hdr10, if I had a (new) sony tv, would I need to look for a player that supports hdr10, instead of hdr10+, or DV or whatever? Or does all the magic happen in the tv, and it doesn't matter what brand of spinner supplies the picture to the tv, proviso being it just has to be able to play UHD?

All players will support HDR10 as a standard. If the player has Dolby Vision it'll be able to do DV and HDR10, the data is on the disk for both. HDR10+ is a Samsung developed alternative to DV (with no royalties to pay) but as yet, I believe, only Amazon Prime are supporting the format with any actual content.
 
Soldato
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The TARDIS, Wakefield, UK
It's very grainy and bleak, as per the directors intent. Definitely not a demo for picture, but still has incredible audio. It does have massively improved colour accuracy I'd say, and there's a lot of texture to everything. But it's very much a gritty and bleak style, do not expect a digital esque picture.

Glad its not got bad audio like Thor Ragnarok and Last Jedi.
Hoping Saving Ryan's Privates is the same with audio.

Is Gladiator on the UHD disc the original or Directors Cut ? I quite liked the latter.
 
Soldato
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Ah I'm glad the Gladiator picture is good, it's on the way for me, but was worried it wouldn't be great picture wise.

Saving Private Ryan next month, excited about that but given how they butchered the BluRay with the awful grain effect, my expectations are pretty low
I watched SPR in 4K last night, picture was excellent.
 
Man of Honour
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Yeah I watched The Matrix in 4K last week. Looked fantastic in some scenes but others, it just looked like a poor transfer. Was very hit and miss

EDIT - Any rumours out there about a Top Gun 4K release? If it's even possible/worth doing
 
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