* 4K Player Thread *

peahead · 27 Nov 2019 at 09:27

newbiejim said:
IYO is the PQ via the standalone player much better than the 4k streaming offerings? , I have BT sport & tbh feel the 4k is a bit underwhelming

Yeah it's better that any 4K streaming service,you can notice the difference in detail and crispness off the picture.

My Apple TV 4K box is good but if you want the best picture quality wise a 4K player like the Panasonic is the way to go.

newbiejim · 27 Nov 2019 at 16:52

200sols said:
4k Blu ray picture quality is so much better, netflix is alright on some programs but most of it along with sky, BT 4k is compressed into submission and the picture is barely any better than 1080, infact a standard blu ray looks far better than a 4k movie on sky for example.

Panasonic UB820 would be my choice if it drops for black Friday.

That's my feeling with BT 4k , seems really to be what 1080 should be

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 15:48

So..... a thread bump...... it’s now nearly 5 years since the 4k disc format came out. In that time I owned the Panasonic ub900 on launch day, and then moved to the ub820.

Has the 4k player market gone into standstill ? Apart from more expensive players ( ub9000 etc ) with better build quality, where left is the 4k player market to go ?

If they did a 4k player with built-in hd ( which apparently is available in Asia but nowhere else ) , which could persuade me to invest in another player . I just can’t see me moving from my ub820 until it fails me.

I’m keeping consoles out of the conversation equation, as I’m focusing on dedicated.

ZG002 · 4 Jan 2021 at 15:57

You can't really keep consoles out, they are the only thing that could kick start the 4k disc sales (when people can actually get them)

You are unlikely to see proper investment in stand alone players if the market isn't thriving.

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 16:32

ZG002 said:
You can't really keep consoles out, they are the only thing that could kick start the 4k disc sales (when people can actually get them)

You are unlikely to see proper investment in stand alone players if the market isn't thriving.

Well I’ll admit yes the ps3 help sell blu ray. But as a purist I’m hoping something else comes out.

Yaayuh! · 4 Jan 2021 at 16:35

I'm in the market for a UHD Player too, planned to buy along with a new AV Receiver but there's **** all choice at the moment due to the market generally declining, COVID-19 and shipping issues.

Holding out now to see what gets announced for this year.

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 16:52

Yaayuh! said:
I'm in the market for a UHD Player too, planned to buy along with a new AV Receiver but there's **** all choice at the moment due to the market generally declining, COVID-19 and shipping issues.

Holding out now to see what gets announced for this year.

What did you have your eye on / Budget ?

Yaayuh! · 4 Jan 2021 at 16:56

TALON1973 said:
What did you have your eye on / Budget ?

Bluray player will be either Sony UBPX800M2 or Panasonic DPUB820 at the moment.
AV Receiver, unsure, waiting to see what comes this year for around £500-£650 tops. Slim pickings currently.

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 17:10

Yaayuh! said:
Bluray player will be either Sony UBPX800M2 or Panasonic DPUB820 at the moment.
AV Receiver, unsure, waiting to see what comes this year for around £500-£650 tops. Slim pickings currently.

What’s your current setup?

Yaayuh! · 4 Jan 2021 at 18:13

TALON1973 said:
What’s your current setup?

55” Sony XH95
Sky Q
Sony STR-DN1040
Wharfedale 9.1

Everything else has either busted or been canned. It’s a whole rejig.

Plan is to get a new Blu-ray player, AV Receiver and a new 3.1.2 setup and move to 5.1.2 later once I’ve figured out rear placements.

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 19:00

Yaayuh! said:
55” Sony XH95
Sky Q
Sony STR-DN1040
Wharfedale 9.1

Everything else has either busted or been canned. It’s a whole rejig.

Plan is to get a new Blu-ray player, AV Receiver and a new 3.1.2 setup and move to 5.1.2 later once I’ve figured out rear placements.

And you want all that for £650 ?

Yaayuh! · 4 Jan 2021 at 19:18

TALON1973 said:
And you want all that for £650 ?

No, lol. Just the AV receiver for around £500-£650. Blu-ray player under £300, speakers I haven’t decided yet.

TALON1973 · 4 Jan 2021 at 20:08

Yaayuh! said:
No, lol. Just the AV receiver for around £500-£650. Blu-ray player under £300, speakers I haven’t decided yet.

Well if you don’t want sacd then the panny is definitely the player to go for.

melmac · 5 Jan 2021 at 11:16

I got the Sony UBPX700 before Christmas.

That's to go with a Denon AVC-X3700 Receiver and an LG 55 CX Oled.

I am very happy with it. It plays DTS master Audio from my bluray rips on a network share and does a great job with UHD discs.

The only problem with it is that if you are playing a movie with Dolby Vision, you have to turn on Dolby vision manually before starting the movie and turn it off afterwards. There is no auto detection. It's the same with Sony X800M2. It doesn't bother me having to do this, but, I can see why it would annoy somebody.

Yaayuh! · 5 Jan 2021 at 11:30

melmac said:
The only problem with it is that if you are playing a movie with Dolby Vision, you have to turn on Dolby vision manually before starting the movie and turn it off afterwards. There is no auto detection. It's the same with Sony X800M2. It doesn't bother me having to do this, but, I can see why it would annoy somebody.

This is what's driving me towards the Panasonic.

pugheaven · 5 Jan 2021 at 17:11

Yaayuh! said:
This is what's driving me towards the Panasonic.

Do the Panny, I've got the Sony M800 and it's froze 4 times since the last firmware update BUT will not for some reason go back to the firmware... plus as others say the Sony has to manually amend DV which is mental, the Panny is the better player if you have the cash!

Yaayuh! · 8 Feb 2021 at 20:18

Got the Panasonic DP-UB 820 in the end. Whacked the settings up and enjoying 4K DV from a solid quiet player. Very glad.

TALON1973 · 8 Feb 2021 at 21:16

Yaayuh! said:
Got the Panasonic DP-UB 820 in the end. Whacked the settings up and enjoying 4K DV from a solid quiet player. Very glad.

Good choice. Only players that really beat it cost double the amount. And that’s more in build quality and the odd feature.

FrankJH · 11 Feb 2021 at 20:58

I got an 820 recently and very happy with it (using it with a 48" LG) , but given the quality of some of the 4k discs coming out, Im very disappointed (GoT 1-8 box set especially disappointing for a premium set - quality of individual discs is plain awful) there are others that were seemingly released for the sake of it without putting much care into the production.

Ive been a BR collector since the PS3 came out, and been collecting 4k for about 14 months (and have about 150 in total) - but UK has been absolutely killed for imports since Brexit, those discs that were $25 for a recent release are just too expensive now with postage and customs charges - at least 1/2 my collection is imports because I like getting them early (unless its only a week or so difference in release dates)

I really hope the BR and 4k disc market survives, Ive just got a horrible feeling its going to struggle badly - I know the DVD market is still pretty healthy but there just isn't any growth in the generations above this

Oppo has disappeared as a manufacturer along while ago - I believe the only premium brand /model is the Panasonic 9000 , otherwise its relatively budget players.

TALON1973 · 11 Feb 2021 at 21:21

FrankJH said:
I believe the only premium brand /model is the Panasonic 9000 , otherwise its relatively budget players.

There is the Pioneer Elite UDP-LX500

*** 4K Player Thread ***

* 4K Player Thread *