How to select a TV and UHD player?

[Mallers]

Hello all,
Im in the market for a new tv to replace my decade old 40in HD ready tv and a UHD spinner to replace my 18yr old DVD player

Ive mostly decided on a Sony 55in XF model and a sony spinner (think they just released a new one, intend to have it modded to play US blu ray)

However I have some questions re formats etc.

1) Formats - Assuming I stick with sony and dont change my mind, I guess all will be well, both machines communicating with each other. If I end up with different manufacturers for the 2, would I have to decide which is most important, player or tv, then ensure the OTHER one supports the same picture format (hdr10, hdr10+ or whatever)?

2) If I end up with player and tv that support what may turn out to be the “losing” format, am I stuck or can I still play future released UHD discs? Or is that unknown at the moment?

3) Think I partially solved this by someones reply on another thread, but while I have seen lots of chatter about having to go through multiple menus on tvs to tell it that I do have a UHD source, do you need to do the same thing if watching through Netflix app on the tvs own OS?

4) Firmware updates – what are these? Is it just another way of saying software update, and if my devices are wi-fi then they will get updates either automatically or when I run a scan for same? And if the manufacturer I selected uses the UHD format that loses the current format war, based on past experience are they likely to release updates to play/display the winning format?
thanks for any answers!
rgds,
Mallers

 

[Shawreyboy]

Personally, I have an LG 55" c7 OLED and an Xbox One X for UHD content. The LG TV connects to the Web and downloads Firmware updates automatically. Xbox is probably the cheapest way to get a UHD spinner - as well as the option to play games (obviously). I've not noticed any of the caveats of OLED such as image retention whilst watching sports with static icons in the corners as well as FPS gaming with static HUD's on the screen.

Most of the aficionados in here will ask budget and what you plan to watch.

Personally, I couldn't recommend enough the jump to OLED if its within budget. Demo'ing them both side by side - it knocks the socks of the LCD/LED lit offerings.

Shawrey

 

[lucid]

There's isn't a format "war" as such with the HDR formats. Basic HDR can be considered the core format. HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are both built on top of the core. They're enhancements to it rather than completely different systems. This means that if you had a TV that didn't have HDR10+, you'd still get content in HDR.

Dolby Vision (DV) is the only tech that requires specific bits of silicon inside the player and TV in order to work. It's hardware dependent. There's also a licensing cost which is why you're unlikely to find DV finding its way on to budget gear any time soon. HDR10+ looks to be a software/firmware system, and for the moment it appears that as long as there's sufficient horsepower under the bonnet then a F/W upgrade could see some HDR10 sets being upgraded. Don't take this as gospel though, it's all still a bit too new to make cast iron predictions.

Where there's division is in which manufacturers support what system. Technically speaking, every man and his dog appears to support DV https://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/licensing/licensed-dolby-manufacturers.aspx But it's one thing to sign up to DV in principle and another thing entirely to start putting chips in products and pay licensing fees.

HDR10+ is open source and royalty free AFAIK. The world of TV pricing is cut throat. The idea then that a format can be added with minimal cost is very appealing. Samsung invented HDR10+, and it has been in some of their TVs since 2016. For US consumers owning a suitably equipped TV and subscribing to the US version of Amazon Prime they could access HDR10+ content too. What's held it back is manufacturer support beyond Samsung, and access to cost-effective authoring equipment for the mastering facilities. That all changed significantly earlier this month.


Changing tack; HLG isn't a rival to either system or core HDR. It's the broadcasters choice for a system to deliver high dynamic range without having to redesign the entire broadcast network.

If you're specing a TV right now, you should be ticking the boxes for HDR, Dolby Vision and HLG. That's going to rule out manufacturers such as Samsung and Panasonic, but Sony should be fine. The future question is whether your Sony TV will add HDR10+ support (looks unlikely right now). As far as content goes, whether it's enhanced with DV or HDR10+, you'll still have the core HDR10 to fall back on if you're in the opposite camp.


Oh, and to wrap up, firmware updates can be thought of the same as software updates. The only real difference is firmware is written in to processing chips (the hardware) and it resides in the machine. Software is something you load to complete an activity. A UHD disc can be thought as a programme (software), as can Blu-rays and DVDs. It's common now with hardware having an internet connection for it to look to the web for any updates. Whether this happens automatically or it's something triggered manually depends on how the manufacturer implements their update system. It's not really something you should spend too much time worrying about.

As for making a player region free, for UHD at least, it's a waste of time. All the players have the ability to apply region/zone restrictions, but it's the discs that have the instructions whether or not to use this. As it stands right now, the film studios aren't making the UHD discs region specific. You can buy a UHD disc in the US and it'll play fine here, and vice versa.

Zone coding (A, B or C) is still a thing in some Blu-ray discs, but not all. Region coding (1-8) still happens with DVD.

If you have a large library of DVDs, especially R1 titles from the US or R4 Australian titles then you might be better off keeping hold of your current player. My experience with UHD players to date is that they're not so good at handling the lower resolution formats.

 

[Mallers]

Many thanks both!