Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K) Disks and High Dynamic Range (HDR) for Dummies

[Staying Salty]

Click spoiler to show theme:

[Show spoiler]hdrd5.jpg

Quick Links:
Disc freezes, Should I clean my disc?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Picture goes wonky. Can a minimum 6' Premium Certified cable fix it?
Dolby Vision Reviews by Geoff D
HDR10 Reviews by Geoff D
General 4K Reviews by Fourm Members

Discs released by decade see below "Discs (finally the reason for it all):"

This thread is intended to help those who are interested in this exciting new format to make informed decisions when purchasing discs and their equipment; be it upgrading from DVD, Blu-ray or their current 4K system. This thread is a broad overview and is focused on 4K discs. It will link to threads or posts for detail information on the displays, players, receivers, and the discs themselves. I use the term consensus as meaning the majority of the members agree with the statement. The consensus is that a 4K disc provides an upgrade to the majority of Blu-ray movies and DVDs, ranging from somewhat to WOW. That a 4K disc will show improvement over streaming content. That High Dynamic Range (HDR) is the compelling feature to upgrade to 4K.

HDR allows a scene to show detail in a bright area and at the same time show detail in a darker area. HDR is on all but a few 4K discs. Also associated with 4K is Wide Color Gamut (WCG). This allows the display to show a wider range of colors. The majority of the 4K discs are graded from a 1,000 or 4,000 nit display. The metadata generated is used to determine the lighting of a scene. Your display tone maps this metadata to the capabilities of your display. The higher the nits your display can generate the less it needs to tone map. All quality HDR 4k displays can present an outstanding picture.

4K HDR delivers two types of metadata. Static, which means the entire movie, has an overall grade for light and dark. The other is dynamic, which means that each scene or even frame can be adjusted to your display as the lighting dictates.

There are three current forms of HDR:
1. HDR10 is 10 bits, is the base layer for all 4K HDR discs, and is static. All 4K displays/players can play this base layer.
2. Dolby Vision (DV) is 12 bits, is an optional second layer, and is dynamic. Adjusts brightness levels on a frame-by-frame basis. Requires a DV capable display and player.
3. HDR10+ is 10 bits, is an optional second layer, and is dynamic. Adjusts brightness levels on a scene-by-scene basis. Requires a HDR10+ capable display and player.

Proposed optional 4K HDR format:
1. Technicolor is 10 bits, is dynamic. Requires HDMI 2.1.

Overall HDR support: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...31&postcount=7

HDR details may be found at: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=276605 and http://www.avsforum.com/forum/465-hi...lor-gamut-wcg/

Displays:

There are three principle displays. LCDs, OLEDs, and Projectors. The consensus is there are no perfect displays. All have their individual strengths and weakness. Research the reviews and check the displays out yourself to determine what looks best to you. There is no wrong choice. Some of these links have a “Help me chose“ sticky.

1. LCDs: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lc...?daysprune=30:
2. OLEDs: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/40-ole...anels-general/
3. Projectors: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/68-dig.../?daysprune=30

Display Manufactures and Studio support of HDR and Automated Calibration: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...41&postcount=8

The settings you should change immediately after buying a new TV.

Players:

All players will play the base layer HDR10. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/149-bl.../?daysprune=30. Computers and gaming consoles are addressed in following posts. The capability to play the optional HDR layer will be shown separately:

1. Dolby Vision: LG UBK90, UP970; Oppo UDP-203*, UDP-205*; Philips BDP7302, BDP7502; Pioneer UDP-LX500*, UDP-LX800*; Sony UBP-X700*

2. HDR10+: SAMSUNG UBD-M9500

3. Technicolor: TBD

4. Dolby Vision/HDR10+: Cambridge Audio CXUHD*; Panasonic UB820 (UB824)*, UB9000*, UB9004*

* Supports Dolby Vision low latency profile

Help me chose a player: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/149-bl...er-thread.html

Receivers:

1. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=292987
2. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-rec.../?daysprune=30

Cables/HDMI:

And don’t forget a HDMI cable with "Premium HDMI Cable" certification. It is recommended they be at least 6 feet in length. Poor performing HDMI cables can cause you a lot of frustration:

Picture goes wonky. Can a minimum 6' Premium Certified cable fix it?
HDMI Q&A - The One Connector World

Discs (finally the reason for it all):

1. List of all released 4K discs: http://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/rel...istorical.html
2. Reviews of all 4k discs: https://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdispl...prune=-1&f=203
3. Formal Reviews of most 4K discs: http://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html
4. Formal Reviews of most 4K discs: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/187-of...-disc-reviews/
5. Announced 4K discs: http://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html
6. Announced 4K discs: https://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdispl...prune=-1&f=203
7. Dolby Vision discs: List of UHDs that contain Dolby Vision
8. HDR10+ discs: List of UHDs that contain HDR10+
9. Technicolor discs: TBD
10. Dolby Vision Reviews by Geoff D
11. HDR10 Reviews by Geoff D
12. General 4K Reviews by Fourm Members
13. UHD Catalogs 1930-1939
14. UHD Catalogs 1940-1949
15. UHD Catalogs 1950-1959
16. UHD Catalogs 1960-1969
17. UHD Catalogs 1970-1979
18. UHD Catalogs 1980-1989
19. UHD Catalogs 1990-1999
20. UHD Catalogs 2000-2009

Any questions should be asked in the above linked threads, as they will enable you to get the quickest answer from the SMEs. Feel free to ask questions here if you can’t find an appropriate thread. Also your feedback is welcomed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) may be found here:https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...62&postcount=4

Enjoy your movies.