Sony UBP-X800 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

Been meaning to buy a back-up player anyway so I went for the Panasonic 820 which i've wanted to check out for a while now. It'll be interesting to see if the same discs give me problems on the Panny.

Wish I could get $450 past the wife for a backup player! She was like "can you watch everything you have now?" and I was like "well yeah" and that was that lol.

[Fat Phil]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Wish I could get $450 past the wife for a backup player! She was like "can you watch everything you have now?" and I was like "well yeah" and that was that lol.

You've got the LG though don't you, Velvet? So the Panasonic would be a second 'back-up player', no?

The Panny's not quite so pricey in the UK. I paid £289 which is pretty good for a quality piece of equipment like that. Plus I was pleased to see that it came with a voucher for a free UHD title from Zoom. Schwing!

It's not strictly a back-up player either. I have a nice Sony 1080p TV in the bedroom and it'll be good to occasionally use the Panasonic in conjunction with it because i've heard good things about the SDR conversion. Looking forward to checking it out this evening.

[jkeldo]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

The guy who assisted me asked me if I was in a hurry and I answered "no, I'm not". I seated at a sofa,they had some Sony and Philips T.V. sets on display, and after half an hour or so the guy came with the new and factory sealed player. I asked him why was that and he answered me that they had orders from Sony that with a player with a failure like mine, they had to take the player and give a new one because of their high failure rate. The guy showed me one X-800 innards and it looks like a toy made with cheap components.

It's supposed to be similar to the x-1000 so I guess that is "cheap" too.

Compared to other players I looked at, the x-800 has a lot more heft and build quality at a fair price. I have two and both work well.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

Latest firmware but problems with three different blemish free discs in the last week - pixelation and general freezing/skipping. Darkest Hour, the Darkest Hour replacement disc (crapping out in the exact same spots, which raises red flags that it was the player not the discs) and The Purge: Anarchy last night. All Universal titles, so I don't know if that means anything .

Yes, the fact all are Universal titles points to my belief there is something in the mastering/manufacturing chain for Universal that presents an issue for the X800, as the only discs that have presented an issue for me since the prior firmware update to the most recent, roughly six months, are Universal titles: Gladiator UHD (pixelation) and Spartacus (restored) BD (freeze).

As I picked up this player for $149, minus $50 in Best Buy rewards, no complaints here, as the player provides 'pure' playback on the Direct setting, is quiet, and plays every audio/video format in my household, except UHD DV, and now Universal, discs.

Those are assigned to the LG, another bargain at $149. Personally, I find UHD HDR10 playback superior on the Sony; the LG automatically upscales non-UHD discs to 4K, and the last thing I want is multiple devices automatically stepping all over content, so the Sony gets all the Blu and DVD discs.

Once the flood of HDMI 2.1 hardware hits the streets in the next 6 to 12 months, I'll upgrade to the latest and greatest.

[Fat Phil]

Just threw Darkest Hour into the new Panasonic 820 and it plays like a dream. None of the issues I was experiencing with select Universal discs on the X800.

[Paul.R.S]

CQP, I trust you have the UK 4K Gladiator? That's Uni whereas the US is Par.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Bob, the X800 is not "their first ever Universal 4K Blu-ray player." The X1000 was released about two years ago.

I know Paul, and the X800 was also released about two years ago; they are basically both the same player, with the X1000 having a minimal analog stage and a minimal front display.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

Just threw Darkest Hour into the new Panasonic 820 and it plays like a dream. None of the issues I was experiencing with select Universal discs on the X800.

So far so good; the truest test of reliability is in the longevity.

[Paul.R.S]

FWIW something def happened at the corporate level that's not X800-specific. Just powered up a BDP-S1700 for the first time in a few weeks. Purchased it over two years ago. Wouldn't even allow me to get to the home menu before performing a (first ever) fw upgrade. Gracenote is now gone.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

You've got the LG though don't you, Velvet? So the Panasonic would be a second 'back-up player', no?

Yeah but it's kind of a P.O.S. so I only use it for what the Sony doesn't play, which is an aggravating situation. It's annoying to switch players in the middle because the Sony decides to act up, or to feel like I'm getting a sub-par experience when watching something I know the Sony doesn't like. If I was single and could blow $500 on whatever I wanted I'd get the 820 just to be done with the stress of it.

Though often I think the LG looking a smidge worse is a placebo, because when I compare back and forth they honestly look identical. So it could be my silly brain.

[LordoftheRings]

Just a quick note as to which Sony model was the first universal 4K BR player released.

Sony: "The company’s first 4K Blu-ray player hitting the market will be the $299-suggested UBP-X800, in stores in March (2017) and followed by the specialist/installer-dedicated UBP-X1000, as yet unpriced."

In actuality the Sony X800 was first released in February 2017 (the very first model physically released in some places). And the Sony X1000ES was first released in April 2017 (physical availability in some stores).

So, the X800 was indeed first. It has that status of being the very first universal BR player from Sony, ever. ...The one which added DVD-Audio, and released before the X1000ES model.

X800 > February 2017
X1000ES > April 2017

* For Paul and everyone else who was wondering exactly which one came up first out of the gates and in the hands of the public.

[ahossein79]

Originally Posted by Fat Phil

Just threw Darkest Hour into the new Panasonic 820 and it plays like a dream. None of the issues I was experiencing with select Universal discs on the X800.

After my bad experiences with the x-800 two times breaking down on me first time I replaced second time it went bad after a year I am going to cave in and pick up the Panasonic 820 from all I have read this is the UHD player that dreams are made of...

[Ender14]

I apologize if this has already been answered, but will the X-800M2 support 3D playback?
It's not listed under disc formats on the Sony site.

[LettuceJUMP]

I’m torn between x800m2 for my new sony 900f, for dolby vision, or just get the panny.
Currently have the lg and it’s ok...

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Ender14

I apologize if this has already been answered, but will the X-800M2 support 3D playback?
It's not listed under disc formats on the Sony site.

DISC
Ultra HD Blu-ray, BD-ROM, Stereoscopic 3D (profile 5), SA-CD (SA-CD / CD) Playback, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R Dual Layer, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Double Layer, CD (CD-DA), CD-R / -RW

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by LettuceJUMP

I’m torn between x800m2 for my new sony 900f, for dolby vision, or just get the panny.
Currently have the lg and it’s ok...

It's very easy to get out of this dilemma; just do like a lot of people do ... get them both and compared them with your display @ home. Keep the one that best matches your preference with your display and simply return the other one (30-day period window return).

[eddievanhalen]

I like to do mkv remuxes of my UHD BD's as safety copies. That being said, the UHD BD remuxes done by me look better played directly by my 49" Sansung 4K HDR set than played by the Sony X-800. What kind of processing is the X-800 doing badly? Chroma upsampling poorly done? Another kind of processing?
I have my Sony X-800 set to Original Resolution (the X-800 doesn't do any upscale while playing under 4K material), HDMI color space at 4:4:4 and no video tweaking, it's set to Direct.
I'm reading good things about Panasonic players even the inexpensive ones so I'm thinking to buy a cheap Panasonic with two HDMI outputs and leave the Sony X-800 for CD and SACD playing only.

[LordoftheRings]

When looking for the best just get them all. If you can't afford just get the one you wish for.
Pick the features you can make good use of.

[hagios]

I'm just now getting 4K movies(future proof) & this would be my 1st 4K blu-ray player for a decent price.

My question is, since it will be my 1st experience with a 4K player(I'm not tech savvy at all ) should I get the Sony UBP-X800 4K UHD Blu-ray player or another brand for this money value? I have a Sony X850D 4k LED TV!

Any help would be most appreciated, the more info the better for me! Thanks!!

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

DISC
Ultra HD Blu-ray, BD-ROM, Stereoscopic 3D (profile 5), SA-CD (SA-CD / CD) Playback, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R Dual Layer, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Double Layer, CD (CD-DA), CD-R / -RW

Thank you!