Sony UBP-X800 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Canuck31]

This player is $199 at best buy Canada right now. Is this a good deal despite no DV support?

[finalmattasy]

Originally Posted by JeffUSA

I've had the Sony UBP-X800 for a few days now and for this being my first 4K player my intial thoughts think it is good. I can say it is quiet.

Only complaint I have on this player, is that when playing back a DVD it puts pillars on both sides of the screen instead of stretching the picture from the left edge to the right edge.

Trying to determine at this point if I can notice the difference between 4K and 1080p. The only movie I own across all formats right is now is Blade Runner which I have on DVD, Bluray, and 4K Bluray. Definitely can see the difference between the DVD and the other stuff (like you could on a 1080p TV). However, not so sure if I can detect the difference between 1080P and 4K on Blade Runner. I'm playing this on a Vizio 50" so perhaps I need a bigger TV but I have above average eyesight so I figured I would detect the difference in any case. Will have to do more testing.

I'm in the same boat. Have had this player for a few days. My tv is a sony x900e. Watching Netflix in 4k is a big bump compared to HD Netflix. But in disc vs disc, it's less of an improvement to me. HDR is pretty much the main difference I have found after many hours of A/B ing and playing with settings (the amount of settings that can be tried is either a huge pain or a geeky bit of fun depending on what kinda person you are).
I watched John Wik, Alien Covenant, and Mad Max, A/Bing with a ps4pro doing the normal blu. Also tried normal blu in the x800. It seems that the 4k hdr discs require (on my tv anyways) a big bump in contrast (white level) and black level. Good settings for a normal bluray cut off the wider dynamic range on a 4k disc and the image looks far less saturated.

I've also watched John Wik 2 and Watchmen. It really is a toss up for image quality I think. One scene will look great in HDR/4k, others to my eyes have a more pleasing balance on normal blu.
Watchmen looks pretty bad in 4k actually. It still does things that the normal blu can't, but in stretching the color palate high and low, it looks like anything physically stretched, thinner, with a ton of bright brights and dark darks, not much color in between.

Overall 4k and HDR is looking more like film to me than normal blu. But normal blu is still great looking, unlike dvd.

[Realist01]

When it comes to old black and white films from criterion, is there a certain setting i should be using? I didnt know if the upscale would make the picture more grainy.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by Realist01

When it comes to old black and white films from criterion, is there a certain setting i should be using? I didnt know if the upscale would make the picture more grainy.

Well, is it grainy?

When you play a 1080 disc on a 4k tv the picture will always be upscaled, if it is not the player it'll be the tv but it will be done. Otherwise the image won't fill the screen.

So there are lots of things you can do to reduce grain if that's what you like to do. Of course any grain reduction no matter what you do will come at the cost of losing detail.

[Member-167298]

I am experiencing a weird audio issue.

While watching the Blu-ray of Personal Shopper, and just now during the 4K UHD of Ghost in the Shell, there was a split second where there was no audio. On both discs the issue was repeated when rewinding. This didn't happen on any of the ten episodes of Westworld I watched this weekend, however.

Since it is unlikely that I have two discs with similar audio errors, I am assuming it must be something with the player. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any ideas about a fix?

For reference, my setup is a 2016 LG OLED and a Samsung soundbar from a few years ago.

EDIT - I just tested the discs with the TV speakers and experienced the same issue so it must be the player.

EDIT 2 - I fiddled around with the audio settings and changed "downmix" from stereo to surround and it seems to have fixed the problem. I guess my soundbar counts as "surround"?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by finalmattasy

I'm in the same boat. Have had this player for a few days. My tv is a sony x900e. Watching Netflix in 4k is a big bump compared to HD Netflix. But in disc vs disc, it's less of an improvement to me. HDR is pretty much the main difference I have found after many hours of A/B ing and playing with settings (the amount of settings that can be tried is either a huge pain or a geeky bit of fun depending on what kinda person you are).
I watched John Wik, Alien Covenant, and Mad Max, A/Bing with a ps4pro doing the normal blu. Also tried normal blu in the x800. It seems that the 4k hdr discs require (on my tv anyways) a big bump in contrast (white level) and black level. Good settings for a normal bluray cut off the wider dynamic range on a 4k disc and the image looks far less saturated.

I've also watched John Wik 2 and Watchmen. It really is a toss up for image quality I think. One scene will look great in HDR/4k, others to my eyes have a more pleasing balance on normal blu.
Watchmen looks pretty bad in 4k actually. It still does things that the normal blu can't, but in stretching the color palate high and low, it looks like anything physically stretched, thinner, with a ton of bright brights and dark darks, not much color in between.

Overall 4k and HDR is looking more like film to me than normal blu. But normal blu is still great looking, unlike dvd.

I thought Watchmen looked rather good: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=516

[Member-167298]

I am still getting those little horizontal white lines popping up for a split second at the very top edge of my screen every once in a while while watching movies (it happened may 2-3 times while watching the Ghost in the Shell 4K UHD just now).

Anyone else having this issue?

I have tried two different HDMI cables with the same issue still popping up. Could it be the player or my TV? I don't recall this issue happening before I got the Sony though.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

I am experiencing a weird audio issue.

While watching the Blu-ray of Personal Shopper, and just now during the 4K UHD of Ghost in the Shell, there was a split second where there was no audio. On both discs the issue was repeated when rewinding. This didn't happen on any of the ten episodes of Westworld I watched this weekend, however.

Since it is unlikely that I have two discs with similar audio errors, I am assuming it must be something with the player. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any ideas about a fix?

For reference, my setup is a 2016 LG OLED and a Samsung soundbar from a few years ago.

EDIT - I just tested the discs with the TV speakers and experienced the same issue so it must be the player.

EDIT 2 - I fiddled around with the audio settings and changed "downmix" from stereo to surround and it seems to have fixed the problem. I guess my soundbar counts as "surround"?

Could be when the disc changes layers, it could also cause a momentary freeze.

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

I am still getting those little horizontal white lines popping up for a split second at the very top edge of my screen every once in a while while watching movies (it happened may 2-3 times while watching the Ghost in the Shell 4K UHD just now).

Anyone else having this issue?

I have tried two different HDMI cables with the same issue still popping up. Could it be the player or my TV? I don't recall this issue happening before I got the Sony though.

Never had it but the possibilities are probably endless and it could be either device causing the problem, electrical interference, settings on either side, discs. You did well changing the cable first but other than that you should try it on a different TV.

[zeze]

Originally Posted by Canuck31

This player is $199 at best buy Canada right now. Is this a good deal despite no DV support?

From my research this seems to be the 2nd best 4K player on the market (only behind the Oppo and that one is $550 USD). I know I am getting this one before the end of the month. I was initially just going to rebuy an Xbox One S to play 4K movies since it is only $230 but apparently it is a rather poor 4K player.

[finalmattasy]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I thought Watchmen looked rather good: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=516

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.. with specific settings, on a certain tv. Was thinking it might look better on my tv with normal bluray settings, but haven't tried it yet.

[NPoser]

Hi folks
Does anybody know if I need an adapter 220-110V for the USA player or if the player works with both voltage as well?

[XGEEKEDGERX]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

I am still getting those little horizontal white lines popping up for a split second at the very top edge of my screen every once in a while while watching movies (it happened may 2-3 times while watching the Ghost in the Shell 4K UHD just now).

Anyone else having this issue?

I have tried two different HDMI cables with the same issue still popping up. Could it be the player or my TV? I don't recall this issue happening before I got the Sony though.

From what i'm reading online it's a handshake issue concerning the LG OLED and the X800. The last firmware upgrade for the X800 supposedly solved the issue but i'm still having issues with the LG recognising the player from time to time. I haven't had any handshake problems while a disc is playing though (apart from the player freezing up on me for the first time, twice in 24 hrs while playing Spider-man: Homecoming and Star Trek ITD). Does it happen with regular blu's or just when you're watching UHD discs?

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by XGEEKEDGERX

From what i'm reading online it's a handshake issue concerning the LG OLED and the X800. The last firmware upgrade for the X800 supposedly solved the issue but i'm still having issues with the LG recognising the player from time to time. I haven't had any handshake problems while a disc is playing though (apart from the player freezing up on me for the first time, twice in 24 hrs while playing Spider-man: Homecoming and Star Trek ITD). Does it happen with regular blu's or just when you're watching UHD discs?

It happens with both. It is very quick and only happens at the very top edge of my screen.

[Kenbar]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

It happens with both. It is very quick and only happens at the very top edge of my screen.

Maybe "Pan and Scan" is off? I have my Oled set too "Original" and "Pan n Scan".

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by Kenbar

Maybe "Pan and Scan" is off? I have my Oled set too "Original" and "Pan n Scan".

I am not familiar with those settings. Do you know where to find them on a LG TV menu?

Or do you mean "overscan"? If I turn on overscan, won't that crop my picture?

[rajeevalone]

Can someone please suggest if this is good as a 4K Blu-ray player or Xbox one S?

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by rajeevalone

Can someone please suggest if this is good as a 4K Blu-ray player or Xbox one S?

I believe this has been stated previously a few times already. The X800 is a better UHD player than the One S. For whatever reason, the One S has issues transferring good color tone.

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by rajeevalone

Can someone please suggest if this is good as a 4K Blu-ray player or Xbox one S?

To put it bluntly, the X Box One S is straight up garbage.

[rajeevalone]

Thanks so much for your replies guys .. now I can remove one S from my options

[Kenbar]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

I am not familiar with those settings. Do you know where to find them on a LG TV menu?

Or do you mean "overscan"? If I turn on overscan, won't that crop my picture?

On my 2016 Oled "C" it is under the "picture" setting..."Aspect Ratio". ..then at the bottom it has "Just Scan" on/off. Not sure if it will solve your issue. But might be worth a shot, if it is in the off position.