Sony UBP-X800 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[mysticwaterfall]

So, I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but I just installed the 178 update and confirm that my German disc of Caprica now plays perfectly where as before it didn't play at all, so they definetly added in the 50 Hz thing.

[ChicagoMike]

Originally Posted by Omegaice

Well, I guess it is the end of physical media then...

I remember a guy I used to work with in the 1990s who was buying up all the cheap LaserDisc movies he could, as the format was slowly becoming obsolete. Is that what we are now doing? :-)

Well, vinyl LPs are still around, so one can hope that this format will be around for a long time! Unlike the DVD that took over for the LaserDisc, I don’t think there will be another physical media taking over. Just more folks streaming movies because they don’t necessarily want to own them.

[crackedknee]

Originally Posted by mysticwaterfall

So, I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but I just installed the 178 update and confirm that my German disc of Caprica now plays perfectly where as before it didn't play at all, so they definetly added in the 50 Hz thing.

Okay, so, I am asking this because Sony Chat does not quite have people who maybe understand the tech stuff (I just came from chatting there).

So, the 178 update for this player, it allows PAL discs to play? AND 1080i 50Hz special features? From, say, my German or French discs I have here in the US?

Does the player, like Oppo, CONVERT the PAL signal to NTSC? Or as long as the TV will receive the signal (PAL or 50Hz? or both?), it will work?

This player is not worldwide voltage like the Oppo, correct? I can't haul it back and forth (not that I would want to)

I am trying to decide between Oppo or this X800, the Sony is much cheaper of course, and if it will actually play PAL discs (like my rapidly aging Oppo 981 DVD player), it becomes very tempting.

A final question, does it generally have a software or hardware option for region free (even for only DVD play)? It's not critical, but might be useful if my old Oppo does indeed fail one day.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by crackedknee

Okay, so, I am asking this because Sony Chat does not quite have people who maybe understand the tech stuff (I just came from chatting there).

So, the 178 update for this player, it allows PAL discs to play? AND 1080i 50Hz special features? From, say, my German or French discs I have here in the US?

Does the player, like Oppo, CONVERT the PAL signal to NTSC? Or as long as the TV will receive the signal (PAL or 50Hz? or both?), it will work?

This player is not worldwide voltage like the Oppo, correct? I can't haul it back and forth (not that I would want to)

I am trying to decide between Oppo or this X800, the Sony is much cheaper of course, and if it will actually play PAL discs (like my rapidly aging Oppo 981 DVD player), it becomes very tempting.

A final question, does it generally have a software or hardware option for region free (even for only DVD play)? It's not critical, but might be useful if my old Oppo does indeed fail one day.

1)Unless I am missing a setting it does not convert the signal, you need a TV able to play 50HZ.

2)On the exterior the voltage is marked as just only 120V not multivoltage, I haven't investigated the inside.

3)There are converted players around for which you have to pay a lot more but to this point there is no easy way to change a locked player.

[TechRanger1349]

While setting this player up last night, I noticed that the Vudu app does not support UHD playback. Kind of a bummer but am I missing a setting to enable that or is that the same for everyone?

[cochon]

Someone mentioned the same previously. Why don't you use the TV's?

[TechRanger1349]

Originally Posted by cochon

Someone mentioned the same previously. Why don't you use the TV's?

Yea that is an option. Ha. Was trying to have one less device hooked up to the internet but I guess that won't happen until an update. Maybe it is on the way soon.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by ChiefSequatchie

Anyone with a answer?

Screen mirroing I think. I have used only a couple of times it and it is more responsive than my TV that gets a lag. Have you tried updating the firmware?

[NewEnglandDoom]

Picked one of these up the other day, along with GoodFellas & Deadpool 4K Blu-ray discs.

First ran the system update, then popped in GoodFellas. An hour & a half into the movie, it froze. It was late, so I just said f**k it & went to bed. Gonna try it again when I get home from work tonight.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by mysticwaterfall

So, I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but I just installed the 178 update and confirm that my German disc of Caprica now plays perfectly where as before it didn't play at all, so they definetly added in the 50 Hz thing.

Does your TV display 50Hz, or is the player converting it to 60Hz? I still can't get a definitive answer if the player only plays and output the 50Hz or if it also converts it to 60Hz since most US TVs can't display 50Hz (Vizio and Samsungs and older LGs do - my 2016 LG doesn't).

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMike

I remember a guy I used to work with in the 1990s who was buying up all the cheap LaserDisc movies he could, as the format was slowly becoming obsolete. Is that what we are now doing? :-)

Well, vinyl LPs are still around, so one can hope that this format will be around for a long time! Unlike the DVD that took over for the LaserDisc, I don’t think there will be another physical media taking over. Just more folks streaming movies because they don’t necessarily want to own them.

Wrong thread to turn this into an ISP discussion so I won't focus on it but just remember that more and more ISPs are introducing data caps, especially now that Net Neutrality is about to go bye-bye in the US. So streaming may be an issue for many Americans, since their speed could be throttled by the ISPs due to lack of Net Neutrality regulations, causing the playback to get choppy (buffering), or causing the stream to drop to a lower resolution due to it detecting a slower connection. Also, hitting data caps can make your bill skyrocket very quickly, as the ISPs usually charge something completely absurd like $10 per XX gigabytes after the data cap. So streaming popularity may actually suffer due to caps and the FCC killing off net neutrality. That's one of the many reasons why the FCC killing it is a terrible idea.

4k streaming will chew up those caps much quicker. Meanwhile we'll still be able to enjoy our discs in full quality without it affecting our caps. I think streaming is great when treated as a rental service but for those who like to own movies, streaming is not a replacement. There will always be people buying movies for their personal collection.

[Frank@Chicago]

I wish Sony would add an X800 option to move Subtitles on screen.

Watched Jupiter Ascending and had to leave the Subtitles On to follow all the political mumbo jumbo.

I would have liked to lower the Subtitles into the letterboxing...

Please get on it Sony!

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Frank@Chicago

I wish Sony would add an X800 option to move Subtitles on screen.

Watched Jupiter Ascending and had to leave the Subtitles On to follow all the political mumbo jumbo.

I would have liked to lower the Subtitles into the letterboxing...

Please get on it Sony!

My older Panasonic blu-ray player let me do that, then a newer model got rid of it. It even let me move subs off-screen if they are forced (great for foreign discs that have forced subtitles). It should be standard for all players.

[Geoff D]

FWIW the 4K Pannys have brought the subtitle shift back because they reverted to their own chip design rather than using an off the shelf one, which is what caused the disappearance of that feature on Panny's BD players a few years back (changed from Uniphier to MediaTek).

[cochon]

Now, that's a good feature!

[roxyv]

Can anyone share their TV settings using this player and paired with a Sony XBR55X930E? Greatly appreciated.

[mysticwaterfall]

I think my C6 just handles the 50hz so I doubt the player converts it, but I will try to check tonight as to what it says when it plays it.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by roxyv

Can anyone share their TV settings using this player and paired with a Sony XBR55X930E? Greatly appreciated.

Are you trying to fix a problem or just want some particular setting because there are an awful lot of settings and many of them are subject to your personal preferences? Even with mine I do move them a bit from time to time.

[roxyv]

Originally Posted by cochon

Are you trying to fix a problem or just want some particular setting because there are an awful lot of settings and many of them are subject to your personal preferences? Even with mine I do move them a bit from time to time.

Just to see what other members settings are and have a feel for it.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by roxyv

Just to see what other members settings are and have a feel for it.

Ok, As I've said this is very dependent on your personal taste but below I'll guve you some of my settings.

First for the player, in the options I select direct as that will not apply any noise reduction or other adjustments.

On the TV brightness and contrast get moved according to the conditions and movies but not by a lot.

For the TV I use "Standard" picture

Advance settings

Brightness Max
Contrast 85
Gamma 0
Black level 50
Black adjust low
Adv Cont enhancer Medium
Auto local Dimm Medium
Color 60
Color temp Neutral
Live color Medium
Sharpness 60
Reality creation OFF
Random noise reduction OFF
Digital noise reduction OFF
Smooth gradation OFF
Motionflow standard
video option all to auto