4K Blu-ray Confirmed, Coming in

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

The BDA and the industry would be utter fools if they priced UHD Blu-ray discs and players into the stratosphere. Would they then only be catering to the wealthy? All signs might point to yes.

Players will probably initially be quite expensive, but I don't see the same for disks. We'll probably see the same $10 - $15 premium that we see for 3D.

Since right now 3D and 4K aren't compatible UHD disks will probably be about the same price as 3D disks, and for movies released in 3D you'll have to chose.

[bailey1987]

If there's one thing I expect from them is that they will be fully backwards compatible with all prior discs BD 3D and HFPA and such.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Anyone remember the price of DVD players in the fall of 2006? As stated earlier, I paid > $1000 for my first G Panny BD player or 5 to 10 time the price of a DVD player. We had a similar situation in the early 2000's with VHS vs. D-VHS D-Theater machines, that is, D-VHS machines were much more expensive.

IMO, folks are using the wrong reference point. Current upscale BD players still cost $249 and up. Samsung BD-F7500 = $248, Sony BDPS7200 = $298, Pioneer Elite BDP-80FD = $299, Yamaha BD-S677BL = $249, OPPO BDP-103 = $499

I believe we will be lucky to see a 1st G UHD BD player for under a $1000. Hard to guess what titles will cost. The only reference at this point is Sony Unlimited for their title download service for Sony media players and titles are ≥ $30.

I cannot countenance a $1000 price point, unless it's an actual OPPO deck which will have no problem selling for that amount but will be beyond the reach of the masses. The big manufacturers have got to get them out there for between $500-$750 otherwise it'll be DOA, it can't just be the purview of the super-rich, not with 4K displays getting cheaper all the time. You can buy a 49" Sony 4K set for a grand over here, and no-one in their right mind would want to spend as much again on a player!

Some of those upscale BD decks like the Panasonic BDT700 actually have stuff like HDMI 2.0 in them already, and if the BD drive itself is the same (perhaps with a firmware update) or very similar to what we have now, then all that needs swapping out is the main decoding guts of the player.

I've said many times that it's no coincidence Panny's CES UHD prototype looked just like a BDT700, and I'm still of the opinion that it's an evolution to the existing tech rather than a revolution; it's using 33Gb layers that were proposed 5 years ago, for example. So charging us up the arse hole for it in today's economic climate would be madness IMO.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

So charging us up the arse hole for it in today's economic climate would be madness IMO.

Maybe not.

Let's say suppliers don't think mainstream adoption is in the cards.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the case (nor am I saying to open up the same can of worms that has been pored over in every other 4K/UHD thread) but it's not entirely implausible.

If that's the case then resisting downward pressures on prices from the start could make long-term (if you can call five or ten years long-term, anyway) sense. A niche product at niche prices might not be their first choice but niche products at mainstream prices could be the worst of both worlds.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Anyone remember the price of DVD players in the fall of 2006? As stated earlier, I paid > $1000 for my first G Panny BD player or 5 to 10 time the price of a DVD player. We had a similar situation in the early 2000's with VHS vs. D-VHS D-Theater machines, that is, D-VHS machines were much more expensive.

IMO, folks are using the wrong reference point. Current upscale BD players still cost $249 and up. Samsung BD-F7500 = $248, Sony BDPS7200 = $298, Pioneer Elite BDP-80FD = $299, Yamaha BD-S677BL = $249, OPPO BDP-103 = $499

I believe we will be lucky to see a 1st G UHD BD player for under a $1000. Hard to guess what titles will cost. The only reference at this point is Sony Unlimited for their title download service for Sony media players and titles are ≥ $30.

For a lot of people here on Blu-ray forums, they just assume and heavily so that the trend for cheap BD players is applicable to UHD players. But since this represents new loaders, new discrete device designs against variety of brand new technologies, cost of making/duplicating media with 4 times the storage/processing requirements that everything will repeat itself and we will have cheap UHD players.

Like the game shows do, gong your wrong. The prices of the UHD players will be similar to how early DVD and BD players were. Optical media prices won't be that more expensive, but since they can't be replicated as quick, you will pay more, without a doubt.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by octagon

Maybe not.

Let's say suppliers don't think mainstream adoption is in the cards.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the case (nor am I saying to open up the same can of worms that has been pored over in every other 4K/UHD thread) but it's not entirely implausible.

If that's the case then resisting downward pressures on prices from the start could make long-term (if you can call five or ten years long-term, anyway) sense. A niche product at niche prices might not be their first choice but niche products at mainstream prices could be the worst of both worlds.

Some good points. They might wanna make out like bandits in the 5-10 years of life that physical media has left in it.

[bailey1987]

If it's not there from launch I expect that this so called 'digital bridge' will be a driving factor of the price. From what I gather they want the players to be like media hubs. They sound like PVR'S if you ask me, by that from what I have understood they will have HDD'S in them, from what I have read it will be a requirement for the players to have certain features beyond being able to read a Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. I think we will end up in another situation where player profiles matter so launch players will be profile 6.0 but they will be gimped like the bonus view farce, 6.0 will do little more than play Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc's, profile 6.1 will be bonus view meaning that if you add the storage it will be a fully fledge profile 7.0 Digital Bridge UHD Live player.

However instead of just providing the higher end model at launch they will expect us all to double dip. Obviously the profiles keep it cheap for people that don't need all the features. So instead of at launch providing a cheap solution that only reads the disc as well as the be all and end all we will be stuck with the cheap player that I don't want.

On saying that if this digital bridge is just a way to persuade me to ditch physical media then I don't want it. The worst situation would be for one profile to play Dolby ATMOS and another to play DTS X

If you look at how the price TV boxes that's how the launch players could do with being priced one that just receives the TV signal another that can do the same but in HD and another that can record TV as well as receive HD.

If Blu-ray did that from launch the profile farce wouldn't appear to be one.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

For a lot of people her on Blu-ray forums, they just assume and heavily so that the trend for cheap BD players is applicable to UHD players. But since this represents new loaders, new discrete device designs against variety of brand new technologies, cost of making/duplicating media with 4 times the storage/processing requirements that everything will repeat itself and we will have cheap UHD players.

Like the game shows do, gong your wrong. The prices of the UHD players will be similar to how early DVD and BD players were. Optical media prices won't be that more expensive, but since they can't be replicated as quick, you will pay more, without a doubt.

I don't think anyone who's really clued up with this stuff is saying we should be expecting $50 slimline cheapies right off the bat. We all know that our wallets should be getting ready for a reaming! But HD DVD came to market with players costing $499 and $799 in 2006 (I managed to snag an HD-D1 for £300 on ebay later that year) and I think it'd be great if UHD BD came in at the same sort of levels, possibly with the same sort of differentiation too, like a mid-range version and a higher-end version.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I don't think anyone who's really clued up with this stuff is saying we should be expecting $50 slimline cheapies right off the bat. We all know that our wallets should be getting ready for a reaming! But HD DVD came to market with players costing $499 and $799 in 2006 (I managed to snag an HD-D1 for £300 on ebay later that year) and I think it'd be great if UHD BD came in at the same sort of levels, possibly with the same sort of differentiation too, like a mid-range version and a higher-end version.

if they come out with a $500 UHD player right off the bat that would leave me a lot of movie to buy movies with. I'll likely have $1000 on hand ready to go, anything less than that is a bonus.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by spectre08

if they come out with a $500 UHD player right off the bat that would leave me a lot of movie to buy movies with. I'll likely have $1000 on hand ready to go, anything less than that is a bonus.

The only way AT ALL I would consider a player in that vicinity is when Oppo releases their 4K models. Hopefully a player similar to the 103D/105D but with 4K disc playback added and perhaps some new features.

I don't think it would be worth that from any other company, IMO. $500 would be the top of the line from anyone else and I am not interested in that personally.

I am disappointed a bit that Oppo won't have a 4K player until 2016. Even if 4K discs launch this Christmas-time, I am guaranteed to not have a player based on that. I am waiting on Oppo.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by spectre08

if they come out with a $500 UHD player right off the bat that would leave me a lot of movie to buy movies with. I'll likely have $1000 on hand ready to go, anything less than that is a bonus.

For all my waffle above about "cheaper" players, I'll probably have the same figure in pounds ready to go, because prices for this stuff never gets converted according to currency, they just change the $ for £. Still, an import would work out cheaper or I could just wait for a few months and pick up something on ebay as with the HD DVD player I mentioned. Thinking about it, I did the same thing with my first Blu-ray player too: it was a US 20GB PS3 bought on ebay.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Richard Paul

...The LG OLED TVs use a white OLED backlight with color filters in a RGBW pattern which helps with cost and lifespan but it reduces color gamut and makes the color balance more complicated.

Regarding color, a short note passed on to me today which was apparently posted on another forum by the Chief Color Scientist for SpectraCal (the folks who design that CalMAN stuff….for those unfamiliar, a 3D LUT primer for newbies…
http://www.spectracal.com/Documents/...ufacturers.pdf )

“And not all OLEDs are in fact true OLEDs. There is an LG using white OLED as a backlight only. That particular display has great black level but really poor color accuracy and even a 33x33x33 3D LUT can't correct it due to its poor linearity”

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

….the next event for me is the NAB show in Vegas.

Where among other things, I’ll be navigating the sessions on BIG color.

[Penton-Man]

Skimming the past posts from the last 48 hrs. or so.

Impression:
Next gen Blu-ray (Ultra HD Blu-ray) hopefulness is alive and well in the Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology forum.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by spectre08

...People have have 4K television in their homes for over 2 years now, and are desperate for content, any content.

[bailey1987]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

do you know something? Is it close? I'm dying from anticipation

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I WATCHED SMURFS 2!

give me my damn UHD Blu-ray player already, I earned it.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by spectre08

I WATCHED SMURFS 2!
give me my damn UHD Blu-ray player already, I earned it.

Others went above and beyond the call of duty during the Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion, back in the day - https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...fs#post3676140

Get in line for your player.

[bailey1987]

For those wanting a bit of content YouTube has put up a bit that is in 60fps with Ultra HD resolution 2160p here: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/27/youtube-4k-60fps/

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by bailey1987

For those wanting a bit of content YouTube has put up a bit that is in 60fps with Ultra HD resolution 2160p here: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/27/youtube-4k-60fps/

the only way to get them onto a tv in 2160p/60 is to download them and put them on a flash drive correct?