4K Blu-ray Confirmed, Coming in

[raygendreau]

Originally Posted by ronjones

Not the SAME prototype as the one at CES only had partial functionality and no HDR support. The one at IFA is closer to what can be expected from the production unit.

The Panasonic CES 2015 prototype was professed to have HDR functionality and, if you watched the video I posted, the display behind the player is comparing HDR and SDR images. The Panasonic news release on the CES shown prototype lists "specifications" that include HDR.

http://news.panasonic.com/press/news...n150106-4.html

Then, there is this:

"To date, Samsung and Panasonic are the only two manufacturers to have presented Ultra HD Blu-ray players. Panasonic's is a prototype model that doesn't actually work yet, whereas Samsung's functional version is capable of playing Ultra HD Blu-ray discs when connected to a TV. The Samsung UBD-K8500 also offers support for HDR (High Dynamic Range), HFR (High Frame Rate – 60 fps), HEVC (H.265), 3D and 10-bit color."

http://www.digitalversus.com/blu-ray...16-n45199.html

For now, they are just prototypes and that includes the Samsung. At least Samsung has a model number. I didn't see Panasonic arguing when Samsung claimed to have the "World's First Ultra HD Blu-ray player", even though Panasonic made the same claim back in January.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to "functionality" of these prototypes until ecosystem standards are established by the UHD Alliance and the manufacturers have all the necessary licensing.

[Robert Zohn]

ray ^, please contact me. I think you have pm disabled.

-Robert

[bailey1987]

I have been thinking about this all week now, I'm really angry, looking at the even bigger picture with every passing day that Ultra HD Blu-ray is not on the market, 8K keeps moving back as well. Looking at the UHD Alliances most recent press release dated August 31st they expect Ultra HD TV shipments to jump from 96 million in 2019 to over 300 million in 2019, that may be true but they are the dates I have heard mentioned that 8K would be available, granted this was back in 2009 but it's disheartening none the less.

[bailey1987]

Originally Posted by raygendreau

I wouldn't pay too much attention to "functionality" of these prototypes until ecosystem standards are established by the UHD Alliance and the manufacturers have all the necessary licensing.

The ultra hd alliance can concoct what ever type of echo system they want it won't stop Ultra HD Blu-ray topping out at it's current specs, and I'm not buying anything less! The fact of the matter is, Ultra HD will see the same misguided launch HD had, I fully expect Ultra HD ready television' to be followed by Full Ultra HD television, which is the case now if you buy anything with the current Ultra HD logo on. Not many others will se that coming

How many logos do we need? There's one that's no good as it is, my point exactly!

[bailey1987]

We all knew that this logo was useless back when it was announced, so why bother?

http://www.digitaleurope.org/Service...logos/UHD.aspx

[bailey1987]

What's annoying me here is that regardless as to when this format launches all the players and the TVs will be missing features either way whether there released this year or in 2019.

[bailey1987]

The Hype Train - YouTube

Come on mother effers lets go!

[bailey1987]

I have just seen this at HDTV Test:

Update 4 September 2015: A Samsung spokesperson has revealed that the UBD-K8500 may provisionally be launched at its European Forum in Barcelona in February 2016, with hardware arriving in stores end of April.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsu...1509034166.htm

8+5=13 go figure.

[Pieter V]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Dolby Announce Collaboration on Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) today announced plans to use the new Dolby Vision™ mastering process for the release of 4K Ultra HD titles by a variety of home entertainment distribution partners, delivering high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging with a wider range of contrast and more vibrant colors. The availability of SPHE titles in Dolby Vision for home entertainment platforms marks a revolutionary step forward for enthusiasts and content channels worldwide.

Dolby Vision, a complement to 4K Ultra HD, is a new imaging technology that helps content creators deliver a dramatically enhanced visual experience—astonishing brightness, incomparable contrast, and captivating color—and also bring the next wave of innovative entertainment to consumers via next generation physical disc and digital distribution platforms.

“We continue to be enthusiastic about the growing consumer appetite for next-generation 4K Ultra HD content. With Dolby Vision imaging technology, we can now master our movies with the highest-quality visual experience for distribution to consumers’ homes,” said Richard Berger, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Strategy and Advanced Platforms, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

An end-to-end solution, Dolby Vision can be incorporated from content creation to distribution and playback, and has already received support from others in Hollywood, including A-list directors, executives at major studios, and OTT service providers.

“Dolby Vision shines a bright new light on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s compelling new releases and distinguished catalogue,” said Curt Behlmer, Senior Vice President, Content Solutions and Industry Relations, Dolby Laboratories. “Consumers who purchase SPHE movies that have been mastered in Dolby Vision are able to feel the full visual drama of lifelike images unfold in the comfort of their living room, exciting their senses with an entirely new entertainment experience.”

SPHE plans to release a growing slate of Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD titles in the coming months.

About Dolby Vision

Dolby Vision is a transformative technology for imaging that delivers a dramatic visual experience—astonishing brightness, incomparable contrast, and captivating color—that brings entertainment to life via OTT online streaming, broadcast, and gaming applications.

Even though most content is captured and rendered using technology that produces the colors and brightness of real life, much of that richness is lost by the time it gets to your living room. That’s because current color-grading standards are based on the limitations of current television technologies and require that the content be altered to match their display performance—dramatically reducing the range of colors, brightness, and contrast.

Dolby Vision changes that, giving creative teams the freedom to use the full gamut of colors, peak highlights, brightness, and contrast, with the confidence that those will be reproduced faithfully on televisions that feature Dolby Vision technology.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom.../#.VfGgmnDtlBc

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Pieter V

http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom.../#.VfGgmnDtlBc

“We continue to be enthusiastic about the growing consumer appetite for next-generation 4K Ultra HD content. With Dolby Vision imaging technology, we can now master our movies with the highest-quality visual experience for distribution to consumers’ homes,” said Richard Berger, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Strategy and Advanced Platforms, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

What consumer appetite? The general consumer is showing little to no interest in 4K or HDR for that matter. The only interest is coming from us HT geeks!! Sony is acting like everyone and anyone is falling over themselves to get 4K tv's when that simply is not true and I happen to be one of those people! Although I will admit HDR does interest me a little.

[Biggiesized]

Originally Posted by steve1971

“We continue to be enthusiastic about the growing consumer appetite for next-generation 4K Ultra HD content. With Dolby Vision imaging technology, we can now master our movies with the highest-quality visual experience for distribution to consumers’ homes,” said Richard Berger, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Strategy and Advanced Platforms, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

What consumer appetite? The general consumer is showing little to no interest in 4K or HDR for that matter. The only interest is coming from us HT geeks!! Sony is acting like everyone and anyone is falling over themselves to get 4K tv's when that simply is not true and I happen to be one of those people! Although I will admit HDR does interest me a little.

People will need to see HDR to "get it." It's not just a bigger number like 1080p or 4K.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Biggiesized

People will need to see HDR to "get it." It's not just a bigger number like 1080p or 4K.

That is assuming people, will like it, want it, or at the least get it.

[KRW1]

The complexity is offputting at the moment, for me, anyway. I thought it would be a simple task to buy a new receiver this year, but now forced to learn about HDMI 2.2 or whatever will be needed. I gather I can wait for a player with two ports so I can use a standard HDMI 2.0 amp for but this doesn't seem as elegant and I forsee issues. I suppose I'll just wait a few months.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by steve1971

What consumer appetite? The general consumer is showing little to no interest in 4K or HDR for that matter. The only interest is coming from us HT geeks!! Sony is acting like everyone and anyone is falling over themselves to get 4K tv's when that simply is not true and I happen to be one of those people! Although I will admit HDR does interest me a little.

I'd agree with you but recently a family member who really doesn't care about HT got a 4K TV. They're about as general consumer as you can get.

[sonicyogurt]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I'd agree with you but recently a family member who really doesn't care about HT got a 4K TV. They're about as general consumer as you can get.

Ditto for my in-laws. No interest in 4K, but they wanted a big, new TV from a brand they had confidence in, so a Sony 4K it was. You almost have to go out of your way to not get a 4K if you're buying a new set over a certain size.

[KRW1]

Surely there'll come a point when, like 1080, it simply won't be possible to buy a TV that isn't 4k?

...and then we can come in and complain about people watching DVDs on them.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by steve1971

What consumer appetite? The general consumer is showing little to no interest in 4K or HDR for that matter. The only interest is coming from us HT geeks!! Sony is acting like everyone and anyone is falling over themselves to get 4K tv's when that simply is not true

While I don't necessarily disagree, how do you know? Have you surveyed a large body of consumers? Is there a credible research report that you read and can quote? Or is this just what you and two of your friends think?

The reality is that whether consumers are interested in 4K or not, most of the remaining manufacturers aside from Samsung have a majority of 4K sets in their line. While Samsung is also big into 4K, 59% of their line and 61% of their listed models are still 1080p sets, but that's mostly because they have such a large line (73 lines in 218 model sizes) and much of that is prior year models. What would truly interesting to see is sales data on each model, but that's not available to mere mortals.

While neophyte consumers may not know what UHD or 4K is, when they walk into a showroom, they ask the usual stupid question, "what's the best set?"

And if they do that, they're going to be steered towards 4K. Also, since 4K is "higher" than 1080 (if they can figure that out), they'll think it's better because it's a bigger number. You know, "my amp goes to 11" and all that.

If I were a salesperson and they asked that of me, since I'm such a wiseass, I'd probably refer them to Samsung's 105" 5120x2160 set which has now been discounted to only $120,000. "That's within your price range, right? Oh, it's not? I thought you wanted the best set. Oh, okay, how about this JS9500. It's smaller, only 88", but it's discounted 25% to only $20,000 - it's a real bargain and if you buy it, I'll throw in a free Blu-ray disc from the $5 bin, but don't tell anyone, okay? What? Oh, that's no good either? Excuse me. So I guess you don't really want the best set, do you? You want the best set you can afford, I understand. What's your budget? $700? Oh, okay. Well here's this 32" 720p set. What? Is it the best? Of course it is. Yes, certainly you can tell your friends that you purchased the best TV."

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Biggiesized

People will need to see HDR to "get it." It's not just a bigger number like 1080p or 4K.

While research has shown that people perceive wider color gamut and HDR more than they perceive higher resolution, HDR is still fairly subtle. Unless they see it side-by-side, they might not notice the difference. Even side-by-side, all they'll see is that if there's a fairly dark room with a window and a bright sky, the bright sky is brighter on HDR and it might get a big "so what?".

Also, in a chain store situation, since they crank up the brightness and contrast so high anyway, HDR might actually look worse if it can be perceived at all.

I went to see MI5 at a theater equipped for Dolby Vision. I had forgotten that Dolby Vision is also, in essence, HDR until afterwards. While the picture looked very good, I didn't necessarily perceive the HDR.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

While I don't necessarily disagree, how do you know? Have you surveyed a large body of consumers? Is there a credible research report that you read and can quote? Or is this just what you and two of your friends think?
...

Get real.

We don't need to survey "a large body of consumers" to confirm for you a truth which is obvious to the rest of us.

We draw a simple and very obvious conclusion based upon what we have all observed for years. Of the dwindling number of people who buy disc media, we know that most of them buy DVDs by a significant margin...three or four to one over Blu-ray. That's not the opinion of me and my two friends; it's shown in numbers published weekly for the better part of a decade.

Would any reasonable person believe that these same consumers have developed an interest in 4k and HDR? C'mon. Don't be a butt pain by thinking you need a survery to understand the common sense that has been staring us in the face. We live in a world where convenience trumps everything and a huge majority of disc buyers purchase standard definition discs to watch on their high definition TVs.

Want a survery? Stand on the street corner and ask the first 100 people you see if they are interested in 4K and HDR...then let us know if you even find 3 people who know what the heck you are talking about.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by sonicyogurt

Ditto for my in-laws. No interest in 4K, but they wanted a big, new TV from a brand they had confidence in, so a Sony 4K it was. You almost have to go out of your way to not get a 4K if you're buying a new set over a certain size.

That's gonna be the key to 4K's success right there, what ja said.

If manufacturing only pumps out 4K sets from 26" & beyond while declining in price then it becomes more about mainstream attention for 4K & Native 4K Sources from that point for videophiles & newer generations.

Sure generations past don't give a crap about anything better then DVD & people keep bringing up that format is still king (including my folks) because it's about cost & their internal disregard that anything could possibly look better than 480p but what it's really about is they only care about the content that is in front of their eyes.

I'm not worried at all about 4K TVs surviving. Regardless of 4K content, all other sources outshine native 1080 sets on 4K sets, especially current gen console gaming systems. All Blu-ray's upscale great too.

People who want UHD now need to chill. IMO, it's only purpose will be to drive the TV market forward faster with better tech to make us go DAM! That looks impressive!