Shouldn't there be enough 4K content by now?

[Poya]

I get that people complain that it's pointless to upgrade because of the lack of content, but there have been many films that have been remastered in 4K and downsampled for the Blu-Ray. I might be naive on this, but why don't they use the 4K files of those films they created for the Blu-Ray and put them in a quad-layer BD-XL? There are tons of films out there that were finished, remastered, or shot in 4K.

[Tech-UK]

There is currently no standard for 4K content on Blu-ray, let alone equipment that could play it back.

Yes, some TV's may have a resolution of 4K, but that doesn't mean it can support 4K Blu-ray once its available.

I would personally wait until the next format or be it, sub-format is standardised, and players are available before purchasing a '4K' display.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

There is currently no standard for 4K content on Blu-ray, let alone equipment that could play it back.

Yes, some TV's may have a resolution of 4K, but that doesn't mean it can support 4K Blu-ray once its available.

I would personally wait until the next format or be it, sub-format is standardised, and players are available before purchasing a '4K' display.

Yeah, there does need to be equipment for it, but hopefully, that should come around soon. I'm just saying that if they did remasters, obviously, they can put those remastered files on the disc. It'd be a huge file, but I'm fine with one disc being the feature and another disc being the special features. All that 128 GB should be for the film. It isn't going to look as good as a 4K movie in the cinema, but then again, if it is, then what's the point of going to the cinema if you can wait for a 4K movie on home media that's just as good as the theater? That could kill the film business.

[Wingman1977]

Originally Posted by Poya

Yeah, there does need to be equipment for it, but hopefully, that should come around soon. I'm just saying that if they did remasters, obviously, they can put those remastered files on the disc. It'd be a huge file, but I'm fine with one disc being the feature and another disc being the special features. All that 128 GB should be for the film. It isn't going to look as good as a 4K movie in the cinema, but then again, if it is, then what's the point of going to the cinema if you can wait for a 4K movie on home media that's just as good as the theater? That could kill the film business.

LINK

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by Wingman1977

LINK

These are NOT 4K disc's. All are 1080p.

Marketing ploy.

'Filmed in', 'optimised for' does not mean 4K resolution encoded on the Blu-ray.

[Tech-UK]

Sony's 'Mastered in 4K' line are superior to the original releases, because they have come from 4K masters and have been more tightly controlled, plus the bump in bit-rate.

But nowhere on the packaging does it state they are 4K Blu-ray's only 'Mastered in 4K' which they have been.

They are still all 1080p.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Wingman1977

LINK

Although once in awhile we forget a title ( https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ns#post8714645 )

Regarding available 4K finishes from the DI suite, I think these are the two most comprehensive and original (as evidenced by the timing of input additions) 4K lists anywhere on the internet -

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=218262
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=220755

[Flatnate]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Although once in awhile we forget a title ( https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ns#post8714645 )

Regarding available 4K finishes from the DI suite, I think these are the two most comprehensive and original (as evidenced by the timing of input additions) 4K lists anywhere on the internet -

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=218262
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=220755

Thanks for these links Penton!

Both threads should almost be made in to stickies as time goes on.

Yesterday I went in to the "high end" section of a unnamed Big Blue Box retailer in the largest mall in the country. Anyway, the guy in there was talking up the Sony "puck" server. He made some statement like "there are already about 250 movies on the Sony server now". I'm like "no there is not dude..." he was taken aback. "No, they have been recording in 4K since like 2003" he says. I just shut up after that. "Well go check out the Sony site and see" he tells me. Well here it is man! The Sony available titles as of Jan 31st 2014. Maybe you get close to 250 with all the individual episodes of Breaking Bad and the free clips of demo material not listed... like a Taylor Swift music video.... then maaaaybe he was close to being right. I dunno. Seems like a stretch. I always wonder what kind of corporate filter all those guys get their information through. Oy.

http://store.sony.com/gsi/static/WFS...d_PDF_Rev2.pdf

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Poya

I get that people complain that it's pointless to upgrade because of the lack of content

Why not read the Real 4k disks - what do you think the rollout timeline will be? thread. I can assure you this is not a simple process. Is there a post house with all the hardware/software needed to do a workflow in 4K using H.265? Since HEVC is in the process of forming MPEG LA H.265/HEVC it could be awhile before we see hardware/software utilizing HEVC. BTW, I do not see Sony or Philips on that list, anyone have the scoop on that?

[img eL]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Since HEVC is in the process of forming MPEG LA H.265/HEVC it could be awhile before we see hardware/software utilizing HEVC. BTW, I do not see Sony or Philips on that list, anyone have the scoop on that?

Sony & Philips might be waiting on Version 2 of the HEVC/H.265 standard

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Why not read the Real 4k disks - what do you think the rollout timeline will be? thread.

It’s still not too infested by anti-4K trolls….https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=226203 but alas, everyone likes to toot their own horn….

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...v-is-here.aspx

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

...I can assure you this is not a simple process. Is there a post house with all the hardware/software needed to do a workflow in 4K using H.265? Since HEVC is in the process of forming MPEG LA H.265/HEVC it could be awhile before we see hardware/software utilizing HEVC.

The major licensing hurdle has been cleared, in that the content makers are dancing in the streets…https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...no#post8680981 and the encoder/decoder vendors have a clearer picture as to what they have to deal with in terms of royalties so they can now move forward with less inhibition.

Off the top of my head (based on what was displayed at the last CES), the following vendors have hardware to support the decoding of HEVC at 4K (2160p) rez…Qualcomm, Sigma, ViXS, Broadcom, MediaTek, MStar, and ST. On the other hand, hardware support for HEVC encoding is still in its infancy at this time.

Further development of the HEVC codec itself, continues (unlike that for VP9, of which specs are frozen, to the best of my knowledge). HEVC range extension work is very active which includes new profiles as well as Intra profiles and scalable technology for such things as color gamut and frame rate.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

The major licensing hurdle has been cleared, in that the content makers are dancing in the streets…

I have removed the Sony FMP-X1 from consideration because they have announced a new version that supposedly supports streaming and HEVC. It would be nice if it had IR control as well and supported external hard drives without headaches.

[Wendell R. Breland]

FWIW:

Together with Sony's new 4K X850B series models, all 2014 4K TVs come with Sony's 4K 60p HEVC hardware decoder built-in to enable playing new forms of 4K content. Sony is also developing its next-generation 4K Media Player with expanded codec support (AVC, HEVC and XAVC-S) to support streaming of 4K content, as well as storage and playback of footage shot with Sony 4K Handycam® camcorders.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

....and supported external hard drives without headaches.

As to the current version (the puck) in that regard, a novel solution would have been to let go some people from CORPORATE rather than cutting back on people in the trenches (and their managers) that make the infrastructure work.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

(the puck)

How to download 4K content from the Sony® Video Unlimited 4K Service - YouTube

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

The major licensing hurdle has been cleared, in that the content makers are dancing in the streets…https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...no#post8680981 and the encoder/decoder vendors have a clearer picture as to what they have to deal with in terms of royalties so they can now move forward with less inhibition.

Off the top of my head (based on what was displayed at the last CES), the following vendors have hardware to support the decoding of HEVC at 4K (2160p) rez…Qualcomm, Sigma, ViXS, Broadcom, MediaTek, MStar, and ST. On the other hand, hardware support for HEVC encoding is still in its infancy at this time.

Further development of the HEVC codec itself, continues (unlike that for VP9, of which specs are frozen, to the best of my knowledge). HEVC range extension work is very active which includes new profiles as well as Intra profiles

The intent is that Version 2 (range extensions) of the HEVC specification (including such profiles as Main 4:2:2 12, Main 4:2:2 10, Main 4:4:4 12, Main 4:4:4 10, Main 4:4:4 8, monochrome 12, monochrome 16, etc.) will be approved this July. This will be of benefit to professionals in the future.