4K Blu-ray Confirmed, Coming in

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by ij72

The 420 lacks Dolby Vision (doesn't matter to Samsung TV owners, of course)

Or to projector owners.

[Kuroneko]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Only one new one (Reavon) has been announced.

The thing is with players, there's really no reason to update them. There's no new technology to put in it unless you are just adding fluff. It's a laser, a drive and mostly software. Even though these players are years old, you wouldn't really gain anything new from a new model outside of aesthetics.

It's like vinyl/record players. The Techincs 1200 from the 70s is still one of the most sought after players. It's well built, has great sound quality and just works. Making one in 2023 wouldn't offer any benefits. There's no new tech to play records. It's a needle, arm and motor.

But do you think 4k players or even regular bluray players will be produced in the future? I'm starting to get worried. I have a huge collection. Will I be able to buy a new player in, let's say, five years from now? Or do I have to buy one now, just in case?

[johnnyringo7]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

But do you think 4k players or even regular bluray players will be produced in the future? I'm starting to get worried. I have a huge collection. Will I be able to buy a new player in, let's say, five years from now? Or do I have to buy one now, just in case?

Don't worry as long as 4K movies are made there will also be players.

[dcx4610]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

But do you think 4k players or even regular bluray players will be produced in the future? I'm starting to get worried. I have a huge collection. Will I be able to buy a new player in, let's say, five years from now? Or do I have to buy one now, just in case?

I'm sure more and more companies are going to phase them out but I really think Blu-ray/4K is going to be like the vinyl market. One of my local (there are many) vinyl stores actually had to move because they've grown so much. They are very profitable and have been for decades now.

I'm hoping Panasonic sticks around as they are the best player going but I think even if they were to drop out, you'll have a kickstarter to make a premium player or there will be companies like Reavon that cater to the collectors market.

And worst case, both the Xbox Series X and PS5 play 4K movies and those are going to be in abundance for years to come.

I don't think we have anything to worry about for quite a long time. Our choices will probably be down to 1 or 2 companies but there will still be players.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Only one new one (Reavon) has been announced.

The thing is with players, there's really no reason to update them.

The one and only readily available UHD-BD SoC is from MediaTek and was based on the UHDTV spec of the time and the available UHDTV/4K Media Player SoC tech from that particular company. It only has support for HDR10, with HDR10+ and DV being "software add-ons" that don't work too well, as we've seen in usage. MediaTek has since updated it's UHDTV SoC design with multiple HDR standards and video codecs for streaming purposes, but hasn't bothered to put out a new UHD-BD/4K or 8K Media Player chipset that has the latest HDR/streaming tech.

Panasonic has their own line of UHDTV/UHD-BD SoCs, under the "UniPhier/HCX" naming, but nobody apparently uses those outside of Panasonic themselves, though they are available for licensing and customization.

So yes, there is a reason to update them, the main selling point of UHD-BD and UHDTV, which was HDR.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

It's a needle, arm and motor.

I believe most refer to it as a “Stylus”.

[danny24]

The newest 4K player announced is by Magnetar and it's priced almost as much as a second hand Oppo 205. Value Electronics has them for sale right now.

The 10 best UHD players you can buy imo:
1. Oppo 205 (second hand, no longer made)
2. Oppo 203 (second hand, no longer made)
3. Pioneer LX500 (second hand, no longer made)
4. Cambridge Audio CXUHD (second hand, no longer made)
5. Panasonic UB9000
6. Panasonic UB820
7. Sony X1100ES (second hand, no longer made)
8. Reavon X100/X200 (replaced with X110)
9. Sony X700
10. Panasonic UB420

[tcripe]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

But they are still releasing UHD BluRays. If you want to step in with an 4K UHD player, you are basically too late? Or you have to pay a lot for a high end player?

They are still manufacturing the current players. Just don't expect any new models any time soon if ever.

[chip75]

If your budget allows it try and pick up a decent player, we'll get to the point where there won't be mid-range players, just cheap stuff and high-end players with inflated prices.

But remember things that are not used may need servicing if they're left for years, even if it's just re-greasing the tray motors.

[PenguinInfinity]

I'm not the least bit worried about being unable to play 4k Blu-ray in the future. It's not difficult to find working LaserDisc or HD-DVD players and far less of them were made than 4K Blu-ray players.

[D00mM4r1n3]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Only one new one (Reavon) has been announced.

The thing is with players, there's really no reason to update them...

Except that older models struggle with triple layer discs causing skipping/freezing, so clearly a revision is needed with a more powerful processor.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by D00mM4r1n3

Except that older models struggle with triple layer discs causing skipping/freezing, so clearly a revision is needed with a more powerful processor.

The triple layer thing is a myth, my OPPO has literally glitched once in five years since having the drive replaced. The problem as I see it is a very low tolerance for errors in the drives themselves, I don’t pretend to know tech stuff but it’s interesting how two people with the same machine can have such vastly different experiences with them, one person’s being bulletproof and the other being flakier than a famous brand of UK chocolate bar. I don’t think there needs to be an upgrade on that basis - though I’d love to see it happen - so much as they need to make sure that the current drives are properly ‘tuned’ at the factory.

[dcx4610]

Perhaps they could add a more powerful processor and memory to increase the error correcting buffer.

I do remember as CD/DVD-ROM tech got better with PCs, the ECC buffer got much better when ripping discs.

These days though, it seems like companies do everything to cut corners and make more profit. Actually putting additional hardware in seems unlikely.

[Kuroneko]

Originally Posted by danny24

The newest 4K player announced is by Magnetar and it's priced almost as much as a second hand Oppo 205. Value Electronics has them for sale right now.

The 10 best UHD players you can buy imo:
1. Oppo 205 (second hand, no longer made)
2. Oppo 203 (second hand, no longer made)
3. Pioneer LX500 (second hand, no longer made)
4. Cambridge Audio CXUHD (second hand, no longer made)
5. Panasonic UB9000
6. Panasonic UB820
7. Sony X1100ES (second hand, no longer made)
8. Reavon X100/X200 (replaced with X110)
9. Sony X700
10. Panasonic UB420

Thank you! Do you know the LG UBK90? It's in the 250 range and it has HDR10 and Dolby Vision. From the specs, it seems a complete player.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by dcx4610

Perhaps they could add a more powerful processor and memory to increase the error correcting buffer.

I do remember as CD/DVD-ROM tech got better with PCs, the ECC buffer got much better when ripping discs.

These days though, it seems like companies do everything to cut corners and make more profit. Actually putting additional hardware in seems unlikely.

The stupid thing about the MediaTek UHD-BD SoC, is that it has to be paired with another MediaTek SoC, which is an off-the-books low-end dual-core tablet piece of junk that MediaTek cooked up years before UHD-BD was a thing. So, you've got a quad-core SoC (MT8581) media box chip handing the A/V and it's taking orders from a dual-core tablet SoC (MT8577A) that does the actual "system stuff" and both are apparently sharing the LPDDR3 RAM. To make matters worse, it seems there is an off-the-books updated MediaTek SoC for UHD-BD players (MT8591) that was used by the Oppo units, to give them DV and whatever else came along with that updated tech.

[oddbox83]

My Oppo still going strong too.

But there are too many niggles with the otherwise superb Sony and Panasonic players which they really need to address, unless I'd be looking for one of the various Oppo clones that are now available if my Oppo did die.

Specifically, it's the weird DV implementations and I'd need reassurance the Panny doesn't have any remaining 50i playback issues.

[Naiera]

I have zero niggles with my Panasonic DP-UB824, but I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Even bought it used for like $200.

I would not recommend anything else than the Panasonic 420, 820 or the 450 where available. Those expensive Chinese knock-off Oppos might be good, but I, personally, have no reason to find out. Three players (Oppo BDP-103, aforementioned Panny and a Zidoo) is a bit much, but they fulfil my disc playback needs very well.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

Thank you! Do you know the LG UBK90? It's in the 250 range and it has HDR10 and Dolby Vision. From the specs, it seems a complete player.

That LG UHD player is pretty good if that works for you and your budget. I was never a fan of LG DVD players (their BD players were ok) but their UHD players are a little better. The Panasonic though for a little more will have better performance. Still if the LG player has all you need it's a good choice price wise.

[Paianni]

I've read around the player situation 'to death' and I have some predictions for the future:

The Oppo clones will come and go. If UHD players weren't a worthwhile business for Pioneer then I can't see why they would be worth the time of small outfits with no brand recognition, especially as the players' technical qualities aren't anything special. Their USP is luxurious construction with SACD/DVD-A support. The problem is that there are plenty of dedicated SACD/DVD-A players available new and in the second-hand market that are perfectly serviceable, for a fraction of the cost of the universal players.

LG must be on the way out by now, they seem to have no distribution in the UK at time of writing. The UBK80 and UBK90 are somewhat reliable but their firmware is a dog and they never addressed the always-on CEC issue.

Panasonic seems to have an edge on Sony, partly because they seem to support their products better but also because DVD-A and SACD support isn't cheap (although Sony co-developed SACD so they don't need a license). I'd say Panasonic is more likely to stay in the game for the long haul.

But...I think they will ditch their HCX players eventually, and perhaps use the UB15*/UB45* platform as the basis for their high-end players. I don't think there's enough demand for the features HCX facilitates. I wouldn't be surprised if Dolby Vision becomes irrelevant in 5 to 10 years time as well, given how display panel technology is progressing.

After years of painful consideration I'm personally after a UB450; it's got the best DV implementation and although its spindle motor will probably leak oil and become unusable in time, I think that can be remedied without replacing the drive. It's construction is cheap but I don't think there's any other part of it that's truly defective from what I've read.