Sony UBP-X700 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[BluIsGold]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

Turning off those settings to stop freezes is snake oil, it does not work. If someone says it works and completely fixes freezing they are lying. Every year some Youtuber thinks they have new settings to defeat freezing. The reason the Sony freezes is simple: heat buildup. It has a bad design. This was my first UHD player and I still have it, it will freeze on every 100gb disc like a clock. There is only one place on the back with small square vents, if you put a silent exhaust fan back there to suck the air out like this it shouldn't ever freeze again:



I've yet to open mine up but I may put some thermal pads on the chips or drill some tactical air holes in the case.

I'm considering getting one of these very soon as my LG is crapping out on me and my Series X shouldn't have to be the long term answer, though it could be if it had to. I looked at some screens of the Sony 700M and 800M but didn't notice any USB ports for this particular exhaust fan. My LG is almost on an island, so are there any USB ports on your Sony player or would I have to hook the fan up to a nearby (understandably within 4 feet) device?

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by BluIsGold

I'm considering getting one of these very soon as my LG is crapping out on me and my Series X shouldn't have to be the long term answer, though it could be if it had to. I looked at some screens of the Sony 700M and 800M but didn't notice any USB ports for this particular exhaust fan. My LG is almost on an island, so are there any USB ports on your Sony player or would I have to hook the fan up to a nearby (understandably within 4 feet) device?

The Sony has one USB port on the front, it should work since it can power drives for playing videos, but that's a shame to tie up as the Sony plays files really well (unlike Panny). I always plug things like this into iphone/samsung charger cubes I have around.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu31

This player has been great to me. Never froze once during the 6 or so years I've owned it.

Well, the new settings worked for me. I watched Back to the Future, and it played just fine all the way through - no skips, freezes, nothing.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

Turning off those settings to stop freezes is snake oil, it does not work. If someone says it works and completely fixes freezing they are lying. Every year some Youtuber thinks they have new settings to defeat freezing. The reason the Sony freezes is simple: heat buildup. It has a bad design. This was my first UHD player and I still have it, it will freeze on every 100gb disc like a clock. There is only one place on the back with small square vents, if you put a silent exhaust fan back there to suck the air out like this it shouldn't ever freeze again:



I've yet to open mine up but I may put some thermal pads on the chips or drill some tactical air holes in the case.

That what I’ve been saying but then I was attacked by saying that I’m a Panasonic fanboy or not doing the settings properly.

[Necril]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

The Sony has one USB port on the front, it should work since it can power drives for playing videos, but that's a shame to tie up as the Sony plays files really well (unlike Panny). I always plug things like this into iphone/samsung charger cubes I have around.

I use powerbank aswell. The fan takes so little power, that I only need to recharge the bank maybe once or twice a year.

[Alister_M]

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to any of this player's issues. It's the ultimate YMMV situation. Mine plays the majority of 100GB discs through without issue, yet it once froze up on a BD-25. I do keep it well ventilated though, in an open cabinet with 3" clearance both top and sides. I've killed upscaling completely and set the output resolution to Auto (which also removed the pesky forced 16:9 output for 4:3 SD content) which seems to be working nicely.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to any of this player's issues. It's the ultimate YMMV situation. Mine plays the majority of 100GB discs through without issue, yet it once froze up on a BD-25. I do keep it well ventilated though, in an open cabinet with 3" clearance both top and sides. I've killed upscaling completely and set the output resolution to Auto (which also removed the pesky forced 16:9 output for 4:3 SD content) which seems to be working nicely.

exactly, freezing is simply a symptom that we all see, the problem behind it can be one of a half dozen things.

a player that is freezing within seconds of starting the player and putting in a 100 gb disc is not going to be fixed by more cooling.

there's a whole host of things that can cause the freezing issue, and generally it's because the tolerances and error correction on the players are barely scraping the line. a laser that is slightly misaligned can cause it. excess heat can cause it, player settings causing the processor to push their slim margins can cause it. It's a host of minor issues that result in the same thing.

the problem is that the studios and mfgers don't want to put the effort into putting in a drive with much higher error correction, or overbuild their players simply because there isn't a market for it. One person's fix may not be another person's fix just becaue they display the same freezing symptom.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by wormraper

the problem is that the studios and mfgers don't want to put the effort into putting in a drive with much higher error correction, or overbuild their players simply because there isn't a market for it. One person's fix may not be another person's fix just because they display the same freezing symptom.

You'd think they'd care enough to make a reliable product, especially if they want a decent return from the mass market. Not everyone's in the 30% or so who have become addicted to streaming, and a lot of us can't afford to spend thousands on machines with tons of bells or whistles either. We need something basic that will function properly every time, no BS allowed.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

You'd think they'd care enough to make a reliable product, especially if they want a decent return from the mass market. Not everyone's in the 30% or so who have become addicted to streaming, and a lot of us can't afford to spend thousands on machines with tons of bells or whistles either. We need something basic that will function properly every time, no BS allowed.

ever since Covid hit the entire industry basically imploded in on itself, both from the film studios and the electronics manufacturing. Very little if ANY research or effort is being put into making anything new (this is also true on the other end of the market in regards to TVs and audio receivers, not just players). The 4K UHD market is small enough that they're skating along with a "it's good enough" policy, especially since most of the plants and manufacturing facilities have closed down with studios and mfgers simply sharing a few facilities.

right now mfgering heads are basically waiting out 4K UHD till it dies and they desperately hope they don't have to make disc players ever again. As such there never has been a fully "matured" 4K player out there. Even the $1,000-$1500 players have freezing and drive issues.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by wormraper

The 4K UHD market is small enough that they're skating along with a "it's good enough" policy, especially since most of the plants and manufacturing facilities have closed down with studios and mfgers simply sharing a few facilities.

To be fair, Blu-Ray didn't really catch on until a few years after its launch either. I personally waited until 2010 to buy my first disc, because I wanted to make sure nothing better would replace it soon.

Originally Posted by wormraper

right now mfgering heads are basically waiting out 4K UHD till it dies and they desperately hope they don't have to make disc players ever again.

Here's hoping that's still a long time away. I just started buying 4K movies a few months ago, and my existing Blu-Ray collection has taken 14 years to grow.

Originally Posted by wormraper

As such there never has been a fully "matured" 4K player out there. Even the $1,000-$1500 players have freezing and drive issues.

That's just insane. If you sell anything at that high a price, you better make damn sure it works.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

To be fair, Blu-Ray didn't really catch on until a few years after its launch either. I personally waited until 2010 to buy my first disc, because I wanted to make sure nothing better would replace it soon.

Here's hoping that's still a long time away. I just started buying 4K movies a few months ago, and my existing Blu-Ray collection has taken 14 years to grow.

That's just insane. If you sell anything at that high a price, you better make damn sure it works.

sadly that's the state of the market today. research on optical drive players basically ENDED when 2020 hit. Same with receivers. HDMI 2.1 was introduced 4-5 years ago and yet we still can't gete non buggy HDMI 2.1 ports because mfgers are refusing to put any real research or development into them because no one wants to take risks in fear of another collapse of the market etc. so everyone is simply playing it safe and selling and reselling the same stuff we've had since 2019

[blupetros]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

Turning off those settings to stop freezes is snake oil, it does not work. If someone says it works and completely fixes freezing they are lying. Every year some Youtuber thinks they have new settings to defeat freezing. The reason the Sony freezes is simple: heat buildup. It has a bad design. This was my first UHD player and I still have it, it will freeze on every 100gb disc like a clock. There is only one place on the back with small square vents, if you put a silent exhaust fan back there to suck the air out like this it shouldn't ever freeze again:



I've yet to open mine up but I may put some thermal pads on the chips or drill some tactical air holes in the case.

I've been telling people this on UK AVforums for a couple of years and I always get the "well mine works fine... change this setting... wash the discs etc" comments, like I haven't tried that and I don't know what I'm doing. If you get one that works, good for you. Mine has never liked BD100 discs, everything else plays fine. They play fine on my first gen Pan UB900 from 2016 but of course that doesn't do DV. So I did exactly this a couple of years ago, but I took the top off and trained one of these fans on the heatsink (just taking the top and and raising the player didn't work), and now have no problems (kiss of death).

[sapiendut]

Yeah, but do they care about facts? No. For them, Sony = Good regardless of facts. My X700 and X800 are freezing left and right, but when I said that, they always say “you’re doing it wrong” or “you’re a Panasonic fanboy”. Like I always say, Panasonic sells more than double the quantity of Sony players albeit Panasonics cost a lot more than Sony. People are not that dumb and flock and spend their money on a higher priced players if said players are actually not better than the Sony.

[wol-shiver]

Crazy yall still on this, I must have a super Saiyan x700. Since r54 or Wtvr the last fw was, I've watched at least 100 films no issues.

[sapiendut]

I’m not saying everyone is having this problem. But the problem is widespread enough that there are enough people staying away from Sony or retire their Sony to buy Panasonic

[kellyway]

I had freezing and skipping issues that ended when I ran audio only out to my receiver instead of Earc. For some reason Earc was scrambling the brains of the player.

[stvn1974]

Sony freeze ups: three gazallion bazillion
Panasonic freeze ups: zero

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by kellyway

I had freezing and skipping issues that ended when I ran audio only out to my receiver instead of Earc. For some reason Earc was scrambling the brains of the player.

This is what fixed my problems with the player I posted about last year. Ever since I ran the video direct to my tv and the audio out the second HDMI to my receiver instead of a single HDMI to the receiver and then receiver to the tv my player has never frozen on a single disc or inexplicably turn off my tv. Very glad I tried that before dropping $200+ on a Panasonic player to replace it.

[Nosferatu31]

My X700 is plugged directly to my TV with a sound bar, never had any problems.

[blupetros]

Originally Posted by wol-shiver

Crazy yall still on this, I must have a super Saiyan x700. Since r54 or Wtvr the last fw was, I've watched at least 100 films no issues.

Originally Posted by Nosferatu31

My X700 is plugged directly to my TV with a sound bar, never had any problems.

Good for you two!

(Kind of proves my point).