Sony UBP-X700 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[D00mM4r1n3]

Originally Posted by blueman_Richie

Is the Sony X700 still one of the best overall 4K players to buy or is there another brand or model that has far superseded now?

It glitches on some discs like Beastmaster and The 10 Commandments, but is otherwise great for the price. I'm just guessing, but the glitch seems to be a problem with layer changes. On both of the movies listed above it glitches a little after the 1 hour mark. Beastmaster was a skip of a few frames, 10 Commandments was a skip of about a minute with it chugging throughout the skip.

[Galactus123]

Originally Posted by SpazeBlue

Good that I have some 4K Blu-Rays already. I bought some before because they had normal BDs too. I also had to order Dawn of the Dead 4K Blu-Ray. Can't wait to watch that.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by D00mM4r1n3

It glitches on some discs like Beastmaster and The 10 Commandments, but is otherwise great for the price.

The first disc I put in mine was Ghostbusters , not to watch the whole movie but just to compare PQ. I definitely noticed a few spots where it was glitching... at least I also have the movie digitally, but it does make me worry to think 4k discs seem more prone to glitching than blu-rays were when they first came out.

[Galactus123]

I just got the player but there is a problem. When I turned it on for the first time Sony logo appears and then nothing. Just black screen. I have tried many times but the same thing happens.

Edit: I had to change the HDMI signal format from Enhanced format to normal. Then the menu appeared. I have Sony XG95 tv.

Are there any settings I should change from the player's menu to get the best picture?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Galactus123

I just got the player but there is a problem. When I turned it on for the first time Sony logo appears and then nothing. Just black screen. I have tried many times but the same thing happens.

Edit: I had to change the HDMI signal format from Enhanced format to normal. Then the menu appeared. I have Sony XG95 tv.

Are there any settings I should change from the player's menu to get the best picture?

Make sure to do the following otherwise you’ll get forced DNR on Blu and DVD playback:

Originally Posted by Geoff D

If you have the picture setting to Auto then that applies baked-in noise reduction. I don't mean in the set-up menus, I mean in-play. While you're watching a disc press OPTIONS on the remote and select VIDEO SETTINGS from the menu that appears. Select PICTURE QUALITY MODE and choose DIRECT for the most un-fudged image.

[Galactus123]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Make sure to do the following otherwise you’ll get forced DNR on Blu and DVD playback:

Does it affect 4K Blu-Rays?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Galactus123

Does it affect 4K Blu-Rays?

No. But I'd still put it on direct anyway, just for argument's sake.

[Galactus123]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

No. But I'd still put it on direct anyway, just for argument's sake.

I changed it and the picture looks a little bit better.

[Galactus123]

I tried the Enhanced HDMI signal format again and the menu still doesn't appear. Its just black screen. Then I tried to play 4K disc and it worked fine. I wonder why I can't see the player's menu? The instruction manual says that the HDMI signal format should be set to enhanced format on Bravia TVs. My HDMI cable is high speed and 4K.

Edit: I tried an old HDMI cable and it worked. Its exactly the same kind of cable but shorter. The menu finally appeared.

[unberechenbar]

I had some problems recently with HDMI cables and this player too. After I got a receiver the second time I tried to watch a movie I had problems getting any picture to show up when the player was hooked up to the receiver. Bought a new HDMI cable but still didn't fix it. Ended up switching the HDMI cable I used to connect the player to the receiver with the cable connecting the receiver to the TV. Don't know why but that seems to have fixed it at least for now.

[unberechenbar]

Is there any way to input CD information on this player? I was surprised to find that it doesn't recognize any track names of my CDs, even my Tenet soundtrack. Previously I just assumed it was just displaying them as Track [#] because they were foreign CDs.

[Scottish HiLLBiLLy]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

I just got one too.

I'm wondering if it's really necessary to connect it to the Internet? I already do all my streaming via Apple TV.

Would it make a very big difference if I never downloaded any software updates?

For ME, I never connect my player or TV to the internet.

The updates are available on Sony’s support site for download and installation using a USB.

For ME, I keep my devices updated to the latest firmware release to take advantage of any product improvements.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/sup...x700#downloads

[Three14]

If I already have PS5 as my 4k blu ray player, does it worth the price just to get that Dolby Vision support? (My TV does support DV, Sony X900H)

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Three14

If I already have PS5 as my 4k blu ray player, does it worth the price just to get that Dolby Vision support? (My TV does support DV, Sony X900H)

Yes, for the image quality uptick (especially for a lot of Studio Canal's janky encodes) and also to reduce wear on your PS5. Save that thing for games.

[profholt82]

Originally Posted by Three14

If I already have PS5 as my 4k blu ray player, does it worth the price just to get that Dolby Vision support? (My TV does support DV, Sony X900H)

DV kicks it up to another level. Get the best DV capable player you can afford, it is worth it. And you have a nice TV, so you'll appreciate it. In some movies, the DV is a staggering improvement on the non-DV layer.

At this point, those without DV capable hardware are doing 4K wrong.

[Geoff D]

I’ve never seen a DV presentation provide a “staggering” improvement over the base layer in terms of the grade, but it’s still worth doing if only to improve the quite horrendous compression on certain titles.

[Panson]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I’ve never seen a DV presentation provide a “staggering” improvement over the base layer in terms of the grade, but it’s still worth doing if only to improve the quite horrendous compression on certain titles.

Up to now, it's caused some confusion and some not optimum PQ for consumers, manufacturers, and streamers.

I'll be kind to HDR Dolby Vision and say it's ahead of its time. It should have a better go when 12-bit TVs and thousands of nits are available to us.

Cheers.

[profholt82]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I’ve never seen a DV presentation provide a “staggering” improvement over the base layer in terms of the grade, but it’s still worth doing if only to improve the quite horrendous compression on certain titles.

Ha! Perhaps "staggering" was a bit of a dramatic adjective. But that said, since I upgraded to DV compatible equipment, I have noticed a visual improvement in the picture of a number of movies. It reminds of me of the difference between the SACD layer and the redbook layer on an audio CD. I feel like UHD owners are missing out by not taking advantage of the DV layers on these discs.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Panson

Up to now, it's caused some confusion and some not optimum PQ for consumers, manufacturers, and streamers.

I'll be kind to HDR Dolby Vision and say it's ahead of its time. It should have a better go when 12-bit TVs and thousands of nits are available to us.

Cheers.

But the ironical thing is that betterer TVs will make DV’s “staggering” improvements far less obvious, as the more coverage the TV has of both range and gamut the less need there is for DV to hand hold the TV. The reason why I don’t see these massive improvements on my end is because my TV already has superb processing and the ability to hit ~1800 nits of brightness combined with excellent blacks and contrast.

And 12-bit displays aren’t going to engender some amazing next-gen DV performance, people think it will for whatever reasons but it’s just going to allow for finer gradations, that’s it. It will be allied with betterer range/gamut on future TVs so people will think it’s them extra bits making the difference, but as with 8K TVs being given superior panels and processing vs 4K models it’s just a coincidence, i.e. the 8K part is totally secondary to these improvements and it’ll be the same with 12-bit displays.

12-bit also presents its own problems re: processing as TVs will need at least 14 if not 16-bit to provide the proper overhead to handle the images; Sony have been using 14-bit for years (which is why my telly is just so damn good at handling HDR as transparently as possible) but when UHD first came along it was embarrassing watching supposed “top flight” displays choke on the bit depth of 4K because their processing just wasn’t up to snuff. Even now people still get banding on this and that title which is down to their display chain.

Originally Posted by profholt82

Ha! Perhaps "staggering" was a bit of a dramatic adjective. But that said, since I upgraded to DV compatible equipment, I have noticed a visual improvement in the picture of a number of movies. It reminds of me of the difference between the SACD layer and the redbook layer on an audio CD. I feel like UHD owners are missing out by not taking advantage of the DV layers on these discs.

Sure, I’m not saying that you’re not seeing those improvements, same with anyone else who regards DV as next level stuff, but 95% of it is down to how your display is handling the HDR10 layer rather than DV providing a materially different grade. Indeed, the great lie about DV is that it’s some sort of source grading process in and of itself which is utterly false when talking about home video HDR content. DV is basically a metadata pass on a finished HDR grade and even Dobly’s own DV manuals say this.

[blueman_Richie]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But the ironical thing is that betterer TVs will make DV’s “staggering” improvements far less obvious...

Indeed, the great lie about DV is that it’s some sort of source grading process in and of itself which is utterly false when talking about home video HDR content. DV is basically a metadata pass on a finished HDR grade and even Dobly’s own DV manuals say this.

Geoff, you've got this particular player (Sony X700), right? Would you recommend it as a solid purchase? I'm assuming you went for multiregion?