Samsung 4K UHD Blu-ray Player UBD-K8500

[Georgiaboy04]

Originally Posted by ray0414

If it changes your settings that means your set is decoding hdr. How did it look?

Looked good even more excited about next week.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by JJ

Woah!

Just gotta wait on Lionsgate for Sicario now.

Yep.

Hope it's not a science experiment to open these cases with 4 security stickers & remove the 2 in the inside.

[Opips3]

Originally Posted by Derb

Yep.

Hope it's not a science experiment to open these cases with 4 security stickers & remove the 2 in the inside.

I ready there I've empty dvd double black 100 cases for 9mm .

[bruceames]

I'm happy that I only have to worry about HDR on the newer movies. I mostly watch catalog anyway and my non-HDR 4K TV is perfect for that. And great news that 4K (apparently) looks better on a 1080p. Makes it more likely that I'll be very pleased with the new format. Hopefully the included Blu-ray and the fact that the UHD BD looks better on 1080p will get a lot more people interested. Especially those people who scour the international releases looking to double dip via import for the tiniest PQ upgrade.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

I'm happy that I only have to worry about HDR on the newer movies. I mostly watch catalog anyway and my non-HDR 4K TV is perfect for that. And great news that 4K (apparently) looks better on a 1080p. Makes it more likely that I'll be very pleased with the new format. Hopefully the included Blu-ray and the fact that the UHD BD looks better on 1080p will get a lot more people interested. Especially those people who scour the international releases looking to double dip via import for the tiniest PQ upgrade .

Lets be fair now. Spending $20+ to get better quality from what you already have is entirely different than spending $5K+ on a completely new setup that you are not even sure if the PQ difference is worth that investment.

This is why some wanted to know how 4K players downscaled to 1080p. Spending under $400 for Better mastered blurays will be fine for awhile. It's a much cheaper and simpler risk.

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

First 4K Blu-ray Player Goes On Sale Tomorrow

I wonder when Amazon will start shipping!

[PenguinMaster]

A request for those that get their player soon: try playing a UHD disc before you connect your player to the internet. I want to be absolutely sure that the player works without any online requirements.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by saprano

Lets be fair now. Spending $20+ to get better quality from what you already have is entirely different than spending $5K+ on a completely new setup that you are not even sure if the PQ difference is worth that investment.

This is why some wanted to know how 4K players downscaled to 1080p. Spending under $400 for Better mastered blurays will be fine for awhile. It's a much cheaper and simpler risk.

It wasn't a criticism at all. On the contrary, they are the type of buyers who are most likely to appreciate the difference between 4K and 2K Blu-ray on the 1080p TV they already own, and a $400 player investment is all that's required. I can't see these people continuing to buy 2D BDs when the 4K combo is available for a few bucks more. I sure wouldn't, even if I didn't have a 4K TV or a UHD BD player. I gotta have the best version available.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

It wasn't a criticism at all. On the contrary, they are the type of buyers who are most likely to appreciate the difference between 4K and 2K Blu-ray on the 1080p TV they already own, and a $400 player investment is all that's required. I can't see these people continuing to buy 2D BDs when the 4K combo is available for a few bucks more. I sure wouldn't, even if I didn't have a 4K TV or a UHD BD player. I gotta have the best version available.

Guess i read that the wrong way.

I was thinking the same but i went ahead anyway and bought The Martian and Sicario on bluray. I wanted to watch them now instead of waiting a few months.

[Opips3]

Originally Posted by saprano

Guess i read that the wrong way.

I was thinking the same but i went ahead anyway and bought The Martian and Sicario on bluray. I wanted to watch them now instead of waiting a few months.

disagreed. I believe it Ultra4K is full best picture native 4K film on 1080p HDTV. same as mastered 4K bluray is 1/2 better picture.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by Opips3

disagreed. I believe it Ultra4K is full best picture native 4K film on 1080p HDTV. same as mastered 4K bluray is 1/2 better picture.

I was just impatient since the movies were already out.

Next time onward i will by 4K combo packs.

[Frank@Chicago]

I was watching a CES 2016 interview with a THX guy and the question is asked (around the seven minute mark) what happens if you play a HDR UHD disc on a non-HDR TV...

The THX guy shocks the hell out of me by saying "(you wouldn't do that) that's why there's a BD in the box".

https://www.avforums.com/video/video...ces-2016.12255

I hope this THX guy doesn't know what he's talking about...

[BluesHD]

Well, precommand on the site of B&H in NY, I've already ordered the movies, too bad if I had the movies and not the player

It's a cheaper deal that when I imported the tosh A1(HDDVD) and the an PS3 zone A...

now the clock is running...

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Frank@Chicago

I was watching a CES 2016 interview with a THX guy and the question is asked (around the seven minute mark) what happens if you play a HDR UHD disc on a non-HDR TV...

The THX guy shocks the hell out of me by saying "(you wouldn't do that) that's why there's a BD in the box".

https://www.avforums.com/video/video...ces-2016.12255

I hope this THX guy doesn't know what he's talking about...

Since when have THX been relevant?

[Derb]

I miss the THX sound at the beginning of older releases.

[dvdboy]

My understanding of the whole HDR "backward compatibility" thing is this:

- The default HDR spec on the discs is HDR10
- This can be down-converted to SDR by the player.
- The player may or may not do a good job.
- The disc can be authored to prevent playback on SDR screens in the same way as 3D Blu-rays can be prevented to playback on 2D screens. It is the choice of the studio, and including regular HD Blu-rays is done for the same reason as including 2D Blu-rays in 3D bundles.

Now, there are two competing technologies from Technicolor and Philips to help provide a better HDR-SDR downconvert. One was based on automatically generating the 'delta', the other was operator / grader driven. I believe that it was announced at CES that these two companies are joining forces now to provide a single solution.

So, if the studios have used this technology / process (and there has been no indication if they have / if it is available), then then the downconverting 'metadata' can be fed to the video encoder and is then available to provide a high quality convert from HDR to SDR.

Finally, Dolby Vision, when it hits the market is seen as an HDR "brand" that consumers have seen in the cinema. This should be mean that Titles mastered in Dolby Vision can also appear on UHD Blu-ray. The workflow will mean that the "Dolby Vision" process can be 'exported' to the UHD Video Compressionists of the the world (Lyris etc) and the encode a 'base' HDR10 stream, and include a secondary "Dolby Vision" stream which sits on top and augments the video to 12bit quality. I believe this process will also include the metadata to downconvert to SDR as well.

In Summary

• Current discs are HDR10 with player only SDR output - this may be good / bad.
• If studios support Philips / Technicolor, later discs will have "better" SDR metadata for down converting.
• Ultimately, studios who invest in Dolby Vision can provide a better experience that HDR10 with 12bit DV encoding AND provide better converting to SDR.

Comments? Agreements? Disagreements?

[Geoff D]

That's spot on as far as I can tell dvdboy, I've been concerned about the state of the HDR to SDR conversion for quite some time. As of late last year the UHD Blu spec included provision for three SDR conversion systems: one from Philips, one from Dolby and CRI (which I presume is Technicolour's system), and it's up to the manufacturers to decide which version to implement.



CRI uses dynamic metadata generated from the genuine SDR grade to remap the image using a 1D LUT and a 3x3 colour transform, the Dolby version relies on metadata derived from their own CMU (Content Mapping Unit), and the Philips version also uses metadata embedded as SEI messages derived from the SDR trim pass (though it depends how much thought they want to put into it as they can just use an automatically generated tone map).

What I find interesting about the Philips HDR system in general is that it can be used both ways, to use a HDR stream with SDR mapping metadata OR an SDR stream with HDR mapping metadata (Philips even said that this latter method actually provided a better HDR image than just a straight HDR encode), thereby providing both HDR and SDR within a single layer system.

Anyhoo, it'd be great to get SOME idea of just what it is that Samsung will be including in their launch player for the SDR conversion, but no-one's been asking those questions.

[Geoff D]

There's a bit more in this link about the SDR viewpoint in general as the industry is apparently split: "Some say it’s essential; others don’t think it’s necessary” which I think takes the piss given how there are still so many SDR 4K sets out there than HDR ones. I could be wrong but it wasn't until the completion of SMPTE ST 2094 late last year that the issue of Colour Volume Remapping was really defined in any sort of spec, as 2084 was the HDR EOTF and 2086 was the metadata standard for that system; SDR be damned.

http://www.screenplaysmag.com/2015/1...uality-issues/

[bbwiscfan]

I will test those clips on my TV, however, there was one thing I forgot to mention that I've noticed.

Whenever I use the NETFLIX app through the Samsung TV, I noticed that my settings do change; is this a result of the HDR on Netflix? I heard their show Daredevil utilizes HDR so I'm wondering if I had my question of HDR already answered by watching some movies through their 4k selection.

In any case, I will test those clips via a USB stick and look into it more.

Another question; I see Amazon has Life of Pi in 4k set for next week but every other movie is still March 1st. Wondering when and if they will change this as I've seen nothing to indicate otherwise, especially with the Samsung player being released later today.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by bbwiscfan

I will test those clips on my TV, however, there was one thing I forgot to mention that I've noticed.

Whenever I use the NETFLIX app through the Samsung TV, I noticed that my settings do change; is this a result of the HDR on Netflix? I heard their show Daredevil utilizes HDR so I'm wondering if I had my question of HDR already answered by watching some movies through their 4k selection.

In any case, I will test those clips via a USB stick and look into it more.

Another question; I see Amazon has Life of Pi in 4k set for next week but every other movie is still March 1st. Wondering when and if they will change this as I've seen nothing to indicate otherwise, especially with the Samsung player being released later today.

Amazon use HDR not Netflix yet