Samsung 4K UHD Blu-ray Player UBD-K8500

[JJ]

Originally Posted by Derb

Any noticeable Macro Block on these discs yet?

I have not noticed it yet on the two UHD discs I own.

I did have the issue that vincentric below me reports with the sky having banding - the issue went away when I activated UHD HDMI Color on my TV.

[vincentric]

Originally Posted by Derb

Any noticeable Macro Block on these discs yet?

At the start of the Martian, during the one and a half - two minute mark, I can see terrible blocking in the sky that is not there in the standard blu-ray version.

But it seems to be an isolated issue, I didn't see any other noticeable macroblocking in the Martain UHD after that.

Edit: Forgot to mention, was viewing it in SDR on a Sony 55x810c using default cinema pro picture settings.

[DoubleGulpShrimp]

Just got Kingsman.

[scorpiontail60]

Originally Posted by Adam_ME

Amazing Spider-Man 2 sucked. But I'll still pick up the UHD. I'm a completist and it's gonna look terrific in 4K HDR.

LOL no it's not, it's been on Sony's Video Unlimited 4K service for the longest time and it shows zero improvement over the Blu-ray version. It is very obviously upscaled from 2K as there is no 4K detail at all. You'd be much better off watching the 3D Blu-ray version of this film instead of sacrificing stereoscopic 3D for the upscaled 4K version that has no picture quality improvement.

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Agreed, ^ I watched Spider Man 2 from Sony's 4K media server on our VW665ES 4K Sony projector store demo theater and loved it. Excellent video quality.

-Robert

You got duped because like I said, it looks no better than the Blu-ray. Amazing how many people can be tricked into perceiving something as looking better just because it's had the 4K label slapped on to it.

Don't feel too bad guys, I wasted money getting the Sony 4K store version too in order to get these screenshots, so Sony duped me too. That said, most Sony titles on the Video Unlimited 4K service do show 4K details, so The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seems to be a fluke.

Anyways, if the Video Unlimited 4K service version looks this bad, don't hold your breath for the UHD Blu-ray version looking much better. I'd strongly suggest you don't waste your money.

Left screenshots = 4K version from Sony's 4K store; right screenshots = Blu-ray version upscaled to 2160p. These were captured losslessly using a HDMI 2.0 capture card and a HDCP 2.2 stripper.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

LOL no it's not, it's been on Sony's Video Unlimited 4K service for the longest time and it shows zero improvement over the Blu-ray version. It is very obviously upscaled from 2K as there is no 4K detail at all. You'd be much better off watching the 3D Blu-ray version of this film instead of sacrificing stereoscopic 3D for the upscaled 4K version that has no picture quality improvement.



You got duped because like I said, it looks no better than the Blu-ray. Amazing how many people can be tricked into perceiving something as looking better just because it's had the 4K label slapped on to it.

Don't feel too bad guys, I wasted money getting the Sony 4K store version too in order to get these screenshots, so Sony duped me too. That said, most Sony titles on the Video Unlimited 4K service do show 4K details, so The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seems to be a fluke.

Anyways, if the Video Unlimited 4K service version looks this bad, don't hold your breath for the UHD Blu-ray version looking much better. I'd strongly suggest you don't waste your money.

Left screenshots = 4K version from Sony's 4K store; right screenshots = Blu-ray version upscaled to 2160p. These were captured losslessly using a HDMI 2.0 capture card and a HDCP 2.2 stripper.

Hey, screenshots!

Although - this raises the ugly streaming vs. disc question. I wanna see some bitrates on these guys. I'm inclined to believe you if only because right now I can't offer any counterproof.

[Coenskubrick]

Yeah, the motion shot looks slightly better possible just due to the bitrate in such a fast moving moment, but everything else is clearly the same source, and just looks like the 4k version has a bit of sharpening on it (See the writing on the police vehicle to the left of truck, the sharpening has introduced crappy artefacts). The Blu-ray is listed as having a 4k master though, perhaps it will be different?

[Robert Zohn]

@scorpiontail60, thanks for the a/b comparison. I never watch Spider-man 2 in 1080p. I only played it once in our new Sony 4K theater and it looks exceptional.

Excellent post!

-Robert

[bruceames]

The Sony 4K scenes without CGI are true 4K and show greater detail than the Blu-ray. For the most part, you won't notice much difference (if any) unless the scene has a lot of detail (like a skyline shot, crowds of people or other very small objects) AND is native 4K. Another example is Lawrence of Arabia but in this case the difference is more obvious because the whole movie is in 4K resolution and there are lots of scenes which showcase the extra detail. ASM2 doesn't have many scenes like that and frankly the best scenes in the movie (and any action/comic book movie for that matter) have CGI and thus in 2K.

Edit: got curious and went back to compare and yes the Sony 4K version looks quite a bit better, especially as you move in closer. I was 5' from 65". From there the Blu-ray looked DVD-like in comparison. But of course apparent differences in resolution between 4k and 2k sources are very much scene and screen-size-vs-viewing-distance dependent.

[pedromvu]

If you do some 200%-400% zoom on the eyes of the actress, it looks like the 4K version is sharper, but doesn't look exactly like the drastic change I have seen on some interactive comparisons featuring the difference of UHD.

[eddybe]

For Samsung JS9000 TV owners, does it matter which HDMI port you connect the UBD-K8500 to?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

If you do some 200%-400% zoom on the eyes of the actress...

You mean Oscar/BAFTA/SAG/Golden Globe nominated actress Felicity Jones?

[Coenskubrick]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

If you do some 200%-400% zoom on the eyes of the actress, it looks like the 4K version is sharper, but doesn't look exactly like the drastic change I have seen on some interactive comparisons featuring the difference of UHD.

The TINIEST bit sharper and it's not because it's higher res, it looks like digital sharpening. Look at all the sharpening artefacts.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

You mean Oscar/BAFTA/SAG/Golden Globe nominated actress Felicity Jones?

Haha sorry I haven't seen that movie so I was too lazy to check who she was.

Also I don't think the detail is just a result of sharpening, put it in 400% via chrome zoom, check out the tiny wrinkle behind her left eyelashes (this is absurd to look at such a tiny place) but it is noticeable that part so blurry on the BD version where you can hardly notice what that is, also the eyelashes start to get lost in the blurriness.



Then again that difference alone wouldn't be worth it to me, It would depend on the size of my screen.

[wesslan]

Originally Posted by bruceames.

The Sony 4K scenes without CGI are true 4K and show greater detail than the Blu-ray. For the most part, you won't notice much difference (if any) unless the scene has a lot of detail (like a skyline shot, crowds of people or other very small objects) AND is native 4K. Another example is Lawrence of Arabia but in this case the difference is more obvious because the whole movie is in 4K resolution and there are lots of scenes which showcase the extra detail. ASM2 doesn't have many scenes like that and frankly the best scenes in the movie (and any action/comic book movie for that matter) have CGI and thus in 2K.

Edit: got curious and went back to compare and yes the Sony 4K version looks quite a bit better, especially as you move in closer. I was 5' from 65". From there the Blu-ray looked DVD-like in comparison. But of course apparent differences in resolution between 4k and 2k sources are very much scene and screen-size-vs-viewing-distance dependent.

Seen comparison on Arabia streaming 4K vs JP 4K mastered BD and I didn't see that much difference but that was on a 1440p monitor but still. Have little hope the UHD will look "much" better since same master (I guess?) as the streaming version.

[dvdmike]

The Sony files are not "Streaming"

[HDMan72]

Originally Posted by eddybe

For Samsung JS9000 TV owners, does it matter which HDMI port you connect the UBD-K8500 to?

No. They are all HDMI 2.0a/HDCP 2.2

[wesslan]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

The Sony files are not "Streaming"

True but they are "online" and you download and then watch so "not" physical media then

[larrs]

Originally Posted by JJ

Hey, screenshots!

Although - this raises the ugly streaming vs. disc question. I wanna see some bitrates on these guys. I'm inclined to believe you if only because right now I can't offer any counterproof.

Agreed. I'd also like to see some shots from the same guy with the same equipment of those titles he says are a clear difference for comparison purposes.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by wesslan

Seen comparison on Arabia streaming 4K vs JP 4K mastered BD and I didn't see that much difference but that was on a 1440p monitor but still. Have little hope the UHD will look "much" better since same master (I guess?) as the streaming version.

I think people are going to be disappointed in resolution differences, for the same reasons that have been beat to death already. Unless you get close enough to appreciate it, you won't even notice. That's why they're making a big thing out of HDR instead. Unlike the upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray, HDR will get noticed on any sized (compatible) display. That's a big reason why Blu-ray hasn't taken over DVD yet, people are happy with DVDs from where they sit. But HDR has the capacity to really wow them and make them "want" to upgrade. Hopefully that will happen.

[MisterXDTV]

As I said many times, people forget that Blu-ray happened almost at the same of time of the "film scanning revolution" that killed the old telecine systems..

I think Warner started using 2K scans for some late DVD Special Editions from 2005 onwards.... Blu-ray was launched late 2006

Now with UHD they will be using the same masters they use for BD as the Digital Intermediate is the main source anyway....