Is HDR > SDR conversion meant to be terrible?

[Megalith]

I've found that there is an obvious inconsistency in the quality of highlights from one UHD title to another (a sunny scene in one movie will look completely blown out, while it will look too dark in another), and the only explanation I can come up with is that I am watching on an SDR device and the conversion process is terrible.

[51dueller]

Which player do you have? Some players don't do a good conversion. I haven't had any problems with the 30 UHD discs I've played with the Panasonic UB900 and my Sony XBR830C TV. My tv doesn't officially support HDR and have watched them all in 4k SDR.

[mar3o]

I hear the Sony X800 crushes the blacks pretty bad when downconverting HDR to SDR. I haven't had any experience with it myself yet as I don't yet own a player.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Megalith

I've found that there is an obvious inconsistency in the quality of highlights from one UHD title to another (a sunny scene in one movie will look completely blown out, while it will look too dark in another), and the only explanation I can come up with is that I am watching on an SDR device and the conversion process is terrible.

As Mar3o just said the X800 crushed blacks terribly on every setting for me. Geoff liked the SDR conversion on the Panasonic player though, but then after upgrading his TV he also said it made a huge difference, so I dunno...

HDR is so core to the UHD experience I tend to advise sticking to normal blu-ray until you can get the real thing.