Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Vilya]

Forum member puddy77 appears to be the first to report the news from Forbes that Samsung is no longer going to make new models of 4K disc players:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc.../#572a11291577

puddy77 inaccurately states that Samsung is leaving the disc player business, but the article only mentions 4K disc players. It makes no mention of their blu-ray players.

This follows the news that Cambridge is also leaving the 4K disc player market. Cambridge relied upon Oppo for many of its key components, so their exit is no big surprise. Hard to build a player without your parts supplier. Cambridge hinted this would happen last April after Oppo's announcement that they were closing their entire home a/v products line.

"the British brand's CXUHD players have Oppo electronics at their heart."

Cambridge's offical statement quoted in an April 2, 2018 article:

[Show spoiler]"The CXUHD shares its Mediatek platform with the Oppo 203 but the CXUHD is also a distinct product with its own technical philosophy and execution, as developed by our in-house team of engineers.

Firmware updates are a joint activity, with the Oppo and the Cambridge engineering teams sharing updates on the Mediatek platform. Both companies feedback to Mediatek and together we work to improve the performance and robustness of the platform.

Oppo have pledged to maintain long term support for their products and Cambridge will continue to work with them to ensure that CXUHD customers continue to benefit from their expertise.

Cambridge customers can rest assured that the CXUHD firmware will continue to be maintained and updates released from time to time when new features or bug fixes warrant such an upgrade.

We have also arranged the option for product supply to be available for at least a year ahead and with component availability that allows us to offer service and repairs into the foreseeable future beyond that."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc.../#208c76313acc

As for Samsung, their 4K disc players, and their TVs, never supported Dolby Vision making their 4K disc players less than desirable. Dolby Vision is now standard on most 4K players and on most 4K TVs. Samsung is the lone holdout regarding Dolby Vision. Who would want a 4K disc player in 2019 that lacks a key feature available on almost every other make and model? Plenty of other, and better, 4K disc players remain to choose from.

Cue up the disc doomsayers as they will certainly have a field day with this news. Some disc fans couldn't resist making a big deal out of the news that UV was closing, so it's their turn to poke back now.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Samsung players in my experience have been pretty bad anyway (hence my signature). While it's not good for there to be fewer companies making them, IMO this is no real loss.

Panasonic has some nice, quality players.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Samsung players in my experience have been pretty bad anyway (hence my signature). While it's not good for there to be fewer companies making them, IMO this is no real loss.

Panasonic has some nice, quality players.

It looks like the Panasonic DP-UB9000 and the Pioneer LX 500 are the flagship players now.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It looks like the Panasonic DP-UB9000 and the Pioneer LX 500 are the flagship players now.

I have Panasonic's UB900 4K player (9-hundred, not the 9-thousand which is newer and more high end). I got it about a year ago when my regular Blu-Ray player in my living room stopped working.

It was normally $600, but I got it on sale for $450. So it's still a pretty pricey player.

I don't even have a 4K TV yet. My main TV in my living room is is one of the last plasmas made and was rather price (got it in 2014), so it's going to be a while before I upgrade.

But as I said back when I first got the player, it is rather nice. Even just playing standard Blu-Rays on it on my existing TV, there is a noticeable uptick in quality. Even my wife noticed it, and she usually doesn't notice these things to the same extent that I do. And it upscales DVDs pretty damn nicely, too. She works in a public library and they get DVDs that people can check out (they generally don't get Blu-Rays), so sometimes she'll bring home movies that we haven't seen and want to check out before deciding to buy them. The first time that I put a DVD in it, I was rather impressed. No, it's not true HD quality, but it was better quality, which the artifacts that I would notice when playing DVDs on any previous player that we hooked up to that TV being substantially reduced and it giving a better overall picture.

With how good this player is hooked to a 1080p TV, I can only imagine how good not only it is hooked to a good quality 4K TV, but how much better the 9000 likely is by comparison.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Samsung players in my experience have been pretty bad anyway (hence my signature).

Samsung TV's appear to be somewhat hit-and-miss from what a dealer once told me (at least here in the UK), as well as their disc players. Never had any trouble whatsoever with Sony TV's or DVD / Blu-ray players, which have always given me many years of good service.

[flyry]

Spin it all you want another major manufacturer quitting the 4K player business is not a good sign

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by flyry

Spin it all you want another major manufacturer quitting the 4K player business is not a good sign

Thank you, I will.



I can't control the news, but I sure can my outlook. It is as sunny as ever, so much so that I need my

[Steedeel]

Wait until Sony announces a 4K player built into their PS5.

Mainstream option, here we come!

[stonesfan129]

Does anyone use a game console as a disc player? I just use my Xbox One S. I like that I can use VUDU and Hulu in addition to playing my DVD/Blu-ray and 4K discs. My TV only does 1080 but the few 4K discs I own are a different transfer on a couple of them (Terminator 2 and Batman Begins). Star Wars - The Last Jedi I have is also 4K but I wanted the steelbook which was only available if I bought the 4K.

I'm surprised some of these companies like Sony or Samsung or whoever don't just make a universal disc player that can play all three formats (DVD/Blu-ray and 4K).

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

Spin it all you want another major manufacturer quitting the 4K player business is not a good sign

Yeah, it pretty much kills TRUE HT.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by flyry

Spin it all you want another major manufacturer quitting the 4K player business is not a good sign

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

It just means that Samsung's competitors are beating them, not that 4K players in general are selling poorly. Does Ultraviolet, Target Ticket, and FilmStruck being shutdown mean that streaming is doing poorly? No, it just means that their competitors are beating them.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Wait until Sony announces a 4K player built into their PS5.

Mainstream option, here we come!

Boy you guys are in denial, Oppo had all kinds of excuses, Samsung is no good. Don't you think it might be Discs are the main reason? UV is on the way out, but MA has taken over Vudu has an option for this. I say the 4K Manufactures that include Streaming Apps will fare well, like Panasonic and Sony. You Disc guys have to see the writing on the wall!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Boy you guys are in denial, Oppo had all kinds of excuses, Samsung is no good. Don't you think it might be Discs are the main reason? UV is on the way out, but MA has taken over Vudu has an option for this. I say the 4K Manufactures that include Streaming Apps will fare well, like Panasonic and Sony. You Disc guys have to see the writing on the wall!

Don’t you get it? Peoole seek out highest quality for their HT. without that, HT will shrink. You don’t have any real standards, therefore it’s not a big deal to you. Weren’t you using a interlaced display a short while back?

[Wendell R. Breland]

Never owned a Samsung disc player because they never had discrete On/Off IR codes for their players. Pioneer, Sony, Oppo, LG, etc. does have have discrete IR On/Off codes.

AFAIK, all Samsung Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray players used, non-defeatable, video noise reduction.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Boy you guys are in denial, Oppo had all kinds of excuses, Samsung is no good. Don't you think it might be Discs are the main reason? UV is on the way out, but MA has taken over Vudu has an option for this. I say the 4K Manufactures that include Streaming Apps will fare well, like Panasonic and Sony. You Disc guys have to see the writing on the wall!

You are free to interpret this news as you like; you want it to be a nail in the coffin of physical media, which is how you choose to see everything, while the rational among us see it as simply a market correction. Samsung 4K players had a poor reputation and they did not support Dolby Vision...in 2019. Why would anyone even want a 4K player that lacked Dolby Vision when almost every player but theirs offered it?

Oppo left their entire home audio & video business, including your preferred listening technology: the headphone, as well as amps for them, DACs, and disc players. Is there no demand for headphones, too? They did so to focus on their core business: smartphones.

I see this writing on the wall above the corner where you are sitting in large block(head) letters:

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Don’t you get it? Peoole seek out highest quality for their HT. without that, HT will shrink. You don’t have any real standards, therefore it’s not a big deal to you. Weren’t you using a interlaced display a short while back?

If you call over two years a short time, yes. Time flies and so does Technology, a couple of years is an Eternity. The only people that require the highest quality are on this Web Site. The General Public just wants to see a Movie or TV Show in a decent Format, that's why DVD are still so popular. My ISP Cable Systems just upgraded their Fiber Network. They added Total Home DVR, which is putting your recordings on an Intranet Server to access from any TV or Device in your home. This can easily include your Movie and TV Show Collection. Streaming Networks and Servers are coming!

[eternalbiz]

I'm super annoyed Best Buy doesn't sell CDs anymore.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

If you call over two years a short time, yes. Time flies and so does Technology, a couple of years is an Eternity. The only people that require the highest quality are on this Web Site. The General Public just wants to see a Movie or TV Show in a decent Format, that's why DVD are still so popular. My ISP Cable Systems just upgraded their Fiber Network. They added Total Home DVR, which is putting your recordings on an Intranet Server to access from any TV or Device in your home. This can easily include your Movie and TV Show Collection. Streaming Networks and Servers are coming!

It has been over three years, and counting, since streaming service bitrates have improved. If two years is an eternity, what do you call 3+ years? Rhetorical question, no need to answer.

The only people that want the highest quality are members of this website? Again, you are reliably wrong. Seeing as you think anecdotes are the gospel truth, try this one on for size:

A friend of mine since 1971 has a mom in her 80s that owns a better TV than yours, a better disc player than yours, listens through a better sound system than your wireless headphones, and owns more blu-rays than you own digital titles. She does not visit this website, but she does have an advanced education and appreciates what blu-ray has to offer. She does not stream.

I get better internet than you do in my little village of 1600. My download speed is 135 Mbps now, to your 85 Mbps, and I have the option of going up to 1 Gbps. None of it makes streaming look or sound any less limited because both streaming bitrates and the codecs used for them have remained stagnant since 2015.

The only thing older than DVR service, cloud or local storage, are your meaningless and randomly capitalized single emoji punctuated posts.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by eternalbiz

I'm super annoyed Best Buy doesn't sell CDs anymore.

Why? Buy them somewhere else or online. Best Buy is not the only retailer on Earth by a longshot.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

It's another Entry for the alchav dictionary™.

Eternity (noun): two years

Digital (adjective): everything

Servers (noun): storage for everything

Rude Awakening (noun): pleasant future

Always Remember to capitalize random Words and use Sunglasses otherwise people will have no Idea what you're talking About.

We know still another member who thinks 8+ years is "soon."

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It has been over three years, and counting, since streaming service bitrates have improved. If two years is an eternity, what do you call 3+ years? Rhetorical question, no need to answer.

I get better internet than you do in my little village of 1600. My download speed is 135 Mbps now, to your 85 Mbps, and I have the option of going up to 1 Gbps. None of it makes streaming look or sound any less limited because both streaming bitrates and the codecs used for them have remained stagnant since 2015.

The only thing older than DVR service, cloud or local storage, are your meaningless and randomly capitalized single emoji punctuated posts.

Streaming Bitrates have not changed because most people barely get 25Mbps, just a few like us get more and mine is Symmetrical. So the Providers are working with those 25Mbps in improving the Codec and using Adaptive Streaming. That's why I think Symmetrical Speeds are so important for that two way communication for Picture and Sound Quality.

That is Server Based DVR Service, that means the capability is there for Storage and playback of your Movie and TV Show Collection.