Sony UBP-X800M2 4K UHD Blu-ray Player

[CyberCat333]

Have someone tried to use the external subtitles with this player?

I'm almost down to buy it as it reads almost every type of disc, but the feature of loading custom 3rd-party subtitles from a USB stick to play along with the blu-ray disc is very important for me as I'm not a native English speaker, and my native language audio/subs often end up not being added on a blu-ray disc, unfortunately.

The feature I'm looking for was described here, but no info regarding any Sony player - https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=314129

[MJW]

I've just started looking into this player so forgive me if this is a stupid question and/or already discussed:

I read a review somewhere that said the player loads a disc automatically when inserted and there is no way to change this in settings, is that true?

This isn't a big deal, I just wasn't sure if it was true or the result of someone who didn't navigate the setup options thoroughly...

[JWgrayhawk]

Originally Posted by MJW

I've just started looking into this player so forgive me if this is a stupid question and/or already discussed:

I read a review somewhere that said the player loads a disc automatically when inserted and there is no way to change this in settings, is that true?

This isn't a big deal, I just wasn't sure if it was true or the result of someone who didn't navigate the setup options thoroughly...

There is no option in the menus to turn off autoplay.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Well, that's not good. I was doing some disc comparisons last night and noticed that saturated reds had a jagged look, reminiscent of ye old chroma upsampling error. I popped in Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark to check a few things and the UHD performance of the X800Mk2 is indeed worse than the X800. Chroma alignment is worse on both axes and the 4K upscaling of 1080p content encoded onto 4K disc is terrible on the Scaling HD pattern. The Scaling UHD pattern doesn't fare too well, the green and magenta swirlies are more jagged than the X800 which itself is beaten by the ultra-clean lines of the Panasonic 820.

I can live with the X800's performance but the Mk2's shortcomings are unacceptable. If its upscaling of regular BD was poorer then I could live with that, but as UHD is its primary function then having worse playback than its predecessor is simply bizarre. Yes, these are things that 99.9% of people won't notice but it's just not good enough. To eBay it goes.

I'm assuming you have also tested your Oppo. How does it fare compare to the ,Sony and Panny?

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I'm assuming you have also tested your Oppo. How does it fare compare to the ,Sony and Panny?

The Sony x800m2 looks pretty darn good to me for $150 I picked it up new during one of the black friday sales (one of the quietest players ever for under $500 ) . Don't think too many people going to notice what your talking about .

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I'm assuming you have also tested your Oppo. How does it fare compare to the ,Sony and Panny?

Chroma alignment isn’t as tight as the Panny but not as bad as the X800M2. As the OPPO uses a very similar chipset to the Sony it has the same HEVC scaling error with HD content on a UHD disc, but while it can be fixed on the fly on the OPPO (change resolution to source direct and then back to Auto) you can’t do that on the Sony. Like I said, the X800M2 went straight onto eBay after that.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Chroma alignment isn’t as tight as the Panny but not as bad as the X800M2. As the OPPO uses a very similar chipset to the Sony it has the same HEVC scaling error with HD content on a UHD disc, but while it can be fixed on the fly on the OPPO (change resolution to source direct and then back to Auto) you can’t do that on the Sony. Like I said, the X800M2 went straight onto eBay after that.

Wouldn't it be better if you just set the Oppo to surce direct and leave it? Your ZD9 upscaling should be pretty good I think. Is there a reason why you prefer letting the Oppo do the upscaling?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Wouldn't it be better if you just set the Oppo to surce direct and leave it? Your ZD9 upscaling should be pretty good I think. Is there a reason why you prefer letting the Oppo do the upscaling?

For convenience, but it’s not just the scaling IIRC, even on 1080p output the Sony still has the jaggy reds on 1080p HEVC content stored on UHD disc.

[CyberCat333]

Originally Posted by CyberCat333

Have someone tried to use the external subtitles with this player?

I'm almost down to buy it as it reads almost every type of disc, but the feature of loading custom 3rd-party subtitles from a USB stick to play along with the blu-ray disc is very important for me as I'm not a native English speaker, and my native language audio/subs often end up not being added on a blu-ray disc, unfortunately.

The feature I'm looking for was described here, but no info regarding any Sony player - https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=314129

Welp, if anyone except me was wondering - I asked Sony support, here's the reply (not sure why they called it TV, but still):

[Steve]

With this player is there any reason not to leave the Dolby Vision turned on all the time? What happens if I leave it on and play a disk that doesn't have Dolby Vision?

[sapiendut]

It will play with the wrong colour

[LordoftheRings]

Sony needs to make an A U T O M A T I C 4K Blu-ray player. ...A hiend one, with 3D support and SACD and DVD-Audio, a videophile/audiophile Multi-Universal UHD BR player.
...The Zenith of all players.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

Sony needs to make an A U T O M A T I C 4K Blu-ray player. ...A hiend one, with 3D support and SACD and DVD-Audio, a videophile/audiophile Multi-Universal UHD BR player.
...The Zenith of all players.

Too bad they don't incorporate all that into the PS5.

On a side note I set up macro commands in my Harmony Elite to turn Dolby Vision on & off from the home screen. Since it's not automatic in this machine they should have at least made it a single button command to turn it on & off.

[sapiendut]

I never understand why instead of fixing things via firmware, they choose to abandon the product instead. The same with their new line of projectors. They claim “object based adaptive HDR”, and it doesn’t work (at all) and yet they are not fixing it via firmware.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I never understand why instead of fixing things via firmware, they choose to abandon the product instead. The same with their new line of projectors. They claim “object based adaptive HDR”, and it doesn’t work (at all) and yet they are not fixing it via firmware.

Fixing things costs money so they try and get away with what they can get away with. If consumers don't obviously hold them to account in some way (drop in sales, negative media attention) then they get away with it.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Steve

Too bad they don't incorporate all that into the PS5.

On a side note I set up macro commands in my Harmony Elite to turn Dolby Vision on & off from the home screen. Since it's not automatic in this machine they should have at least made it a single button command to turn it on & off.

I'be interested in trying this! Would you PM the steps? Thanks!

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Fixing things costs money so they try and get away with what they can get away with. If consumers don't obviously hold them to account in some way (drop in sales, negative media attention) then they get away with it.

Sadly, this is a no win situation for us consumers. The best way to send a message would be NOT to purchase their product, but in the other hand, physical media has become a niche market so you could be also sending the wrong message that consumers are no longer interested so they can kill the product altogether so.....

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I'be interested in trying this! Would you PM the steps? Thanks!

I sent you the link with the steps and a breakdown of the commands I used. It's a tedious process to set up, but IMO is worth it.

Let me know if you need any more help.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Steve

I sent you the link with the steps and a breakdown of the commands I used. It's a tedious process to set up, but IMO is worth it.

Let me know if you need any more help.

You are correct; it's not for the faint of brain. If done properly I agree with you; worth it @ the end. The variable delays between functions are a great help.

* It took me many sessions and hours of experimentation to custom program my Universal Harmony remote control (15 devices / 16 activities). And it's the only remote I use (need) for E V E R Y T H I N G everywhere all @ once with the push of a single button.

That's cool that you took the time to custom program that Sony machine with an automatic mode switch between Dolby Vision and HDR.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

You are correct; it's not for the faint of brain. If done properly I agree with you; worth it @ the end. The variable delays between functions are a great help.

* It took me many sessions and hours of experimentation to custom program my Universal Harmony remote control (15 devices / 16 activities). And it's the only remote I use (need) for E V E R Y T H I N G everywhere all @ once with the push of a single button.

That's cool that you took the time to custom program that Sony machine with an automatic mode switch between Dolby Vision and HDR.

Your setup is far more complicated than mine. I only have five devices currently with four activities. I think the most I've ever had was six devices and five activities. This is also the first time I've ever needed to use a macro. I tried one a few years back (I don't recall what for), but I ended up not using it. On this particular one I think it took about 30-45 minutes to set up. Once I had the Dolby Vision On set up the way I wanted, the Dolby Vision Off was easy to set up in one shot.

I wish the Dolby Vision was automatic on this player like it is on the Panny, but for ~$200 less I can live with turning it on and off manually.