Sony UBP-X700 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Surge92

I always turn it off if I'm not playing something with Dolby Vision, because otherwise, it will force DV on whatever you're playing, even blu-rays. It's an inconvenience, but not the end of the world.

It's not a matter of being the end of the world, it's a matter of performing a task that a person shouldn't have to do, if the player was manufactured correctly. Sony is the only 4K Blu-ray players that requires a manual switch to Dolby Vision, when other brands does it automatically. If Sony 4K Blu-ray player are still playing Dolby Vision on a disc that's encoded with HDR10 only, then that's a major problem! Nobody can give me a Sony 4K Blu-ray just for that reason alone! If Sony would have manufactured their 4K Blu-ray players the way they're supposed to be, it wouldn't be an inconvenience. Of course, it's not the end of the world but still, it can be very irritating when it doesn't have to be.

[manzoman96]

Hi All - I got this player last week and today went to test a SACD. I made sure to have the setting checked to play the SACD layer, but it seemed like it wasn't detecting the disc as an SACD and just reading the CD layer. Does anyone know what indicators I should be looking out for and if there are there any other settings that I need to play around with?

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by manzoman96

Hi All - I got this player last week and today went to test a SACD. I made sure to have the setting checked to play the SACD layer, but it seemed like it wasn't detecting the disc as an SACD and just reading the CD layer. Does anyone know what indicators I should be looking out for and if there are there any other settings that I need to play around with?

Under music settings you have to change Super Audio Playback Layer to Super Audio CD instead of CD layer. After you start a disc hit the display button on remote and it the top right corner it should say if it is playing DSD Multi. SACD is the only format my player plays correctly, if it wasn't for that I would have chucked it in the dumpster months ago.

[ij72]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Sony is the only 4K Blu-ray players that requires a manual switch to Dolby Vision, when other brands does it automatically.

To be fair, the other brands (Panasonic/LG) don't do Dolby Vision at all unless you get their higher-end units. Six of one, half dozen of the other...

[Alister_M]

Considering some discs look worse with Dolby Vision than HDR10, it's probably not such a bad thing having it as an option rather than being automatically forced on you just because it's there. It's really no different than changing the audio stream to suit your setup. I mean, I also have to disable the 24fps setting for DVDs if I'm playing anything other than an NTSC disc with progressive 24fps content, but you don't see me blaming the player for that.

[ronand]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

Considering some discs look worse with Dolby Vision than HDR10, it's probably not such a bad thing having it as an option rather than being automatically forced on you just because it's there. It's really no different than changing the audio stream to suit your setup. I mean, I also have to disable the 24fps setting for DVDs if I'm playing anything other than an NTSC disc with progressive 24fps content, but you don't see me blaming the player for that.

Thats a poor excuse for Sony not bothering with a simple function. You can turn off Dolby Vision manually on the Panasonics if you don't need it too. And you should blame the player if it forces 24fps output where it shouldn't.

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by ronand

Thats a poor excuse for Sony not bothering with a simple function. You can turn off Dolby Vision manually on the Panasonics if you don't need it too. And you should blame the player if it forces 24fps output where it shouldn't.

Yes, clearly a product that costs half the price of another product should have the exact same amount of care and quality put into it as the more expensive option. That's exactly how these things work.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

Yes, clearly a product that costs half the price of another product should have the exact same amount of care and quality put into it as the more expensive option. That's exactly how these things work.

Absolutely not. All products are priced accordingly to the quality of material and the time of its productivity. A consumer can't expect the grade A quality and craftmanship of a pair of $200.00 Rock Revival designer jeans, on a pair of $15.00 jeans from Walmart. If a person wants good quality of anything, it's going to cost more money. For instance: you can't buy a genuine diamond ring for the price of a Cubic Zirconia.

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Absolutely not. All products are priced accordingly to the quality of material and the time of its productivity. A consumer can't expect the grade A quality and craftmanship of a pair of $200.00 Rock Revival designer jeans, on a pair of $15.00 jeans from Walmart. If a person wants good quality of anything, it's going to cost more money. For instance: you can't buy a genuine diamond ring for the price of a Cubic Zirconia.

All sarcasm aside, and bearing that in mind, now try to apply the same logic in comparisons between Sony's entry-level basic player and Panasonic's flagship model which costs twice as much. Also bear in mind that Panasonic's player in the same price range as the X700 doesn't even have DV or a secondary HDMI output.

[sapiendut]

Since when Panasonic 820 “flagship”?

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Since when Panasonic 820 “flagship”?

Seems like the most popular model at a higher price point. Whatever, I'm not a Panasonic salesman like the entire anti-squad in this thread so what the hell would I know?

[ronand]

Even the bog standard LG models can auto switch DV. And they are not known for sophistication.

And I forgot - even they can play triple layer discs without needing a power cycle.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by ronand

Even the bog standard LG models can auto switch DV. And they are not known for sophistication

Exactly !!! Sony is literally the ONLY brand that require DV to be manually switch. Even for their ACTUAL FLAGSHIP X1100ES.

[ij72]

Originally Posted by ronand

Even the bog standard LG models can auto switch DV.

The base 80 doesn't have Dolby Vision at all, while the 90/WM version UBKM9 does have DV.

[Cortiz]

Players in general have been an afterthought for manufacturers for quite some time now and the market is getting smaller all the time. Not an excuse, but Sony doesn't give a rat's a** whether their players auto switch DV or not.

[Feiereisel]

I have an settings question that I can't seem to find a clear answer for. The situation is this: I have my X700 set up so it outputs 24p content for all blu-ray and UHD discs, and I can't figure out whether or not the "Film Mode" function on my TV, a 2018 Vizio P55F1, should be enabled.

The Film Mode setting on the TV is currently set to "off," and when watching a disc, both the TV and the player show either 1080 or 2160/24p, so I am assuming it's fine as is, or at least auto-detecting it based on what the player is outputting.

There also seems to be no immediately discernable difference with it "on" or "off," and I am not seeing any excessive judder when I watch discs.

Normally I would have it on, but based on some other reading, it seems like some TVs are capable of handling the signal without the setting enabled. Or not. Like I mentioned above, the information is inconsistent or just generally unclear.

Any clarifications or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Geode]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Players in general have been an afterthought for manufacturers for quite some time now and the market is getting smaller all the time. Not an excuse, but Sony doesn't give a rat's a** whether their players auto switch DV or not.

You are probably correct about this.

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Feiereisel

I have an settings question that I can't seem to find a clear answer for. The situation is this: I have my X700 set up so it outputs 24p content for all blu-ray and UHD discs, and I can't figure out whether or not the "Film Mode" function on my TV, a 2018 Vizio P55F1, should be enabled.

The Film Mode setting on the TV is currently set to "off," and when watching a disc, both the TV and the player show either 1080 or 2160/24p, so I am assuming it's fine as is, or at least auto-detecting it based on what the player is outputting.

There also seems to be no immediately discernable difference with it "on" or "off," and I am not seeing any excessive judder when I watch discs.

Normally I would have it on, but based on some other reading, it seems like some TVs are capable of handling the signal without the setting enabled. Or not. Like I mentioned above, the information is inconsistent or just generally unclear.

Any clarifications or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

If there's no discernable difference, best to leave it off. The less processing your TV has to do, the better. Also as per usual, ensure you've done the Options -> Picture Mode -> Direct thing during disc playback (the setting locks itself in when changed, you only need to do it once).

[Feiereisel]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

If there's no discernable difference, best to leave it off. The less processing your TV has to do, the better. Also as per usual, ensure you've done the Options -> Picture Mode -> Direct thing during disc playback (the setting locks itself in when changed, you only need to do it once).

Thanks! I agree that the "direct" setting is a must. Even being well aware of some of this player's peculiar menu design and layout choices, I still can't get over how buried that function is.

After doing some back-to-back comparisons, keeping Film Mode "off" is preferable. As you say, the less processing, the better.

[ChromeJob]

Just stepping in to share my test comparison of the x700M with LG UBK-80 and UBKM9 (Walmart version of UBK-90). The UBKM9 has/had a very annoying habit of switching to a mucked up display on the TV when ejecting a disc ... so I bought a Sony fr Target to compare with another dual-HDMI player. I later determined that the mucked up display is a result of the player sending HDMI-CEC over the HDMI-Audio-Only port so that the TV switches to my AVR's (messed up) output of the player video. Trying a HDMI dongle with CEC-squelched to see if I can avoid this tiresome switching back and forth to use a UHD player into a UHD TV with audio passed directly to an older AVR (Yamaha RX-v775). I thought the UBK-80 was a bargain (like new, $160ish) as Consumer Reports reported Dolby Vision a "nice to have" ("all UHD discs come with basic HDR10 info"). After watching The Shining and Jaws UHDs with DV, I'm sold that it's more than "nice to have." (DV appears to be the VHS and Blu-ray Disc over Betamax and HD-DVD of HDR10+, but the battle is still going on.) (I compared by running the UBKM9 output through my AVR, so the 4K image without any HDR was being sent to the TV. Some subtle differences in key dark scenes IMHO.)

Now to the Sony. I confirmed what others know: Dolby Vision (DV) is enabled deep within the settings, and it sends a DV flag to the TV 100% of the time. But I saw no overt indication that it was actually applying DV to any BD or HDR10-only UHD-BD disc. AFAIK DV is NOT some playback treatment that can be applied to any content like Dolby ProLogic II and Dolby Surround. There will simply be NO DV metadata to find on a conventional BD, and I don't see this mid-range player being smart enough to invent DV metadata from thin air when playing HDR10 UHD-BDs and non-HDR BDs.

I find this idiosyncrasy an annoyance because by telling the TV that DV is being output all the time, the TV limits my choice of display modes. Very minor annoyance since I have calibrated those display modes to my liking. But still -- it's silly that the player is telling a display that it's outputting certain information that it just can't get off a BD or DVD.

Other annoyances that spurred me to return the player.... The FFWD and RWND functions go forward and back way way too much on BDs. The LG players have six, yes six, steps of FFWD and RWND. Also, when pausing and playing a disc, the Sony x700 sent an HDMI-CEC command to the TV causing the TV to send the AVR a signal to switch to it. Yes, EVERY TIME that I paused a disc. When this occurs I have to tell the AVR to switch back to its direct HDMI-IN from the player, then switch the TV. Solution: turn off HDMI-CEC, which I shouldn't have to do. No such CEC command happens with the UBK-80 or UBKM9.

Sorry if this ruffles the feathers of fans/owners of this player. I've seen this kind of head-scratching design from Sony before. I've generally avoided Sony products for this reason, prior experience with their AVRs and such. (But I still love my PlayStation 2. Yep, still rocking a PS2 and some great classic games.) But please DO NOT think I'm trash-talking this player or your enjoyment of it. On the PLUS side, Consumer Reports tested the LG players as being the fastest in load times, but my stopwatch comparison showed the Sony only a couple of seconds longer loading some typically "heavy" BDs. I doubt any consumer would notice.

All this just my two cents.