Digital & Physical: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Vilya]

And the PS5 doesn't even support Dolby Vision.

Sony mystifies me regarding all of their 4K disc players; how in the hell they thought that forcing people to manually select, and then deselect, Dolby Vision was a good idea escapes me entirely. No other manufacturer implements Dolby Vision in such a blatantly stupid manner. I can not recommend any of their 4K disc players to my family or friends for this reason alone. I know that none of them will bother going into the player's settings to manually turn this on and off each time that a 4K disc has, or lacks, Dolby Vision. It is an inexcusably dumb design and Sony refuses to do anything about it.

There are actually no 4K disc players under $500 that I can recommend. The LG models are widely reported to have disc playback problems while the Panasonic UB 420 has no support for Dolby Vision leaving no good choices in the $250 and under price range.

At the $500 price point, the only player that I can hesitantly recommend is the Panasonic UB 820, but as has been mentioned already the Panasonic 4K disc players are not very good with DVD playback and they are very poor for file playback among other limitations. No one among my family or friends are willing to spend $500 for a 4K disc player, so suggesting the Panasonic UB 820 to them is dead on arrival.

The other 4K disc players are $600, $1000, and up, and I would get laughed at if I were to recommend a 4K disc player in those price ranges.

We need capable 4K disc players that are affordable, around $250 or less, if the format is going to attract more people. If the price of admission for enjoying 4K discs is spending $500 and up for a decent player, then a whole lot of people will continue to say "no thanks."

[cpr3584]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

There are supposed to be more stocks this month.

and they will be gone in 3 minutes

[cpr3584]

Originally Posted by Vilya

And the PS5 doesn't even support Dolby Vision.

Sony mystifies me regarding all of their 4K disc players; how in the hell they thought that forcing people to manually select, and then deselect, Dolby Vision was a good idea escapes me entirely. No other manufacturer implements Dolby Vision in such a blatantly stupid manner. I can not recommend any of their 4K disc players to my family or friends for this reason alone. I know that none of them will bother going into the player's settings to manually turn this on and off each time that a 4K disc has, or lacks, Dolby Vision. It is an inexcusably dumb design and Sony refuses to do anything about it.

There are actually no 4K disc players under $500 that I can recommend. The LG models are widely reported to have disc playback problems while the Panasonic UB 420 has no support for Dolby Vision leaving no good choices in the $250 and under price range.

At the $500 price point, the only player that I can hesitantly recommend is the Panasonic UB 820, but as has been mentioned already the Panasonic 4K disc players are not very good with DVD playback and they are very poor for file playback among other limitations. No one among my family or friends are willing to spend $500 for a 4K disc player, so suggesting the Panasonic UB 820 to them is dead on arrival.

The other 4K disc players are $600, $1000, and up and I would get laughed at if I were to recommend a 4K disc player in those price ranges.

We need capable 4K disc players that are affordable, around $250 or less, if the format is going to attract more people. If the price of admission for enjoying 4K discs is spending $500 and up for a decent player, then a whole lot of people will continue to say "no thanks."

So...youre saying the best DV experience would be through...wait for it..streaming!? Considering there are several major titles available in DV EST but not disc (blade runner, lawrence of arabia, etc)

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

So...youre saying the best DV experience would be through...wait for it..streaming!? Considering there are several major titles available in DV EST but not disc (blade runner, lawrence of arabia, etc)

Best experience? No. Most practical experience? Probably.

The best experience would be to watch a Dolby Vision 4K disc, but as that is not going to happen for many people with the prices for decent 4K disc players being $500 and up, streaming is their only other option for Dolby Vision content. They will likely be quite happy with what they see as they have nothing to compare it with. Hell, they would probably be happy with Dolby Vision streaming even if they could make the comparison making those expensive 4K disc players an even harder sell. I very much doubt that the perceived quality difference between a Dolby Vision stream and a Dolby Vision disc is going to be great enough to motivate many people to spend $500+ on a Dolby Vision capable 4K disc player.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

So...youre saying the best DV experience would be through...wait for it..streaming!? Considering there are several major titles available in DV EST but not disc (blade runner, lawrence of arabia, etc)

My Panasonic UB 820 handles Dolby Vision just fine. I've not done any scientific research but to my eyes a disc with Dolby Vision looks better than any of my streaming apps on the same TV. Not to say that the streaming looks bad, the colors are just more vibrant from disc.

[cpr3584]

Interesting- thanks. So, there we have it folks- the most practical 4K experience is through digital, not disc. You can't even buy a player with DV for a reasonable amount of money right now.
I love physical media...but the companies and studios are making it harder to keep this hobby going

[cpr3584]

Originally Posted by Ender14

My Panasonic UB 820 handles Dolby Vision just fine. I've not done any scientific research but to my eyes a disc with Dolby Vision looks better than any of my streaming apps on the same TV. Not to say that the streaming looks bad, the colors are just more vibrant from disc.

Wonder how a DV digital copy would compare to a HDR disc . I cant compare because my tv is only HDR

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

Wonder how a DV digital copy would compare to a HDR disc . I cant compare because my tv is only HDR

I've actually wondered that myself. I've been wanting to do some A/B comparisons between streaming/disc and between HD and 4K. I still plan on doing so if I can find the time and will let you know what I observe. With screenshots if I can swing it.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It is always nice to see more 4K disc players, but both of these are expensive.

The UBR-X100 works out to $964.61 once you convert those Euros to dollars while the UBR-X200 costs $1930.12. Of those that own/want 4K disc players, I wonder what percentage of them are willing to pay such prices for a 4K disc player? Several of us here would, but we've always been "special" like that.

We need more affordable 4K disc players, not just premium models, if 4K disc players are to have much chance of getting into more homes.

Pricing might be different in other regions depending on where they are made, shipped to. I generally see players sold in UK/EU more expensive because of duties/taxes.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by VikingHead2000

Why is The Golden Globes being discussed here. It has nothing to do with the future of physical media. Stop posting this crap, nobody cares about it.

The originating post attempted to use the awards show to support digital content argument. It was weak argument because most film or TV content was restricted to that format as theaters were mostly closed. Also this thread is both digital and physical if you look at the title. Most serious home theaters owners are using whatever they can given the ongoing situation.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Pricing might be different in other regions depending on where they are made, shipped to. I generally see players sold in UK/EU more expensive because of duties/taxes.

Differences in duties and taxes are not going to make these players even remotely affordable. They are premium models designed for those who already appreciate what 4K discs have to offer.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Difference in duties and taxes are not going to make these players even remotely affordable. They are premium models designed for those who already appreciate what 4K discs have to offer.

Personally they are over priced. I think premium players can be sold for a lot less. Pioneer was a bad example of what they could get away with. If you only make only a few thousand costs are higher, but start mass selling them then their pricing is excessive.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Personally they are over priced. I think premium players can be sold for a lot less. Pioneer was a bad example of what they could get away with.

I agree; overpriced 4K disc players do very little to help this format. As soon as I mention the price of these new Reavon 4K disc players, the people that I know outside of these forums stop listening on the spot and they start laughing instead. There is nothing that I can tell them that makes spending nearly $1000 on a 4K disc player sound sane.