4K Blue-ray player
Discussion
I noticed that Samsung announced their new UHD Blue-ray Player for pre order @ CES, available in March. Not sure if that is for release in the UK also - cost wise around £270.
I wonder how much of a difference the picture quality will be will comparing a streamed (good quality connection) 4K movie say from Netflix vs UHD Blue-ray version.
Also seems to have taken an age to release this tech, given 4K TV's been out a while.
G
I wonder how much of a difference the picture quality will be will comparing a streamed (good quality connection) 4K movie say from Netflix vs UHD Blue-ray version.
Also seems to have taken an age to release this tech, given 4K TV's been out a while.
G
When you say it's taken ages, the Blu Ray UHD standard was only agreed last May, so that's not a huge delay between finalising the spec and manufacturing new players.
Expect the quality from a disc to be far superior to any current streaming service. There's a lot of compression going on to squeeze all that data down our thin broadband pipes
Expect the quality from a disc to be far superior to any current streaming service. There's a lot of compression going on to squeeze all that data down our thin broadband pipes
FurtiveFreddy said:
When you say it's taken ages, the Blu Ray UHD standard was only agreed last May, so that's not a huge delay between finalising the spec and manufacturing new players.
Expect the quality from a disc to be far superior to any current streaming service. There's a lot of compression going on to squeeze all that data down our thin broadband pipes
Worth pre-ordering? or wait for the price to drop? I see Panasonic are launching a player also.Expect the quality from a disc to be far superior to any current streaming service. There's a lot of compression going on to squeeze all that data down our thin broadband pipes
G
Difficult to say how much better 'regular' UHD will be compared to 1080p at this stage as there's so little proper UHD content to make a comparison.
Netflix/Amazon 4k is compressed - on my Samsung JS9000, Netflix 4k doesn't look much different to 1080p (though both are exceptionally good).
In any case, the real step up in performance won't come with UHD, but with HDR... and as well as a UHD/HDR Blueray player, you'll need a UHD/HDR capable TV to watch that... only a few sets are currently capable of HDR, and they are at the top end of the market (>£1,000).
It's worth it though - some of the HDR content I have seen is spectacular. The lighting & colour in Life of Pi for example is jaw dropping!
Netflix/Amazon 4k is compressed - on my Samsung JS9000, Netflix 4k doesn't look much different to 1080p (though both are exceptionally good).
In any case, the real step up in performance won't come with UHD, but with HDR... and as well as a UHD/HDR Blueray player, you'll need a UHD/HDR capable TV to watch that... only a few sets are currently capable of HDR, and they are at the top end of the market (>£1,000).
It's worth it though - some of the HDR content I have seen is spectacular. The lighting & colour in Life of Pi for example is jaw dropping!
Some info on HDR...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35239546
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35239546
FurtiveFreddy said:
Depends if you're the sort of person who wants to be first on the block with a new toy...
Is there a big selection of discs to play on it already?
Not much yet, but all the major players will start releasing them at the same time as the players come out.Is there a big selection of discs to play on it already?
Good point Chris makes about HDR. The industry considers HDR, higher frame rates and better colour depth to be more important than the number of pixels and I agree.
There's been a few threads on PH about UHD/4K and how the size of the TV/monitor and viewing distance will affect perceived resolution. Regardless of how good your TV/Player/Streaming service is, if you can't resolve the pixels you won't see much difference between different resolutions.
But you will see a difference if a picture has more dynamic range and more colours.
I haven't looked at the spec of any new UHD TVs, players or STBs recently but if I was looking to upgrade from HD, I would probably wait a bit longer for HDR support (the standard hasn't been agreed on that yet and don't expect content until 2017) and something better than the 8-bit colour sampling we currently have to put up with.
The manufacturers will always want you to buy their new hardware, even if they don't conform with the standards, because to a certain extent they are driving the market. If consumers don't invest in the hardware, the content won't be needed so the broadcasters won't spend money producing it.
There's been a few threads on PH about UHD/4K and how the size of the TV/monitor and viewing distance will affect perceived resolution. Regardless of how good your TV/Player/Streaming service is, if you can't resolve the pixels you won't see much difference between different resolutions.
But you will see a difference if a picture has more dynamic range and more colours.
I haven't looked at the spec of any new UHD TVs, players or STBs recently but if I was looking to upgrade from HD, I would probably wait a bit longer for HDR support (the standard hasn't been agreed on that yet and don't expect content until 2017) and something better than the 8-bit colour sampling we currently have to put up with.
The manufacturers will always want you to buy their new hardware, even if they don't conform with the standards, because to a certain extent they are driving the market. If consumers don't invest in the hardware, the content won't be needed so the broadcasters won't spend money producing it.
They agreed HDR standards yesterday...
Image Resolution: 3840x2160
Color Bit Depth: 10-bit signal
Color Palette (Wide Color Gamut)
Signal Input: BT.2020 color representation
Display Reproduction: More than 90% of P3 colors
High Dynamic Range
SMPTE ST2084 EOTF
A combination of peak brightness and black level either:
More than 1000 nits peak brightness and less than 0.05 nits black level
OR
More than 540 nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005 nits black level
The 1000 nits peak brightness applies to LCDs, the 540 to OLED.
Currently, I think only the Samsung JS9500 is compatible, but the top end Panasonic OLED might be. Current model 4K LG OLED's aren't HDR capable... they may be able to fix that via a firmware update.
Image Resolution: 3840x2160
Color Bit Depth: 10-bit signal
Color Palette (Wide Color Gamut)
Signal Input: BT.2020 color representation
Display Reproduction: More than 90% of P3 colors
High Dynamic Range
SMPTE ST2084 EOTF
A combination of peak brightness and black level either:
More than 1000 nits peak brightness and less than 0.05 nits black level
OR
More than 540 nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005 nits black level
The 1000 nits peak brightness applies to LCDs, the 540 to OLED.
Currently, I think only the Samsung JS9500 is compatible, but the top end Panasonic OLED might be. Current model 4K LG OLED's aren't HDR capable... they may be able to fix that via a firmware update.
Oakey said:
All 2015 models according to some but I'm damned if I can find the thread now.
Sounds like good news then!!Will probably wait for the blue player to be more established before I purchase and potentially more titles arriving, a quick look online does not suggest a raft of films at this stage.
G
Gio G said:
I wonder which Samsung TV's will support HDR?
Oakey said:
All 2015 models according to some but I'm damned if I can find the thread now.
Only the JS9500 meets the minimum nits (brightness) rating.I have a JS9000 (2nd best TV Samsung make), and although that has a 10bit panel and can do the colours, it's only 600 nits.
Chris Stott said:
Only the JS9500 meets the minimum nits (brightness) rating.
I have a JS9000 (2nd best TV Samsung make), and although that has a 10bit panel and can do the colours, it's only 600 nits.
That is a shame, my 7500 is only 1 year old, but probably a mid-rage set. To be honest, I am happy with the way it processes streamed UHD. Was watching Narcos just before Christmas and it does look much better than standard HD..I have a JS9000 (2nd best TV Samsung make), and although that has a 10bit panel and can do the colours, it's only 600 nits.
G
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