The market for 4K Blu-ray players has shrunk a bit in recent years, but there is still a great player out there for everyone's budgets and home theater needs.
I'd love to see you do a breakdown of low, mid and high-end TVs that do HDR and Dolby Vision. I have a Vizio M558-G1 that's getting up there in age and was considering an OLED, but am saving up for a future upgrade. Thanks!
That would be another good article. I’m not a tech expert but I do have some opinions on which TVs are best for different environments, because as good as OLEDs are, they may not actually make sense for a lot of situations.
I would be curious to hear your thoughts. I expect that you have a lot of readers and subscribers on YouTube who are looking for recommendations for the low to mid-range. What would be great is to hear what you've had in the past, whether you liked your setup (and why), what you have now and what decisions you made (cost, brightness, etc.). Thanks!
The UB420 is definitely better than the 450 because it has the HCX Processor and Chroma processing of the UB820. The 420 doesn't. But the 420 does handle Dolby Vision if that is important to you. I have a Samsung 4k. so it doesn't matter to me. However, your regular blu-rays won't look as sharp with the 450
Yes, a Panasonic ub900 will play it back correctly. The UB900 was their flagship player before the ub9000. Mediatek chip players including Pioneer, don't play 4k sdr 10 bit content back in pure 10 bit, they playback in 8bit.
Jeff, I've communicated with someone who had that Magnetar player. Apparently when using the spears and munsil test disc, the Panasonic UB9000 has superior scaling and chroma processing. The Magnetar can not playback 4k 'SDR' content in 10 bit...it downscales to 8 bit as do the Pioneer players, Reavon players and sony players. The Panasonic ub9000 has better video playback when pixel peeping but the Magnetar is probably better for analogue audio output, especially as it plays SACDs. SACDs aren't that popular these days anyway, at least in the mainstream market.
Yes, a Panasonic ub900 will play it back correctly. The UB900 was their flagship player before the ub9000. Mediatek chip players including Pioneer, don't play 4k sdr 10 bit content back in pure 10 bit, they playback in 8bit.
Upgraded to UB820 from using xb series X and have been blown away. However, I would have to say, the UB820 is the most expensive buy ever..........but only because now I can't quit buying 4k discs
I own the Panasonic UB820, it's super super slow at startup and this weekend, it simply locked up while trying to play a 4k movie. Would not play it. Had to shut down and restart 4 times before it finally worked. Skin color also seems unnatural but overall color is great. Just ridiculously slow machine.
The 150 is a fine player as well, it just doesn’t support Dolby Vision. For all region, most Panasonic players can switch regions with a remote control “trick”. Insert the disc, wait for the “this disc is region locked” screen, press stop, then press the top menu button and it should play.
I've got both of the Sony X700 and X800 and have found them very reliable on the whole. These shouldn't be ignored, particularly if you're on a budget. The picture is excellent and the sound top notch. The bonus is that they play DVD-A, Hybrid SACD and just about any legacy surround sound format. Perfect if you have a catalogue of multichannel music. As for the necessity for Dolby Vision? Meh, I'd take the multichannel audio any day.
Too many problems in my opinion. I owned one and it was fine, but they’re very hit or miss. Lots of them seem to skip, and they require manual Dolby Vision switching.
I own a Sony upb-x700 and sometimes it'll take a while to load, or on certain discs, it starts to "skip" and then freeze up. Plus, as Jeff mentioned, the manual Dolby Vision switching is a pain.
I see! I have heard the Sony allows you to play blur rays, 4ks and regular DVDs from different parts of the world. Have you experienced anything like this with the Panasonic you recommended?
I'd love to see you do a breakdown of low, mid and high-end TVs that do HDR and Dolby Vision. I have a Vizio M558-G1 that's getting up there in age and was considering an OLED, but am saving up for a future upgrade. Thanks!
That would be another good article. I’m not a tech expert but I do have some opinions on which TVs are best for different environments, because as good as OLEDs are, they may not actually make sense for a lot of situations.
I would be curious to hear your thoughts. I expect that you have a lot of readers and subscribers on YouTube who are looking for recommendations for the low to mid-range. What would be great is to hear what you've had in the past, whether you liked your setup (and why), what you have now and what decisions you made (cost, brightness, etc.). Thanks!
The UB420 is definitely better than the 450 because it has the HCX Processor and Chroma processing of the UB820. The 420 doesn't. But the 420 does handle Dolby Vision if that is important to you. I have a Samsung 4k. so it doesn't matter to me. However, your regular blu-rays won't look as sharp with the 450
Yes, a Panasonic ub900 will play it back correctly. The UB900 was their flagship player before the ub9000. Mediatek chip players including Pioneer, don't play 4k sdr 10 bit content back in pure 10 bit, they playback in 8bit.
Jeff, I've communicated with someone who had that Magnetar player. Apparently when using the spears and munsil test disc, the Panasonic UB9000 has superior scaling and chroma processing. The Magnetar can not playback 4k 'SDR' content in 10 bit...it downscales to 8 bit as do the Pioneer players, Reavon players and sony players. The Panasonic ub9000 has better video playback when pixel peeping but the Magnetar is probably better for analogue audio output, especially as it plays SACDs. SACDs aren't that popular these days anyway, at least in the mainstream market.
That's actually untrue, I play SDR in 10bit quite frequently on my UDP900.
Yes, a Panasonic ub900 will play it back correctly. The UB900 was their flagship player before the ub9000. Mediatek chip players including Pioneer, don't play 4k sdr 10 bit content back in pure 10 bit, they playback in 8bit.
Upgraded to UB820 from using xb series X and have been blown away. However, I would have to say, the UB820 is the most expensive buy ever..........but only because now I can't quit buying 4k discs
I own the Panasonic UB820, it's super super slow at startup and this weekend, it simply locked up while trying to play a 4k movie. Would not play it. Had to shut down and restart 4 times before it finally worked. Skin color also seems unnatural but overall color is great. Just ridiculously slow machine.
I have a Panasonic DP-UB150-K. It seems fine, though I have nothing to compare it to. Can you recommend an all-region 4k player?
The 150 is a fine player as well, it just doesn’t support Dolby Vision. For all region, most Panasonic players can switch regions with a remote control “trick”. Insert the disc, wait for the “this disc is region locked” screen, press stop, then press the top menu button and it should play.
You can also find tons of region free players that are “hacked” with additional software here: https://www.220-electronics.com/region-free-blu-ray-players.html
Otherwise, 99% of 4K discs are region free.
I've got both of the Sony X700 and X800 and have found them very reliable on the whole. These shouldn't be ignored, particularly if you're on a budget. The picture is excellent and the sound top notch. The bonus is that they play DVD-A, Hybrid SACD and just about any legacy surround sound format. Perfect if you have a catalogue of multichannel music. As for the necessity for Dolby Vision? Meh, I'd take the multichannel audio any day.
Any thoughts on the sony ubp-x700?
Too many problems in my opinion. I owned one and it was fine, but they’re very hit or miss. Lots of them seem to skip, and they require manual Dolby Vision switching.
I own a Sony upb-x700 and sometimes it'll take a while to load, or on certain discs, it starts to "skip" and then freeze up. Plus, as Jeff mentioned, the manual Dolby Vision switching is a pain.
Not on all models.
I see! I have heard the Sony allows you to play blur rays, 4ks and regular DVDs from different parts of the world. Have you experienced anything like this with the Panasonic you recommended?