Have you upgraded to 4K Blu-ray?

Have you upgraded to 4K?

  • Yes-purchased all equipment and a few discs

    Votes: 85 32.7%
  • Yes-purchased new UHD TV only

    Votes: 22 8.5%
  • Yes, purchased new UHD Player only

    Votes: 3 1.2%
  • Yes, I have a few discs, but no hardware upgrade yet

    Votes: 23 8.8%
  • No, there are not enough movies available yet

    Votes: 12 4.6%
  • No, I really can't see the difference

    Votes: 29 11.2%
  • No, equipment and discs are still too expensive

    Votes: 66 25.4%
  • I am not sure if I will-I am on the fence

    Votes: 20 7.7%

  • Total voters
    260

digitalbabe

Premium Supporter
Apr 12, 2009
42,350
USA
Hey ninjas!

A fun poll for you to comment and share whether you've upgraded your equipment/discs, and why you have or haven't done so.

Have fun!

DB

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Maybe this is the wrong thread, but I couldn't find anywhere else......

I have a quick question maybe someone could help me with?

I got my boys an Xbox-s for Christmas. Somebody told me that it can play 4K discs. Is this true? (I can't try it coz I don't have any 4K movies)

If it does, I don't have a 4K TV so what would happen if I popped one in then?

It does play 4K discs, if you have a 1080p TV it will play fine and just downscale it to your television. You might still see an improvement.

Are you sure? The TV needs a HDCP 2.2 HDMI connection (only on UHD TV's!) otherwise you will get no picture on the TV. Only way to work around is to use a HD-Fury Integral ;)

I thought if you were using a standard HDMI you would still get a picture. I just checked and you are right, no picture unless your TV supports HDCP 2.2! Good spot mate! @BluSteel2012, another update for you!:)

So.........I recently got a copy of HDZETA's Interstellar which included the 4K disc.

I've just popped it in the Xbox to see what happens, and it plays perfectly.

What's surprised me even more is that I can actually notice the difference between the BD disc. Colours are much richer, blacks are much deeper. I have a Samsung UE55D8000 3D TV........

Does this mean every 4K disc will work for me?
 
So.........I recently got a copy of HDZETA's Interstellar which included the 4K disc.

I've just popped it in the Xbox to see what happens, and it plays perfectly.

What's surprised me even more is that I can actually notice the difference between the BD disc. Colours are much richer, blacks are much deeper. I have a Samsung UE55D8000 3D TV........

Does this mean every 4K disc will work for me?
Do you know if your TV supports HDCP 2.2. If this one is playing fine I would imagine the others will play aswell. I think it may be able to downscale and output at 1080P but you should still see some benefits as the image is less compressed. I’m glad it works for you anyway!:)
 
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Do you know if your TV supports HDCP 2.2. If this one is playing fine I would imagine the others will play aswell. I think it may be able to downscale and output at 1080P but you should still see some benefits as the image is less compressed. I’m glad it works for you anyway!:)
I'm not sure how I'd find that out. I've checked the back of the TV but there's no mention of 2.2 anywhere.

Anyone know how I could confirm this?

I fully expected it not to work so I was pleasantly surprised.

I also bought the Blufans Dunkirk one click for the BD disc as I had no use for the 4K! But I haven't opened it yet! :p
 
I'm not sure how I'd find that out. I've checked the back of the TV but there's no mention of 2.2 anywhere.

Anyone know how I could confirm this?

I fully expected it not to work so I was pleasantly surprised.

I also bought the Blufans Dunkirk one click for the BD disc as I had no use for the 4K! But I haven't opened it yet! :p
It’s usually buried in the specs rather than on the back of the TV. I’ve had a quick look at reviews and it doesn't mention it but they may have updated the firmware since to make it compatible.
At least you can play 4K’s now and if the picture is better that’s a bonus! I would crack open Dunkirk now then!:D
 
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I spent over an hour Googling yesterday and couldn't find anything. I even downloaded the manual as I can't find my own, and nothing
:/



I think I'll wait and see what Manta Lab offer first. :p May be a long wait though! :(
They make it so awkward to find out the specs these days. It’s annoying, when it didn’t have it at first it may have had some kind of update that has enabled it. I would just take it that you can play them all mate. If one works I can’t see why another wouldn’t.
Haha yeah I’m waiting for Manta Dunkirk myself! It already seems like it’s been a long wait!
 
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Yes I've "upgraded" but I am yet to have my own TV. I was borrowing my folks 4K TV over the holidays to play my discs and been going over a friends house who has a nice FALD Sony TV.

But I'm getting an LG OLED C9 asap!! I'm so psyched... And going to work on my apartment living room to be a nice little budget home theatre space. Atmos at a good cost, OLED and a FALD set in time, or both if I can get my parents to do financing for both (and I'll give them the payments each month)
 
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Got a Sony Oled before Xmas and despite having now 40 plus 4K discs I still buy plenty of blu rays Just a shame I can’t play my laserdiscs on the tv I’m they would be awesome
 
Finally got my Panasonic 4K UHD player on Friday!

goes well with my 55" Dolby Vision equipped LG TV haha!

still working on my home cinema. had all the cables delivered but can't work on it until the end of the month though. looking forward to sharing pics of my setup and collection
 
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I have written about this on some threads every now and then, but I wanted to gather some thoughts about why I haven't, and likely never will, upgrade to 4K Blu-ray.

1. Regular Blu-ray is good enough. Honestly, I still wonder often at how good the picture quality is on most of the Blu-rays I watch, with both old and new movies and TV shows. The last thing on my mind is "I wish the picture was better" when I watch Blu-rays. What I've seen of 4K Blu-ray at my friend's place, it looks definitely nice, but I honestly couldn't see much, if any difference to a regular 1080p Blu-ray. It was on a 75" 4K TV with a watching distance of maybe 2-2,5 meters.

2. I really don't feel like upgrading my Blu-ray collection. I upgraded to regular Blu-ray in the early 2010s. Luckily my DVD collection wasn't that big at the time. I sold most of my DVDs little by little when I upgraded them to BD and I was able to sell them over a couple years for a pretty good amount of money, so I luckily didn't take that much of a loss with them. However, my BD collection quickly got much bigger than my DVD collection ever was and I have a lot of really cool collector's editions and steelbooks and I definitely don't want to sell or upgrade them. Besides, I think most of the 4K steelbooks are a lot lamer in terms of design than their original regular BD steelbook counterparts.

3. Not upgrading is also my way of telling the studios that enough is enough with buying the same films (or TV shows) over and over again. If everyone upgraded to the 4K Blu-ray as quickly as the studios hoped, there would probably be a new format in like 3-4 years from now. 8K, 10K, whatever. Just attach a new marketing gimmick to it and it's easy to market as a revolutionary technology. "Super ultra resolution, hyper ultra clear 3D audio" etc. Many have speculated that the 4K Blu-ray will likely be the last new format of physical media due to the rise of streaming services and it's likely true. However, if 4K had sold as well as the studios hoped, a new format would likely have risen at some point in the near future. 8K TVs are already being sold.

4. Equipment. I bought an expensive premium BD player a few years ago by Panasonic that cost about 400 euros. I don't want to ditch that and buy another one, as it is still basically like new, works like a charm and it's just an overall great player.
 
My problem with 4k which I have isn't the upgrade, it's the fact I'm getting too many discs that jump or freeze. I play blu-rays all the time, no problems but nearly 1 in 3 4k discs I buy freeze.
I have laserdiscs which I never upgraded to blu-ray and never will. Likewise i have blu-rays I won't upgrade to 4k. Some there are loads of discs i have will will never get upgraded. Don't see the point.
 
My problem with 4k which I have isn't the upgrade, it's the fact I'm getting too many discs that jump or freeze. I play blu-rays all the time, no problems but nearly 1 in 3 4k discs I buy freeze.
I have laserdiscs which I never upgraded to blu-ray and never will. Likewise i have blu-rays I won't upgrade to 4k. Some there are loads of discs i have will will never get upgraded. Don't see the point.
Just to say, I think that must be player related as virtually never had this. I watch 4Ks mostly.
 
Have you changed your player 5 times since 4K came out?

If so, that's quite a turnover of players considering it's only about a few years.

I've had my 2 current Blu Ray players over 10 years and no bother.....

I have 5 players
 
I have written about this on some threads every now and then, but I wanted to gather some thoughts about why I haven't, and likely never will, upgrade to 4K Blu-ray.

1. Regular Blu-ray is good enough. Honestly, I still wonder often at how good the picture quality is on most of the Blu-rays I watch, with both old and new movies and TV shows. The last thing on my mind is "I wish the picture was better" when I watch Blu-rays. What I've seen of 4K Blu-ray at my friend's place, it looks definitely nice, but I honestly couldn't see much, if any difference to a regular 1080p Blu-ray. It was on a 75" 4K TV with a watching distance of maybe 2-2,5 meters.

2. I really don't feel like upgrading my Blu-ray collection. I upgraded to regular Blu-ray in the early 2010s. Luckily my DVD collection wasn't that big at the time. I sold most of my DVDs little by little when I upgraded them to BD and I was able to sell them over a couple years for a pretty good amount of money, so I luckily didn't take that much of a loss with them. However, my BD collection quickly got much bigger than my DVD collection ever was and I have a lot of really cool collector's editions and steelbooks and I definitely don't want to sell or upgrade them. Besides, I think most of the 4K steelbooks are a lot lamer in terms of design than their original regular BD steelbook counterparts.

3. Not upgrading is also my way of telling the studios that enough is enough with buying the same films (or TV shows) over and over again. If everyone upgraded to the 4K Blu-ray as quickly as the studios hoped, there would probably be a new format in like 3-4 years from now. 8K, 10K, whatever. Just attach a new marketing gimmick to it and it's easy to market as a revolutionary technology. "Super ultra resolution, hyper ultra clear 3D audio" etc. Many have speculated that the 4K Blu-ray will likely be the last new format of physical media due to the rise of streaming services and it's likely true. However, if 4K had sold as well as the studios hoped, a new format would likely have risen at some point in the near future. 8K TVs are already being sold.

4. Equipment. I bought an expensive premium BD player a few years ago by Panasonic that cost about 400 euros. I don't want to ditch that and buy another one, as it is still basically like new, works like a charm and it's just an overall great player.


I totally get where you are coming from with here and felt the same until a few years back. I do like a bit of 4k now though so I thought I would give my sides to your points :thumbs:

1. I think it depends on the film that you watch and how that was filmed. I don't know all the technicalities of it but I recall reading an article about the different ways films are converted to 4k and the difference it can make to the end product. I think I am right in saying that some films are also shot in a higher grade of digital so look better when produced in 4k. To use some examples from my collection, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049 and Alien Covenant all look amazing in 4k for the duration of the films (IMO) where as Kong Skull Island seems to have bits that look very good (close ups on Kong for example) but also has bits that don't look much better than a DVD to me. This has led to me doing a bit of research before buying and only paying the extra depending on the reviews. I find it is usually the big block busters like Marvel films that look decent enough.

2. Totally agree on this. I had a pretty sizeable VHS collection which I then converted the classics to DVD, then Blu-Ray, then some of them into Steelbook!! It is excessive so now I only buy things I dont already have and think warrant 4k. The only thing I may be tempted on is if there is a proper version of a classic like the Godfather's. I dread to think the money I have spent on different versions over the years!

3. I get your point on this. I guess the only way to let them know how we feel is with our wallets. I guess my not double (or triple) dipping is my way of doing this.

4. Agree here too. I have not gone out specifically to buy my 4k gear, they have just been there when I have gone to upgrade anyway. With the content you now get on sky, netflix and Amazon I think you get your money's worth with a TV. As for players, receivers etc I think it is a case of not jumping in as soon as they come out. My first 4k player was a freebie with my Samsung TV. The Panasonic that was the best at the time was about £700. You can now get the same player for £200-£300! I like the fact that they upscale normal blu-rays and DVD's too.

I guess in conclusion I would say, convert to 4k when your other stuff needs replacing and see if you can watch Sicario around your friends place! Enjoy the collecting :D
 
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