The Ultra HD Blu-ray Thread

[SymbioticFunction]

I have roughly 150 4K UHD discs.

A dozen of those I've had to give a thorough wiping down to play properly (and it has always fixed it to date). They had issues at exactly the same place, it wasn't random, usually I suspect at layer changes. From what I've read elsewhere, that's really nothing unusual, 4K threads more often than not have posts about playback issues for at least some forum members. It's just unlucky that it's happened three times in a row, genuinely puts me off the format.

There's so much data packed onto the discs that it's probably not very surprising. Like I said, it's a major pain to sometimes have to clean discs thoroughly and check them again. I feel safe to post my complaint here but wouldn't dare to also do so at blu-raydotcom (where I also sometimes post) where a large amount of folks would kick off if you dared to say anything remotely negative about this more recent format. Edit: I currently have 3 4K UHD players: Sony UBP X700, Microsoft Series X console and a Sony PlayStation 5 console.

[Justin101]

I definitely think it's down to the players, xbox series x is renowned for having UHD playback issues (especially triple layer discs), and the PS5 and the standalone Sony player will share the same traits as each other, ie if it skips on one it'll skip on the other.

I know it's not easy to just go ahead and buy a different player, but I think that would be it. I got my Panasonic from Multi-Region Magic, and apart from the fact it doesn't show you media stream info like the Sony does (it only shows the chapter number and running time), I can't fault it.

[SymbioticFunction]

I'll have a serious think about maybe picking up a Panasonic player. But I have to say that it's not particularly rare to see comments about playback issues from people who happen to already own one of those machines. I'll still be picking up the occasional 4K UHD but at a far lesser rate. Considering what I read elsewhere, maybe I should consider myself lucky that I've only had to fix 12 discs out of 150?

[Justin101]

I should buy a Euromillions ticket then with zero out of 127.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I'd say the same, I have over 100 UHDs and I haven't had any skipping/pausing issues. I have a Panasonic player.

So do I, the DPUB820. I bought it from Richer Sounds in September 2020 and have never experienced an issue with playback.

[SymbioticFunction]

I wanted to share a video which compares Aliens on 4K UHD with how it looked on the older blu-ray:



I know there's been some controversy over these new UHD's of Aliens, True Lies and The Abyss due to Cameron having had AI sharpening applied to the films. Assuming that video is correct, now I can see what the fuss was about. Aliens looked much better on blu-ray, people actually looked human.

Apparently True Lies looks the weirdest so I would recommend sticking with the Spanish pressed disc bootleg. Out of these, I have a 4K/bd set of The Abyss turning up from Italy (that film is said to look the best out of the three). Whilst I will take a look at the 4K, I'll probably end up watching the accompanying bd for a less processed look.

I think James Cameron has lost his mind. Am I overreacting?

[Justin101]

I read an article by a film restoration person who said that AI is used in pretty much all film restoration for noise reduction and sharpening and the backlash for these films is just because it?s James Cameron.

Also saw something with a guy who worked on True Lies and they said the film elements were in such bad shape it was either use smoothing and DNR or not have an HD digital master at all it was pretty much the last chance to save the image. Any prior ?HD? bootlegs or HDTV versions are just the DVD master upscaled. It?s by far the worst out of the three and looks a little weird but for The Abyss and Aliens I think people are over reacting.

I think Aliens looks brilliant myself and I?ve only seen the stream of The Abyss and I thought it looked great, better than ever, my non-anamorphic dvd pales in comparison.

[SymbioticFunction]

I think the Spanish True Lies is genuine HD although admittedly quite an old HD master. I'll stick with that version.

Edit: At the risk of spamming this site with youtube videos, this 10 minute Oliver Harper True Lies video is worth checking out:

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I take it all these Cameron releases come with Blu-rays along with the 4K?

What do the Blu's look like?

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I take it all these Cameron releases come with Blu-rays along with the 4K?

What do the Blu's look like?

They're only in the 4K packs so you'd have to buy them to have Blu.

I've just bought Aliens today, I'll compare the Blu in that to the one in the 4 film box set, I'm assuming they're different...