Dedicated 4K first player worth it over Xbox One X? (1 Viewer)

[liberty610]

Hey all. Last year I upgraded all my home entertainment devices. Started with an LG OLED 4k TV and added a new Dennon A/V unit with Polk audio speakers.

I am currently using an Xbox One X as my 4K disc player. I have been eyeing up the Panasonic DP-UB820 recently. I'm a fan of physical media over streaming if possible, and I see a lot of releases coming this fall/winter that have caught my eye. Hard winters are common where I'm from, so a lot of stay at home days happen. I plan on expanding my 4k disc library a bit.

It's the image quality that much better on a dedicated player like that of the Panasonic? The Dolby Atmos on my discs won't play through the Xbox because the Xbox doesn't support it. The Panasonic is $400 right now, and I'm wondering if it's worth it?

Thanks in advance for any feedback

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Panasonic 820 also supports Dolby Vision -- not sure if the Xbox does. Your LG display also supports that video format.

I own the Panasonic, and have been very happy with the player. I cannot offer any direct comparisons with the Xbox, as I do not own one (or any game console).

 

[liberty610]

Thanks for the reply, Scott. The Xbox only supports Dolby Vision on streaming content from places like Netflix. Not from discs.

I'm not a huge home theater buff, but I do enjoy high quality options. I like physical media over streaming for multiple reasons, and quality is one of them. I see a major difference between streamed versions of movies on Netflix and the disc versions I have. I don't pay console games much these days as I've moved to pc, so I'm wondering if a dedicated player will be worth the upgrade so I may cancel or the Xbox in general.

 

[John Dirk]

Same as Scott, I currently own the Panasonic and it is an AMAZING player for the price. I switched to it from the venerable Oppo 203 and haven't been disappointed. The Oppo [ which sold for much more when it was available direct from Oppo Digital and now sells for many times as much in the after market circuit] is a better player for diverse media support but the Panasonic is probably the best available right now for video playback. If you're seriously into audio you may want to step up to the Panny 9000 which includes better internals where audio is concerned.

 

[Tino]

The Dolby Atmos on my discs won't play through the Xbox because the Xbox doesn't support it.

Yes it does.

Correction Edit. For games it supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision

Fir discs it supports Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Vision/HDR.

 

[liberty610]

Yes it does.

Correction Edit. For games it supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision

Fir discs it supports Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Vision/HDR.

Dolby Atmos works. I didn't type it right, that was my mistake. Dolby Vision however doesn't work for UHD Discs on the Xbox One. It only works for streaming apps like Netflix.

 

[Sam Posten]

Reasons to buy a dedicated player (features vary by model/manufacturer):
Dolby Vision support on disks
Better remotes
Custom HDR curves for projectors

Keep in mind that the upcoming Xbox Series X will support Dolby Atmos and Vision for gaming not just streaming, but they have NOT confirmed or denied disk support yet to my knowledge.

I use an Oppo in my theater projection room for the curve support but I am all in on Xbox 1 X with my LG OLED. It works fine and looks great. If you aren't driven by the above 3 you can safely stick with the 1X and be sure the IQ and PQ is every bit as good as a $500 dedicated player. Anyone who tells you differently hasn't A/B tested them and is likely trying to sell you something.

 

[liberty610]

Thank you Sam. I toyed with this idea the last couple days, and I decided to stick with the Xbox One X and take the extra money and put it towards some new discs that I want to add to my collection. Just dropped a good pre-order set on Best Buy for some Steelbooks that are coming out that I want. I have had a smaller DVD/BlueRay collection over the years, but just last year started getting into home theater-ish ideas with the purchase of my LG OLED and Dennon AVR.

I honestly, at this point, have zero interests in the Xbox Series X. I just don't have the need for console gaming anymore, since I built a decked out PC with SSDs for production work that I use for gaming in my free time. The Ultawide 34" LG monitor I have makes it a solid gaming experience at 160Hz refresh rate.

The Dolby Vision was the only thing I wanted out of a dedicated player. but I am not even sure I have many discs yet that even have dolby vision on them just yet. I think the only one I have is John Wick 3. As i stated, my disc collection for 4k just started last year.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Pupp]

Why not just wait till the new Xbox is released?

I have, perhaps the last generation, of the much touted sony 4k player, but after 3 years, I'd be surprised if a more recent 4k player under $150 wasn't just as good.