Sony Introduces Exciting new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

The flagship AVR's usually have more bells and whistles than I require -- my needs are pretty simple My last two AVR's were Pioneer Elite models, but I think I'm going over to Denon this time.

The code for the two free UHD discs from Sony showed up in my email -- it was in my spam folder, so it's a good thing I checked there. I picked Underworld and The Shallows as my two freebies, and also ordered Labyrinth for $14. I only own the SD-DVD version of that film. I was tempted by the original Ghostbusters at $14, too, but I'm going to stick to my resolve of not upgrading BD titles in my collection if they are quality transfers, and I have the 4K mastered BD already.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I got my two freebies in yesterday (Shallows and Underworld).

I bought Labyrinth UHD on release and enjoyed it. Some of the fx show their age, but it still looks great.

I streamed 3 hours of content from Amazon last night (1080p) and PQ is very good. Real happy with the device streaming Netflix and Amazon, because of the 24hz. Motion seems better. If it stays not buggy with discs I may sell the 900.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Well, after some time with the 800, and the new LG UHD player coming from Value Electronics, I sold my Panny 900. Nothing wrong with the Panny at all, its just the 800 works fine too and I made a good price on the sell

So far the 800 has shown to be snappy in menus and apps, the 24hz UHD output of Amazon and Netflix look great, just need HDR for Amazon. 1080p and 2160p discs have show zero playback issues so far, so I'm happy.

I prob won't use the LG when I get it because it is not getting apps until April, and I want Amazon, so the 800 will be the main device for streaming and disc playback in my HT for awhile.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I gave my X800 its inaugural trial today. After researching AVR's for a couple of days, my head was beginning to hurt, so I decided to enjoy the player for now hooked up with just the digital coax cable (meaning only lossy audio). I played John Wick, and was very impressed with the quality of the 4K HDR image. Also, I agree with Jason that it's a very fast player -- the UHD disc loads much faster than a BD in my Panny player. It certainly helps that there is not nearly as much crap to load as BD (multiple studio logos, Bluray logos, etc, etc). Sound quality of the lossy DD audio down-converted from the Dolby Atmos track was also very acceptable.

I did have one playback glitch, with the picture breaking up and freezing about 40 minutes into the film. However, it just turned out to be a fingerprint on the disc. Once wiped off it played fine -- and the player picked up right where it froze when I told it to resume playback!

The only other UHD title currently on my shelf is Jason Bourne. I may try to convince my wife to watch that tonight for our movie night, although she mentioned wanting to see either The Last Picture Show or The Barefoot Contessa, both of which I just received recently. My three discs from Sony have shipped, so they should be here any day now.

I haven't tried any of the apps on the player, and I'm not sure if I will bother. My Roku Ultra works very well for Amazon 4K HDR, and if I want to play a UHD stream through Vudu the Chromecast app on my Vizio display supports 4K + Dolby Vision. For HDX titles on Vudu, the Roku works fine.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I haven't tried any of the apps on the player, and I'm not sure if I will bother. My Roku Ultra works very well for Amazon 4K HDR, and if I want to play a UHD stream through Vudu the Chromecast app on my Vizio display supports 4K + Dolby Vision. For HDX titles on Vudu, the Roku works fine.

Why would you need Chromecast app to play a UHD stream through your Vudu? Isn't the Roku Ultra enough to play UHD streams?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Why would you need Chromecast app to play a UHD stream through your Vudu? Isn't the Roku Ultra enough to play UHD streams?

The Roku does not support Dolby Vision, which Vudu uses for their HDR. So, you can get UHD, but no HDR, with Vudu on a Roku device. The Chromecast Vudu app on my Vizio display does support Dolby Vision. I have not rented any UHD titles through Vudu yet to try this out, though. The only streaming 4K HDR material I've watched so far is on Amazon through the Roku -- Amazon is using the standard HDR10 format, which Roku supports. BTW, there is no Amazon Video app for Chromecast -- Amazon and Google are feuding

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Roku does not support Dolby Vision, which Vudu uses for their HDR. So, you can get UHD, but no HDR, with Vudu on a Roku device. The Chromecast Vudu app on my Vizio display does support Dolby Vision. I have not rented any UHD titles through Vudu yet to try this out, though. The only streaming 4K HDR material I've watched so far is on Amazon through the Roku -- Amazon is using the standard HDR10 format, which Roku supports. BTW, there is no Amazon Video app for Chromecast -- Amazon and Google are feuding

I've used my Roku Ultra, but I don't see much difference between an HDR disc like Jason Bourne and the UHD stream I get from Vudu.

Edit: I just remembered the Oppo 203 doesn't currently support Dolby Vision like my LG panel.

Anyhow, I'm so sick of these different competing formats. The industry really screws their consumer base with all this confusion. No wonder, these formats have difficulty being accepted by the mass market instead of just being a niche market.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I've used my Roku Ultra, but I don't see much difference between an HDR disc like Jason Bourne and the UHD stream I get from Vudu.

Edit: I just remembered the Oppo 203 doesn't currently support Dolby Vision like my LG panel.

Anyhow, I'm so sick of these different competing formats. The industry really screws their consumer base with all this confusion. No wonder, these formats have difficulty being accepted by the mass market instead of just being a niche market.

I agree. It's confusing for us enthusiasts. How can anyone expect the general public to understand all the nuances of the different formats, and which works with what hardware? I just spent a couple of days researching AVR's, and it made my head hurt trying to figure out which would meet my needs and does not suffer from any known bugs/issues that may affect my use.

At least Oppo has stated they will eventually be providing Dolby Vision support for your player, Robert. As of now, Sony hasn't made any commitment for the X-800 player, although I understand the hardware can support DV.

I have not tried any UHD stream from Vudu yet, so I cannot offer any comparisons. I do have a $5 credit with them,though, so I will eventually rent something from them. I'll have to try it both via Chromecast and the Roku to see if there is any noticeable difference.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Yeah, Sony said they would eval the demand and the market. Sounds like BS speak to me, more like we can enable it and may later in the year...

DV is not high on my list right now, because the E6 does not have cal control for DV. My HDR10 mode is calibrated, so that may be the mode to stick with anyhow.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My free UHD discs from Sony arrived today. We watched The Shallows this evening. Even my wife mentioned how gorgeous the picture was on this one, and she normally doesn't notice the difference between DVD, BD, etc.

 

[dpippel]

For anyone interested, Crutchfield now has the UBP-X800 in stock and available to ship today:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158X800/Sony-UBP-X800.html?tp=171

 

[Robert Crawford]

My new Sony player arrived a day early yesterday. Unfortunately, the installation has not been going well. After getting my Harmony remote programmed and connecting the player up to my Vizio 4K display with a Monoprice certified 18Gbps cable and to my Pioneer Elite AVR with another HDMI cable I had laying around, I could not get any video signal from the Sony on my display. After a lot of troubleshooting and cable swapping, I finally determined the Monoprice cable was defective. So, I proceeded with setting up the player using the cable I originally had connected to my Roku Ultra 4K streaming box.

After getting the Sony setup, I then inserted the John Wick UHD. The disc loads fine and I get 4K video, but now I had a second problem -- no audio. I tried a few things last night (swapped HDMI cables, etc.), but still couldn't get any audio. We were meeting some friends for dinner and I wanted to watch the Montreal hockey game when we got home, so I swapped back the cable with my Roku so I could watch the hockey game when we got home.

This morning I contacted Monoprice to request a RMA for the defective cable, then set out on troubleshooting again. After checking the audio setup for the HDMI ports on my AVR (everything was configured correctly), I swapped HDMI inputs on my AVR to make sure I didn't have a dead input. That wasn't the issue, either. Finally, I tried a SACD recording instead of of the John Wick UHD. This time I was able to get a few seconds of audio at the start of the first track before the AVR lost the audio signal.

So now I am thinking I may need a 18Gbps certified cable for the audio as well as the video? I have tried 3 different non-certified HDMI cables with no success. I do not have any more functioning 18Gb cables on hand to try. I just ordered a couple of 3 ft. cables from Monoprice, as I will need them if I eventually upgrade my AVR anyway. The cables will not be here for 3-6 days, though, so I am stuck with what else I can try in the meantime.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Now that you have your new Denon receiver is your HDMI problems solved?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Now that you have your new Denon receiver is your HDMI problems solved?

Yes, this issue appears to be resolved. I just installed and configured the receiver yesterday, so I have not tested everything yet. However, I did focus on testing the Sony UHD player -- I watched the UHD version of Underworld and played both a SACD and DVD-Audio disc with no issues. My receiver indicated it was decoding Dolby Atmos with Underworld and DTS:X when I briefly played Jason Bourne. At first I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting HDR and only getting Dolby Digital audio with Underworld, but then I realized I'd put in the BD instead of UHD disc.

I'm impressed with the audio quality so far. Denon's Audyssey auto calibration and room correction helped to give me great sound -- first impression is that it's an improvement over my Pioneer Elite and it's MCAAC auto calibration and room correction system. I still need to experiment with a few settings and completely test all my source components, but so far I'm pleased with the Denon.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I ran into my first playback glitch yesterday with the UHD version of Labyrinth. The disc came up to the menu fine, but after selecting play the movie the screen went black and nothing happened. After waiting for quite some time, I simply hit STOP and the player returned to the Sony start-up screen. The second attempt to play the disc went without a hitch, so it must have been some random software glitch.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I ran into my first playback glitch yesterday with the UHD version of Labyrinth. The disc came up to the menu fine, but after selecting play the movie the screen went black and nothing happened. After waiting for quite some time, I simply hit STOP and the player returned to the Sony start-up screen. The second attempt to play the disc went without a hitch, so it must have been some random software glitch.

And it won't be the last.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

And it won't be the last.

Yup, it's just one of the "privileges" of being an early adopter. At least this glitch was very minor, as the disc played fine on a second attempt.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I did some googling for a region free mod for this player and they're out there, but the markup is insane. It's puts it in the range of an Oppo. I think I can get the 203 from Opposite with a mod from eBay for less than this Sony.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I did some googling for a region free mod for this player and they're out there, but the markup is insane. It's puts it in the range of an Oppo. I think I can get the 203 from Opposite with a mod from eBay for less than this Sony.

I did not even know the Sony had a region-free mod available (not that I'm interested in adding it to my player anyway). The Sony works very well for it's price, as long as you just need a standard UHD/BD/DVD player. It handles SACD and DVD-Audio, too, which is a plus for me, as I do have some discs in both those formats. I have yet to even try the player's streaming apps, as I have other devices that provide that function to my satisfaction.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Been happy with the X800, especially the streaming of Amazon and Netflix. Streaming PQ is good and the 24hz works well (many devices only stream 60hz). I am going to move the X800 to another room when I get the 1000ES in.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I did not even know the Sony had a region-free mod available (not that I'm interested in adding it to my player anyway). The Sony works very well for it's price, as long as you just need a standard UHD/BD/DVD player. It handles SACD and DVD-Audio, too, which is a plus for me, as I do have some discs in both those formats. I have yet to even try the player's streaming apps, as I have other devices that provide that function to my satisfaction.

It wasn't an add-on mod but a modded player. You buy the modified player from outfits like 220 and Bombay.

I didn't think this Sony was considered a standard player, it's priced more than most but less than the Oppo (till you buy the modded version).