A few words about...™ Poltergeist -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[PopBodhi]

Okay. This is concerning me now, because it seems to be happening regularly with UHD/4K Blu-rays on my Panasonic DP-UB9000...and I hope it's not the player, because this thing cost us $1K before tax (we're actually still paying it off).

Has anyone else who bought the Poltergeist UHD Blu-ray experienced issues (beyond what is being mentioned here, unless I missed it) like sound dropouts or random "freeze jumps" in the picture? First, my Bad Boys for Life 4K Blu exhibited these weird color "pixelation patches" in the image (even after cleaning my player's lens with a Maxell brushless laser lens cleaner) before leading to audio dropouts, and now last night, Poltergeist exhibited these brief freezes in the picture, around the time the family is having breakfast and Steve goes off to work -- at one point the audio dropped out but then came back (my player had just had its laser cleaned via the aforementioned Maxell disc a few nights ago).

Also -- the player seems to be making groaning operational noises (mainly with UHD Blu-rays) when a disc is inserted and loading, sometimes going right through to when the feature starts. At first, it only seemed to happen with two titles in my collection, Joker (Warner Bros.) and Evil Dead 2 (Lionsgate), but since then, at least one 1080p Blu-ray (Evil Dead 2013, Sony) has made this nasty vibration/cogging in the unit upon loading (one copy of this disc was so bad we had to return it, as it was causing the whole player to vibrate and whine even during the film; the replacement disc STILL causes the player to make a noise, but it's only when it first loads), but now, last night, the Poltergeist 4K disc caused the unit to moan and vibrate as it loaded. It was particularly bad when the setup menu popped up, as you could clearly hear the noise from the player over the music accompanying the menu. It eventually calmed down and stopped a few seconds into the film.

Here's what's super-weird: I was told over at AVS that the last firmware update for the Panasonic UHD players caused some titles to now exhibit noise in the units, and Joker and Evil Dead 2 were on that list -- but what is now going on with titles like Poltergeist and Bad Boys for Life? Why are these causing the player to moan, vibrate and throw a fit?

Has anyone else who may have purchased Poltergeist experienced any issues with the disc yet...or is it what is being reported here (I only noticed some reports at the very end of this thread)?

We just tried to watch our copy of the Poltergeist UHD. It pixelated briefly at the beginning and started freezing and pixelating during kitchen / face peeling scene. We have a Panasonic DP-UB820-K that we bought last Christmas. We're wondering what we should do.

 

[sbjork]

Well, not to derail this thread by talking about the actual movie and its transfer, but by God is this one gorgeous disc. I had posted a picture of the packaging on Facebook and it started a discussion about the epilepsy warning on the cover, but after having actually watched the movie, I understand it. The stroboscopic flashing is really intense with the HDR grade, especially in shots like the one where Carol Anne crawls toward the TV (and toward the camera) while in bed with her parents after the thunder/lightning scene. The unearthly glow from the portal in her closet really blazes, too. Yet nothing about the HDR grade seems like it's revisionary, or out of character. It's just a damned fine scan and a damned fine grade.

All of that is watching on a projector, too, with none of the peak brightness that a flat panel can have. Can't imagine how intense things would look on a different setup. Sorry for the people who are having that freeze issue, but its a hella good disc if you aren't having problems.

 

[Felix Martinez]

My second copy worked flawlessly on both my Oppo 203s.

I finally watched the disc, and oh my is it a glorious experience. This and The Lost Boys. Wow, both are beautiful releases.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Y'all are definitely giving me the itch to upgrade this (and maybe Lost Boys) to 4K disc soon-ish... though would like to see the playback issues "resolved" first...

_Man_

 

[Malcolm R]

I doubt any action will be taken as it doesn't seem to be a problem affecting all the discs. Seems to be either a specific batch of discs or certain players. Though even the latter doesn't seem like a pattern as we've had different members with the same players have different results.

But I don't think Warner is going to recall the discs or issue replacements.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread has been sidetracked with an in-depth discussion about 4K disc and player issues. At this time, such a discussion needs to take place in a more appropriate thread other than a review thread. Several posts will be moved to its own thread to continue this discussion. https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/4k-uhd-playback-issues.377200/

 

[Clinton McClure]

I bought the Blu-ray last October and still haven’t had time to watch it. I’m tempted to upgrade and hopefully I’ll be able to watch the UHD disc before next October.

I bought the UHD today and got to watch the first half hour tonight before getting constantly interrupted to the point of me giving up and turning off the movie. The first half hour is fantastic, though.

 

[WillG]

My 4K disc arrived today. When I entered the digital code in Vudu the 4K version also popped up in my iTunes account (thanks to Movies Anywhere). Frankly, I'd rather watch the 4K Dolby Vision version via iTunes but I'll give the disc a spin to make sure it plays okay on my overpriced Panasonic UB9000 player. You know, the player that powers down after 20 minutes on pause whether the user wants it to or not. Piece of crap. I'll NEVER buy another Pansonic product.

Mark

Not to sound critical here, but is it really a massive issue if a player powers down after 20 whole minutes of being on pause? I get it would be nice to have the option to disable that, but if you pause for 20Mins you’re not really watching the movie

 

[WillG]

The Exorcist is horror. So is Hereditary and classic Universals. Poltergeist? Not so much.

Kinda know what you mean... and said more or less the same earlier -- maybe in a different thread announcing the preorder or something.

Just never thought this movie was all that scary... although admittedly, I was apparently raised on a heartier diet of horror flicks than many/most I suppose -- my parents actually brought me to theaters to see Hammer horror flicks and such quite regularly as early as I can remember around 5 or so (and my 2-1/2-year younger brother too!). I saw so many vampire (and other horror) flicks, including often scarier Chinese ones, by the time I was 10 that I still sporadically get spooked under normal (non-movie-watching) situations and can't completely shake the eerie sense that a vampire might be lurking nearby in the dark or something and I realize too late to escape, LOL. Well, at least I don't still keep having nightmares about vampires anymore (in the last 5-10 years), LOL.

Even that one cheezy episode of Buck Rogers w/ the space vampire spooked me (and probably still would), LOL.

_Man_

You all sure about that. Those last 15 minutes with the clown doll strangling Robbie. The (real) skeletons in the pool, the giant ghost lion skeleton and 3/5 of the family almost being sucked into a giant ghost anus was pretty nightmare fuel. And the intensity of those scenes in contrast to the rest of the movie makes it even more impactful

 

[Noel Aguirre]

You all sure about that. Those last 15 minutes with the clown doll strangling Robbie. The (real) skeletons in the pool, the giant ghost lion skeleton and 3/5 of the family almost being sucked into a giant ghost anus was pretty nightmare fuel. And the intensity of those scenes in contrast to the rest of the movie makes it even more impactful

Right but you left out Tangina instructing to toss tennis balls into that “anus”. Again wasn’t scared but highly entertained and riveted by the craftsmanship, acting and direction of those 15 minutes and actually the entire film. To me it was like going to a Haunted House ride at an amusement park.

 

[Indy Guy]

I have one of the 4K copies that glitches at 13+ minutes like many others have mentioned. Has Universal taken a position about replacements, or are we to attempt to get a refund from the dealer? My disc was purchased at Best Buy.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Okay. Went to Best Buy to get an exchange for my defective copy. They didn't have any in stock, nor did they have any steelbooks (was willing to pay the difference to get the steel if it meant I'd have a better chance at receiving a playable disc). Had to get a refund and then reorder the slipcase; let's pray this new one isn't from the same batch...

 

[Kaskade1309]

Not to sound critical here, but is it really a massive issue if a player powers down after 20 whole minutes of being on pause? I get it would be nice to have the option to disable that, but if you pause for 20Mins you’re not really watching the movie

Yes it is a major issue. Sometimes you have to deal with things going on while you're watching a disc -- in our case, for example, we have a sick dog who has cognitive issues, and we're constantly needing to put a film on pause because she had an accident we must immediately clean up or because she needs medication.

The inability to override that really stupid auto off feature on the Panasonics is RIDICULOUS and should have been addressed in a firmware update by now. We've had our UB9000 time out on us many times already, and it's a total pain the ass to have to come back to the room, power the unit back up and then find the exact spot you left off at on the disc -- it's bad enough that the Panasonics won't remember where you left off on ANY DVD (and some Blu-rays without the "resume" prompt authored into them) the next time you watch it.

 

[Kaskade1309]

I have one of the 4K copies that glitches at 13+ minutes like many others have mentioned. Has Universal taken a position about replacements, or are we to attempt to get a refund from the dealer? My disc was purchased at Best Buy.

This was a Warner Bros. release, not Universal, but as far as I know, no replacement program has been put in place. I had to return my copy from Best Buy myself, but they had no other copies left to do an exchange, so I had to get a refund and then reorder it online.

The whole thing just sucks.

 

[dpippel]

I watched the 4K UHD last night and it played all the way through without flaw on my Panny UB9000. Something I did notice though is that the DTS-HD MA sound mix on this disc was about 10dB lower than most titles, and the sound effects overwhelmed the dialogue in some instances. I had to crank the volume up accordingly. Purchased the regular slipcover release from Amazon.

 

[Kaskade1309]

You're lucky; apparently, many of us haven't been...

 

[Tino]

Just finished watching mine all the way through. No issues at all. Panny UHD player

 

[Clinton McClure]

Yes it is a major issue. Sometimes you have to deal with things going on while you're watching a disc -- in our case, for example, we have a sick dog who has cognitive issues, and we're constantly needing to put a film on pause because she had an accident we must immediately clean up or because she needs medication.

The inability to override that really stupid auto off feature on the Panasonics is RIDICULOUS and should have been addressed in a firmware update by now. We've had our UB9000 time out on us many times already, and it's a total pain the ass to have to come back to the room, power the unit back up and then find the exact spot you left off at on the disc -- it's bad enough that the Panasonics won't remember where you left off on ANY DVD (and some Blu-rays without the "resume" prompt authored into them) the next time you watch it.

If you ever feel you want to give away a flagship Panny UHD player, I’ll send you my shipping address.

 

[Konstantinos]

What do you all think about these little "fixes" in the 4K version?
I'm especially interested in Mr. Harris' opinion too.

Poltergeist (Comparison: 4K remastered - Original version) - Movie-Censorship.com

Comparison: 4K remastered - Original version

www.movie-censorship.com

 

[Malcolm R]

What do you all think about these little "fixes" in the 4K version?
I'm especially interested in Mr. Harris' opinion too.

Poltergeist (Comparison: 4K remastered - Original version) - Movie-Censorship.com

Comparison: 4K remastered - Original version

www.movie-censorship.com

This was already discussed some in one of the threads here. I have no issues with them fixing actual "mistakes" in the film and removing things that should not be there. They wouldn't have been there if filmmakers had the means and methods of removing them in a cost-effective manner at the time the film was produced.