Downsampling UHD to HD (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I'm not anxious to move to UHD, but I am working on adding full Atmos/DTS:X, and so many more UHD discs have those audio formats, so I wondered who has played UHD discs with the player downsampling to HD and how well it works. I also might be able to get my Marantz AV7703 to do the downsampling, but the manual doesn't seem to specifically mention downsampling, only upsampling from lower resolution formats.

My Panasonic Plasma is about ten years old, so there's no telling when it will give up the ghost and I'll be forced to get an OLED. In the meantime, I'd like to take advantage of the new surround formats when I can.

 

[Brian L]

A timely qustion, John. I also have a Panny Plasma that I intend to keep for as long as I can.

I have two 4K players; a Sony X800 and an Oppo 203. I bought the Sony 1st for the exact reason you sight. The Sony has very limited adjustability for HDR>SDR, and I found I just could not dial in a decent image.

I then bought the Oppo, due to the fact that it has a much better range of adjustments for HDR>SDR. Long story short, I find the Oppo far superior in terms of HDR>SDR conversion.

 

[JohnRice]

I probably should have gotten an Oppo 203, but that's not really an option now. The Oppo contender Panasonic plans is going to be $1K. No thanks. I'm wondering if the Panasonic UB200 will do a good enough job.

 

[Worth]

I bought the cheapest Panasonic player and it seems to do a very good job of converting HDR to SDR on my 1080p plasma.

 

[JohnRice]

@Worth , which model is that?

 

[Worth]

I think it's the UB300.

 

[Worth]

I should also add that I haven't seen that many 4K discs, aside from:

Ghostbusters
Planet Earth II
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
Blade Runner
Blade Runner 2049
ET
Dracula
Bridge on the River Kwai
Close Encounters
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Last Jedi
Arrival

The only title that I noticed any issues with was Starship Troopers, where some of the bright daylight shots looked a little blown out.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I probably should have gotten an Oppo 203, but that's not really an option now. The Oppo contender Panasonic plans is going to be $1K. No thanks. I'm wondering if the Panasonic UB200 will do a good enough job.

The Panasonic UB820 is going to list for $500. From a video standpoint, it should be very close in performance to their flagship UB9000. The UB820 is the player I have my eye on for a Dolby Vision upgrade to my existing Sony X-800.

 

[JohnRice]

Is it my imagination, or does the selection of UHD players available in the US totally suck? So, the UB820 will have decent video quality, but still be half the all around player the Oppo is. Even the UB9000 really doesn't seem to touch the true versatility of the Oppos. I'll probably have to go UB820, just to be certain I have all the HDR options, when that time comes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Is it my imagination, or does the selection of UHD players available in the US totally suck? So, the UB820 will have decent video quality, but still be half the all around player the Oppo is. Even the UB9000 really doesn't seem to touch the true versatility of the Oppos. I'll probably have to go UB820, just to be certain I have all the HDR options, when that time comes.

John,

Perhaps you should ask Robert Zohn regarding your concerns in this thread.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Is it my imagination, or does the selection of UHD players available in the US totally suck? So, the UB820 will have decent video quality, but still be half the all around player the Oppo is. Even the UB9000 really doesn't seem to touch the true versatility of the Oppos. I'll probably have to go UB820, just to be certain I have all the HDR options, when that time comes.

Pioneer is supposed to be coming out with a player that supports SACD and DVD-Audio, similar to the Oppo players. I have not seen any pricing yet.