LG C1 in the mail, what Dolby Vision UHD player do you recommend? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_L]

Getting a 4K TV sooner than I thought I would. Thought I would just watch UHD discs on a PS5 at some point, but see that the PS5 doesn't support Dolby Vision, plus they are impossible to get anyway. What UHD player would you all recommend? Oppo is out, I'm not about to spend $5K on eBay for one. I would also rather not spend another $1K+ just for a player, so looking for thoughts and suggestions. I definitely want the UHD player to have Dolby Vision. Thanks.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hi Jeff!

There is really only ONE that should be considered and fortunately, it is in your price range

See on Amazon

Good Luck!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hi Jeff!

There is really only ONE that should be considered and fortunately, it is in your price range

See on Amazon

Good Luck!

Excellent player as I have one of those along with my two Oppo 203 players.

 

[Jeff_L]

I saw that one, just wanted to be sure that was the way to go. There is a Sony model in the same price range, so wanted to be sure and get some thoughts.

 

[Jeff_L]

Oh, guess I wasn’t looking close enough at the product listing. I guess the only reason the Sony was so pricy is because they modded it for region free play. I’m not that worried about that.

 

[JohnRice]

I agree with the Panasonic 820, even if the price is a bit high. Not many options, and it’s the best of them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I agree with the Panasonic 820, even if the price is a bit high. Not many options, and it’s the best of them.

That's true as I bought mine at $350 at BB during last year's Black Friday sales.

 

[JohnRice]

That's true as I bought mine at $350 at BB during last year's Black Friday sales.

As did I though not BB. It simply isn’t a $500 player. Sub $400 is OK for me.

 

[Jeff_L]

I wonder if the current ~$460 Amazon price is because COVID has made prices on everything go to hell?

 

[Todd Erwin]

There is a Sony model in the same price range, so wanted to be sure and get some thoughts.

The Sony X800-M2 is a good player except for its wonky implementation of Dolby Vision, requiring the user to navigate into the setup menu to turn DV on and off manually. Otherwise, the player outputs to the display with the DV flag in the ON position, even if the disc does not have Dolby Vision.

 

[JohnRice]

I wonder if the current ~$460 Amazon price is because COVID has made prices on everything go to hell?

Technically it’s a $500 player though it’s often about $450. There have been Black Friday sales for $350-375, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that this year.

 

[dpippel]

B&H currently has a 10/10 used return UB820 for $382:

Panasonic DP-UB820-K HDR 4K UHD Network Blu-ray Player

Buy Panasonic DP-UB820-K HDR 4K UHD Network Blu-ray Player featuring 4K UHD Playback via HDMI, HDR10+, Dolby Vision & HLG Compatibility, Full HD to Near-4K Upscaling, Wi-Fi and Ethernet Network Connectivity, 3D Playback, Mobile Device Mirroring, 7.1-Channel RCA, HDMI Audio Outputs...

www.bhphotovideo.com

 

[Jeff_L]

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, and feedback everyone. The thing is, if the PS5 did Dolby Vision, I would be fine with just getting that and having it do everything for me. I never had a stand alone DVD player or Blu-Ray player, I used a PS2, PS3, and PS4 all this time. I was never so picky, they played Blu-Rays just fine on my Panasonic plasma. But since Sony has dropped the ball on UHD ever since the PS4 Pro, I guess it is dedicated player time.

 

[JohnRice]

If the PS5 does HDR10, I don’t know if I’d sweat it.

 

[dpippel]

*

 

[Jeff_L]

It does, but what the heck, it would be nice to be able to watch stuff as good as my LG C1 is capable of. If I got a cheaper TV/Samsung, then I wouldn’t sweat it, but since my TV can do it, I want to see it.

 

[Jeff_L]

I think HDR10 is the default on most discs, I think Dolby Vision is usually put on discs where they want to show they put in the extra effort to make it look good.

 

[Jeff_L]

Sorry, doing this on my phone, not sure how to quote a post properly, and can’t delete the duplicate either.

 

[dpippel]

I think HDR10 is the default on most discs, I think Dolby Vision is usually put on discs where they want to show they put in the extra effort to make it look good.

HDR10 is the default, but it's a bit limited and only allows for tone mapping every frame in the presentation at the same value. Dolby Vision allows tone mapping each frame individually, which has many advantages if done properly. Of course, it's all in the implementation and how your equipment chain handles things, but in my system (I also have a LG OLED) I've found that DV *usually* looks superior to HDR.

 

[Jeff_L]

I haven’t seen either myself, just drinking the Kool-Aid and assuming DV does look better than HDR10 when both are done correctly.