Looking to buy a budget 4K Blu-ray player on Black Friday (1 Viewer)

[Tina Russell]

I've never actually owned a Blu-ray player (but I do have some Blu-ray discs) and, seeing as this may be the twilight of the age of physical media, it seems like a good time for me to buy one. I have only about $200 to spend on this, though, so I'm thinking Black Friday is a good time for me to buy one. (I know, I'm a bit late to post this. Hope you are all having/have had a good Thanksgiving!)

The features I'm looking for are:

• 4K Blu-ray playback. I don't actually have a 4K TV (but I do own a 4K disc or two) and seeing as this may be the last physical media player I buy for a while, if ever, I'd like it to be compatible with as wide a variety of discs as possible. (Region-free would be awesome, but sadly I don't really expect that out of a budget player.)
• Build quality. I mean, yeah, it'll be a cheap player, but if one brand/model seems to be longer-lasting than another, let me know. I don't intend to replace it for a while.
• Good DVD and non-4K Blu-ray playback (I mean, I know they won't necessarily look as _good_ as 4K Blu-ray, but whatever player I go with, I'll end up watching a lot of non-HD and non-4K content on it, so I hope it'll look good)

Other features that would be nice:

(AAAGH, I pressed Ctrl+Enter for some reason thinking that would make another bulleted list, and instead it posted the thread before I'm finished writing it. I'll finish this in edits, hold on…)

• Playback of files on USB media (most of my video files are in some variety of MP4/M4V format, and my audio files in FLAC, I try to keep them all as standard as possible, but anyway, this feature would be nice)
• Apps (I have an Amazon Fire stick I use for streaming, so lack of app support isn't a dealbreaker, but it seems like it'd be a good thing if the device's utility is extensible)
• Any A/V doodads you people think I might end up needing in the future (like, I don't have any fancy audio equipment or anything, but if there's something that might limit my setup's future upgradeability, let me know)

The players I'm looking at right now are:

• The Panasonic DP-UB154P-K https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Player-Premium-Playback-Hi-Res/dp/B0BX4RLH68/ This is the cheapest one. Seems all right, but without apps or Wi-Fi, I wonder if future me might be kicking myself for not spending a little bit more.
• The Sony UBP-X700M https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Theater-Streaming-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B08ZFYVS9T This was what I was originally going to get (I figured Sony would make the best budget Blu-ray player, given that they made the format), but I'm a bit worried about Amazon reviews that say it often freezes up on movies that aren't manufactured perfectly to spec or have a scratch or two on them (I mean, I take care of my discs, but good error correction is always a plus, especially when dealing with used discs). One review in particular spooked me https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08ZFYVS9T as it is by someone who seems like a Sony fan generally but recommended I buy a Panasonic player instead, eek.
• The Panasonic DP-UB420-K https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Blu-ray-Log-Gamma-Playback-Streaming/dp/B07YD3PXQP This is the most expensive of the three, coming in right at the $200 mark, but seems to have good features. Doesn't have Dolby Vision, but I don't know what that is, so I can potentially let it slide. (On the minus side, some people on Amazon seem to have an issue with the interface and the build quality, if Amazon's AI is any indication.) Let me know if this one is worth the extra bucks.

And, that's all! I might add something here if I think of it later, but for now, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. What budget 4K Blu-ray players do y'alls respect? Thanks in advance!

 

[Robin9]

Welcome.

I don't like to give advice on hardware as my experience is limited to what I've used myself and that's not extensive. Also, I'm not a "techie." I've found, contrary to what some regulars in this forum say, Sony 4K players produce very good results. If you see one going for a bargain price, it will probably meet your requirements.

Just my non-expert opinion. I hope others who know far more than I do will give their opinions too.

 

[Robert Saccone]

I recall that some of the lower priced players at one point either didn't support Dolby Vision and some that did required you to enable Dolby Vision manually. Even though you don't have a 4K tv currently I would make sure to get one that supported Dolby Vision and preferably automatically detects it on the disc and enables it if your eventual 4k tv supports it. Samsung TVs don't support Dolby Vision they use HDR 10+ instead so that could be another consideration as well.

 

[Tina Russell]

Thanks for the input! I ended up buying the Panasonic DP-UB420-K. I almost went with the Sony UBP-X700M, but I just saw too many results online for "Sony UBP-X700M freezing problem" and people wishing they'd gone with a Panasonic player Hopefully this will work out. (BTW I have a Samsung TV, not sure if it has HDR 10+, but at least the lack of Dolby Vision on the UB420 won't be a handicap for me… for now at least.)

 

[Tina Russell]

I have the player now, and it seems to work (I've tried it with different DVDs and Blu-rays), but for some bloody reason my mother's Pride and Prejudice DVDs (the BBC version, but it's an A&E Region 1 release from 2001) won't play. The discs are old, but in good condition, and I can't figure out what the problem is. Has anyone else had experiences like this? If so, is there any solution that works? (I'm not looking forward to testing my DVD collection disc by disc to see what works and what doesn't…)

 

[Malcolm R]

Thanks for the input! I ended up buying the Panasonic DP-UB420-K.

That's the player I've had for several years now, and it's been great. I also do not yet have any 4K display; I use it with my Optoma HD projector and on a regular HDTV. I bought a Samsung 4K player a few years back and had freezing issues with that, so replaced that with the Panasonic.

Don't know what the issue might be with the DVD set. My Panasonic seems to work great with all formats. If you have other DVD's that play fine, there may be some issue with how that set was mastered over 20 years ago that's conflicting with modern specs. (Just a guess.)

 

[Tina Russell]

Hmmm, I just tried a whole stack of DVDs, new and old, and none of them played. So far, the only DVDs I can get to play with the player are from the Northern Exposure DVD set (the complete series, from Shout Factory, published 2020 I believe). The DVDs I tried that didn't work were:

• Aladdin (both discs)
• Bowling for Columbine
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
• Fight Club
• Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (both sides)
• Sonic Christmas Blast
• Spider-Man (both discs)

And most bafflingly, the following two didn't work, and they're both from 2020 and part of DVD+Blu-ray sets (the Blu-rays work fine):

• Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna
• Sonic the Hedgehog

What should I do next? Is this a common problem? Will I need to send back my Panasonic DP-UB420 for a new one? Will I have to get another player entirely? (That would really suck, as it sounds like the next step up player-wise costs about twice what I paid for this one, and that was about as much as I have to spend on this project…) Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[dpippel]

Hmmm, I just tried a whole stack of DVDs, new and old, and none of them played. So far, the only DVDs I can get to play with the player are from the Northern Exposure DVD set (the complete series, from Shout Factory, published 2020 I believe). The DVDs I tried that didn't work were:

• Aladdin (both discs)
• Bowling for Columbine
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
• Fight Club
• Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (both sides)
• Sonic Christmas Blast
• Spider-Man (both discs)

And most bafflingly, the following two didn't work, and they're both from 2020 and part of DVD+Blu-ray sets (the Blu-rays work fine):

• Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna
• Sonic the Hedgehog

What should I do next? Is this a common problem? Will I need to send back my Panasonic DP-UB420 for a new one? Will I have to get another player entirely? (That would really suck, as it sounds like the next step up player-wise costs about twice what I paid for this one, and that was about as much as I have to spend on this project…) Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Sounds to me like you have a defective unit. Personally, I'd return it and get another one. DVDs should play just fine on any 4K player.

 

[Malcolm R]

Agreed. If you have a bunch of DVD's that will not play, it sounds like a defective unit that should be returned/exchanged. But I don't think it's indicative of a problem with the model or brand. Most seem to have good experiences with this player.

 

[DennisBassi]

If you could spend just a little more ($249) you can get the Sony UDP800M2, which I believe has been pretty reliable and has SACD and DVD Audio capability.

 

[Tina Russell]

I just got my replacement player from Amazon (had to call them up to get a replacement rather than a refund, but they came through). So far I've tried the Aladdin discs (those were in the most questionable condition of all my DVDs—I got the set used), the two volumes of Pride and Prejudice, and Sonic Christmas Blast, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog (DVD and Blu-ray) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4K Blu-ray). All of them work. So yeah, I think the other unit was defective. I'm glad to have something that works, now. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Tina Russell]

Okay, one more thing about the replacement player: I tried watching the Sonic Blu-ray all the way through, twice (the second time with commentary), and both times, it froze for about a minute at two key points in the film: towards the end of the hotel scene, and during the chase through San Francisco and other locales. (I could watch maybe half of the skipped content if I rewound and then pressed play, but I couldn't go too far back, of course, or the freezing problem would just happen again.) It was frustrating, because this seemed like the freezing error on layer changes that was the reason I didn't buy the Sony UBP-X700M (although that problem was reputed to be with 4K Blu-ray discs, and this was a regular Blu-ray). But yesterday and today, I watched my 4K Blu-ray of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (again, the second time with commentary) and it played flawlessly both times. So far, does this sound like a problem with the player, or was the Sonic 1 Blu-ray just cheaply made? (I did get it for like $5 new from Amazon, back when it released…)

 

[dpippel]

Okay, one more thing about the replacement player: I tried watching the Sonic Blu-ray all the way through, twice (the second time with commentary), and both times, it froze for about a minute at two key points in the film: towards the end of the hotel scene, and during the chase through San Francisco and other locales. (I could watch maybe half of the skipped content if I rewound and then pressed play, but I couldn't go too far back, of course, or the freezing problem would just happen again.) It was frustrating, because this seemed like the freezing error on layer changes that was the reason I didn't buy the Sony UBP-X700M (although that problem was reputed to be with 4K Blu-ray discs, and this was a regular Blu-ray). But yesterday and today, I watched my 4K Blu-ray of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (again, the second time with commentary) and it played flawlessly both times. So far, does this sound like a problem with the player, or was the Sonic 1 Blu-ray just cheaply made? (I did get it for like $5 new from Amazon, back when it released…)

Clean the disc. Over time, optical media can develop a hazy and difficult to see layer of contamination caused by outgassing of the plastic keepcase material. It may LOOK clean, but in many cases it's actually not. If you're having freezing/pixelation issues, it always pays to clean the disc before trying more elaborate troubleshooting. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

 

[Brian L]

PSA: Bob has this covered.

Quick Tip: Suffering Individual Disc Playback Freezes? Clean The Disc! — Bob Pariseau

When you try to play your latest, smash hit, movie disc, does your player "freeze up" part way through? Does this always seem to happen just as the movie gets to the GOOD part? Does it then ignore all your desperate efforts to get it

bobpariseau.com