Hardware Review Sony UBP-X800M2 UHD Blu-ray Player Review (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

My first UHD disc player was, unfortunately, the Samsung UBD-K8500, which had an odd shape with its curved front to match their curved displays, and was also the first player to market in February 2016. I was not a fan of that player due to its tiny remote with tiny buttons, most of the smart apps were incompatible with the player, and frequent HDMI handshake issues. One year later, Sony entered the market with the UBP-X800, and I exchanged the Samsung for the Sony. For the most part, it was a step up. The Sony featured a very solid metal chassis compared to the plastic shell of the Samsung plus it would play SACD discs.
That is not to say that the Sony didn’t have issues; it would randomly lock up when watching either a disc or using one of the built-in streaming apps, and the only way to temporarily fix the lockup was to unplug the power...

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[B-ROLL]

I've put plugged my Sony X800 into a switchable outlet strip to save wear & tear on the plug. (The outlet is plugged into battery-backup/UPS) Sometimes cleaning the disc will help with playback and usually I can continue on with the show ....

 

[Todd Erwin]

I've put plugged my Sony X800 into a switchable outlet strip to save wear & tear on the plug. (The outlet is plugged into battery-backup/UPS) Sometimes cleaning the disc will help with playback and usually I can continue on with the show ....

X800 or X800M2?

 

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X800 or X800M2?

Sorry X800 ...

 

[Brian L]

I've put plugged my Sony X800 into a switchable outlet strip to save wear & tear on the plug. (The outlet is plugged into battery-backup/UPS) Sometimes cleaning the disc will help with playback and usually I can continue on with the show ....

A pretty good, albeit long article about disc cleaning. Even if a disc looks flawless to the naked eye, a thorough cleaning of a problem child is not a bad idea.

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

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's really a shame that Sony missed the boat on this player. The requirement to manually turn Dolby Vision on/off was a complete non-starter for me, as were the reports that there were still occasional disc lock-ups. I still have the original X800 in my equipment rack as a backup player, plus as an option for SACD / DVD-Audio playback (I also have an old Oppo DVD player for that purpose). However, I went with the Panasonic UB820 instead of the X800M2 as a Dolby Vision upgrade for my primary video disc player, and have been very happy with that player.

 

[Todd Erwin]

It's really a shame that Sony missed the boat on this player. The requirement to manually turn Dolby Vision on/off was a complete non-starter for me, as were the reports that there were still occasional disc lock-ups. I still have the original X800 in my equipment rack as a backup player, plus as an option for SACD / DVD-Audio playback (I also have an old Oppo DVD player for that purpose). However, I went with the Panasonic UB820 instead of the X800M2 as a Dolby Vision upgrade for my primary video disc player, and have been very happy with that player.

After Sony replaced my X800 with the newer X800M2, I asked the executive management team why this player, and the X700, require the user to enable and disable Dolby Vision manually, and was told that it was a requirement placed on them by Dolby Labs. Yeah, I know, that response doesn't make much sense considering even the LG and now discontinued Magnavox (there's I name we haven't heard in a long time) could auto-sense DV. The only thing I can think of is it could be linked to whatever Dolby chipset Sony decided to go with.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

After Sony replaced my X800 with the newer X800M2, I asked the executive management team why this player, and the X700, require the user to enable and disable Dolby Vision manually, and was told that it was a requirement placed on them by Dolby Labs. Yeah, I know, that response doesn't make much sense considering even the LG and now discontinued Magnavox (there's I name we haven't heard in a long time) could auto-sense DV. The only thing I can think of is it could be linked to whatever Dolby chipset Sony decided to go with.

I remember you posting this in the past. I have my doubts that's really the case. It sounds more like some bogus company line to try and put a spin on a bad decision -- similar to what GM is doing with their decision to dump Apple Car Play and Android Auto from their electric vehicles and instead develop their own software. They claim it's due to "safety concerns", but the real reason is so they can gather user data and probably also sell you a monthly service that you wouldn't need if Car Play and AA was supported by the vehicle.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I can't remember why I moved off my Sony X800M1 for a Panasonic UB420 3 years ago, but I kept the X800M1 as a backup as well, and now that I have a 3D-capable projector, I've decided to use the X800M1 as my dedicated 3D blu-ray player for the foreseeable future. Still no DV-capable display, so no need for DV-capable player for now. But I digress...

 

[Mike Boone]

It's really a shame that Sony missed the boat on this player. The requirement to manually turn Dolby Vision on/off was a complete non-starter for me, as were the reports that there were still occasional disc lock-ups. I still have the original X800 in my equipment rack as a backup player, plus as an option for SACD / DVD-Audio playback (I also have an old Oppo DVD player for that purpose). However, I went with the Panasonic UB820 instead of the X800M2 as a Dolby Vision upgrade for my primary video disc player, and have been very happy with that player.

Scott, like you, I've also been very happy with Panasonic's UB820 UHD 4K BD player. Since early 2021, have had a UB820 in our basement's dark theater room, paired with a Sony Master Series 77 inch OLED. And since September 2022, we've also used a second UB820 in our living room's setup. The choice of the UB820 to be our only platform for playing UHD Blu-rays was only made after reading about numerous user experiences with UHD Blu-ray players, and repeatedly seeing it mentioned that the UB820 simply doesn't freeze up, or have any issues with skipping during any scenes. Such flaws afflict a number of 4K BD models (especially the freeze up flaw) as such units must deal with very long movies that require players to focus their lasers on a 3rd video data layer that UHD BDs must utilize to be able to contain UHD movies of lengths of approx. 2 hr 40 min, or LONGER. So even though I'm a longtime fan of Sony products (including using the company's top XBR model CRT type TV during the early days of DVD), I noticed that some owners of Sony UHD BD player models mentioned having freeze up issues with a small number of movies on UHD 4K disc.

BUT, in roughly 3 years of experience with the UB820, I did encounter ONE problem with a UHD BD, which took place past the 2 hour point into the UHD BD of Saving Private Ryan. Some video break up began occurring, but I remembered reading that rather than having the UB820 chroma setting on 4:4:4, the setting that many folks use (the setting I chose), using the 4:2:0 setting instead, can help avoid problems. So after making that change, the UHD Blu-ray of Saving Private Ryan has played perfectly ever since. From what I've read, 4:4:4 chroma can only have some advantage with PCs, but regarding UHD BD players handling video of UHD 4K BDs, the 4:2:0 setting will yield performance that's as good as possible with UHD Blu-rays.

 

[B-ROLL]

A pretty good, albeit long article about disc cleaning. Even if a disc looks flawless to the naked eye, a thorough cleaning of a problem child is not a bad idea.

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

Ah I am reminded of buying as "previously viewed" Disney DVD from Blockbuster Video. I always checked those disc for scratches and fingerprint etc - when I realized the play side was covered with dried on gunk - which I determined was actually caked on peanut butter and grape jelly!. I had to bring out my favorite cleaning girls: Dawn for Dishes (for the peanut butter) and Joy dishwashing liquid for the jelly. I think i soaked the disc for about five minutes and the using my fingertips to carefully rub the detritus off was able to get the disc to play perfectly after rinsing and drying the disc.

The worst 4K disc other than - Coco

which I have tried two different discs and none will all the way play through - was Flight of the Butterflies -

It sat in the case unopened for several years and after it stopped playing - I noticed a brown oily film and cleaned it off with shampoo and it did continue to play after rinsing and drying the disc..

I believe the issue is with the error correction on the X800 in some cases the player with just shut off (the power light goes off) and the only way to reset it is to "unplug" it.

 

[Scott Voth]

I have two X800, v1s and one all of a sudden decided it didn't want to play certain UHD discs anymore. Not all of them but some of them. I tried them in my other X800 and they played fine. I replaced the Sony with a Panasonic DP-UB820 which plays everything fine. I didn't want to take a chance on another Sony. The problematic X800 has been relegated to my 3rd hd setup that doesn't get used that much.

 

[Bartman]

I don't have a 4K player initially because of fear of another disc buying cycle (VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray), I've been waiting for a Sony half width player like my BDP-S6700 (that fits under my TV) & disc/player problems described here. Wake me up when Sony introduces a 4K player with all these features & none of the problems?