TheBang

Here are the current models of UHD players, their features, and their Black Friday prices.

List

BF Sale

Retailer

Model Yr

WiFi

Dolby Vision

HDR10+

HLG

3D

HDMI

SACD/DVD-A

Bluetooth

LG UBK80

$199

$169

Best Buy

2018

X

1

LG UBK90

$299

$199

Best Buy

2018

X

X

X

2

Panasonic DP-UB150

$179

$99

Best Buy

2019

X

X

X

1

Panasonic DP-UB420

$299

$149

Best Buy

2018

X

X

X

X

2

Panasonic DP-UB820

$499

$349

Best Buy

2018

X

X

X

X

X

2

Panasonic DP-UB9000

$999

$899

Best Buy

2018

X

X

X

X

X

2

Sony UBP-X700

$249

$149

Best Buy

2018

X

X

X

2

SACD

Sony UBP-X800M2

$299

$199

Best Buy

2019

X

X

X

2

SACD/DVD-A

X

Sony UBP-X1100ES

$599

$499

Best Buy

2019

X

X

X

2

SACD/DVD-A

X

Aside from the Playstation and Xbox, there were no new UHD players introduced in 2020. Samsung and Philips exited the market in 2019. We may not ever get any new UHD player models.

From what I've read, HLG is mainly used for broadcast TV, so I'm not sure why it's included on a disc player.

E Unit

I’ll be getting both PS5 and XBSX, so I’ll be good with 4K players for a while.

Cardsfan111

Appreciate this thread. Just upgraded to a 4K television and had barely started checking out prices on a player.

Toddarino

Do the region free sites (220 or bombat) typically do BF sales?

TomOpus

If your tv does Dolby Vision, make sure your player does too. If it's something you think you'll want. I made the mistake of not thinking about that with my first Philips player. Got a Sony a few months later.

PhantomStranger

I don't believe so.

Dan

It's worth noting that neither of these (currently) support Dolby Vision from UHD discs. This was confirmed by the Digital Foundry guys, and while there may be DV updates in the future for the consoles, there's been absolutely no confirmation of that from either Sony or MS.
So if DV matters to you (as much as Dolby Atmos sound, for example ) then it's good to know that that feature isn't there.

E Unit

I’m well aware, and I have a player that has it. But I use that for the theater room TV. The ones in my bedroom and another room are also TV’s with DV, but that’s for my kids and living room. And I’m more interested in using the new systems for gaming, and AFAIK, none will support DV. Man, but that would be awesome is they had Atmos!

Why So Blu?

The breakfast room deserves its own 4K hub.

E Unit

Brotha...the breakfast nook envy continues... size and acoustics while having coffee and chorizo and eggs demands that the nook have a wee little 42” Toshiba.

Why So Blu?

Toddarino

The PS5 really fucked my plans up. I was counting on that having Dolby Vision. I already own a decent region free BD player. It’s hard for me to justify the PS5 cost plus the cost of a region free UHD capable player.
I guess I could look into the quality of HDMI splitters/switches.
The price on that x700 is tempting. I’m borrowing that player now. I will say it is loud and manually changing DV on/off gets annoying, but it’s a decent player.
I read today that the LG’s have a DV compatibility issue with Sony Tv’s. I should look further into that and if Panasonic has the same issue.

milo bloom

I feel so out of touch with 4k. When DVD came out, I knew all the specs and standards forwards and backwards. Bluray, not quite as much but I still mostly grokked it.

But 4K is so confusing. What is the difference between UltraHD and 4K? HDR? DolbyVision? I see we still argue about Dolby vs DTS, so I get that part, lol.

What's with the other stuff though?

TomOpus

Have you checked YouTube? There's plenty of videos on each question.

But, to me, in a nutshell:
1. No real difference.
2. High Dynamic Range - I like to think of it as punchier color
3. DolbyVision - HDR on steroids
4. Other stuff - ???

E Unit

FYI, here's the breakdown on Dolby Atmos for the next XBox and PS5. In short, none will currently provide DV via disc, but streaming apps do.

TheBang

FYI, the Panasonic DP-UB820, probably the best high-end player available, unexpectedly went on sale this week. It can be had for $350, its lowest price ever, at Best Buy, B&H, and Crutchfield.

Additionally, all the other Black Friday pricing on 4K players is live now at bestbuy.com. Prices are good through Saturday.

Toddarino

this is really tempting. Now to decide between this and a region modded Sony 700.

TheBang

There’s a trick you can do on Panasonic players that allows you to bypass region coding on some (not all) discs:

https://www.hidefninja.com/community...s.16109/page-2