re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Wonder if the upcoming Star Wars movies will be done in native 4K (or higher) resolution, and released on 4K bluray.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Hence, only current releases (= 95% crap) will ever see the light of day on 4k. The very folks who would likely invest in 4k will be affluent, older people, many of whom have an appreciation of, and desire for, older catalog releases.

The studios will never pay the admittedly very high cost for new 4k transfers of any but the most high-profile catalog releases. So, why invest in 4k? Self-fulfilling prophecy...

So, we've got about three insurmountable problems:

1. Lack of bandwidth / bandwidth caps for acceptable streaming quality in 4k = distribution problems

2. Physical media = dying / dead format already in blu-ray

3. Studio inertia in making new 4k transfers of any but the newest releases either filmed in 4k already or out in theaters in a digital form.

4. Lack of demand due to 1, 2 and 3 above.

No dice for 4k in my future!

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Many (most?) new theatrical releases aren't mastered at 4K, not even the biggest of the big like The Hobbit flicks. That series in particular is shot at something like 5K, but the effects and final mastering are all at 2K.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

ULTRA HD Blu-ray (better get used to calling 4K BDs that name) will be for people on the bleeding edge of technology and wealthy enthusiasts. The studios know better this time it won't be a mass-market format. I would not expect penetration beyond the level reached by Laserdiscs. Its retail reach might be even less than Laserdisc had, since the retailing environment is far different from the 90s.

I think less informed consumers will believe they are watching actual 4K content from Netflix, most people are very gullible.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I can see UHD Blu-ray working, but only under two conditions.

1) To get studios on board, they will need draconian copy protection, mainly making disc a "digital" purchase, where you need internet authentication for playback. It's like what MS wanted for the Xbox One. The purchase is considered a digital purchase, meaning First Sale protection won't apply. More control for the studios (which is exactly what they want) while having the content on disc will avoid the bandwidth/download problems of traditional digital delivery. I imagine there would be a huge backlash, but human nature being what it is, people will come around.

2) Higher prices. Prices will have be proportional to volume. The lower the volume, the higher the price needs to be to sustain it. If this gets laserdisc levels of adoption, then it will need laserdisc level prices.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

They should have just called it 4K Blu-ray. 4K has the advantage of being shorter, easier to pronounce and being a recognizable name that is associated with 4K TVs. Heck, 4K even rhymes with Blu-ray. Stupid to call it Ultra HD Blu-ray. Way too many syllables.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Regarding the amount of content likely to be released, I don't really see it as a problem. I'm looking at 4K as a special format reserved for certain titles, not a complete replacement for HD. Of course we all have our own opinions on what is "classic" and what isn't, but I would be okay with only classics getting the 4K treatment. I don't believe it will be like SD vs HD, where once you got used to HD you didn't want to watch SD anymore.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I think they were afraid of keeping the 4K trademark stick. It's such a generic term they very well may have lost trademark protection once it hit market. That is likely the reason why they went with the less catchy ULTRA HD.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I can see the 4K physical media gaining as much traction in the marketplace as D-VHS did.

People will buy the 4K TVs in droves when the prices begin to match the current HDTV prices but they'll still be running SD and 720p HD content lamenting on how awesome 4K is.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

That takes me back to my days working at CompUSA. So many customers not understanding why their DVD player (hooked up via composite cables) wasn't giving them HD video on their TV when they clearly owned an HDTV. It was borderline impossible to get them to understand they needed an HD source (like a Blu-ray or HD DVD player) connected via component, DVI, or HDMI.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

a job at CompUSA. Sounds horrible.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Interesting article that mentions the possibility of a (competing?) 4K digital format (I assume UV).

4K movies are coming to Blu-ray discs and hard drives

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I'd definitely prefer downloading over streaming. I might even opt for downloading over physical, depending on how prices shake out. There'd almost certainly be a greater variety of 4K films to download than for sale at retail. I just feel like I'd have a much greater selection to choose from that way.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

That's the main advantage. With such a small market not many catalog films would be viable for disc distribution. So the selection on digital could be far greater, since distribution (and by extension, viability) is one of the key advantages of digital.

Also another possible advantage would be studio support. They would be more inclined to support a delivery system that is more secure.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I'm hoping 4k HD DVD wins this time. ;)

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Supposed to be called RCBD - Really Clear Blu Ray.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

It's as if the people who name these new formats are the same idiots who do atrocious BD cover art.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

It took me a long time to upgrade to DVD from VHS, an even longer time to upgrade to Blu-Ray from DVD. I'm still doing both with no intention of upgrading to anything else. Definitely sick of finally deciding to upgrade to the next new technology only to be told there's yet another new technology out there. Not interested in 4K, DVD and BD are fine with me.

5 years from now I'll be bitching about having just upgraded to 4K only to find out there's brain implants available now.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I wouldn't mind downloading, provided it was like Steam so that you could re-download your movies at any time. I wouldn't want to have to buy all the HDD space to store them, then more if I wanted them backed up.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I'd mind if it was streaming or downloading. Until they come up with a compression that could retain full resolution 4k at a fraction of the space it would take up now. I mean how much space would 1 4k movie take up? I'm guessing quite a bit.

Re: Panasonic Exhibits Prototype of World's First Next Generation Blu-ray Disc Player
 

Ok, well if you guys can do it, I'm going to trademark this:

Bullshit per square foot (bs/ft2)

Re: Panasonic Exhibits Prototype of World's First Next Generation Blu-ray Disc Player
 

What's the ratio of that in Other?

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

This: ∞

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Similar sentiments here.

Already I find it annoying to deal with tv show season sets, which freeze, skip, pixelize, die, etc ... during disc playback, such as numerous Universal tv season sets released on double-sided dvd flipper discs around a decade ago. So I ended up watching these tv show season sets from several computer hard drives, in order to avoid these aggravating playback problems.

It's a very annoying time consuming process. I would guess it's even more annoying dealing with 4K digital movie files.


In hindsight, it would have been easier, less aggravating, and less expensive to just watch these same tv shows on various streaming services.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I love my disc collection but I'm starting to see the wisdom of my wife's thinking in taking advantage of streaming or using the cloud in order to save space and money. I bought way too many DVDs over the years that ended up being single watches (or worse, zero watches) that I've ended up selling to make space.

I just can't get excited about another disc format. I'll gladly pay a few extra bucks a month for 4K Netflix though.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

AV Watch posted some more technical stuff about Ultra HD Blu-ray. There is, as expected, native 24p support along with the previously announced 60p. European markets and the like will have 25p and 50p, but it doesn't sound like this is required in hardware elsewhere.

No 30p or 48p, though.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Still haven't outlined the copy protection scheme. Probably still trying to hash that out with the studios (and luck they'll need with that, given the BD+ fiasco still fresh in their minds). These are master level quality movies we're talking about, so the studios are going to be very picky about security.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

:banana:

:banana:

:sad:

EDIT: The footnote is rather interesting.

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/av...3/374/dg11.jpg

Makes it seem like the framerates are available but won't default to 25p or 50p unless a 50 Hz TV is used. That seems perfectly reasonable, as long as it's an option you can toggle (useful for content natively shot at 25p or 50p).

:sad:

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

So when do you suppose we'll be getting calibration discs that conform to BT.2020?

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/av...3/374/dg14.jpg

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

I love my collection too, but I came to the realization a while ago that I just don't have the time I once did to watch movies. Like you, my collection is full of movies I watched once or maybe twice and never thought of revisiting. I don't want to flat-out get rid of them, but at the same time, I really don't have much interest in revisiting them.

I'm fully aware now that I don't have a strong desire to revisit movies, except personal favorites, but I'm wondering if that desire was ever present? Even when I was younger, the only stuff I would revisit was horror/sci-fi and anime, but even then the revisits were few and far between. And, honestly, even stuff I like, I don't feel like revisiting that often.

For years now, when I watch a movie, I never think of buying it. I watch it, give it a rating in my logbook, and move on to the next. Even the few films I see in theaters, I rarely feel like revisiting afterwards.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

The recent Criterion Blu-ray bronzing issue (which affected some of my collection) prompted similar thoughts for me. I don't rewatch movies too often, but I liked the idea of having a high quality library in my house. And the selling point of collecting DVDs and Blu Rays (over VHS) was that it was advertised as not degrading over time ... your library would last your lifetime (if properly stored). But now we're seeing it doesn't last a lifetime. I feel like any physical media I own could go at any time. And if that's the case, I don't want to buy physical media anymore.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

That's still the exception rather than the rule, as I have tapes and discs that are more than 35 years old that still play. I'm seriously doubting that any "Ultraviolet" movies I have will be accessible that long from now. It'd be nice if CDs and DVDs had a lifetime guarantee since they're never supposed to wear out, if they ever become unplayable due to rot then they get replaced free of charge. I heard Criterion didn't even have the rights to some of those rotted titles anymore so they couldn't print new ones :(

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

:thmbsdwn:

Isn't 25p still not supported for 25 FPS material since Blu can't handle it, making most 25 FPS material encoded at 50i? If the format can support 60p? Why would it not be able to support lower frame rates?

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Ultra HD Blu-Ray does support 25p. No need for any interlacing tricks. In fact, there aren't any interlaced options at all in the docs I've seen. 30p and 48p are the glaring omissions.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Yes but based on their wording, it seems as if 25p and 50p are technically locked unless your UHD TV is a European model. It'd been nice if all UHD sets and players offered all the available frame rates without having to worry about which country your UHD TV set comes from.

Hopefully that is added before these units are released to the general public.

Any word on 3D capability?

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

The word out of CES is "no", although I haven't seen anything definitive/official.There is a 3D extension for HEVC, so maybe this is something that can be incorporated into players down the line...?

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Which means I'll wait for that to become an affordable reality. I still like 3D flicks and would like to the see the home version of the format improved.

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

Precisely.

What a frustrating format this seems to be. So many specs I wanted (10-bit color, 60p) are there, so many (3D, universal 25p support) are absent. What bugs me is that the missing functions aren't missing because of technical limitations or high design/manufacturing/implementation costs; they could all just as easily be included as not. :brickwl2:

re: Let's talk about Ultra HD Blu-ray
 

How big would a 4k movie be? 4x the size of a blu-ray movie? Like 200GB? Pretty crazy.

What's the file structure like for blu-rays? Do they split them in 1GB blocks like with DVDs?

I think Sony and Oppo are the only players that can do 4k using dual-core CPUs. Does that mean most basic blu-ray players use single core CPUs?