Jay G.

I'm not sure that's it. a BD player starts at $65:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-bdp...?skuId=4743200

A UHD BD player starts at $299:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/philips-...?skuId=5495211

The 500GB XB1S is the better deal for the same price.

So spending an extra $235 just for "future proofing" doesn't seem likely. Those buying dedicated players are likely buying a few titles now, and maybe streaming some 4K content. A lot of the XB1S owners may be focusing on the games for now, although at least some of them are buying UHD BDs.

milo bloom

I'm sure I've mentioned before if my current Bluray player died today I would consider buying a UHD player as future-proofing, though $300 is a bit high, I would pull the trigger at $200 though.


Wait, since when is that a thing? (letting the TV do the upscaling). I've always understood having the player do it was the whole point of upscaling.

bruceames

The 4K TV will automatically upscale all content that it receives that is not already 4k or is not already upscaled beforehand. The mathematics of having over 2 million individual pixels makes it impossible for it to do otherwise.

Jay G.

Yeah, there may be some who would spend $300 to future proof, but not "many," which is what PhantomStranger claimed. I'm sure a lot of the UHD BD player sales are from people buying 4K UHD TVs and wanting content for it now.


It really depends on which does the upscaling better: the TV or the player. Typically it was the player, since early HDTVs had cheap upscalers.

JimRochester

With all new TV's being 4K it's inevitable I'll be there eventually but I'll wait until my 8 year old TV bites the dust. My SONY BR is only a couple years old but I guess instead of spending $65 on something I know I would replace, I guess I'd drop the extra could hundred and go 4K for that too. If and when it does I will definitely go the 4K route for TV and BR on the next go around. I just will not get rid of equipment that is working.

Coral

I bought a 4K TV a few weeks ago and a $89 BD Player to go with it.
I couldn't justify spending $450 CAD (after tax) for a player and then having to wait for a UHD-BD title that was worth owning and having to spend $35+ on it if/when one does get released.

I understand future-proofing, but sometimes it's smarter to just wait it out instead of spending a lot more money for something you'll never (or rarely) use.

Alan Smithee

Guess what? Warner has 3 movie UHD titles coming- Great Gatsby, Jupiter Ascending, and Pacific Rim (Job)- that's right 3 more 3D movies in flat-as-a-pancake 2D! There's also going to be a deluxe set of Star Trek Beyond that includes the 3D Blu-Ray and the 2D UHD, along with a spaceship toy thing, but I'll just buy the lower-priced 3D edition- I have no use for a 2D copy no matter what its resolution is.

Adam Tyner

What would you like to see done here?

AFAIK, all 3D movies to date are 2K -- even if there's a native 4K master in 2D. They can't be released in UHD 3D since that doesn't exist -- not in the UHD BD specs, no full resolution displays on the market and none on the horizon. You frown on UHD releases that include a 3D disc. You frown on releases that don't include a 3D disc. You are not being deprived of the choice of a dedicated 3D release, so what are you so up in arms about? Do you want to deprive people of the option of UHD? Are you going to post the same thing every single time a movie that was released theatrically in 3D is released on UHD BD? Do you also frown on 2D theatrical exhibitions of films released in 3D?

Alan Smithee

Yes, as a matter of fact I do. And if these movies were also shot in 2K, what's the point of releasing them on 4K disc? (Yes, I know they can probably still look a bit better than their 2D Blu-Ray counterparts, but I still see no point as long as the 3D is gone.) I don't "frown on" UHD releases that include a 3D disc, but just like the standard DVD and digital copies that come with many of them, they're of no use to me. I WOULD buy UHD discs of 2D movies (meaning they were shot and released only in 2D) if I had the equipment for them, but again the lack of 3D support is the main reason I'm not in a big hurry to upgrade. Oppo's player is in the works though, and it'll support all the formats their previous players have including SACD and DVD Audio.

The ironic thing is I've heard passive 3D is absolutely incredible on 4K sets. I'll see if my friend who usually buys every new technology gets one this year.

Giles

interestingly the upcoming Sony UHD player is resurrecting the playback of SACD discs - yes, that niche market never went away.

as to 3D playback on 4K sets, my new LG OLED 55" produces amazing 3D reproduction - since the OLED can playback Dolby Vision content, I'm going to sit out buying a player til the actual discs come out in early 2017 - yes, that's going to be a painful long wait, but with streaming 4K content already available, I'll chew on that for the time being.

Dan

As I recall, SACD was (mostly) a Sony product. It makes sense that they'd continue to include it in their products (although, it was only in the first version of the PS3, and I don't think any PS4 has it, so I guess in their HT products, but not their gaming products).

Why So Blu?

SACD's can be played on a PS3? Ah, the fatty versions?

Coral

I believe SACD playback was removed within the first year - so they had a fatty version with and without SACD.

I think you can sell the SACD PS3 version for a decent penny as it's one of the very few players out there that you can rip SACDs from.

PhantomStranger

It's a feature included to compete with the other high-end player on the UHD market, the upcoming OPPO 203 unit.

Everyone at the high-end of the market has to compete with the Oppo's features.

mattysemo247

Who's up for some $99.99 triple packs?

bunkaroo

Eww. Hate multi-packs.

E Unit

Drop those down by $60 and we'll talk.

slop101

Those movies don't even have anything in common.

Josh-da-man

Yeah.

I could see a Man of Steel/Dawn of Jusrice/Suicide Squad triple feature.

Or a Road Warrior/Beyond Thunderdome/Fury Road triple feature.

Or a 2001/Clockwork Orange/Shining Triple Feature.

Or a San Andreas/two other WB owned sc-fi action films triple feature.

F For Fake

That is actually the one I've kept bookmarked! Good to know I'm not out of line for being interested in it, seemed like the best option for me price/size/features -wise!

Why So Blu?

Multipacks are great on BD. Fuck those inflated UHD prices.

Alan Smithee

Actually they do- all 3 of them were released in 3D, but of course are only in 2D on this format. This seems to be happening a LOT considering "there's no 3D 4K material".

Coral

Sure they do... they're one of the few titles on UHD-BD.

But seriously, is that $99 the US price? Because at $33.33 per title, it's close to the average price in Canada - which is a ripoff even in this country... which makes it an even bigger ripoff in the US.

So, yeah... hard enough to sell the format as it is. This kind of pricing guarantees failure.

PerryD

I would assume that $99 is the MSRP? If so, this is a decent discount from the $135 MSRP of buying each title individually. Considering they all sell for $30 (30% off the $45 MSRP), that means this triple pack should eventually sell for around $70. At the current price, you might as well buy them individually.

Right now, I'm happy with the pricing for the 4K discs. I don't think I've seen one sell for more than $30 at release date, most times for $28, and often discounted even more (like $22-ish for the X-Men Apocalypse or Ghostbusters 2016).

fumanstan

I thought generic "genre" packs of movies have been pretty typical in home media, both in DVD or Blu-ray. There always seems to be random action, drama, comedy, or whatever movies thrown together for a new buyer.