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

I guess they want to try and piggy-back on the Blu-Ray name and make it feel less like a new format. Will also come in handy when Ultra HD BD players are compatible with standard BD - so people will know it's in the same family (although some may think their current BD player can play 4K - so there's that).

Still DOA. I don't see myself buying an 80"+ TV to notice the upgrade in quality, not to mention having to buy a new player... and I certainly have no desire to re-buy my movies yet again.

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

Funny enough, it sounds a lot like "HD DVD" - a name that mislead people into thinking the familiar DVD logo meant they could still play them in a regular DVD player.

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

I was thinking the same thing.

I also have zero interest in this format...at least for the foreseeable future.

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

I could see myself buying new releases on this format if they were shot and mastered in 4k, but I can't think of too many catalog releases I'd shell out the dough for.

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

Wasn't the last remaster of Lawrence of Arabia done in 4K? That would be one I'd definitely get.

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

Based on the poor sales of catalog titles and the slow release I'd be willing to bet not many titles would even be released on the new format.

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

It's very possible this format sees very few catalog releases. There are many catalog releases on Blu-ray today that barely look better than DVD, much less 4K resolution.

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

Sure, but a lot of that's due to studios rehashing awful masters from 15+ years ago. No one's really sitting on ancient, low-quality 4K masters, so at least in theory, lackluster looking catalog titles shouldn't be a problem.

The biggest hurdle with 4K is a fundamental lack of content. There might have to be a lot of catalog titles simply because there's so little else. Very, very few films go through the entire post-production process in 4K. Even some of the most lavishly budgeted movies on the planet might shoot in, say, 5K with a RED Epic, but the visual effects and DI will still be 2K. (For instance, The Hobbit trilogy and The Avengers were finished in 2K.) A lot of the "remastered in 4K!" films you see on Blu-ray were scanned at 4K but actually finished in 2K as well. The "funny" thing too is that oversampling produces the best results, so the best looking 4K masters will be the ones scanned at 6K or 8K. :D

You're going to see a lot of upscaled content on Ultra HD Blu-ray. Admittedly, the format has other advantages beyond resolution (colorspace, HDR, more efficient compression), and 2K does have a slightly higher resolution than Blu-ray anyway.

Another crazy thing is that there's not a single television on the market (correct?) that can take advantage of all the bells and whistles of Ultra HD Blu-ray.

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

So, we found a deal on a UltraHD tv. An LG model for only $999, 60". We've just got the Bluray player and videogame systems hooked up so far, but it still looks nice. Not in any rush for new content, still have a ton of DVDs that I have no plans to upgrade, most look ok upconverted so far.

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

Huh? What's the point of the format if 4K TVs can't handle it? I'm confused.

I will say, I assumed adoption of 4K TVs would be a hurdle, but the prices dropped much more quickly for those than they did for 1080i/1080p TVs, and I guess that practically anyone looking for a new TV within the next few years will just default to a 4K TV.

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

I wonder if it could be beneficial to play UHDBDs (-rolleyes-) on a 1080p TV. The idea is that you could have both the luma and the chroma resolution at 1920x1080 instead of just luma at 1920x1080 and chroma at 960x540. It would be like having 4:4:4 HD.

As for the name, "Ultra HD" seems redundant. Ultra should be considered the next step up from high, so that part of the name should be "Ultra Definition." Call it "Ultra Definition Disc," with a manageable UDD abbreviation.

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

None of the current UHDTVs on the market meet Rec. 2020 spec. Most don't have HDMI 2.0 and even less are HDCP 2.2 compliant.

You'll have to wait for newer sets (like the upcoming ones with Dolby Vision) to even begin taking advantage of the color space benefits of UHDBD. And the HDCP issue is a big one because copy protected discs will playback at no more than 1080p resolution if your equipment is not HDCP 2.2 compliant.

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

Oh fer fuck's sake

Good thing I'm not buying a new TV anytime soon.

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

Same here. Maybe in the next 3-4 years. But I have a Sharp 65" in my theater room that I don't use nearly enough. I have a lot of time for all of this hoopla to play itself off. My preliminary guess is that still will fail fairly soon after takeoff. I don't want it to, I love seeing 4k in all its glory, but we'll see little to zero support from just about all of the studios on this.

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

Ditto.

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

I'm still rocking my 1080P Samsung DLP from about 7 years ago. The TV still rocks and has only needed the bulb replaced a couple years ago. My Dad has a Panasonic plasma but I still think the blacks look better on mine :)

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

Yes, the rollout and timing of all these critical features has been a total clusterfuck that practically no one in the intended consumer target audience understands at all.

A year from now, trying explaining to someone that the alleged 4k TV they bought in mid to late 2015 is not compatible with the 4k UHDBD player released in early 2016 because it doesn't have the right type of HDMI input on the back.

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

When my 1080P Sony dies I will just go back to reading books by candlelight.

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

That's hard to believe. Without HDCP 2.2 you're not getting 4K content period (unless it's from youtube or your camcorder). I have a 2013 model and it has both HDMI 2.0 (all ports) and HDCP 2.2 (port 4).

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

If the video isn't copy protected (like via streaming, youtube, or any non-protected discs), you can view 4K content. If it's copy protected then you get restrictions.

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

Or for those who have a 2013 or later Samsung 4K set, you can *hope* that this functionality is included in a future Evolution kit. I'm betting it will be.

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

HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliance are a safe bet. Rec. 2020, however, is unlikely. As far as I understand, that's a panel limitation. So unless the Evolution kit includes a brand new TV, you won't have a Rec. 2020 compliant UHDTV.

Although there is some dissent regarding Rec. 2020. It's believed by some that the new color space is so wide that certain people might have radically different perceptions of the same colors. Similar to the issue with the infamous dress.

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

Most of the clusterfuck has to do with DRM and copy protection... I'll say that if the studios, MPAA, et al just got their heads out their asses and realized it's a losing battle, they could get on with making money and advancing hidef without all the confusion and platitudes.

That said, I *still* wouldn't upgrade since I'd need an 80"+ set and/or a projection screen in a huge home theatre room to be able to easilly tell the difference between 4k and 1080p...

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

Ah I see Rec. 2020 will require a 10 or 12 bit panel. Well at least my Samsung HU8550 supports HDCP 2.2 already.

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

Star Wars
Lord of the Rings
Alien/Aliens
Indiana Jones
Pulp Fiction
Jaws

That's about all I'd be willing to upgrade to UHD.

Since I got a blu-ray player, I'd say that I haven't upgraded probably 90% of my DVDs, and I'll still buy DVDs for some older 'cult' titles that aren't going to benefit much from 1080p.

This holds moreso for UHDBR. Blu-ray and DVD are going to be good enough for 99% of my library.

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

Never gonna happen. DRM and copy protection are like a security blanket for the industry; they want to drag it around all of the time even though it isn't doing anything to keep the monsters away.

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

From The Hollywood Reporter:

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

Life of Pi, Kingsman and Maze Runner were all shot with the Arri Alexa, which is a 2k camera. So those will all be upconverts. Only Exodus was shot with a higher resolution camera (the RED Epic Dragon). None of these movies was shot with High Dynamic Range in mind, so they'll all have to be regraded.

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

Christ, how many acronyms do we need? Now "HDR" is a thing?

HDR photography has been around a while, I think.

I think that Exodus's DI was done at 2K.

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

HDR and an expanded color gamut

:lol:

UltraHD is going to be mainly a repository for new and recent (last 10 years) movies.
In other words, about 50% of this product is going to be heavily digitally processed ( jacked around contrast, desaturation), and digitally color graded (emphasis on blues & green & oranges).
For every film like Guardians of the Galaxy that actually does make use of a full bodied range of hues, we're gonna get 5 Exoduses, Gone Girls, and Man Of Steels.

Whoo Hoo! Here's my money- Sign me up!

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

Only if by "a while" you mean one month. There are only two genuine HDR movies so far: Tomorrowland and Inside Out.

I think it's been around significantly longer in still photography.

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

It certainly has.

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

the aforementioned titles BETTER have their object based audio mixes on the 4K discs.

maybe this time - Fox can fix the PQ problems on 'The King and I' bluray and get it right this time around.

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

I'm not going to actively pursue it but if we get some comped gear from the manufacturers then we'll be all for it. Someone had asked me "what about UHD reviews?" and I was like: we'll, looks like we ain't gonna review them then. I'm not investing in new gear.

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

Yep, sad that 99% of 4k offerings will be the digitally-tweaked garbage of the last 10 years. Where the extra resolution would be highly apparant is in the older 35mm masters from the 1940s to 1970s and, of course the 65 and 70mm epics, etc. Chances of getting *any* of those in the format are somewhere between "not at all" and "slim to none."

So, epic failure on the whole 4k fad for me, in other words.

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

Has anyone seen the sales thread lately? Blu-ray is down 15% for the year, and is still outsold 2:1 by DVD. I can't see how there will be much of appetite for this next generation stuff.

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

There will be an initial wave of enthusiasm from technologically astute home theater owners.

I think what type of signals Hollywood sends to the mass market will play a critical role in UHD's acceptance. If consumers see Hollywood hedging their bets with the format and holding back on pushing the format into the marketplace, it's game over before UHD ever really started.

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

I wouldn't say that. I would be very surprised if we don't get at least a handful of major titles the studios really care about like Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, etc. Warner loves to reissue The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. Some of these already have 4K masters.

I wouldn't expect a lot of them, but there are certain films that (apparently) still sell well enough for them to do it.