Technical Issues and Questions

[DeprongMori]

On a different matter, this website has gradually gone from one of my fastest-loading destinations to one of the very slowest. Performance has continued to degrade over time. I have always been primarily accessing the site via Safari browser on iPhone and iPad. Am I the only one seeing this, or is it a general problem? Is there anything that can be done about site performance? Thanks.

[therewillbeblus]

On a different matter, this website has gradually gone from one of my fastest-loading destinations to one of the very slowest. Performance has continued to degrade over time. I have always been primarily accessing the site via Safari browser on iPhone and iPad. Am I the only one seeing this, or is it a general problem? Is there anything that can be done about site performance? Thanks.

You're not alone - we actually have a separate thread for this, and Chris responded that he's working on it

[Ogre Kovacs]

Thanks everyone - I'll try some of these suggestions. It shouldn't be about the specific cable, since I changed that up on fdm's suggestion last Fall with the 4K HDMI recommended and it was occurring before or after (not that anyone's saying that, though it's worth noting for myself), but I'll try the plugging in/out. It's funny because the severity/existence of the issue really depends on the 4K disc/company. I don't think I've ever experienced an issue with Arrow 4Ks, had no issues watching Phantom Thread the other day (with plenty of pauses, rewinds), rarely with Criterions or VS' (it might be a small issue of pixilations coming up briefly while the image stays in motion, but rights itself very quickly without needing to turn off my player or freezing) but can be drastic with these WB 4Ks, and various other 'normal ones'. I'm not sure if there's a difference with the disc-authoring(?) or what, but I've definitely noticed different patterns.

I do not have 4K experience, but what you are experiencing sounds a whole lot like what I experienced in the early blu-ray days. I had my player for months and it exhibited no issues. Then had one WB disc that would pixelate and freeze up. The disc was spotless, so I assumed it was a layer change hangup. I got a replacement and had the same issues but in a different location. As I would stop, unplug, etc., I would have issues in the same general location but not necessarily the exact.

I got another WB disc and had similar issues. This seemed at first to only occur with Warner Bros. discs only. It eventually grew over time to include other companies before being nearly every disc. However, DVDs continued to work perfectly on the player. I was told that the player had two separate lasers for blu-rays and DVDs. Additionally, the laser for a blu-ray was significantly closer than a DVDs and as such more prone to issues if it got slightly "jarred" or "out of place" and that this was the reason the DVD still worked. This all sounded reasonable enough, but I really do not know how these things work.

Long story short, I got a different player and never had an issue to this day. All the discs that I struggled with played just fine. Probably not what you want to hear, but I hope it helps.

[denti alligator]

This is unrelated to 4K directly, but I have a quick internet query. I replaced my modem and router because I was told they couldn’t handle signal speed I am paying for (1GBps). So I did that. Technician confirmed I’m getting the full 1GBps from the cable. I’m getting 800Mbps from the modem (which Motorola is troubleshooting: they say I should get the full 1GB) and only 500Mbps or so from the router. After a back and forth with tech support, they now say *every* router only gives you 40-60% of the modem signal wirelessly. OK, so why isn’t that in the product description? They said to get the full signal I need a combo modem/router. This is the first I’m learning about this. Is this true or is the router co just making excuses for their shoddy product?

[therewillbeblus]

Aside from the first two Godfather discs needing a soap rinse and the third getting a preemptive one, I haven't had any problems with the ~40 UHDs I've watched on my 820... I can't say I'm conscious of doing a lot of skipping, but I did get a remote for my 820 that has the +/- 10 second buttons and I've never hesitated to use it, and pausing has never been a problem. Is your 420 still under warranty? Maybe you just got a faulty drive?

Whilst it's been long known that 4K disc playing is a more sensitive endeavour than Blu-ray, the frequency that therewillbeblus experiences problems is definitely not normal. I would agree that the player is likely a faulty unit.

Talking with the tech guy at 220electronics, he thought that it may be a problem that I'm playing discs that have DV on a 420, which apparently doesn't support DV according to him? Either way, I think I might spring for a new player - mine is out of warranty and the hassle of shipping it into them to diagnose, etc. just doesn't seem worth it. What's the most recommended player by those of you who are experts in the format? I was thinking that the Panasonic 820 (which apparently does come equipped with DV) seems to be the most talked-about, but I'd like this to be my last stop on the player-train if possible, so I'm looking for something optimal!

[AxeYou]

If you never intend to rip your FEL DV discs, IMO the Panasonic UB820 is the best bet. I've never had a problem with it other than two occasions which I would chalk up to faulty discs. The absolute killer features on the 820 (that are not often mentioned) are controls for subtitle luminance and position. I've found that most HDR/DV discs encode their subs at an absurd brightness that overpowers the entire image. It's almost like driving at night with constant high beams from oncoming traffic. Darkening the subs a few notches solves the problem entirely. I also like to move the subs down into the black bars.

The Sony X700/X800M2, on the other hand, has way better support to playback ripped FEL DV, but loses subtitle controls. Picture quality wise the two are likely indistinguishable to the vast majority of viewers. I can't comment on the "freezing" problem a lot of users seem to complain about as I've never used it to play discs. However, I suspect most of those would boil down to scratched discs out of that Mexican replication plant.

[jheez]

I would recommend the Panasonic 820, but with a few caveats. Mine has been pretty flawless for UHD and 1080p blu-ray playback. Out of a couple hundred UHD discs, I have only had two discs with obvious scratches that gave me problems.

The caveats with the Panasonic are:
1. SD content on either DVDs or blu-rays can look TERRIBLE compared to other players
2. on HDR/DV UHD discs, special features play with HDR enabled even if it's not HDR content (so it looks bad)

My Sony X700 has freezing issues (possibly with 100gb discs?), which seems fairly common. On the Sony, you have to manually enable/disable DV, which is a bit of an annoyance.

[AxeYou]

2. on HDR/DV UHD discs, special features play with HDR enabled even if it's not HDR content (so it looks bad)

It's actually only a problem with DV discs (HDR10 only discs are not affected) and yes it looks quite bad. I've resorted to manually disabling DV before watching special features on the few discs that have them. This way, they play in proper SDR. Kinda defeats the Panasonic's advantage of automatic DV toggling against the Sony players haha.

[jheez]

Thanks for the clarification!

[EddieLarkin]

Yeah the X700 has a very common freezing issue with 100GB discs, so I would avoid that like the plague, for your sanity's sake.

The only other good option is the 820, so go with that.

The guy at 220electronics is talking complete nonsense, DV discs being played on non-DV capable machines will not result in issues (they just playback in HDR10!).

[therewillbeblus]

The only other good option is the 820, so go with that.

Are you saying this is the only good option for a 4K player in general, outside of the 420?

If you never intend to rip your FEL DV discs, IMO the Panasonic UB820 is the best bet. I've never had a problem with it other than two occasions which I would chalk up to faulty discs. The absolute killer features on the 820 (that are not often mentioned) are controls for subtitle luminance and position.

I don't ever rip discs into a digital form, so if that's what you mean, I think I'm good. That sounds really cool (I'm also really interested in senseabove's comment about a special remote he got for his player - is that bought separately?)

The caveats with the Panasonic are:
1. SD content on either DVDs or blu-rays can look TERRIBLE compared to other players
2. on HDR/DV UHD discs, special features play with HDR enabled even if it's not HDR content (so it looks bad)

I appreciate the transparency - 1. I actually kept my old region-free Sony BDP-S3700 once I realized that the Panasonic 4K player would fumble subs on R2 DVDs and sometimes struggle to play subs on flash drives that all work on the Sony, so I think I'll just continue the practice of playing this content there (I never even bother to play my USB on any other player, the Sony remote is way more user friendly for subs, etc.)

2. I guess it's good that a lot of companies like Criterion put most special features on blu-ray discs, but it sounds like there's no great option for a player that helps in this area... if the 420 is, for some reason, better in this department, that would be cool to know - I'm probably going to hang onto my player (what else am I gonna do with it?) and if it's better at one thing vs the 820, I'll use it accordingly. Otherwise I'll just use it as an extra backup player or something.

[swo17]

Another (probably expensive) option is to buy an Oppo on eBay

[senseabove]

There are a few different Panasonic UHD remote variations with different button options, but the one I opted for is this one, which has a backlight button, -10s/+60s buttons, and a subtitle button (which is not nearly as useful as I'd hoped, since all it does is jumps you to the same ridiculously convoluted subtitle screen directly, but that's at least saving a button click and some navigation, I guess). I think the other button you might want to look for is the HDR Settings (which this one has), which is a button on the default remote that brings up an option that I think can only be accessed via that button, nothing in the interface, but it's not something I've needed. But they all looks the same, so double check the buttons you want are there.

On the other forum you'll see a lot of folks saying to be sure you get one with the Panasonic logo, and that some will have the logo covered in black tape, but the one I got has no logo at all and it works just fine, so...

[therewillbeblus]

Another (probably expensive) option is to buy an Oppo on eBay

Seems like the 820 is already extremely expensive on 220electronics, around what I thought Oppos went for, at least pre-4K. If it's objectively better though and lasts forever, I'm up for the investment

[swo17]

This expensive?

[AxeYou]

Seems like the 820 is already extremely expensive on 220electronics, around what I thought Oppos went for, at least pre-4K. If it's objectively better though and lasts forever, I'm up for the investment

Why would you buy it from 220-electronics though? $750 is absurd. Presumably your 420 from them is already region-unlocked? Does it have trouble with 1080p discs as well?

If you just want to keep one player around, RattleByte sells an unlocking kit for ~60 EUR. I have it. It works like a charm and additionally unlocks the feature to side load subtitles through USB. It does require soldering, but even if you are not skilled with that line of work, I'm sure you can find someone to solder it for way less than the ~$200 markup at 220 (and as Eddie said, you already know their customer service is talking nonsense now so I wouldn't place much value in their warranty, not that a player needs much servicing anyways : ) ). It's a 30-min job tops and I spent the majority of that time figuring out how to open up the 820's chassis.

Another (probably expensive) option is to buy an Oppo on eBay

IIRC the Oppo players are based on an old Dolby Vision chip or firmware and they have some subtle picture quality bugs. Probably not that noticeable, but considering their price point, I wouldn't get one unless I need to playback DV FEL rips. Even then, I feel like Sony X800M2 offers a better value (for rip playback).

[DeprongMori]

Another caveat on the Panasonic 820, besides some DVDs looking uniquely terrible, is that it (region-switchable modded) will not play PAL SD content present on Region B discs. You’ll only get audio for those with no picture, so kiss a lot of Region B supplemental content goodbye.

[AxeYou]

I'm pretty sure I've played a fair number of SD content on Arrow's Region B discs. Do they have to be 25fps to be unplayable? I need to double check on the ones I've watched.

For context, I have a modded unit and I've disabled PAL->NTSC conversion through a special sequence of buttons on the remote, because my TV can handle 25fps input.

[DeprongMori]

I'm pretty sure I've played a fair number of SD content on Arrow's Region B discs. Do they have to be 25fps to be unplayable? I need to double check on the ones I've watched.

For context, I have a modded unit and I've disabled PAL->NTSC conversion through a special sequence of buttons on the remote, because my TV can handle 25fps input.

My 820 unit was modded by Bombay Electronics (which might be the same outfit as 220). I previously had a modded LG Blu-ray player which was modded by them with no problems.

I can play 25fps Blu-ray content like Andrea Arnold’s Red Road and Arrow’s Dekalog with no problem. The 820 fails to play the video for the SD supplemental content found on the recent BFI Greenaway The Draughtsman’s Contract or the UK Witchfinder General Blu-rays, for example.

I’m interested in trying out your remote workaround, if you have more details.

[therewillbeblus]

Why would you buy it from 220-electronics though? $750 is absurd. Presumably your 420 from them is already region-unlocked? Does it have trouble with 1080p discs as well?

If you just want to keep one player around, RattleByte sells an unlocking kit for ~60 EUR. I have it. It works like a charm and additionally unlocks the feature to side load subtitles through USB. It does require soldering, but even if you are not skilled with that line of work, I'm sure you can find someone to solder it for way less than the ~$200 markup at 220 (and as Eddie said, you already know their customer service is talking nonsense now so I wouldn't place much value in their warranty, not that a player needs much servicing anyways : ) ). It's a 30-min job tops and I spent the majority of that time figuring out how to open up the 820's chassis.

That's a good point, thanks for making it. I'm not sure I trust myself to do anything like that and not fuck something up, so it may be worth the extra money to ensure it's done right. I could always use my 420 for a region free player and buy a normal 820 for 4K only... but I've also heard that some UHDs (Shout!'s ?) are region locked and if there's a chance this might be a thing in the future, I'd rather just protect against it now (or maybe just run Candyman et al on the 420 and save some money)

[AxeYou]

The 820 fails to play the video for the SD supplemental content found on the recent BFI Greenaway The Draughtsman’s Contract or the UK Witchfinder General Blu-rays, for example.

Took me a while, but I was able to find a PAL SD/50i extra on StudioCanal's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Blu-ray (Region B). Here it is playing just fine on my UB820 (Region A but modded): https://i.imgur.com/w8Edd86.jpg

And here it is playing an NTSC SD/60i extra on StudioCanal's Ran BD (Region B): https://i.imgur.com/iMUBzpR.jpg

I’m interested in trying out your remote workaround, if you have more details.

I modded with RattleByte's kit. They told me the button sequence was the following. However, idk if this applies generally to any modded UB820. Hope it works for you!

In order to switch off the 60p conversion, press the sequence "RED BLUE 2 3 4" in standby.

but I've also heard that some UHDs (Shout!'s ?) are region locked and if there's a chance this might be a thing in the future

Here's a thread: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=334606

[Boosmahn]

I'm looking for a 2.0 (I live in an apartment) soundbar to replace the subpar speakers on a 50-inch Vizio E502AR, preferably something that stays true to original mixes. Does anyone have experience with something that could fit the bill?

Alternatively, could I buy a 2.1 soundbar and subwoofer kit and just not connect the subwoofer without losing anything?

[Tom Amolad]

On my Sony bdp-s3700 blu-ray player, I've had some issues recently with a couple of blu-rays, which display whith a mild but nevertheless annoying case of what looks like motion smoothing (though maybe the precise technical cause is something else). I also have an odler Panasonic blu-ray player that I stopped using because it couldn't read some discs, but I got these to work, and the picture looked fine, so the problem doesn't seem to be with the TV (unless it's something specific about the way the player communicates with the TV). the Sony's problem also seems to be specific to HD materials -- the SD materials on the same discs play fine.

Does anyone know what it could be? As far as I can tell, there's only one video option on the player's menu, and everything looks standard there.

[therewillbeblus]

I plan to comb through threads a bit over the next stretch of time, but since I've finally moved into a home I plan to stay in for the foreseeable future, I really want to invest in an optimal TV for UHD. I currently have a Roku TV model that, as EddieLarkin helpfully mentioned in the past, only barely supports the ability to notice differences in the format.

I'm planning to buy the TV around Black Friday weekend, so I have some time, but what models/brands do those of you who are serious about the format recommend, or have yourselves? I've only really heard of OLEDs, which sound cool - I don't necessarily need the 'top of the line', certainly would like something that's gonna be on sale, but I watch enough films and have invested enough in the format already where I'd like to really see those results.

(Also, perhaps related (certainly not a dealbreaker in any way), I'm curious about the 3-D possibilities.. I know swo17 has mentioned having a setup, but I don't know if there's a TV/player combo (I'm planning to level up to the Panasonic 820, which I believe supports 3D) that will allow me to watch stuff like Goodbye to Language the way it was meant to be seen. *I'd much rather have the best TV for 2D than include 3D as a qualifier though)

[swo17]

I don't think there's a good 4K+3D option available yet. I have a then-top-of-the-line 2-year-old Sony Bravia A90J but I don't know if something better might have come along since then