Help decide between Panasonic UB450, Sony X800m2 or LG UBK90

Extortioner

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So for me all of these are around the same price range (except for the LG one, it’s still cheaper than the other 2).

I have an LG C9 with an older (non-Atmos) receiver so I’m obviously in the market for a 2 HDMI output player with Dolby Vision.
I won’t be using the device for anything streaming related as I have enough other devices that can do that.
i know the Sony needs a manual toggle each time you switch between DV or non-DV movies but that’s not a dealbreaker for me.
I do watch nearly all movies with subtitles, so additional options to make them less bright for example are bonus points ;)

It’s hard deciding between these 3 as it seems everyone has their favourites or point towards the (much more expensive) UB820 series (which is a bit too expensive - wife won’t approve it ;) )
 
Avoid the LG. It’s a piece of junk. I had one and returned it within 24h. The Sony 800xm2 is not worth considering, unless you like big machines. The cheaper x700 is more-or-less the same beast in a different package. Look at the x700 or the UB450. The lack of auto DV on the x700 is irritating, not an issue on the UB450. However, to my ears, the x700 sounds better, especially on CD playback.

I have both the x700 and ub450, btw.
 
Avoid the LG. It’s a piece of junk. I had one and returned it within 24h. The Sony 800xm2 is not worth considering, unless you like big machines. The cheaper x700 is more-or-less the same beast in a different package. Look at the x700 or the UB450. The lack of auto DV on the x700 is irritating, not an issue on the UB450. However, to my ears, the x700 sounds better, especially on CD playback.

I have both the x700 and ub450, btw.
How about the UB420 vs the X700 on "player-led DV" Sony tv? HDR Optimiser of the Panny vs 'crippled' DV on the Sony? Also read the UB420 with a custom firmware can enable Dolby Vision playback (only logical since it has the same Mediatek chip as the UB820 iirc). Haven't dug into that last aspect much yet though ...
 
No idea. No experience of the UB420. Not sure what you mean by ‘player-led’.
 
How about the UB420 vs the X700 on "player-led DV" Sony tv? HDR Optimiser of the Panny vs 'crippled' DV on the Sony? Also read the UB420 with a custom firmware can enable Dolby Vision playback (only logical since it has the same Mediatek chip as the UB820 iirc). Haven't dug into that last aspect much yet though ...
UB420/UB820 don't use mediatek SOC but instead Panasonic HCX SOC
Don't know about a custom firmware but if it is 'provided' by who I think it is I wouldn't bother (even if you can get it). So on that basis X700 provides DV, UB420 doesn't.

It is the TV which if anything has what you call crippled DV and that would be the case whatever DV capable player used.
 
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So for me all of these are around the same price range (except for the LG one, it’s still cheaper than the other 2).

I have an LG C9 with an older (non-Atmos) receiver so I’m obviously in the market for a 2 HDMI output player with Dolby Vision.
I won’t be using the device for anything streaming related as I have enough other devices that can do that.
i know the Sony needs a manual toggle each time you switch between DV or non-DV movies but that’s not a dealbreaker for me.
I do watch nearly all movies with subtitles, so additional options to make them less bright for example are bonus points ;)

It’s hard deciding between these 3 as it seems everyone has their favourites or point towards the (much more expensive) UB820 series (which is a bit too expensive - wife won’t approve it ;) )
Personally I can't see much, if any, difference in picture quality between my Sony X700/X800M2 vs my UB820/UB9000 on my LG E8 as regards to DV playback (except the Sony players don't have the issues that plague a couple of DV discs on Panasonic player).

The UB820 has dimmable subtitles (although they don't stick and have to be redone with every play of a disc). X800M2 doesn't so if you find bright subtitles distracting it could be worth the extra to get a UB820. Don't know if you can dim subtitles with the UB450, perhaps @Clem_Dye can answer that.
 
UB420/UB820 don't use mediatek SOC but instead Panasonic HCX SOC
Don't know about a custom firmware but if it is 'provided' by who I think it is I wouldn't bother (even if you can get it). So on that basis X700 provides DV, UB420 doesn't.

It is the TV which if anything has what you call crippled DV and that would be the case whatever DV capable player used.
Panasonic 'HCX SoC''in their tv's are just Mediatek chips so I assumed the same here until I saw a picture of the actual chip in this blog Panasonic UB820 내부 관찰 및 성능 개선 작업 (was actually Oppo that definitely used Mediatek chips and the Sony players as well iirc).
Accorrding to Stacey Spears the bug is in the DV profile on the players, all players. The examples shown in the HDTV test video using the Spears and Munsil disk are night and day between player and tv led DV (using two Sony XH90 tv's) so wasn't sure if DV from an external source is even worth it on a player led Sony tv. Hadn't considered the Sony players until I read you had to manually activate DV playback so that meant it could be turned off as well
But reading some more into the HDR Optimiser i'm not sure it would benefit a tv like the XH95 much either. Price is roughly the same for the X700 and UB420 (UB424 here), X800 M2 close to 50% more expensive. Will see what they do come Amazon Prime Days ...
 
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