Issues with the 4k format

[Inspektah]

A fan of movies for as long as I can remember and love to own films on the physical format.
I got my first taste of 4k UHD about 18 months ago; back then I had a 42" Sony Bavia TV and 4k player, after being really impressed with Blu ray transfers and how they had transformed the home viewing experience from the days of Vhs I thought was pretty remarkable.
I had seen 4k format dvds available in shops for a while but didn't feel I needed to justify the quite steep increase in price compared to bluray..
Until I decided to dip my toe in the water when I saw an offer on for The Matrix (one of my favourite films) from watching the first 5 minutes I was hooked, the visuals where absolutely stunning!! I found the level of detail amazing with visuals so detailed that i noticed things before that previous formats wouldn't pick up on.
With a new found love to the format I've started collecting.
I have had a few issues with crashing disks though.
Recently brought the Godfarther trilogy and it froze with an hour and a half left to go. This has happened a few times before but tried for it not to bother me
I also brought blade runner sequel second hand of facebook marketplace a while ago .
The disc is in mint condition, not a mark on the disc itself; tried watching it today, really enjoying the film.. about 40 mins in when the disc goes through a weird glitch and keeps crashing making the film unwatchable. It's not like I can return the item, I know that's always a risk buying second hand but still.

As much as I love the 4k transfers and when the disc has no issues it's a great experience.
I'm beginning to rapidly loose patience with it. For the cost of buying these discs is expensive enough and then for them not to work properly, I'm now finding hard to justify buying them.
It would be good to hear people's thoughts and experiences?

Ben

 

[two2midnight]

A fan of movies for as long as I can remember and love to own films on the physical format.
I got my first taste of 4k UHD about 18 months ago; back then I had a 42" Sony Bavia TV and 4k player, after being really impressed with Blu ray transfers and how they had transformed the home viewing experience from the days of Vhs I thought was pretty remarkable.
I had seen 4k format dvds available in shops for a while but didn't feel I needed to justify the quite steep increase in price compared to bluray..
Until I decided to dip my toe in the water when I saw an offer on for The Matrix (one of my favourite films) from watching the first 5 minutes I was hooked, the visuals where absolutely stunning!! I found the level of detail amazing with visuals so detailed that i noticed things before that previous formats wouldn't pick up on.
With a new found love to the format I've started collecting.
I have had a few issues with crashing disks though.
Recently brought the Godfarther trilogy and it froze with an hour and a half left to go. This has happened a few times before but tried for it not to bother me
I also brought blade runner sequel second hand of facebook marketplace a while ago .
The disc is in mint condition, not a mark on the disc itself; tried watching it today, really enjoying the film.. about 40 mins in when the disc goes through a weird glitch and keeps crashing making the film unwatchable. It's not like I can return the item, I know that's always a risk buying second hand but still.

As much as I love the 4k transfers and when the disc has no issues it's a great experience.
I'm beginning to rapidly loose patience with it. For the cost of buying these discs is expensive enough and then for them not to work properly, I'm now finding hard to justify buying them.
It would be good to hear people's thoughts and experiences?

Ben

What is your player?
Some are worse than others for having these problems. I've played over 600 UHDs and have never had what you describe.

 

[Paul Moran]

Try to watch them within the return window, then return them if faulty. I have 328 4K discs, and I've only had one faulty disc so far; the USA edition of Tenet. There were no visible faults on the disc, and it passed a chapter skip test, but during playback with Oppo 203, it froze at 102:44 and 114:51, sometimes with picture break-up. I had the same problem with a Sony X700. Amazon wanted me to return it, which only cost £5.85, but they gave me a refund of £20.00. I later bought it from Amazon Italy; no problems. (BTW, the often cheaper UK version is cut.)

 

[barnaby jones]

I’ve not ever had any issues either, touch wood.

 

[IGC]

Crashing? Are you using a standalone player? Which model?

You should get a 2nd 4K player (not some gaming unit) or at least test the discs on another player

 

[movieman1866]

It's been mentioned several times on these forums that new discs sometimes need a wipe as there can be some residue from the manufacturing process. I don't clean my discs before playing them but if one does freeze I give it a wipe and it's always played fine after that. I've only had about 3 or 4 that have had a problem when first playing them.
I've had both blu ray and DVD discs go faulty where they freeze or refuse to play. The last one that gave me problems was, I think, an extras disc for The Evil Dead. Constant freezing but worked fine on another player. The original player hasn't had an issue with any other disc. So, as already mentioned, trying another player could be worthwhile if you are able to do that.

 

[Indiana Jones]

Triple layer discs also seem to cause certain players a fair bit of trouble but luckily my Panasonic has never froze or glitched on a disc yet but when I played Thor Ragnorok on my Xbox One X a few years ago it froze about 20 minutes before the end.

 

[Jim Di Griz]

I had trouble with the first release of Mad Max 2 4K US disc - sent that back though. And the Dune 4K disc but got that replaced. Apart from that, fine I think.

 

[Darbo]

This is what makes me hesitant to upgrade my player, I'm still rocking the Panasonic 390 from years ago and it's never missed a beat, but it doesn't do dolby vision.
Started doing a bit of research and pretty much every model is being a bit flakey here and there.
'tis not like the old days.

 

[Swizz]

More Or less the same story for me. The only disc that hiccuped for me is Midway. Apart from that - it's all cream cheese.

 

[Inspektah]

What is your player?
Some are worse than others for having these problems. I've played over 600 UHDs and have never had what you describe

Thank you. Currently using An LG 4k blu ray player.. I forget which model.
I do have a Sony 4k player that I was going to sell, so I will switch it up and see if it makes a difference.


What player do you use?

 

[two2midnight]

Thank you. Currently using An LG 4k blu ray player.. I forget which model.
I do have a Sony 4k player that I was going to sell, so I will switch it up and see if it makes a difference.


What player do you use?

Mainly use Panasonic UB9000 but I do also have UB820 and Sony X800M2. I haven't had a problem with any of them. In general I've found the Panasonic players listed above plus my UB700 to be the most consistently reliable and problem free.

A LG player lasted less than a week before I sent it back due to various problem. It would freeze at every 2nd to 3rd layer change on a BD100 triple layer disc. If you are going to get rid of a player, it would be the LG I'd choose to go.

 

[chief barker]

The only disc I've had issues with in using my Panasonic UB820 was the collector's edition of The Thing which was a common issue at the same timestamp. Replaced it with the standard edition and was fine throughout.

All other discs have been glitch free. The Panasonic 4k players seem pretty rock solid as this is my second player from panny and I'm coming from a UB700.

 

[Inspektah]

Mainly use Panasonic UB9000 but I do also have UB820 and Sony X800M2. I haven't had a problem with any of them. In general I've found the Panasonic players listed above plus my UB700 to be the most consistently reliable and problem free.

A LG player lasted less than a week before I sent it back due to various problem. It would freeze at every 2nd to 3rd layer change on a BD100 triple layer disc. If you are going to get rid of a player, it would be the LG I'd choose to go.

I've switched to the Sony player and gave the disc a wipe down which has resolved the issue.
Hopefully this will resolve and future issues too.
Really appreciate the advise, thank you