UHD worst upgrade ever ? Or most convoluted role out ever.

[raduv1]

I bought into this format early , very early with the very expensive JS9000 and then had to wait for the discs and spinners . Like most an upgrade was needed on my display to appreciate it . Problem is this HDR format has ever changing goalposts that requires one to constantly upgrade hardware to keep up .

This new format for me is becoming nothing more than a constant hardware revision and consumer upgrade.

I do love the upgrade , but unlike SDR BD this format is more than ever hardware based and it seems ever changing to take advantage of poor saps like us.

I don't remember this level on SDR BD that was much more stable on the hardware front .

One always feels behind the curve ball on this format with ever greater impact incoming on hardware.

Rather than being the next best thing , well it almost feels like that next big thing ( more so than ever ) is out of reach this year.

Leads me onto the UHD alience ( did I get that right ? ) and the premium certification that these manufacturers give themselves ! What a joke when they still walk different paths but still get that cert for the minimum standard. I can pat or pay myself on my back mate.

End of rant . But this elongated roll out will go on .

Hey up, what's with a region free format where one has to get a disc from the US as us inbreads are second class.

It boggles the mind in this day and age

Ok rant over.

 

[Geoff_D]

Ray? Is that you? Joking aside, your last comment is admirable...but mistaken. Just because a UHD disc is region free doesn't mean that the rights holders in any particular region are going to release it, you dig? Stuff like Dredd and Ex Machina have a different distribution company in virtually every country they've been released in, and if the distribution company doesn't yet release UHDs - like the execrable Entertainment in Video who have Dredd in the UK - then you're up the proverbial creek. Sure, some companies who have released UHDs could've still done something with certain titles over here, e.g. Universal released Ex Machina on DVD and Blu, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Another set of examples are the upcoming Sony US titles like Leon, Fifth Elephant and Starship Troopers which are each owned by a separate company in the UK: StudioCanal, Fox and Disney respectively!

This isn't SO different from HD though. First there were 720p (or less) sets, then proper 1080p sets, then 1080p sets with digital HD tuners etc. I understand how immensely frustrating this UHD rollout has been and the lack of dynamic metadata has hurt the wider perception of the format (e.g. the wild west show that is the variation in tone mapping techniques), but if this rant is borne out of the launch of Dolby Vision then don't be too downhearted: the discs will still carry an HDR10 layer that's 100% backwards compatible with existing HDR gear.

Dolby has always been an optional format for UHD disc, it's not mandatory for HDR usage unlike HDR10/BDMV HDR so it's one of those things that you can chase after if you want, but you won't really NEED to have it as long as you've got a decent tone mapper in your display. TBH jumping in early on virtually ANY new tech will always lead to heartbreak in the end, I dunno if you recall the tank-like size and glacially slow response of the first Sony BD players (a format which actually needed several revisions to get to BD Live 2.0 and then there was 3D BD as well) but it's always easy to look back with rose-tinted specs.

DVD was pretty solid, I'll give you that, but thinking about it we had double-sided "flipper" discs at the start because dual-layer factories weren't up to speed, there were plenty of import-only DTS discs (itself an optional format that sometimes needed hardware changing to keep up with it, hmmmm that sounds familiar), there were lots of non-anamorphic widescreen releases using old laserdisc transfers (particularly in the US), and new discs like The Matrix with its 'white rabbit' branching feature needed a mass firmware update in order to play on a lot of hardware.

Like I said in another thread recently when replying to an exasperated poster: this ain't my first rodeo, I've seen it all before.

 

[logiclee]

The joys of being an early adopter.

Beta-Max, Laser Disc, Mini disc, HD-DVD. I had them all. (Still have my laser discs)

I've had three 4k TV's and three UHD Bluray players to get something I'm happy with.

I've just swapped my three year old receiver for a new one.

But I know none of my current gear has eARC, HDMi 2.1 or Dolby Vision. So I'm still going to be out of date.

I bought my first surround system in 1996 and have kept a running spread sheet of AV costs. I'm well over £120K now and that doesn't include Media.

At least with UHD media there has been no format war as most of the standards are backwards compatible.

Lee