Ultra HD 4K Blu-rays available to order on Amazon - news discussion

The new format will launch in March with players available from Panasonic and Samsung; although this first wave of disc-spinners won't support Dolby Vision. The necessary chip-set won't be available until the summer, so Panasonic and Samsung clearly decided to launch without it, rather than delay any longer.

So the Panasonic and Samsung machines are effectively Profile 1.0 players then...

:facepalm:
 
i will be interested in 4k movies no doubt when i upgrade my tv, only downside is, like you steve i enjoy 3D movies, which could have been put in the 4k releases as a bonus, so you dont have to buy the same film twice just to get the 3D version! annoying. i will wait for the dolby vision players to come out though, and my next machine will likely be a 4k oppo, rather than panasonic or any other manufacturer
 
So the Panasonic and Samsung machines are effectively Profile 1.0 players then...
That's a good way of putting it, although Samsung and Panasonic TVs support HDR10, so from their perspective that's all the players need as well.
 
It is insanely stupid launching without everything ready.

From what i understood HDR10 is not the only base option of the format, another one being non HDR. If true, then current players could be defunked fast, if Dolby vision takes off.

I also understand there is now talk of HDCP2.2 being updated, because it was broken so fast.

They should wait for a few more months until the chipset is ready and launch a product that is stable.

I think we all know that this is going to be a niche format, predominately going to be used by early adopters, riskign annoying them by releasing players that won't be future proofed is silly.

Price wise it seems ok, but depends on how much 4k content costs online via streaming etc.
 
It could easily be another year before 4k tech is stable.

I'm getting a launch player. My TV doesn't meet the full UHD spec anyway, so why keep waiting? I don't care about all the smart bollocks that they keep adding to media devices these days either. All I want is a player to play disks.

Neither player supports 3D it seems? Though I'm not surprised, it means having to run two separate players which isn't ideal.

Roll on March.
 
I think we all know that this is going to be a niche format, predominately going to be used by early adopters, riskign annoying them by releasing players that won't be future proofed is silly.

Price wise it seems ok, but depends on how much 4k content costs online via streaming etc.
It's going to be a niche within a niche (like SACD or even DVD-A :eek:). Blu-ray is still a niche format after ten years!
 
Well I have not got The Martian yet so when it appears in shops if I had the choice of the Bluray version of it or the 4K Bluray which ALSO contains the Bluray disc that I can play right now, then I would go for the 4K/Bluray combo even though I have absolutely no way to play or watch 4K disc and probably not for a long time.

So studios, if you are listening, if you want people like me to buy 4K discs (for future use) then make sure I can play a version of it right now in my current HD Bluray setup, otherwise I can't buy them - do NOT sell seperate 4K and Bluray disc packages in shops - if you do there will be no 4K disc sales at all - you will have to wait a few years to do that!
Pricewise, I don't know, if it's £29.99 at current exchange rate, that's nearly €40, which is too much really for a single movie. Now price is secondary to me if I really want a movie, but if it's impulse buy and I don't really want/need it then no way I'd pay that much.

But if a Bluray version of say The Martian was about €20 and another Bluray/4K combo pack was €30 then yes I would pay premium for the future compatability of a 4K disc that I cannot use right now, as long as I can watch the bluray right now. If it turns out that the only option was Bluray for €20 or seperate 4K disc only version for €30 then no way would I buy the 4K version, because I can't use it right now!

Still by right the Bluray price should now be reduced as it is no longer the premium product, so the Bluray should be €15 or less now and the 4K/Bluray combo should be at most €25.

Just stop ripping off the people like us who actually buy movies. I'm sick listening to people who work with me on same or more wage level I am (50k+), sharing pirate movies that they have downloaded on removable external drives throughout the office and never spending a penny on movies while watching all the latest movies way, way before I am able to purchase and watch them on Bluray myself - it is really sickening and demoralising - I wish I could shop them in and stop them being able to get away with this piracy while gloating and laughing at me for actually buying movies. They have no excuse, but the one they always use is movies are too expensive to buy or go to cinema to see. It's actually complete bull because even the rich managers and company bosses are at it and they have way more money than I do, obviously because they are not spending it foolishly as they say on legal movie watching...
 
@geogan Whichever way they want to justify their actions they are criminals.
As a purchaser of genuine content I get pissed off with the piracy warning
at the start of every disc treating me as a criminal even when I purchase my Blu-rays through a retailer when presumably the pirates have this removed on theirs.

We pay the penalty for their actions, plus for the evasion of the tax revenue they avoid.
If they were prosecuted attitudes would change, so I would have no qualms in reporting any known pirate especially as they obviously are aware of what they are doing.
 
Too rich for me. I'll stick to blurays, still excellent quality picture and sound.
 
Can't agree more with the piracy warning and made worse that they just publish the FBI one, which is not relevant in the UK.
 
hi does anybody know if there will be region coding on the new ultra hd discs also any news when the uk will be getting there hands on ultra hd ?
 
For sure there will be region encoding, not having it would discourage piracy, which clearly is something the industry wouldn't want...wait a second...
 
Pricing seems 'OK' but as someone mentioned above, ideally it would need to be a UHD/Blu ray combo pack to get me to buy now, as I probably won't have the tv or player till the summer. Problem is that if they aren't priced right (combo packs) I'll just buy the standard blu and pick up the 4k version next year when they are cheap. Other big issue is whether we are going to be getting 'true' 4k movies, as most Hollywood films are only finished at 2k (even if some are shot at higher resolution). I'm sure they'll still look better than the standard blu but on a 50" screen I'm not sure the difference will be that apparent....
 
i will not fall for it again
VCR version/DVD, BLU RAY, UHD BLU RAY. In a couple of years 8K BLU RAY
i will sit it out thanks
 
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We would need to see the full wording to know if this is the whole story or not. When HD-DVD came out, there were equal reports, but when you read the statement it was clear that region coding would be used, just not at the beginning. Ok the format died before it, but that is another story.

It is also possible that it won't be required in the standard, but studios are free to implement it.
 
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I'm at least two years away from upgrading to a 4K OLED, but I'm not impressed with these initial prices. I've seen people say 'But Bluray discs were expensive when they were first released', and that may be so, but back then, they didn't have to compete with cheap as chips streaming services. If UHD Bluray has any chance of being a success, discs need to be no more than £20 for newly released top titles. My average spend for Blurays was £6 the last time I did the sums, so the prospect of paying upwards of £20 for UHD discs is a big no no.
 
Neither player supports 3D it seems? Though I'm not surprised, it means having to run two separate players which isn't ideal.

Roll on March.

Both the Panasonic and the Samsung will play 3D Blu-Rays according to the specs that came out at CES.
 
We would need to see the full wording to know if this is the whole story or not. When HD-DVD came out, there were equal reports, but when you read the statement it was clear that region coding would be used, just not at the beginning. Ok the format died before it, but that is another story.

It is also possible that it won't be required in the standard, but studios are free to implement it.
Every source on the first few pages of google is reporting region free disks.

And a quote from the source I posted

"I’ve confirmed with both studio sources and the UHD Alliance that Ultra HD Blu-ray will not employ region coding or region locking."

I see where you are coming from though. It's looking good though...
 
Maybe they have at last learnt their lesson. With near same day global releases of movies, region coding makes no sense anymore, as it doesn't prevent cinema goers.

The only thing it hits is local distribution models, but even they are pretty much dead these days, with me as an example buying 90% of my movies from amazon, a US company.
 
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Bah, the pre-orders at amazon.com have been up for a good few days already, I clicked on this article hoping it was for the UK site. Must be a slow news day.
 
Maybe they have at last learnt their lesson. With near same day global releases of movies, region coding makes no sense anymore, as it doesn't prevent cinema goers.

The only thing it hits is local distribution models, but even they are pretty much dead these days, with me as an example buying 90% of my movies from amazon, a US company.
Now all we need is competitive priced disks...

The Euro isn't far off the Dollar right now, so if they stick with their pricing structure 4k disks should be 30-35 euro here. Depending on prices it might end up being cheaper to get disks shipped from the UK (makes me laugh this, as it actually gets shipped from Orleans in France, they just charge extra postage...)
 
Current launch week blurays here in Italy from physical shops are around 20 euros. A 50%+ mark up will be difficult to sell.

I was surprised when I brought a disk yesterday that 90% of the shop was dvd, so at that mark up I am expecting 1% of disks, which would probably mean 1 movie.
 
It's the same in France! Walk into any shop and they'll have 100 dvds and 5 random blurays.

Blurays here are 20-25 euro no matter how old they are..
 

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