Sony Ships 4K Blu-ray Player - MSRP only $250

PSound · 04-25-2012, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

I don't know. I want 4K done right, not cheaply. This whole thing of trying to cram a 4k movie on a BD50 is like HD DVD trying to use DVDs as their media. The format needs more room.

This is bad news for Sony investors.

The new goal is to NOT have products like this. Products with no strategy. Products with no market.

Releasing a bunch of stuff with poor strategy for cohesion and place in the market (features, price, etc) is a major issue for Sony. This release shows they have not righted themselves.

Lee Stewart · 04-25-2012, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemorel

There is no free lunch. The tradeoff with H.265 is that it provides 2x better video compression performance at the expense of significantly higher computational complexity, compared with H.264. The chip needs to have more processing power.

Which would be part of the new SoC that is in this new Sony BD player. They would need that to do upscaling of 1080P to 2160P

Along with one of the new 300 MHz HDMI TX chips.

**bruceames** · 04-25-2012, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

This makes no sense. No displays and no content. What the hell is the point?

Just read elsewhere that this is not actually a 4k player but a Blu-ray player that can upscale to 4k.

I guess it would be useful now for those with 4k projectors. Don't those projectors have there own built-in upscaler?

Lee Stewart · 04-25-2012, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

I don't know. I want 4K done right, not cheaply. This whole thing of trying to cram a 4k movie on a BD50 is like HD DVD trying to use DVDs as their media. The format needs more room.

You're dreaming. You really think Hollywood will give consumers 10bit or 12bit color depth AND 4K resolution?

All you are going to get is 4K resolution . . . at 8bit color depth . . . same color depth as SD and HD

Lee Stewart · 04-25-2012, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

Just read elsewhere that this is not actually a 4k player but a Blu-ray player that can upscale to 4k.

I guess it would be useful now for those with 4k projectors. Don't those projectors have there own built-in upscaler?

Yes they do:

Quote:

•"Reality Creation" 4K up-scaling to watch Blu-ray Disc content in 4K: The VPL-VW1000ES projector also features an exclusive Super Resolution 4K upscaler "RealityCreation" that dramatically enhances Full-HD content, allowing viewers to get the most from their existing Blu-ray Disc libraries at home

GizmoDVD · 04-25-2012, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

Just read elsewhere that this is not actually a 4k player but a Blu-ray player that can upscale to 4k.

I guess it would be useful now for those with 4k projectors. Don't those projectors have there own built-in upscaler?

So a limited amount of people may have the chance to upscale to 4k.

Yeah.... Who is spending $250 on this?

HD Goofnut · 04-25-2012, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

So a limited amount of people may have the chance to upscale to 4k.

Yeah.... Who is spending $250 on this?

$250 is the MSRP so it will probably be around $200 at Wal-Mart. It's worth $200 just for everything else it does.

mikemorel · 04-25-2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Which would be part of the new SoC that is in this new Sony BD player. They would need that to do upscaling of 1080P to 2160P

Upscaling is easy. Decoding highly compressed 4K H.265 is harder.

From a year ago: Onkyo’s TX-NR809 Receiver Needlessly Upscales 1080p to 4K for $1,099

For an analogy, think back to 2005 and upscaling DVD players vs. true H.264 decoding.

**bruceames** · 04-25-2012, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

You're dreaming. You really think Hollywood will give consumers 10bit or 12bit color depth AND 4K resolution?

All you are going to get is 4K resolution . . . at 8bit color depth . . . same color depth as SD and HD

I ask at least they they not compress the video 4 times over what they do now, just to squeeze it on a BD50. Capacity was increased 4-5 times from 480p to 1080p. It should be increased by at least that much from 1080p to 4k.

That's what I meant by doing it right. The color bit improvement would be great, but that's up to the studios.

Lee Stewart · 04-25-2012, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

I ask at least they they not compress the video 4 times over what they do now, just to squeeze it on a BD50. Capacity was increased 4-5 times from 480p to 1080p. It should be increased by at least that much from 1080p to 4k.

That's what I meant by doing it right. The color bit improvement would be great, but that's up to the studios.

HEVC/H.265/MPEG-H is the next step in video compression codecs. It is designed to handle ALL future video formats including, 4K (2160P) and 8K (4320P) The purpose for this new codec is to improve efficiency - use less bandwidth/Mbps while maintaining high quality.

They don't need to increase the storage capacity for 4K. That would be very expense.

HD Goofnut · 04-25-2012, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

HEVC/H.265/MPEG-H is the next step in video compression codecs. It is designed to handle ALL future video formats including, 4K (2160P) and 8K (4320P) The purpose for this new codec is to improve efficiency - use less bandwidth/Mbps while maintaining high quality.

They don't need to increase the storage capacity for 4K. That would be very expense.

Could a 65/70mm (8K) title fit on a BD-50 if H.265 was used?

Malanthius · 04-25-2012, 01:51 PM

I'd have a hard time recommending this player when you can get a wifi Bluray player for 49 bucks. By the time 4K players are the norm (if that happens) the players will be better and cheaper. Just remembering my BDP S1. Yuck! Thankfully I only paid 99 bucks for that turd.

HD Goofnut · 04-25-2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malanthius

I'd have a hard time recommending this player when you can get a wifi Bluray player for 49 bucks. By the time 4K players are the norm (if that happens) the players will be better and cheaper. Just remembering my BDP S1. Yuck! Thankfully I only paid 99 bucks for that turd.

Not one that supports 3D and acts as a media center for all of the mentioned providers.

Kosty · 04-25-2012, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Do you think this player could support a native 4K disc with a FW update? I suppose it's possible if same type of laser is used for these newer discs, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemorel

There is no free lunch. The tradeoff with H.265 is that it provides 2x better video compression performance at the expense of significantly higher computational complexity, compared with H.264. The chip needs to have more processing power.

Moore's Law.

This device does seem to possess that computational power.

At its price point its the same cost as a PS3 with more power. If you want a high end Blu-ray player, it may make sense.

Heck at $200 street price I may want one myself.

Kosty · 04-25-2012, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

Just read elsewhere that this is not actually a 4k player but a Blu-ray player that can upscale to 4k.

I guess it would be useful now for those with 4k projectors. Don't those projectors have there own built-in upscaler?

They do.

04-25-2012, 01:51 PM	#27
Malanthius High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 804	I'd have a hard time recommending this player when you can get a wifi Bluray player for 49 bucks. By the time 4K players are the norm (if that happens) the players will be better and cheaper. Just remembering my BDP S1. Yuck! Thankfully I only paid 99 bucks for that turd.