Official A/V Thread

[fake]

KoF '98 Ultimate Match got a mention in the current Crutchfield catalogue.

 

[terry.330]

My Peachtree Nova amp broke after 9 years. I noticed the right channel audio would play even when I had the volume all the off and then stay at that level when I turned it up while the left channel worked like normal. They say the volume pot is faulty, almost certainly going to have to send it in for repair. We'll see how it goes.

 

[terry.330]

Amp fixed, they sent me a replacement volume pot and board for $50 which thankfully were easy as pie to install. But of course once I got it all back together and hooked up again I realized I forgot a single bolt that I didn't even need to take out in the first place.

 

[fake]

I am going to buy a Panasonic UB820 and A/B it with my PS5 to see if it's worth it. If not, I'll eat the $15 to send in back to Crotchfield.

 

[SNKNostalgia]

Panasonic is back! USA

 

[fake]

Using my LG C2, the UB-820 is slightly better in terms of picture quality and color compared to the PS5. I'm sure the audio features are a lot better than those of the PS5 but I don't like surround sound, etc., so I'm judging on PQ alone. A Blade Runner 4K disc looked very slightly better, though I would never have thought something were "missing" viewing only the PS5 playback. The bigger difference was visible in upscaling from a Criterion DVD, which looked a little more noticeably better on the Panasonic. I paid $380 plus tax, so basically $400. (Full price would be $530.) It's definitely not a $500 leap in in PQ, let alone the $380, but it's enough that I'm going to keep it, both for the performance and the convenience of having a dedicated player.

 

[terry.330]

Yeah if you watch a lot of movies a dedicated player is a way better option, I also wouldn’t want to put that much extra use on a PS5 drive.

Plus like you mentioned one of the biggest perks of a nice 4k player is the upscaling. Nicely mastered DVDs can upscale extremely well.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Wish I could just install Kodi on my Panasonic. Peeps are praising the upscaling of the Nvidia Shield TV Pro but my Pana is so much better.

 

[fake]

LG has ended production of its Bluray / 4K hardware.

Oppo
Sony
Samsung
LG
Panasonic
Pioneer

 

[kernow]

Wonder how many movies make it to 4k blu ray nowadays hmm

 

[Taiso]

Between February of 2016, when the first 4K blu rays were released, and the current day, the number of unique blu ray releases after removing double counting for multiple versions of the same film is 1,201.

So in the last (almost) 9 years, that equates to 133 or 134 unique releases per year.

It's certainly trailed off over the last few years, but I couldn't find any hard numbers without crunching more than I really care to. So...probably not that many more will make it to 4K blu ray.

This message brought to you by the Committee For Famicommander.

 

[terry.330]

Wonder how many movies make it to 4k blu ray nowadays hmm

A surprising amount. Plus with all the boutique labels these days the stuff getting release is a lot more interesting and worth owning than the standard big studio dreck. 4k has managed to carve out a nice little niche. Thanks to companies like Criterion, Vinegar Syndrome, Scream Factory etc. the quality standards are exceptionally high.

 

[SC-ULTRA]

I'm sure some studios are doing it right but not all of them. I saw a few bad jobs recently where they were just using AI to upscale the prints to 4k. Like really nasty artifacts and "goo faces" all in the background. I already bought the same shit once before going from vhs to dvd when that was the way of the future, and then even a 1080p blue ray rip crushes the quality of those now. I just can't be bothered to start over again.

 

[terry.330]

James Cameron has used AI to upscale all of his old movies and is licensing out the technology to big studios. He’s a delusional piece of shit and the studios jumped on it because using AI is cheap, easy and a hot buzzword. Don’t buy that garbage, always wait for reviews.

I only buy 4k if it’s a massive upgrade over the Blu-ray and it’s a movie I really love. I can probably count the amount of 4ks that I’ve bought to replace the old Blu-ray on one hand.

Plus there are a lot of people that are using really janky AI to upscale movies themselves, you can’t trust a lot 4k torrents.

 

[SNKNostalgia]

James Cameron has used AI to upscale all of his old movies and is licensing out the technology to big studios. He’s a delusional piece of shit and the studios jumped on it because using AI is cheap, easy and a hot buzzword. Don’t buy that garbage, always wait for reviews.

I only buy 4k if it’s a massive upgrade over the Blu-ray and it’s a movie I really love. I can probably count the amount of 4ks that I’ve bought to replace the old Blu-ray on one hand.

Plus there are a lot of people that are using really janky AI to upscale movies themselves, you can’t trust a lot 4k torrents.

I stick with my original Blu-rays. 1080p ain't bad. Back to The Future 4K UHD Blu-ray is actually good!

 

[Tarma]

LG has ended production of its Bluray / 4K hardware.

Oppo
Sony
Samsung
LG
Panasonic
Pioneer

I don't think Pioneer make blu ray players anymore either... not for home theater use anyway.

 

[SNKNostalgia]

I see what you did there

 

[SNKNostalgia]

Terminator 4K UHD is way better than the other James Cameron releases! True Lies is the worst remaster.

 

[SC-ULTRA]

No.

Spoiler:

 

[fake]

I don't think Pioneer make blu ray players anymore either... not for home theater use anyway.

Huh, I think you’re right. That’s a shame. The LX500 was supposed to be really good.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Magnetar UDP900 & 800 for the audiophiles. Not cheap and the Pana is fine too.

 

[Tarma]

Huh, I think you’re right. That’s a shame. The LX500 was supposed to be really good.

I've got a BDP LX88, and it's been awesome... built like a tank. I recently decided to get a 4K Ultra capable player as using a PS5 for 4k discs wasn't really practical - was hoping to pick up a new Pioneer, but had to settle for a Panasonic UB9000. First time in nearly 30 years I've not bought a Pioneer optical media player

 

[SNKNostalgia]

If only Sony Streaming Core was more accessible. Could have been nice!

 

[SNKNostalgia]

Kaleidescape seems like a decent option. Just saying.

 

[wikipejoe]

Using my LG C2, the UB-820 is slightly better in terms of picture quality and color compared to the PS5. I'm sure the audio features are a lot better than those of the PS5 but I don't like surround sound, etc., so I'm judging on PQ alone. A Blade Runner 4K disc looked very slightly better, though I would never have thought something were "missing" viewing only the PS5 playback. The bigger difference was visible in upscaling from a Criterion DVD, which looked a little more noticeably better on the Panasonic. I paid $380 plus tax, so basically $400. (Full price would be $530.) It's definitely not a $500 leap in in PQ, let alone the $380, but it's enough that I'm going to keep it, both for the performance and the convenience of having a dedicated player.

How big is your C2- is it 65" or 77"?