True 4k-blu-ray players/discs-coming to store shelves Christmas 2015

Ah, if it's a sound-proofed projection room with glass ports, that will work just fine. I've seen a few celebrities that have had these setups, at least in the 1980s and 1990s. Nowadays, it's a lot less trouble to install digital video projectors: very little mechanical noise (once you take care of the ventilation). I would bet a $50,000+ 4K projector would outperform any film projector in real life, provided it was set up correctly and had good theatrical source material.

 

They keep playing this silly resolution game and I'm just not inclined to invest in 4/8K devices unless my current devices die. If they would actually improve the color bit depth like you describe, they'd have my money already.

 

Exactly. They keep pushing the (more easily) marketed resolution bullet point while ignoring more prevalent tech advances that could be.

 

Video not being my strong suit by any means so answer me if you will. My mom's got a 7 year old Sony 46 inch 1080p LCD (KDL46WL135) that I'm using presently. I think one of the AV sites says it's a 10 bit display. It this one a bit (no pun) special in that regard?

 

I don't think so. It won't be a 10bit display as they don't exist even today. The 10bit may refer to the resolution of the image processing engine, not to the panel itself.

 

Ahhh, thanks for the clarification.

 

Actually, I may have been wrong about the panel. Yes, it does have 10-bit processing, but the panel itself also appears to be a 10-bit panel. What this means (in theory) is that when the processing engine manipulates the image (sharpening, brightness, contrast, saturation adjustments, etc), it is performed at a higher precision (ie, 10-bit depth) and the result is then displayed at that resolution. This should mean that there is less clipping or clamping of colors (as happens with 8-bit displays) so the picture should have less color banding/contouring.

Also in theory, if source content becomes available in 10-bit (what they call Deep Color), then you'd get even better results. However, I'm not aware of any such content being widely available, if at all.

 

Thanks Deesky, guess I'd be better off going with a good 4K rather than wait (and hope) for 10 bit sourcing on this older set with a bad pixel.

 

Panasonic has introduced their 4k/ultra-HD blu-ray player at CES today...includes 10-bit color depth capability. The specs can be found on a posted news article at www.blu-ray.com

 

Sweet, though likely not available till the end of the year. All they have to do now is make a TV with a 10-bit panel (arguably Sony has had these for a few years, but without the benefit of supporting content).

It's interesting to note that the new Panasonics will be controlled by the Firefox OS from Mozilla, for an improved user interface that makes it easier to access content. Why don't they go the whole hog and make the TV into a general purpose computer already!

Here's an interesting article on how this will be the year that 4K Ultra HD TVs would finally supplant regular HD.

 

OK, Panasonic can make this player, but are discs about done as a delivery platform?

 

Most internet users don't have the bandwidth capacity to reliably stream 4k video, so I'd say no Rachael...

 

Would streaming work just fine someplace like, say, South Korea that has an ace network? It seems like the content providers crave wireless.

 

It would, but right now, the US web infrastructure has nowhere near that kind of capability...at least 5-10 years away.

 

Nope, it's 8 bit.

 

Nope, it actually is 10-bit.

 

Oh ****, i have to buy The Godfather, It's A Wonderful Life and Pulp Fiction again!

 

-1
I'm all tapped out on upgrades.

 

Are these things gonna have glasses free 3-D?

 

Actually me too, i don't think I go beyond bluray for quite a while----as i gaze upon all of my VHS tapes, laserdiscs and DVDs which are now not worth ****!

 

The Justice League of Hollywood has formed, rejoice! Well, okay, so it's called the UHD Alliance, whose goal is to set standards for a 4K and higher resolutions, HDR, wider color gamuts and immersive audio. Members include: Dolby, LG, Netflix, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros.

The group hopes to incorporate not only 4K+ resolutions but also HDR (high dynamic range), wider color gamuts and immersive audio. There was no mention of HFR (high frame rate) or, tellingly, Rec.2020 - hmmm...

 

So the UHD Alliance not only includes the major hardware manufacturers, but FOUR major studios? Looks promising for the expected release of players and discs later this year...

 

Yeah, what could go wrong?