Ultra HD Blu-Ray Coming Soon

That is mostly true in the sense that the 'market' (really the manufacturers) decided to produce 4k displays (after OLEDs proved to be more difficult to bring to market) in order to sell more TVs. Now this trend is becoming well established and that was a big part of the problem when it came to plasma tech. They couldn't make the plasma cells/pixels small enough to pack into a 4k display (let alone 8k), at least not without a huge engineering effort (ie, cost), so they were discontinued.

Yes, currently LG is the only player in the OLED stakes. The reason Sony/Panasonic backed away is because they were using a different OLED implementation which was technically superior to LG's, but they could not get the yields needed for mass production. LG's approach (using white OLEDs with color filters) proved to be more easily mass produced with very good yields. That's why Sony/Panasonic have backed away for now and are concentrating on 4k and LCD and Quantum Dots displays. But, they are definitely still working on the ultimate tech - OLEDs (there is talk of a new production method using 3D printing to deposit the pixels).

Yes, it is definitely a short term retreat. They would absolutely love to be able to sell OLED TVs. The consumers would trip over themselves to get them if they were competitively priced and they had good picture processing engines.

Yes, I agree that those are gimmicks as are so-called 'smart' TVs that pack in all kinds of crap you are never going to use and just waste time getting constant OTA firmware updates. Give me a dumb (flat) screen with a good picture that can be accurately calibrated and a Wifi/USB connection and I'm happy.

Well, that's right, but it was also kind of obvious. The high-end prosumer market is just a niche market, which they must have known, but that coupled with the technical difficulties of producing 4k panels was probably the last straw.

 

As Vidiot (you need to trademark that) recommends, I am staying away for the time being. The hardware standards are still in flux and prices will come down. You would think a noted videophile like myself would jump in with feet ablaze, but I am not really sure how much 4K Hollywood content we will see released over the next 30 months. Only a couple of studios have thoughtfully prepared for 4K home video.

 

I've always thought early adopters were kind of mad, and I certainly wouldn't go out replacing all my equipment and content. But if I had a TV fail and needed to replace it, I wouldn't have a problem getting a 4k set now regardless of anything else - it's not going to make your existing blurays look any worse and to some limited extent you'll have a degree future proofing.

 

I was raised in a Magnavox/Zenith household, were the technology seldom changed. It was fun for a while when Apple brought on the iPod and the internet was new, but now, it's just a bunch of confusion with the tech toys (TV, LED, Plasma, 4K, bluetooth, DVD-Audio, SACD, Blu-Spec, Pure Audio, DTS, Divx and the forty or so other formats, that they've just thrown out there, expecting the average Joe to understand and buy). In my opinion, they've taken all of the fun out of technology for me, because now there is just TOO MUCH out there and it's confusing!

 

I agree, it can be quite confusing. Nevertheless, as a self proclaimed tech geek, I find it all very interesting.

 

Blu Ray is good enough for me. I really wish iTunes would sell DRM-free movie downloads though. I like that they are so convenient, and they look pretty good for as compressed as they are, but sucks I can only watch them on Apple stuff.

 

I heard a terrific podcast from noted tech pundit Leo Laporte, and they talked quite a bit about all the 8K demos at CES. I was screaming at my headphones, "hey! They haven't even gotten HD right yet!"

But I do like the potential for Rec2020, 12-bit color, and all that stuff. It's all possible to do it right; the question is, can they do it right for $999 at Costco?

Around the time Apple finally dumped DRM on iTunes music files, Steve Jobs was asked that question and said, "music is one things, but the studios are absolutely insistent on copy protection for all their TV shows and feature films." They wouldn't even discuss the possibility of eliminating copy protection.

 

Ever since Panasonic and then Samsung dropped their plasmas, I've been praying my Panny plasma keeps working rather than breaking and leaving me needing to buy a crappy 4K LCD screen.

If there was a reasonably priced 4K set that looked as natural as plasma I'd be praying for my TV to break, but they all look awful to me, so no dice.

 

Have you seen one that's been properly calibrated, or are you going by what they look like in big-box showrooms? I'm not discounting plasma's virtues, as I have a plasma set myself, but it's practically impossible to gauge how a set performs from a showroom display as the settings almost invariably bear little relation to the ones required to optimize the picture quality.

 

Not only that, but even calibrated displays tend to drift over time and so you will need to re-calibrate your TV if you're concerned about getting the absolute best picture possible on your hardware.

 

I'd upgrade to 4k if and when my current gear dies. Thinking back, I've never had a DVD or Blu-ray player die, even though I've owned several. I upgraded my DVD player several times to get region free, SACD, DVD-A, and HDMI compatibility. I only upgraded to Blu-ray because it was increasingly difficult to enjoy my CRT with all of the deals on flat panel TV's ten years ago and a Blu-ray player was only a small added cost. I'd probably never buy new versions of the movies I have, especially having gone from VHS->LD->DVD->Blu-Ray on several. Enough is enough.

 

That is a fair point, mostly I was thinking of in store displays, but I've also been singularly unimpressed with TVs belonging to friends and family...

 

A well mastered Blu-Ray does me just fine.

 

It's here, now! The BDA (Blu-ray Disk Association) has finalized the specification of the Ultra HD format extension, complete with a new logo and "Digital Bridge" feature.

The Ultra HD Blu-ray standard adds more features than just UHD resolution, including:

* 3840×2160 res (4k)
* High Dynamic Range (HDR) & HFR support
* 10-bit color, Wide Color Gamut support (up to Rec.2020, but starting with the more easily achievable Digital Cinema style P3)
* Digital Bridge

The most surprising feature (given the copyright overlords' record) is the last one, Digital Bridge. This can be described as "legit ripping", the idea being that users will be able to purchase an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disk and make legal copies of the content onto portable devices – from the disk itself. It'll be interesting to see how much support this feature actually gets by the equipment manufacturers (I can see lobby groups mobilizing)!

 

Damn it, I'm drooling. Someone pass me a towel!

 

I am sticking with the current, for now.

 

We hardly even need color TV's any more as long as they can produce orange and teal, just about every current TV show and movie should look as intended.

 

...yeah, but UHD will be able to reproduce all 17 million shades of teal...

 

How much are these going to cost? Will Blu-ray cost go down? All I really care about is being able to buy DRM-free content.

 

This new format will either be a complete flop or, at the most, carve out a tiny niche. Like tinier than Laserdisc's niche was, back in the day. Most people I know still don't even give a crap about blu-ray. You're not going to sell them on UHD BD now.

 

I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you think the Hollywood studios would ever enable the Digital Bridge option to allow legal rips of their precious content. That felt like a toss-in to the specs to add some hype and juice for publicity. They promised the same thing several years ago for UltraViolet and that feature hasn't seen the light of day yet.

 

What's more important than just the physical disk itself, is what's in the standard. The new standard not only applies to future TVs and optical media/players but also to streaming services, which are in ascendancy.

 

Indeed, you could use your old B&W set and apply those blue and orange colored filters to the top and bottom of the set and, voilà - modern color!

 

I'll stick with watching Dirty Harry, Taxi Driver, and Kramer vs Kramer on blu-ray with the 1080p tv