You might not see it now, because it depends on what disc you play, and how it was authored, but eventually without the 1.69 firmware, you'll run into this issue as this type of DV authoring will become more prevalent. At least that's my understanding. The good news is that Panasonic is up on their customer service.
One problem I'm running into are that a lot the UHDs aren't much improvement over the previous Blu-rays or else introduce new problems so you have to read the online reviews carefully before buying. You just can't just assume they're all upgrades.
I totally agree on the review piece. As for upgrades being worth it, as always, that's often in the eye of the beholder. For some, the Dolby Vision/HDR treatment being added is reason enough to upgrade. For many, the presentation needs to improve greatly on a previous edition. Significant picture upgrade (lots of restoration done?) and/or an audio upgrade. I think the main plus from all of this is that studios have had to pay attention to archiving their assets at higher and higher quality. For older films that are deteriorating, saving them at at least 4K is almost a must to ensure wide future use. Movies shot in 65 or 70mm in particular have a LOT of information contained in those frames that benefit from high sampling rates.
Music formats do change, but I think it's easier to buy new audio equipment for out of date formats, than it is to get new equipment for video formats.
I've noticed the lack of improvements on some movies going from VHS to DVD, DVD to Blu-Ray. I've seen some regular DVDs were there was so much grain in the picture that I'd rather watch the VHS version. and I've noticed may Blu-Ray transfers that aren't any better than the DVD version.
I guess we'll see. My point was people buy LPs/CDs all the time that get a few spins and sit on the shelf for years unplayed. No reason why movies would/should be any different.
Can we agree that, in general, the update from VHS to DVD was the most significant of all of these? I remember many people saying "wow" the very first time they saw a DVD of a film they had only previously seen on VHS. For many, it was definitely the law of diminishing returns after that. I recall in detail how friends of mine were watching "one of these new Blu Ray things" on their set and were telling me they didn't get what all the hype was about. It wasn't until screens started getting much, much bigger that a lot of people could really see the advantages. I'd argue that as with high resolution/audiophile grade audio, for most people, DVD or Blu Ray will be "good enough" forever.
I streamed Dolby Vision content on my Panasonic unit via Netflix. There were no white flashes! So it must be a problem with my player. It’s on firmware version 1.69 (or 1.6.9?) so it’s up to date. The discs I tried that presented issues so far: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade, and Godzilla vs. Kong.
Agreed. VHS to DVD was the biggest upgrade in media I’ve experienced. I was only a few years old when CDs came out, so perhaps I would have felt similarly.
I understand what you're saying. I personally like to take a minimalist approach to my music and movie collections just keeping my absolute favorites, no criticisms of anybody else's habits intended. I was just stating my personal habit that there just isn't enough interest for me to upgrade.
Yeah, those Indy films are not on the list of "problematic" discs. The Godzilla might be, though. I can't find the list anymore. I tried to look it up for you. It sounds like it's your player.
Music tends to be more "replayable" than movies, though. People commonly listen to the same albums a dozen or more times, but they watch very few movies 12+ times...
Even without that, it's just a whole different deal. Music is a more participatory art: you sing along, tap your feet, whistle. Movies are more reactive: you laugh or get scared or whatever, but you don't (usually) talk along and interact.
And when you do come across one of those, it can sometimes become bigger than anyone anywhere ever intended. It's astounding!
I hope not. You could always try installing the firmware again. Sometimes that shakes things out. I've read that it's actually better to install the firmware from a thumb drive, but I since I can't attest to the automatic updates, I don't know. I've only updated via thumb drive.
Thanks. I contacted Panasonic so hopefully they have useful advice. A firmware reinstall could be worth trying.
Honestly don't know - a lot! 100s, I'm sure. I've had well over 10,000 DVDs/BDs/4Ks cross my door over the 23+ years I've reviewed, but the vast majority of those are gone!
Can anyone speak to the quality difference in a UHD HDR disc rip versus the original UHD disc? I'm asking because I missed a UHD release that's now OOP and my buddy ripped the UHD for me w/HDR, just so I can give it a taste. But the file that I got is only 39GB, so it makes me wonder how good the rip would look to the original. Of course, I'll buy the UHD when it gets a reissue (crossing my fingers), so I don't want to put an inferior product in front of my eyes if it will taint my experience for the physical disc. Any thoughts?
