Curious about this since I do dabble with physical media for films for my favorite stuff. I remember AV types saying the Xbox consoles last gen weren't the best at playing 4K Blu-ray's so just curious of that is the same again.
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Are the PS5 and Series X good 4K Blu-ray players on their own?
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Not got a series x yet but my one x is ok if a little dark, and has a habit of not playing discs unless it feels like it. My PS5 is decent with no issues so far but not played too many films tbh.
Both new consoles don't have Dolby vision for playing 4K discs btw, if that makes a difference for you. Personally it's fine without it and picture is lovely.
Both new consoles don't have Dolby vision for playing 4K discs btw, if that makes a difference for you. Personally it's fine without it and picture is lovely.
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Watched Tenet 4k on my PS5 and the picture quality was amazing. Just make sure your TV is not in Game or PC mode when you watch movies.
Short answer, no. They're both lacking, especially if you have equipment that supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Neither console supports Dolby Vision for UHD BD, and the P5 doesn't support Atmos. If you don't care about that , they're fine.
Sadly, no. They're missing Dolby Vision, and I don't know if Dolby Atmos as well.
If you don't have that, or you don't care, they're perfectly good.
If you don't have that, or you don't care, they're perfectly good.
OP
OP
I watched Blade Runner 2049 in UHD last night on my 65cx in 7.1. It was glorious, first time something put my sub through its paces. It's a fine player unless there's someone in the room complaining about the lack of DV. Things like this are any double blind tests are necessary.
PS5 supports Atmos- switch sound output in player app to bitstream dts or dolby and it will be recognized by AV
Not sure if this helps.
www.google.co.uk
Not as good as standalone players, whirring noise when playing, bit buggy.
And PS5..
www.forbes.com
Again not as good as standalone but otherwise decent. Although audio set up can be annoying.
Xbox Series X 4K Blu-Ray Player Review: A Work In Progress. Hopefully
Just about gets the job done, but there’s plenty of room for improvement
www.google.co.uk
Not as good as standalone players, whirring noise when playing, bit buggy.
And PS5..
PS5 4K Blu-Ray Player Review: Good Enough
Hopefully Sony's new console can give 4K Blu-ray the platform it needs
www.forbes.com
Again not as good as standalone but otherwise decent. Although audio set up can be annoying.
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Anyone have Game of Thrones season 8 or Alien on 4K Blu-ray? I could see a lot of color banding in the dark scenes for the former (third episode), in rare moments for the latter. Have a LG C9 that I have adjusted following all of the recent HDTV Test, Era guides etc (input set to PC Mode, on PS5 max dark within HDR settings, one click above for max nits etc.).
I was really worried about the PS5 one because of how loud its drive would get randomly spinning up games but it was whisper quiet playing the 4K disc of Into the Spider-Verse a few days ago. Only really being loud on its initial load while my One X would rattle like crazy playing the same disc.
Not right. HDR10 is the baseline spec, and is mandatory for 4K Blu-ray discs if they support any kind of HDR at all. Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and SL-HDR2 provide additional benefits if the disc and player both support the system, but HDR10 is always available as a fallback.
OP
OP
I need to study up on this stuff. So confusing. The AV industry needs to get it together lol. All these competing formats.
HDR10 is the open standard of HDR, but it's generally deemed inferior to Dolby Vision by enthusiasts. Couldn't begin to explain why myself as I don't know the reasons, but from my understanding, the new generation consoles are bare minimum 4K disc players at this point — they'll get the job done but they're not "good."
Maybe this thread helps: https://www.resetera.com/threads/banding-issues-on-my-lg-cx-oled.343603/
Seems to be the case that all OLED TVs have some form of banding.
They are adequate for physical media but also arguably the worst players you can buy currently. If you watch a movie occasionally they will be great but if semiserious or above go the standalone route. The days of a console punching above its weight in this area are gone (ie ps3 as a bluray player)
I noticed straight away that the Series X has elevated blacks when playing UHD discs (this issue doesn't effect games).
Microsoft said a few days after launch they were aware of this issue, but still haven't fixed it.
Microsoft said a few days after launch they were aware of this issue, but still haven't fixed it.
Neither are great UHD consoles right now. No Dolby Vision for either. Ps5 controller controls seem like they were intended for aliens. Also the PS5 has that stupid while light which never turns off which is annoying if you are trying to maintain a dark room. Xbox Series X has raised black levels for movie watching which is a complete deal breaker. MS says they are working on it, but as far as I am aware there has not been a fix out to the public yet. This alone makes the Series X not even a viable player at the moment IMO.
Funny enough I also watched Spider-Verse on my One X a couple weeks ago, and the disc drive was extremely loud during the whole movie.
Besides HDR10, there's another huge issue with XB and PS5 in terms of UHD Blu-Rays: there is no option to dim subtitles (actual bitmap subtitles, NOT closed captions).
If a disc contains white subtitles with HDR on, the subs will be at full HDR brightness, which is basically headlights in your face every couple of seconds.
If you rely on subtitles, get a player with subtitles dimming options.
If a disc contains white subtitles with HDR on, the subs will be at full HDR brightness, which is basically headlights in your face every couple of seconds.
If you rely on subtitles, get a player with subtitles dimming options.
Wow those are glaring oversights tbh given smart TVs and set top boxes manage it
These have by far the best chance at being the most popular 4K bu ray players and are missing these features. Let's face it no one but enthusiasts are buying standalone 4K blu ray players after all.
It all doesn't speak well for the long term future of 4K blu rays or physical media
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I saw EvilBoris mention you should change back from PC mode before watching video content though he didn't reply when I asked why.
Fwiw I don't bother.
Panasonic ones from the UB450 upwards (ones below that don't support Dolby Vision) are considered really good. UB820 and UB9000 are outstanding but they're getting into PS5/XSX price territory.
DV should be patchable (not like the PS5 is lacking power) but Sony have been slow with DV with their own players and TVs. I've been using it as a 4K UHD player and sold my dedicated player. Don't forget to turn off noise reduction.
I find the situation for both UHD BluRay and Streaming apps (HDR10/Dolby Vision) and audio codecs (DTS/Atmos) using PS5, Series X and a LG CX to be very confusing and absolutely not plug and play. So much stuff is not supported or only limitedly supported or simply does not play along with each other.
- Blu-ray playback with Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no
- Blu-ray playback with HDR + DTS:HD: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = yes but only directly connected to a surround set as LG CX doesn't support DTS passthrough
- Netflix streaming with Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no (Netflix app is bugged and not showing HDR/Dolby content properly), LG CX = yes (but my Steelseries 7x dongle doesn't work on LG CX)
- Plex streaming Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no, LG CX = no
- Plex streaming DTS: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no, LG CX = no
So even with all new 2020 equipment there is hardly any support for DTS and Dolby that is consistent in media playback.
- Blu-ray playback with Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no
- Blu-ray playback with HDR + DTS:HD: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = yes but only directly connected to a surround set as LG CX doesn't support DTS passthrough
- Netflix streaming with Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no (Netflix app is bugged and not showing HDR/Dolby content properly), LG CX = yes (but my Steelseries 7x dongle doesn't work on LG CX)
- Plex streaming Dolby Vision + Atmos: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no, LG CX = no
- Plex streaming DTS: PS5 = no, Xbox Series X = no, LG CX = no
So even with all new 2020 equipment there is hardly any support for DTS and Dolby that is consistent in media playback.
Sorry, I get a lot of messages, must have missed it.
The C9 basically ends up outputting a heavily banded image over a TMDS HDMI signal - which is what the Xbox outputs for 60hz and 24hz
I think you're right.
Xbox Series X 4K Blu-ray Player Cannot Output True Black (Objective Proof)
*Update 20 Nov 2020:* After investigating the problem we pointed out in this video, Microsoft has identified & fixed the issue of black floor being elevated ...
youtu.be
EDIT: Didn't know HDTV test post here. lol
I think it's fine, but there could be some improvements. I'm kind of stuck with the PS5 regardless since my Sonos takes up the ARC port and then my remaining 3 are for the PS5, Apple TV, and Switch. Don't have the ports for another device unfortunately (kind of annoying that the Sonos takes up a port to be honest). The PS5 gets the job done.
I still don't ever really see a difference between HDR10 and Dolby Vision to warrant me claiming that as a negative, but other than that, the picture quality is decent, but the image tends to look nicer on my LG standalone 4K Blu-Ray player or whenever I rip my 4K Blu-Rays and watch them that way (which is stunning).
No problem, thanks for reply.
If you used a console for about equal time video games and video, would you still switch over and back? Or would you stick to a particular setting?
I don't have an LGCX but I do have a Yamaha AVR. It appears that most of your issues stem from the lack of AVR. I believe eARC will mitigate this, but I'm not knowledgable on that feature.
To your first two points: it's a "yes" to all if you use standard HDR10 instead of DV.
To the Netflix point: I don't believe Atmos is supported on any console.
To your last points: Plex is terrible for advanced a/v features on all consoles. You're not going to get things like Atmos and you will get a lot of transcoding. I can't recall their HDR support. The nVidia Shield solves all these problems.
Random Fun fact: PS3 blu ray supports Dolby Atmos through it's bitstream output.
Not if you have a TV which supports dolby vision. I'm keeping my 4k bluray player(Panasonic UB450 I believe?) around since it does support it. That bluray player has the benefit of two hdmi jacks too, so i can just output the audio seperately to my headphone receiver which doesn't support hdr while keeping the audio quality.
Make sure you turn off noise reduction on PS5 playback, which is set to 1 on default and smooths over some details
Ahhhhhh. That would explain it. Thank you so much for that information!
Well I'm currently still investigating the right surround setup so just using the stereo speakers and the Steelseries headset (with both Dolby and DTS headphone licenses bought on Series X).
Sure bluray works with HDR10 but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a DV enabled TV and this technology being out there.
If the only solution is to buy a nVidia Shield for Plex and a Bluray player for DV then that's another two devices on top of both next-gen gaming consoles. I don't really need more devices (nor do I have the inputs on my tv for it). It's sad that even the Series X which is marketed with Dolby and DTS support can't really fully function as a media center. And that's not even to mention the ridiculous absence of DTS playthrough support on the LG CX (so using eArc with soundbar setup will only ever work with Atmos). No soundbar's on the market that support full 4k/120fps hdmi2.1 passthrough so connecting Series X to the LG through a soundbar is not an option either. Maybe a Denon/Yamaha AVR is the right way to go but I'm waiting on the 2021 soundbar line-up to make a decision on that.
So, I just tested Blade Runner 2049 on my PS5 after putting noise removal at 0, and even though the image does improve slightly, for some reason 2049 doesn't appear as sharp as the file I rip from my 4K Blu-Ray. It's so weird. I think it's just the PS5 and there really isn't anything I can do about it since that is hardware-based.
Interesting. I wonder if there are other settings that need to be tweaked. Is your PS5 HDMI input set to game mode on your tv?
I have it set to a customer filmmaker mode. I have read on other forums that compared to Blu-Ray players, 4K Blu-Ray players determine the overall image quality, to which I am starting to believe. I keep reading that there definitely is a difference in image quality (outside of DV/HDR10) from a $1,000 Oppo or Panasonic versus something budget or mid-range. Can anybody here confirm that to be true?
I am getting different results than you. I am getting Dolby vision and Atmos with blu ray playback and Netflix and VUDU on my Xbox Series X. But the HDR is kinda messed up and I'd rather use the TV apps over the series x app. But the disc play works fine.