Of all the 1080p Blu-Ray Players....

[Leeps]

In my experience, Pioneer players can be buggy with disc playback issues. Loads of threads on AV forums as well. Besides, Pioneer has now sold its AV business to Onkyo, so there is no guarantee of continuing support with firmware updates to ensure future discs will play without issues.

+1

The other night I pressed 'close' on the remote. Some seconds elapsed, so I wondered whether it had received the command, so I pressed it again. With about half a minute delay, it then opened and closed 6 times, ignoring all other commands to stop, shut down etc. Eventually it just spun the disc inside but was stuck in part of the intro sequence on the disc. In the end I had to switch off at the plug to re-boot.

Compared to my previous Panasonic player (DMP BDT310), the operation is very slow, it often ignores commands whether from the remote or its front panel controls. And lip synch can be patchy. My Panasonic was soooo much better, but sadly it was chucked about a bit in a house move and it never recovered.

The Panasonic Bluray was also excellent as a CD player (using its dedicated stereo analogue outs into my old Cambridge stereo amp) and the menu layout was much clearer and easy to use. As a budget alternative to the Oppo, I'd heartily recommend their players.

 

[ellisdj]

This is the best Blu Ray Player you can

Its not cheap though

 

[bigboss]

This is the best Blu Ray Player you can

 

Its not cheap though 

 

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

The way the exchange rate has been going since June 25th, it's probably cheaper in Pounds than in Dollars right now
Seriously, the Darbee version of that unit is "only" $1300 here (Amazon.com).

 

[ellisdj]

its not a stock machine - its a heavily upgraded one

 

[bigboss]

I'm well aware of these modded Oppos. It's a stupid price to pay for a blu ray player at this time. People who can afford that will most likely have invested in a 4K system already. They'll prefer to wait for a modded 4K player instead.

 

[Native_bon]

I'm well aware of these modded Oppos. It's a stupid price to pay for a blu ray player at this time. People who can afford that will most likely have invested in a 4K system already. They'll prefer to wait for a modded 4K player instead.

+1

I would rather buy a dedicated streamer for music, then buy the new 4k Oppo player when it comes out hopefully end of this year. Not worth the price.

 

[Chris1725]

In reply to the original post, I currently have a Sony BDP-S790 blu-ray player as part of my AV setup. which I picked up for a bargain price in January 2014. This player, one of the first to offer 4K Ultra HD upscaling, was I believe, What HIFI product of the year in 2012 and again in 2013. I use it connected up to a Samsung UE32F6800 32 inch Full HD TV and a Yamaha RX-V475 5.1 channel receiver and watch both 2D and 3D content. It seems like it may now only be available used in the UK, but if you can lay your hands on one second hand, it's a cracking player. Blu-rays look superb, with 3D adding an extra layer of immersion to the viewing experience. Its upscaling of standard definition DVD content is fantastic for the most part, beating the upscaling of my TV to provide an even sharper, more detailed picture quality, which at times I feel could truly be referred to as near HD.
Speaking of 4K, as my TV is a Full HD model, I cannot comment on how my BDP-S790 blu-ray player's 4K upscaling compares to that of an ultra HD TV. It may be some time before I actually make the switch to 4K blu-ray, as I'm not aware if any 32 inch Ultra HD TVs are likely to go on sale in the near future. In fact the smallest 4K screen size I'm aware of is 40 inches. This I feel might be a little large for the small 3x2 metre sized bedroom in which my AV gear is currently located, particularly when an ideal viewing distance for non ultra high definition content is taken into consideration.

 

[bigboss]

This I feel might be a little large for the small 3x2 metre sized bedroom in which my AV gear is currently located, particularly when an ideal viewing distance for non ultra high definition content is taken into consideration.

For exactly this reason, I would advise against buying a tiny 4K TV. You will not notice any benefit of extra resolution unless you go for larger size TV.

 

[bigboss]

The key is viewing distance. You can appreciate resolution improvement in any size TV as long as you're not too far from the screen. For 32 inches, you need to be about 1.7 to 3 feet from the screen to appreciate the increased resolution. If that's your viewing distance, then it's worth getting a 32 inch 4K TV.

Check this calculator:

https://stari.co/tv-monitor-viewing-distance-calculator

 

[Chris1725]

You say a large ultra HD TV is required to truly benifit from the extra resolution that 4K offers, but before I had my first taste of high definition some years ago, I came across coments from those who thought that a 32 inch screen size was a little too small to appreciate much of a difference between standard and high definition or between an HD Ready and full HD resolution. I don't really agree with this as I find HD content particularly blu-rays appear considerably sharper and more detailed than upsaled standard definiton material when viewed on a 32 inch screen, especially when watching on a full HD TV as opposed to an HD ready model. I'm wondering if I'll find the same thing with ultra HD material viewed on a small 4K TV.

 

[Chris1725]

I'm well aware how viewing distance can effect the perceived picture quality of a TV. It supprises me that some people out there think that large screen sizes are required to benifit from increased resoultion, particularly when it seems that all the necessary factors are not taken into consideration when froming an opinion of TV picture quality. I'll probably not be considering upgrading to ultra HD for some years to come, given the limited 4K content available at present, and that I don't believe that any of the major names in home entertainment have 32 inch 4K televisions in the pipeline.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

People are forgetting that upgrading to a more up to date (small by modern standards) 32 inch 4k TV will also bring things like 100 or 120 fps, HDR, HDCP2.2 (does that apply to TVs? I'm not sure).
But then, five years ago the same people probably argued 1080p was overkill and that you'd be better off with 720p, or even an old cathode ray tube set.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Anyway, I think I've solved my dilemma.
If I can't get my old UK voltage Denon multi region DVD player working, I'm just going to buy a cheap replacement multiregional DVD player and save the serious moolah until the Panasonic UHD BDPs hit the shelves here in September.
Last night I was killing time in Bestbuy again (gel John Lewis, me Bestbuy), and they had an Arcane FMJ BDP ex display model knocked down from $600 to $200, and I just thought "what's the point" and walked away.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Hee hee. The spell checker changed A R C A M to arcane again.
In the case of BDPs, thats quite apt!