4K UHD/Blu-ray/DVD Community Thread: Bringing the Theater Home!

Jokerman · Apr 30, 2024

leng jai said:
I ran a Sony player for a while and it was actually incredibly annoying having to manually switch between Dolby Vision and HDR10 since it's not always obvious which disc has it or not and just the act of switching itself is a hassle. From what I've seen it's not even close to "most", it's 60/40 at best with the hundred or so discs I own. The Sony player also has far more issues with freezing and other playback issues. The only problem I've had with the Panasonic is Criterion discs because they arrived scratched half the time.

That is weird then. I can't remember the last disc I bought without DV support. Either way, I'm not saying the Sony is better, but you get what you pay for with the Panasonic for sure. Though it isn't immune from issues with freezing etc on certain titles. I've experienced it myself on my Sony with 100GB discs, but rubbing them before playing solved it, although the layer changes are noticeable so it definitely handles those discs less well than the Panny.

Edit - it is worth noting that some discs don't list DV support on the packaging but still feature it, at least on UK releases here.

leng jai · Apr 30, 2024

Jokerman said:
That is weird then. I can't remember the last disc I bought without DV support. Either way, I'm not saying the Sony is better, but you get what you pay for with the Panasonic for sure. Though it isn't immune from issues with freezing etc on certain titles. I've experienced it myself on my Sony with 100GB discs, but rubbing them before playing solved it, although the layer changes are noticeable so it definitely handles those discs less well than the Panny.

Edit - it is worth noting that some discs don't list DV support on the packaging but still feature it, at least on UK releases here.

Luck of the draw or you're just buying from the same label that does DV for every release. Just google best looking 4K discs and even half of those aren't Dobly Vision.

Jokerman · Apr 30, 2024

leng jai said:
Luck of the draw or you're just buying from the same label that does DV for every release. Just google best looking 4K discs and even half of those aren't Dobly Vision.

Yeah pretty much all of my purchases in the last year have been more niche collectors editions from Arrow and Second Sight to be fair. I'm happily corrected. What is the best player out there period, regardless of cost do you know?

chronomac · Apr 30, 2024

captive said:
i just ripped 10 4k discs this weekend. ~~half~~ Edit: less than half have dolby vision. The Raid*, The Departed, The Big Lebowski, The Marvels (forgot this one originally), Tremors and Donnie Darko do not.

The Raid, Tremors and Donnie Darko all have Dolby Vision. I watched a rip of my Tremors disc less than two weeks ago (and it looks great).

captive · Apr 30, 2024

chronomac said:
The Raid, Tremors and Donnie Darko all have Dolby Vision. I watched a rip of my Tremors disc less than two weeks ago (and it looks great).

yea looks like the ones from arrow are misprint, every other disc i have with dolby vision actually has the dolby vision logo pretty prominently on the box and the disc.

NealMcCauley · Apr 30, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/Twister-4K-Blu-ray/dp/B0D2LS89YY?tag=bluray-016-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

IIRC a standard blu was released in some parts of Europe in the lastfew years with a new atmos mix and possibly new transfer based off the 4k restoration. Atmos mix supposedly kicks ass, which shouldn't be too surprising.

captive · Apr 30, 2024

NealMcCauley said:
https://www.amazon.com/Twister-4K-Blu-ray/dp/B0D2LS89YY?tag=bluray-016-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

IIRC a standard blu was released in some parts of Europe in the lastfew years with a new atmos mix and possibly new transfer based off the 4k restoration. Atmos mix supposedly kicks ass, which shouldn't be too surprising.

YES!!!! I loooove this movie.

this is why I'm not at all upset about the pseudo twisters sequel. I even said as much to someone complaining about it. I said if it gets us a 4k release of twister I don't really care.

leng jai · Apr 30, 2024

Jokerman said:
Yeah pretty much all of my purchases in the last year have been more niche collectors editions from Arrow and Second Sight to be fair. I'm happily corrected. What is the best player out there period, regardless of cost do you know?

UB9000 or the Magnetar UDP800. The UB820 is already good enough for 98% of people though. Those high end players cost 3 times as much but they make little difference video quality wise. They have higher build quality with a metal chassis and audiophile DACs which only make a difference if you're using the analog output instead of HDMI.

CesareNorrez · Apr 30, 2024

Just bought the Toxic Avenger 4K collection off Amazon because there was a coupon for 25% off. So, it went from the already discounted $82.29 to $61.72 before tax. But this coupon seems to only be for accounts Amazon deemed worthy. So major YMMV. This promotion isn't limited to Toxie though. I saw a whole page with some other films and sets on it. Keep an eye out, maybe Amazon will choose you.

captive · May 1, 2024

fucking amazon. whats the point of pre-ordering if you're going to fail to deliver?

Got a message that said my Oceans Trilogy is "delayed" do i still want it.

any thoughts on where I might be able to pick it up? With best buy and target now sucking for physical media or not selling them at all?

Westonian · May 1, 2024

captive said:
fucking amazon. whats the point of pre-ordering if you're going to fail to deliver?

Got a message that said my Oceans Trilogy is "delayed" do i still want it.

any thoughts on where I might be able to pick it up? With best buy and target now sucking for physical media or not selling them at all?

I don't think Amazon got any copies based on feedback over at Blu-ray.com. Gruv seemed to ship theirs just fine. I'm annoyed but I assume it's just a delay by WB in getting inventory to Amazon. I can wait.

captive · May 1, 2024

Westonian said:
I don't think Amazon got any copies based on feedback over at Blu-ray.com. Gruv seemed to ship theirs just fine. I'm annoyed but I assume it's just a delay by WB in getting inventory to Amazon. I can wait.

so my problem is ive been reallllly looking forward to it. Twice I've tried to watch my rip of Oceans11 in the last few months and for some reason i lost the audio on the rip. Video works fine.
Also i sold many of my 1080p discs so i dont have that for a backup.

Teiresias · May 1, 2024

It's hard to say how much is Amazon and how much is just distributor and supply issues. I mean, I gave up on my Abyss order from Amazon, but that was also having issues everywhere.

I've started pre-ordering more from Barnes & Noble actually. You don't get them as quickly once they ship (ex. Andor shipped last week, but is supposed to arrive today), but I have yet to not get something or have something delayed, and they always come packaged for shipment way better than Amazon has ever packaged anything in the past ten years.

Monkeylord · May 1, 2024

I've long since given up on pre-ordering from Amazon. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) I've ever pre-ordered has turned into a notification that it would be shipped at minimum 3 days after launch, and yet every single time I've managed to cancel and re-order for either same day, or at worst next day delivery.

Fucking jokers.

Teiresias · May 1, 2024

Welp, Andor Disc 1 full of ripping errors on MakeMKV, and I'm reading about many people having issues with Disc 2. Guess I'll try it out on my UB820, maybe send it in for a replacement.

Darknight · May 1, 2024

Teiresias said:
Welp, Andor Disc 1 full of ripping errors on MakeMKV, and I'm reading about many people having issues with Disc 2. Guess I'll try it out on my UB820, maybe send it in for a replacement.

Did you try ripping the disc as an ISO and then running makemkv on that instead?

Zafir · May 1, 2024

Amazon UK aren't any better either. They waited till a week after launch to tell me they couldn't deliver my Oppenheimer 4k steelbook pre-order. The only upside was due to their support staff incompetence I ended up getting quite generous compensation.

Teiresias said:
Welp, Andor Disc 1 full of ripping errors on MakeMKV, and I'm reading about many people having issues with Disc 2. Guess I'll try it out on my UB820, maybe send it in for a replacement.

Might not help if it's actually a disk fault, but have you tried cleaning the disk?

A bunch of my recent disney disks I had to clean with some isopropyl alcohol cleaning spray to get them to rip properly. I dunno why they aren't clean when they seal them...

Teiresias · May 1, 2024

Darknight said:
Did you try ripping the disc as an ISO and then running makemkv on that instead?

Do you just do the "make backup" in MakeMKV to get the ISO?

Zafir said:
Might not help if it's actually a disk fault, but have you tried cleaning the disk?

A bunch of my recent disney disks I had to clean with some isopropyl alcohol cleaning spray to get them to rip properly. I dunno why they aren't clean when they seal them...

I haven't, but Disc 3 also errors out, Disc 2 can't be decrypted so the key just isn't in the database yet. I guess I'll pull out the isopropyl. Disc 1 at least does play fine (at least the little bit I tested jumping around) in my UB820.

[EDIT] After a cleaning Disc 1 is at least currently ripping an episode without throwing debug codes everywhere, whether it makes it through is still an open question though. I ended up having to take Dawn Powerwash to the disc, because upon wiping it with the iso it became clear there was some residue on there that wasn't visible previously until I started wiping it - the disc was caked in it and the iso was just pushing it around. Since Powerwash (Free & Clear version) is like the best house cleaning-strength degreaser I have I took it to it a few times and that seems to have helped. We'll see if it makes it through the whole disc though.

captive · May 1, 2024

Teiresias said:
Do you just do the "make backup" in MakeMKV to get the ISO?

yes. its worked on even scratched disks that MakeMKV wouldn't rip the normal way.

also yes i always clean disks now. I've noticed quite a few disks come with some sort of greasy smudges on them sometimes.

leng jai · May 1, 2024

Just got my disc for The Wailing and it doesn't have Atmos so I guess they're still sending those out. Not sure if I'm eligible or even can be bothered getting a replacement disc. The original 5.1 DTS HDMA track already sounds fantastic.

Video wise it's a mixed bag. It looks incredibly sharp, so much so that some scenes look unnatural especially given it's only a 2k master. Waxy faces definitely make an appearance too, it's very jarring on the main character's face when he's not close to the camera. The best part is definitely the Dolby Vision/HDR upgrade, looks really lush and vibrant.

Theecliff · May 2, 2024

leng jai said:
Just got my disc for The Wailing and it doesn't have Atmos so I guess they're still sending those out. Not sure if I'm eligible or even can be bothered getting a replacement disc. The original 5.1 DTS HDMA track already sounds fantastic.

Video wise it's a mixed bag. It looks incredibly sharp, so much so that some scenes look unnatural especially given it's only a 2k master. Waxy faces definitely make an appearance too, it's very jarring on the main character's face when he's not close to the camera. The bestpar is definitely the Dolby Vision/HDR upgrade, looks really lush be vibrant.

yup, i noticed this too. considering the sharpness and the artefacts i'd imagine that this was achieved using some sort of AI upscale versus the usual basic approach to showing 2K masters in the 4K format. i'd still say it's a good looking disc overall as those inconsistencies aren't always too distracting and like you said, the HDR is very good. but i kinda wish it'd been a more basic 2K upscale, as the underlying footage was presumably sharp enough and the HDR strong enough that it would have looked very nice without the extra processing that incurs those uncanny elements.

my worry is between this and James Cameron's recent discs, that this will be the new approach to 2K masters going forward because it technically produces a 'sharper' image.

Klotera · May 2, 2024

Darknight said:
Did you try ripping the disc as an ISO and then running makemkv on that instead?

Wow, I just saw this and had never heard of this workaround. It totally worked on three discs I had trouble with!

Unfortunately, my Return of the King disc 2 still doesn't work but I think that disc is completely borked. It ends up hanging on my regular players, too. Too bad I didn't check it until after the return window. Wish they sold these as independent movies so I didn't need to get the whole set to get a fixed disc.

This kind of stuff is exactly why I feel the need to back up my discs. With little imperfections causing issues and quality control issues, I have concerns about how they'll hold up long term.

Teiresias · May 2, 2024

Just an update that after using Dawn Powerwash and Isopropyl on all three of my Andor discs, and the key for Disc 2 making it into the makemkv database, I was able to rip the whole show without issue. I love how clean the disc title layout is too, really easy to ID the extras on the first disc, and then the rest are just the episodes (and the video track for the top-level menu of course).

captive · May 2, 2024

Klotera said:
Wow, I just saw this and had never heard of this workaround. It totally worked on three discs I had trouble with!

Unfortunately, my Return of the King disc 2 still doesn't work but I think that disc is completely borked. It ends up hanging on my regular players, too. Too bad I didn't check it until after the return window. Wish they sold these as independent movies so I didn't need to get the whole set to get a fixed disc.

This kind of stuff is exactly why I feel the need to back up my discs. With little imperfections causing issues and quality control issues, I have concerns about how they'll hold up long term.

DM'ed you

Teiresias said:
Just an update that after using Dawn Powerwash and Isopropyl on all three of my Andor discs, and the key for Disc 2 making it into the makemkv database, I was able to rip the whole show without issue. I love how clean the disc title layout is too, really easy to ID the extras on the first disc, and then the rest are just the episodes (and the video track for the top-level menu of course).

awesome!

Hero_of_the_Day · May 3, 2024

Watched Mean Girls tonight. The 4K transfer is nothing special. But, I haven't seen that movie in whole since theaters 20 years ago. It is pretty fucking good. One of those movies that manages to straddle the line between being silly and yet still feeling relatable and real. And hilarious.

Ready for The Crow next week!

Easystride · May 4, 2024

I sold off my relatively small bluray collection in 2017 and really regretting it these days with the massive increases in prices of streaming services and streaming fatigue in general. Think I'm going to get back in to the game during the next Criterion sale and when Ted Lasso comes out on bluray. Gotta a lot of Criterion to get caught up on starting with A Brighter Summer's Day.

Serein · May 4, 2024

Took a gamble on a Panasonic UB159 player on eBay that was being sold untested without cables. Not for the unit itself but I hoped that if the disc drive was fine I could use it as a replacement for my UB820 if that went (again). Unlike the UB900 the whole drive can't just be swapped as it doesn't have the daughter board on the drive with all the components attaching separately to the main board of the player. Other than some small differences with the chassis the drives are basically the same though so I extracted just the laser unit and swapped that with the laser in the 820 drive that had been giving me problems. Tested it with a triple layer disc (Jaws) and the whole thing played back perfectly. Also messed around with disassembling the whole unit as well and gained some good knowledge for future reference. With the prices of these things now it's good to know I have a bit of insurance just in case.

Jokerman · May 5, 2024

Does anyone know if the region-free trick for blu-rays works for DVDs with the Panasonic UB820 too?

Serein · May 5, 2024

Jokerman said:
Does anyone know if the region-free trick for blu-rays works for DVDs with the Panasonic UB820 too?

I have a multi-region UB820 so I set it to Region 1 and put in one of my UK DVDs and the trick worked to get it to play. Can't say for sure it will work for all DVDs though.

Jokerman · May 5, 2024

Serein said:
I have a multi-region UB820 so I set it to Region 1 and put in one of my UK DVDs and the trick worked to get it to play. Can't say for sure it will work for all DVDs though.

Wouldn't a multi-region player play all discs anyway? I mean the trick you can use with BDs on un modified players. Thanks though.

Serein · May 5, 2024

Jokerman said:
Wouldn't a multi-region player play all discs anyway? I mean the trick you can use with BDs on un modified players. Thanks though.

No, I need to set it to the region of the discs I want to play. It's a modified firmware and when I want to change I press Option 3 times then a number for the DVD region and another for the Blu Ray region.

EDIT: Actually I did something daft. I grabbed a DVD/Blu Ray set to test but put in the Blu Ray lol. As soon as it was clear it was loading I ejected it so didn't notice the obvious difference in picture quality. The above operation does hold true but apparently it shouldn't matter for most DVDs except for a few that do have enhanced copy protection that require the region change.

19Kilo · May 5, 2024

leng jai said:
Just got my disc for The Wailing and it doesn't have Atmos so I guess they're still sending those out. Not sure if I'm eligible or even can be bothered getting a replacement disc. The original 5.1 DTS HDMA track already sounds fantastic.

Video wise it's a mixed bag. It looks incredibly sharp, so much so that some scenes look unnatural especially given it's only a 2k master. Waxy faces definitely make an appearance too, it's very jarring on the main character's face when he's not close to the camera. The best part is definitely the Dolby Vision/HDR upgrade, looks really lush and vibrant.

I got replacement discs for both The Wailing and The Man From Nowhere. All they asked for was a screenshot of the receipt and you don't have to return the original disc or anything, so you might as well.

That being said, I didn't think The Man From Nowhere's Atmos track was anything special. I haven't watched The Wailing yet, so I don't know how good the Atmos track is on that one.

Smash-It Stan · May 5, 2024

I thought the Ocean's trilogy wasn't out till the summer...

Hopefully the steel books will still be around in a few months. Ive noticed they stick around around for a while enough to grab them on sale(unless you're The Batman where you get 7 different variants and their actually limited)

maximumzero · May 5, 2024

Going through my DVD collection and figuring out what I want to keep, what I want to sell/give away, and what I want to replace with Blu-Rays (and then sell/give away.)

Is it even worth trying to sell DVDs these days or should I just bring them to something like Second & Charles (Secondhand store that gives you store credit for trade-ins?)

Edit: Getting rid of my BtAS Season One DVD set since I got the complete series Blu-Ray recently, same with my Community Seasons One and Two sets; recently picked up the Complete Series Blu-Ray for that too.

I have a Season One Venture Bros. Set that I'll probably replace with the Complete Series DVD at some point, so it's probably going in the give away/sell bin too. Same with a Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers DVD set that'll be replaced with the Complete Series Blu-Ray I've seen recently.

Also fuck Warner Bros. forever for never releasing The Powerpuff Girls Movie even on a widescreen DVD. It's been eternally suck in Fullscreen on home media.

Oreoleo · May 6, 2024

maximumzero said:
Is it even worth trying to sell DVDs these days or should I just bring them to something like Second & Charles (Secondhand store that gives you store credit for trade-ins?)

I'm of the opinion it isn't worth the time it would take to find a buyer / they aren't valuable enough to sell on eBay with fees, shipping etc (there are exceptions, I'm sure). I just took a stack of DVDs to the local secondhand store a few days ago myself. Let them deal with the clutter.

Darknight · May 6, 2024

If anyone is a fan of Gravity, it looks like the out of print Diamond Luxe Edition is being rereleased next week for only $15.99 at Amazon. For those that don't know, this includes the Atmos track and the Silent Space track as audio options. The Atmos track is supposed to be demo material quality and this version typically sold for a couple hundred since it was out of print.

captive · May 6, 2024

looks like amazon got their alotment of oceans trilogy, mine showed up today. already ripping them.

19Kilo · May 8, 2024

Darknight said:
If anyone is a fan of Gravity, it looks like the out of print Diamond Luxe Edition is being rereleased next week for only $15.99 at Amazon. For those that don't know, this includes the Atmos track and the Silent Space track as audio options. The Atmos track is supposed to be demo material quality and this version typically sold for a couple hundred since it was out of print.

Oh damn. Thanks for the heads up!

the-pi-guy · May 8, 2024

Not sure I'll buy Ted Lasso, but I appreciate streaming losing a big exclusive like that.

JediOrderPizza · May 9, 2024

Got my Dune part 2 steelbook from gruv. Looks great.

the-pi-guy · Monday at 12:52 PM

The 4k steelbook everyone was waiting for.

Tycho Kepler · Monday at 1:12 PM

Im a goofy goober for this

H.Cornerstone · Monday at 2:09 PM

FYI Criterion is having 30% off discs today.

Jokerman · Monday at 2:13 PM

H.Cornerstone said:
FYI Criterion is having 30% off discs today.

Here in the UK too. For two weeks.

Easystride · Monday at 7:56 PM

H.Cornerstone said:
FYI Criterion is having 30% off discs today.

Got some good ol Cary Grant films
Arsenic and Old Lace
Only Angels have Wings
His Girl Friday

Smash-It Stan · Tuesday at 12:13 AM

Darknight said:
If anyone is a fan of Gravity, it looks like the out of print Diamond Luxe Edition is being rereleased next week for only $15.99 at Amazon. For those that don't know, this includes the Atmos track and the Silent Space track as audio options. The Atmos track is supposed to be demo material quality and this version typically sold for a couple hundred since it was out of print.

Is there a date when its out?

Westonian · Tuesday at 12:15 AM

Smash-It Stan said:
Is there a date when its out?

Tomorrow officially, but my copy just shipped.

Darknight · Tuesday at 12:16 AM

Smash-It Stan said:
Is there a date when its out?

Today/tomorrow depending on what time zone you're in.

Smash-It Stan · Tuesday at 12:26 AM

Westonian said:
Tomorrow officially, but my copy just shipped.

Is there an amazon link? I'm not seeing it

Darknight · Tuesday at 12:38 AM

Smash-It Stan said:
Is there an amazon link? I'm not seeing it

https://www.amazon.com/Gravity-BD-Blu-ray-Alfonso-Cuar%C3%B3n/dp/B0CYNXCXG4

4K UHD/Blu-ray/DVD Community Thread: Bringing the Theater Home!

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"I'd buy that for a dollar!"