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Beware of 4K UHD Blu-ray on non-HDR sets.

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Klotera

Member
So, I have a 2014 model Sony 4K set, specifically the x850b series. 4K, passive 3D, but no HDR. The set is still fantastic. With the right calibration, it looks great and it's quality upscaler makes even 720p content look excellent on the 4K panel.

However, I have wanted to really take advantage of that 4K panel, and streaming 4K doesn't fully take advantage of the resolution, just as 1080p streaming never looks as good as Blu-ray.

So, I finally took the plunge on the Philips BDP7501 4K Blu-ray player, which is the second 4K Blu-ray player on the market. After getting everything set up, I fire it up and, while the resolution difference is noticeable, something seemed off. I realized that the image was much darker and the colors seemed washed out.

Now, I was plenty aware I would get no advantage from the HDR aspects of the disc, but assumed that it would at least match normal Blu-ray colors. This does not seem to be the case.

It seems this has to do with the dynamic range compression being performed by the player. As the discs are encoded for high dynamic range content, the player has to "compress" that color/brightness data into standard dynamic range. Somewhat analogous to downscaling a 4K video to 1080p. However, while most players and TVs are quite adept at downscaling resolution, compressing dynamic range seems to be more difficult. In the case of these first two players, you get "clipping" which washes out the colors significantly, as well as makes for a generally darker image.

I popped the regular Blu-ray of Deadpool into my PS4 and the 4K Blu-ray into the Philips and paused them at the same place at various points in the movie, flipping back and forth between the inputs. The color difference was very noticeable, even when backlight was adjusted to make up for the darker image. Now, thinking that HDR may be encoded with a lower base brightness and contrast to allow for more headroom on an HDR set, I though maybe tweaking settings on the TV to account for that might help. I was able to get it closer to the Blu-ray color, but it was never quite as good.

All hope is not lost, though. There is talk that Panasonic's player (not currently available in the US) has a better compression algorithm and may even be able to provide benefits to non-HDR sets by at least providing a higher peak brightness than the standard Blu-ray spec. However, seeing will be believing.

I am also curious to see what the experiences are for people with the Xbox One S. Maybe the extra processing horsepower and programming talent at Microsoft has made for a solid conversion.

Or... Maybe you really just do need content that is targeted to your device's capabilities and you'll always compromise on compressed HDR vs. a standard Blu-ray.

Either way, be aware of the risks if you are looking into a 4K Blu-ray player for your non-HDR set. Myself, I'm returning the player and will be appreciating the color quality on my regular Blu-ray disks more than I did before. Maybe I'll give it another shot with the PS4 Neo and see if things have improved by then.

Edit: Here is an article calling out the issue on the Philips, specifically: http://www.homecinemaguru.com/philips-bdp7501-hdr-to-sdr-color-conversion-errors/. The Samsung supposedly has similar issues from what I've since read.
 

Klotera

Member
What is the dynamic range setting on your tv set to?

As far as I know, there is not a single setting for dynamic range. As a whole, after trying my own calibrations and numerous suggested settings, I eventually landed on using the settings here for most of my content.

Using that as my baseline for my side by side tests, I tried numerous settings to get the UHD to match, particularly back light (to make up for the darker image), advanced contrast enhancer (as HDR would need a higher ceiling here), and even Live Color, which I would normally hesitate to turn up too high.

keep the player and get a new TV!!

The idea was tempting, but not sure I could sell the idea of replacing our year-and-a-bit old TV.
 
I find it hard to believe that 4K UHD Blu-ray would only be usable on the 18 sets sold in the world which support HDR and ignore the millions of 4K sets now installed in homes which don't have HDR.

I have a Sony X900A but no UHD BD player or I could test this myself.
 

Klotera

Member
I find it hard to believe that 4K UHD Blu-ray would only be usable on the 18 sets sold in the world which support HDR and ignore the millions of 4K sets now installed in homes which don't have HDR.

I have a Sony X900A but no UHD BD player or I could test this myself.

I thought so, too, but seems I'm not the first to notice. Here is an article specifically calling out the Philips player, but sounds like the Samsung has similar issues. This may get better with future players, but as I've read more, it sounds like dynamic range compression is not as straightforward as it would seem. Hopefully, some company will come up with a much better algorithm to solve the issue.

Edit: I mean, it is usable, you just lose a lot of quality in the color department.
 

BriGuy

Member
Stupid question, but are you using the right HDMI port? My tv has a mix of HDMI 2 and the HDMI 1.X ports. Trying to get 4k over the wrong port might explain the lackluster results.
 

Klotera

Member
Stupid question, but are you using the right HDMI port? My tv has a mix of HDMI 2 and the HDMI 1.X ports. Trying to get 4k over the wrong port might explain the lackluster results.

Yeah, my first two ports are HDMI 2.0 (no "a", hence no HDR) and HDCP 2.2. I have it in port 2.

I get the 4K resolution no problem, just washed out colors to go with it.
 
Wow um. That's not good. I hope the Xbox One S and PS4 Neo do a better job playing back UHD BDs than this.

It looks like the brightness issue occurs on HDR TVs too: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/465-h...y-vs-blu-ray-reveals-hdr-too-dim-daytime.html

But bad color downsampling from Rec.2020 is a huge No Bueno. Hopefully these early "soft launch" players from Samsung and Philips will be improved in that regard or newer players can figure out how to properly perform color space conversions.
 
This was my concern. But I never actually looked into it. I just wondered if the 4k Blu ray player would be worth it without HDR. My TV looks great with my Nvidia Shield so I guess I'll continue using that for 4k stuff and eventually move this tv to another room and get a property OLED and HDR 4k tv next year probably
 
I assume you set up the two HDMI inputs exactly the same? How does it look when you pop in the regular bluray in your 4K player (ideally take screenshots to compare if your TV supports that)?
Might also want to check that both HDMI ports function identically (i.e. have same version number). The non-HDR sets can still support HDR input (quite irritating when that is advertised as HDR support btw...). Usually you also have to activate it in the settings, even for real HDR TVs.

Edit: ok you already covered this basically


It really seems like this is the responsibility of the 4K player though, maybe there's a setting to force non-HDR output or something?
I agree with the post above that it would be weird if the player is only adjusted for the this year's models.


Oh and not helpful but you just made me feel a bit better about paying more to get an HDR 4K TV recently...
 

Klotera

Member
I assume you set up the two HDMI inputs exactly the same? How does it look when you pop in the regular bluray in your 4K player (ideally take screenshots to compare if your TV supports that)?
Might also want to check that both HDMI ports function identically (i.e. have same version number). The non-HDR sets can still support HDR input (quite irritating when that is advertised as HDR support btw...). Usually you also have to activate it in the settings, even for real HDR TVs.

Edit: ok you already covered this basically


It really seems like this is the responsibility of the 4K player though, maybe there's a setting to force non-HDR output or something?
I agree with the post above that it would be weird if the player is only adjusted for the this year's models.


Oh and not helpful but you just made me feel a bit better about paying more to get an HDR 4K TV recently...

I was curious what the TV would do if I "forced" HDR output from the player. The panel itself is capable of more than 8-bit. However, wasn't sure if I could potentially cause any problems trying to do this. There wasn't much out on the forums, so not sure if anyone has tried. I know the port can't do more than 4:2:0 8-bit at 4K/60. The player is sending a 4:2:2 signal at 4K/24 when set to max 4:2:0 at 4K/60, but using the standard color space (not sure of the signal itself is 8-bit in this case).

Edit: Turning off HDR basically tells the player to go into dynamic range compression mode.
 
Something that dynamic HDR metadata, Dolby Vision, etc. can help with. In the meantime, most UHDP Blu-rays also come with 1080p copies, right? You can still watch those versions while future-proofing your collection.
 

Klotera

Member
Something that dynamic HDR metadata, Dolby Vision, etc. can help with. In the meantime, most UHDP Blu-rays also come with 1080p copies, right? You can still watch those versions while future-proofing your collection.

Yep, I am keeping the 4K Blu-rays I bought and just using the regular Blu-ray copy, so I can use the 4K copy in the future if I get a newer TV or future players fix this problem.
 

Wag

Member
I find it hard to believe that 4K UHD Blu-ray would only be usable on the 18 sets sold in the world which support HDR and ignore the millions of 4K sets now installed in homes which don't have HDR.

I have a Sony X900A but no UHD BD player or I could test this myself.

More than 18 sets support HDR. All the 2015 Sony and Samsung 4k models support it after a firmware update. I can confirm this on my 2015 Samsung TV with my Nvidia Shield.
 
Yeah, I discovered that my entire Sony setup was out dated with the purchase of the Xbox One S. My receiver doesn't have HDCP 2.2, and my TV doesn't have HDR10. Bought into 4K TV too soon. You would think I should have learned from the transition to HD, when I waited for a 1080p set, but there it is. Maybe I can convince my wife to replace our 9 year old Sharp in the bedroom, but until then, 4K is not worth the trouble of rearranging my current setup to connect the Xbox One directly to the TV.
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
I still feel like 4K is too early. A lot of the midrange sets selling for $1k are using atrocious edge lighting without any regional dimming. Basically you wouldn't be able to see anything darker than a light to medium gray color properly. My 1080p from 3 years ago does that way better.

They try to lure people with those brightly lit, lossless demos of landscapes and vibrant cities with top notch digital film/optics. I bet a lot of people are pretty upset to get home and find in most cases it's a downgrade.
 

jstripes

Banned
I still feel like 4K is too early.

The fact that they started selling 4K sets and then almost immediately fragmented into 4K HDR sets (of competing standards) tells you everything.

Oh well, let the early adopters absorb that blow. When the dust settles in a couple of years 4K will be amazing. :/
 

Wag

Member
Remains to be seen whether HDR10 or Dolby Vision takes over. I tend to think Dolby Vision will win just because of the branding. (It doesn't hurt that almost every DV set can handle HDR10 as well)
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
This, combined with the fact that most 4K movies released nowadays are in fact studio mastered at 2K (1080p, basically) really makes me feel bad for the early adopters of 4K TVs who wanted to use them predominantly for movie watching.
 
HDR should be standard on every single 4K set and they should of figured that shit out before release.

You realize HD went through a similar transition right? Early HD sets didn't do 720p, or 1080p. They also didn't have HDCP or even HDMI. This is why you don't early adopt until the standards are set. Hell it's why I've been telling everyone don't buy a 4K TV unless it's UHD Premium compliant despite how cheap they can be had. Yet still people jump on it because of price. I think if you're getting anything that isn't UHD Premium at this point, you risk getting screwed over. There's only a couple of sets out now that meet that standard.
 

Klotera

Member
You realize HD went through a similar transition right? Early HD sets didn't do 720p, or 1080p. They also didn't have HDCP or even HDMI. This is why you don't early adopt until the standards are set. Hell it's why I've been telling everyone don't buy a 4K TV unless it's UHD Premium compliant despite how cheap they can be had. Yet still people jump on it because of price. I think if you're getting anything that isn't UHD Premium at this point, you risk getting screwed over. There's only a couple of sets out now that meet that standard.

I normally would have waited myself, but I was moving to a new house and wanted something larger to fill the room it was going in,and figured I'd splurge. I actually didn't get it cheap. It was $1600 when I bought it. I actually thought it was future proofed at the time. I made sure it had HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, which was still not a guarantee on 4K sets at the time. No idea HDMI 2.0a was going to swing in right after.

Still, the set is great on its own merits. HDR is a nice feature, but not something I feel desperate to upgrade to. Just would like to take advantage of the resolution a 4K Blu-ray offers.
 
You realize HD went through a similar transition right? Early HD sets didn't do 720p, or 1080p. They also didn't have HDCP or even HDMI. This is why you don't early adopt until the standards are set. Hell it's why I've been telling everyone don't buy a 4K TV unless it's UHD Premium compliant despite how cheap they can be had. Yet still people jump on it because of price. I think if you're getting anything that isn't UHD Premium at this point, you risk getting screwed over. There's only a couple of sets out now that meet that standard.
In the long run, it doesn't actually matter, though, since standards are always evolving, so there's no such thing as future proofing. Next year's stuff will be better than current, and the stuff following that will be even better.
 
So, I have a 2014 model Sony 4K set, specifically the x850b series. 4K, passive 3D, but no HDR. The set is still fantastic. With the right calibration, it looks great and it's quality upscaler makes even 720p content look excellent on the 4K panel.

However, I have wanted to really take advantage of that 4K panel, and streaming 4K doesn't fully take advantage of the resolution, just as 1080p streaming never looks as good as Blu-ray.

So, I finally took the plunge on the Philips BDP7501 4K Blu-ray player, which is the second 4K Blu-ray player on the market. After getting everything set up, I fire it up and, while the resolution difference is noticeable, something seemed off. I realized that the image was much darker and the colors seemed washed out.

Now, I was plenty aware I would get no advantage from the HDR aspects of the disc, but assumed that it would at least match normal Blu-ray colors. This does not seem to be the case.

It seems this has to do with the dynamic range compression being performed by the player. As the discs are encoded for high dynamic range content, the player has to "compress" that color/brightness data into standard dynamic range. Somewhat analogous to downscaling a 4K video to 1080p. However, while most players and TVs are quite adept at downscaling resolution, compressing dynamic range seems to be more difficult. In the case of these first two players, you get "clipping" which washes out the colors significantly, as well as makes for a generally darker image.

I popped the regular Blu-ray of Deadpool into my PS4 and the 4K Blu-ray into the Philips and paused them at the same place at various points in the movie, flipping back and forth between the inputs. The color difference was very noticeable, even when backlight was adjusted to make up for the darker image. Now, thinking that HDR may be encoded with a lower base brightness and contrast to allow for more headroom on an HDR set, I though maybe tweaking settings on the TV to account for that might help. I was able to get it closer to the Blu-ray color, but it was never quite as good.

All hope is not lost, though. There is talk that Panasonic's player (not currently available in the US) has a better compression algorithm and may even be able to provide benefits to non-HDR sets by at least providing a higher peak brightness than the standard Blu-ray spec. However, seeing will be believing.

I am also curious to see what the experiences are for people with the Xbox One S. Maybe the extra processing horsepower and programming talent at Microsoft has made for a solid conversion.

Or... Maybe you really just do need content that is targeted to your device's capabilities and you'll always compromise on compressed HDR vs. a standard Blu-ray.

Either way, be aware of the risks if you are looking into a 4K Blu-ray player for your non-HDR set. Myself, I'm returning the player and will be appreciating the color quality on my regular Blu-ray disks more than I did before. Maybe I'll give it another shot with the PS4 Neo and see if things have improved by then.

Edit: Here is an article calling out the issue on the Philips, specifically: http://www.homecinemaguru.com/philips-bdp7501-hdr-to-sdr-color-conversion-errors/. The Samsung supposedly has similar issues from what I've since read.


I have a Sony 850c. I had to go into the input settings and change the HDMI setting to 4k HDR content. The TV ships with the ports set in HDMI 1.x mode.
 

jett

D-Member
The fact that they started selling 4K sets and then almost immediately fragmented into 4K HDR sets (of competing standards) tells you everything.

Oh well, let the early adopters absorb that blow. When the dust settles in a couple of years 4K will be amazing. :/

This is the real rub, and something I only found out recently. This industry just seems incapable to get their shit together.

It's another format war, except the devices cost several thousands of dollars.

I definitely advice people to not get a 4K TV until a couple of years down the line, unless you're swimming in money I guess then I imagine dropping a few wouldn't matter to you.
 

Levyne

Banned
my 4k tv is only like 9 months old and doesnt have hdr, ugh. well maybe next year I can replace it with HDR and get some money back for it secondhand.
 
In the long run, it doesn't actually matter, though, since standards are always evolving, so there's no such thing as future proofing. Next year's stuff will be better than current, and the stuff following that will be even better.

I disagree. There are certain points in tech where the dust settles and the standards hold true for a good period of time. This has to be in order for compatibility and formats to work. HDMI, once established, has been pretty rock solid. Sure it has evolved to handle things like 4K, but usually that goes hand in hand with getting a 4K TV. In general though you can expect a device that has an HDMI port to work with your TV's HDMI port.

I normally would have waited myself, but I was moving to a new house and wanted something larger to fill the room it was going in,and figured I'd splurge. I actually didn't get it cheap. It was $1600 when I bought it. I actually thought it was future proofed at the time. I made sure it had HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, which was still not a guarantee on 4K sets at the time. No idea HDMI 2.0a was going to swing in right after.

Still, the set is great on its own merits. HDR is a nice feature, but not something I feel desperate to upgrade to. Just would like to take advantage of the resolution a 4K Blu-ray offers.

The thing is you bought when there was little to no content available. So how could you even predict what the format compatibility would be? By all accounts, HDR is going to have more significance than simply 4K resolution. That's going to be where the true jump in quality will be.
 
I disagree. There are certain points in tech where the dust settles and the standards hold true for a good period of time. This has to be in order for compatibility and formats to work. HDMI, once established, has been pretty rock solid. Sure it has evolved to handle things like 4K, but usually that goes hand in hand with getting a 4K TV. In general though you can expect a device that has an HDMI port to work with your TV's HDMI port.
I mean, I agree that there will be better times to buy, but I honestly don't think there is such a thing as true future proofing, and I think that it's impotency to recognize that if your going to want to stay on the cutting edge, you will have to upgrade every once in a while. But as soon as you buy something, there will be something better that you might want on the horizon.

In terms of HD display technology, though, it's pretty much been a non-stop evolution since 1080i was standard. 1080p was top for a while longer but still not that long.
 

BdoUK

Member
Apparently the upcoming Panasonic UHD player will have built in functionality to map HDR to SDR. Neither the Samsung nor the just released Phillips units have this capability. With that being said the Panasonic will run you around $700 :(.

This should at least give you the ability to enjoy the resolution bump without suffering from DRC.
 

Wag

Member
Which model?

Samsung UN48JU6700. Hooked up my Shield and had Netflix 4k HDR playback. For some strange reason only the SUHD series has HDR from the built in apps, if you want HDR on the non-SUHD models you have to use an external source like a Shield or a UHD Blu player.
 

kaiiri

Member
Dang, I have an X850A, so I'm sure I'll have the same experience. Hopefully the PS4 Neo will be better at this.

I have the exact same one. Really disappointed at this, though I should've figured with how technology goes. Only had this TV for a couple years now and just can't justify a new set. Oh well.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
I have the exact same one. Really disappointed at this, though I should've figured with how technology goes. Only had this TV for a couple years now and just can't justify a new set. Oh well.

Yes, but the HDMI features it does have could be disabled currently. ie, he could be looking at limited instead of full rgb due to HDMI settings

I have a Sony 850c. I had to go into the input settings and change the HDMI setting to 4k HDR content. The TV ships with the ports set in HDMI 1.x mode.


I have the 850c which got HDR and 2.0 support via a firmware update a while back. It's kind of annoying that I have to select HDR when I want to watch a movie on the Xbox S to take advantage of it, since game mode disables everything.

However, the content so far has looked astonishing. Mad Max is just unbelievable.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
My interest in catalog titles just died. I see HDR for old titles as clear revisionism. I'd planned on watching them without HDR when I bought a 4K projector, but welp.
 
I have the 850c which got HDR and 2.0 support via a firmware update a while back. It's kind of annoying that I have to select HDR when I want to watch a movie on the Xbox S to take advantage of it, since game mode disables everything.

They patched in HDR? HDR (input) support or is the panel actually (physically) capable of displaying the HDR range? Those are two different things.
It's a bit how way back 720p TVs advertised that they support 1080p input....
 
They patched in HDR? HDR (input) support or is the panel actually (physically) capable of displaying the HDR range? Those are two different things.
It's a bit how way back 720p TVs advertised that they support 1080p input....
Physically capable. The panel came out before the standards were set but was physically capable of displaying hdr, so a firmware/driver update was all it needed.

I have the 850c which got HDR and 2.0 support via a firmware update a while back. It's kind of annoying that I have to select HDR when I want to watch a movie on the Xbox S to take advantage of it, since game mode disables everything.

However, the content so far has looked astonishing. Mad Max is just unbelievable.

Home:scroll to bottom:settings:input settings: if you haven't already changed them your HDMI will all be in standard mode. Change the one your Xbox One S is connected to to "enhanced." With the full HDMI 2.0 spec activated, it should now auto switch to HDR mode.
Doing this will also allow your TV to accept 4k60fps.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Home:scroll to bottom:settings:input settings: if you haven't already changed them your HDMI will all be in standard mode. Change the one your Xbox One S is connected to to "enhanced." With the full HDMI 2.0 spec activated, it should now auto switch to HDR mode.
Doing this will also allow your TV to accept 4k60fps.

OMG you're my hero.

Not like the TV shows you instructions after the update.


The precise UI flow though is HOME/settings/external inputs/hdmi signal format/
 

Klotera

Member
I have the 850c which got HDR and 2.0 support via a firmware update a while back. It's kind of annoying that I have to select HDR when I want to watch a movie on the Xbox S to take advantage of it, since game mode disables everything.

However, the content so far has looked astonishing. Mad Max is just unbelievable.

If the options menu is anything like the b series, in scene select, you can set Auto (24fps) and it will know to switch to cinema mode when you have 24fps content. With this, it seamlessly jumps from game mode to cinema and back on my PS4 when I start or stop a Blu-ray movie.
 

Theonik

Member
You realize HD went through a similar transition right? Early HD sets didn't do 720p, or 1080p. They also didn't have HDCP or even HDMI. This is why you don't early adopt until the standards are set. Hell it's why I've been telling everyone don't buy a 4K TV unless it's UHD Premium compliant despite how cheap they can be had. Yet still people jump on it because of price. I think if you're getting anything that isn't UHD Premium at this point, you risk getting screwed over. There's only a couple of sets out now that meet that standard.
This isn't really sound advice. Sony for instance does meet or exceed the UHD Premium requirements but doesn't bother getting their sets certified instead opting for their own branding. LG and Samsung also fought with pushing down the requirements since OLED was not able to hit the proposed brightness. Like always even with standards there is a lot of conflict of interests and that causes fragmentation.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
If the options menu is anything like the b series, in scene select, you can set Auto (24fps) and it will know to switch to cinema mode when you have 24fps content. With this, it seamlessly jumps from game mode to cinema and back on my PS4 when I start or stop a Blu-ray movie.

See above - they added the auto switching functionality for HDR modes with a firmware update. Honestly the way that TV has two split UIs makes it a weird nightmare to know what settings are where - there's a Sony specific menu (Action Menu) and a wholly separate Android UI (Home) and aspects of both can be reached from either, but not consistently.

It reminds me of the way my car works with Apple Carplay - AND its own UI.
 

Reallink

Member
I find it hard to believe that 4K UHD Blu-ray would only be usable on the 18 sets sold in the world which support HDR and ignore the millions of 4K sets now installed in homes which don't have HDR.

I have a Sony X900A but no UHD BD player or I could test this myself.

LOL believe it. You give the CE industry way to much credit. The first 1080p TVs didn't even have 1080p inputs and obviously couldn't even accept the signal. Those millions of TV's and AVRs they sold without HDCP2.2 are also worthless now as it's required for any new 4k player, box, or dongle.
 
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