The HDTV Thread 2.0

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I'd go for the TCL 6 series then which will set you back $998 for the 65" version. Or you could go with the Vizio P series that'll be in your price range for the 55" model. If you wait though a month or so those will be dropping in price to make room for the 2019 TVs.

I recommend checking out rtings.com they do really good reviews of TVs also check out YouTube channels like Techno Dad or Spare Change.

[Russzilla]

I’m leaning very heavily towards the $1,200 65” Vizio P series, and doing what you suggest and waiting another month to get it with a possible price drop when the 2019 models come out. Combined with a Walmart discount from a family friend. That P series looks great.

[Russzilla]

Probably the wrong thread for this but with my impending purchase of a 4K TV, can the PlayStation 4 play 4K blu ray movie discs?

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Russzilla]

[Russzilla]

Is it worth it getting a few 4K movie titles instead of the blu ray? Some say there isn’t too much difference between the two.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I would recommend it personally. The big difference with 4K discs is that they support HDR which makes a HUGE difference in terms of PQ. IMHO HDR is what makes 4K if you just do 4K then it's not really worth it as the resolution doesn't really make that much of an improvement. It's nice but not as nice as what HDR brings to the table.

[Russzilla]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Seems like a decent player. I too am surprised the PS4 or PS4 Pro don't support 4K UHD discs either yet they support 4K streaming through Netflix and YouTube.

[canofhumdingers]

Ugh, this hurts. Samsung is officially done with physical media. The death of physical media as a mainstream format is getting very close I'm afraid. Makes me so sad. I'm sure (well, I really REALLY hope!) it will live on as a niche product for videophiles in the same way vinyl has found a way to survive. But I fear the days of walking into Walmart or target and picking up a physical copy of thof latest hit while you do your regular shopping are drawing to a close quickly.

Samsung kills Blu-ray players. Blame streaming, smart TVs and Apple - CNET
https://apple.news/Aew-huLfsQNqKTDX3_fALmA

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I don't see physical media dying anytime soon. Samsung has just made a poor decision to stop making players IMHO.

I have a feeling it has more to do with trying to kill off 4K quickly so we're forced to upgrade to 8K sets. At this year's CES all the TV manufacturers where pushing 8K sets and a lot of news sites and stuff where slamming them stating the content isn't there right now. Then again that could be me just wearing my Tin Foil Hat.

That being said I still prefer my movies/tv shows on physical media but I've already made the jump to all digital on the video game and music front of things. I buy all my games except the ones I can't digitally and music I just stream.

[canofhumdingers]

Games and music are far easier to make the switch, imo. Music takes so little storage that it’s not a big deal to go fully digital and the only reason to go for physical media is for quality reasons. Also, (likely because of the storage non-issue) it seems *really* easy to find almost any song I can think of I’d want to hear in digital form. Only obscure stuff like Godzilla soundtracks still sometimes necessitate physical copies.

With games, I still go physical media for consoles but will be going digital for any pc games I play in the future now that I finally got a new gaming laptop. But the nature of video games being digital programs just (for me anyway) makes it feel more natural to go digital. Plus, for pc games I only ever used the physical disc for the initial install anyway.

But movies are totally different. For one, the truly high quality video formats still take up GOBS AND GOBS of storage. I mean, a one terabyte drive would struggle to hold standard 1080p Blu-ray quality copies of just the Godzilla library. And that doesn’t even consider going 4K UHD... Also quality is still an issue. It takes huge bandwidth to stream in good quality (not to mention you NEVER get as good bitrates streaming as you do via disc) and there’s still plenty of issues with buffering, dropouts, and so on even with fast internet speeds. And then there’s the whole issue of accessibility. With streaming your choices are often quite limited, especially if you’re into obscure stuff like Godzilla. Plus content comes and goes at dizzying speed on streaming platforms. Just because the movie you like is available today doesn’t mean it will be there tomorrow. Even if you purchase your own digital copies you’re still forced to watch them when and how the provider allows and you may lose that copy if they go out of business (which still happens alarmingly often. I just got a notice the other day one of the ones I’ve used - moviesanywhere maybe? - is gone).

With movies the only way available today to own the highest quality legal copies that YOU can always control when and where it can be watched are still physical discs. Really the only other option I can think of is pirated or bootleg digital files where YOU, not the provider, actually have the video file itself and can do with as you please.

And so the move to digital video content is premature if you ask me and I’m disappointed to see it going this way. I (like most of us here I assume) am a film nerd and I love rare and obscure movies and I want to have access to them that *I* control. Looks like I need to start getting to work on shoring up my BD collection before it’s too late...

Edit:
Oh, and yes, I do see physical media dying quite quickly, especially with this news. Heck, I can’t tell you how many neighbors and coworkers I have who’ve mentioned they don’t even know where their disc player is if they even have one anymore. It’s only us film/video nerds who care at this point.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Isn't just in UK where they're stopping 4K media? I know I got spooked by the news too when I watched a YouTube video or read an article online recently I can't quite remember but then it mentioned UK and I my fears where eased quite a bit.

I guess 4K UHD discs aren't taking off in the UK like they are in the States. While it's true that movie studios are trying to push for an all digital future I still see us having physical media for at least 10-15 years. Our internet infrastructure isn't as good as other countries across the world. In fact US has one of the lowest broadband adoption rates in the world.

[canofhumdingers]

No, read the article that I posted. It clearly mentions the US market. But it's bigger than that. Samsung is completely discontinuing the development and manufacture of any new standard or 4K Blu-ray players.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Eh I wouldn't worry about one manufacture not making players any more. As 4K becomes more affordable people are going to start looking for 4K players. Besides I'm sure that article isn't accounting for video game systems as Blu-ray player sales either both Sony and MS have built in BD players in their systems with MS even having a 4K player in their systems not counting the original style Xbox One which is now discontinued.

I can't speak for all areas but I know at the store I work at our 4K discs sell really well. When they release "A Star is Born" this past week on BD the 4K version sold out rather quickly.