this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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Home Video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4k)
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Ideally, I have some Japanese import disks (including DVDs), and a 4K TV
Then you have options:
Multi-regional Blu-ray player: LG BP-250 - currently £126 from 220 electronics: https://amzn.eu/d/gkODBX0
It's the one I bought to tide me over until the telly dies (the Xbox plays 4ks for now) - price varies but I stalked it for a bit and got it for £110. All the reviews said go with 220 and they and Multiregion Magic had posted in the Q&As saying their units were kosher. I decided to try a cheaper seller but they were clearly drop-shipping standard versions and hoping no-one would notice, so I went with 220.
Multi-regional 4k Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB159 - currently £239 from Multiregion Magic: https://amzn.eu/d/41HxB9t
Not bought one, yet but that seems the cheapest true 4k player (others offer upscaling).
You are a ⭐. £240 quid is a bit more than I wanted to spend really, but I might just save up and go for it.
I must admit that I went with my current one because they are a lot but that's quite a bit cheaper than other 4k players I saw and I might have gone all in for that at the time. It's worth reading reviews and shopping around - there are quite a few hacked Panasonic and Sony players around that may have more features but that may depend on your telly too.
Ah, one thing that also factored into this - nearly all 4ks are region-free. So I did ponder getting a multi-region 2k player and a standard 4k but at the price of that player it may not be worth it.
However, bear in mind that the current generation of games machines (and the previous generation of Xbox) are 4k players. They don't currently have some of the premium features (so they have HDR but not the fancier HDRs) but the PS5 is introducing some (they are rolling out Dolby Atmos across games and streaming as well as films, for starters). So, that's why I went with my old Xbox as 4k player as my telly wouldn't be able to show the difference (although it still looks good - I think there's some upscaling and/or other technical jiggery-pokery going on behind the scenes). So the 2k player with my cheaper telly and old Xbox are doing nicely for the time-being (as I've moved house not extra hundreds of quid makes my wallet happy) and then I can upgrade to full-spec devices in the future.
My 4K Sony television which is getting on now only has Standard HDR. That suits me fine as my PS5 doesn't support Dolby Vision.
When I used to frequent the 4K/Blu-ray section of Reddit, the amount of shit thrown at the PS5 because of the lack of DV support was quite regular.
They were quite elitest over there.
Yes, there's a lot of snobbery around but not everyone can drop a few grand on top notch kit in one go - a lot of us have been doing this a long time and have been updating our set-up in a piecemeal fashion as we go along (I still have a working VHS, multi-regional DVD player and a spare Ble-ray, plus a working ZX Spectrum - my car even has a tape deck). The beauty of games machines is a lot more people have them than dedicated 4k players, I suspect, and, while they don't (yet) have everything a cinephile would demand, the Dolby Atmos upgrade for the PS5 suggests this is an area they'll push with their final versions of this generation (like the Xbox One X that I have). It'll be interesting to see if they go all in with the fancier HDRs or save some for the next generation. I wouldn't be surprised if Xbox go for it.
I, personally tend to stay one step behind the technology - I was there for VHS Vs Betamax and I am taking my time just to see how things sort themselves out. My plan is to get a PS5 when the PS6 arrives (and everyone flogs off their old kit) and a better telly when this one gives out but it is doing a great job and I am not expecting world changing differences.
Yeah my TV is a few years old it doesn't have all the bells and whistles.
Then you could consider a games console and multi-regional Blu-ray set-up - it's what I use and I'm perfectly happy with it.