Except tv is rarely watched on a bluray player
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Except tv is rarely watched on a bluray player
You must've missed Blue Planet II, then Martin: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42225220
It's utterly stunning! :)
As for Blu-ray players, yes you should get one, as there are some great films about, even in standard HD, many at bargain prices now in the sales. I even picked up some 4K ones in HMV for £20, such as Alien Resurrection, and the quality is superb - either will make standard DVDs look like VERY poor relations!
I use this Sony player, which comes in at well under your budget: https://centresdirect.co.uk/p-21759-...SABEgKkGPD_BwE
Yes it's plastic (although well screwed together and solid enough), but unless you're planning on having it out on show, then that's not an issue. Even then, it's not exactly an ugly duckling. Mine sits next to my Sky box, which is also plastic, inside a wooden cabinet, and just blends into the room. It's just another box, at the end of the day, designed to perform a specific task.
And that task is performed to a very high standard, producing superb picture and sound quality, used in conjunction with my Sony multi-channel amp and 4K TV. It also sounds pretty decent as a CD player. Highly recommended, as a 'dip your toe in the water' option that will open up the world of 4K Blu-rays for you, from which you can decide if it's necessary to spend any more or not :cool:
Marco.
Some good points Dennis, you cantankerous old fart. :)
I dont watch broadcast telly anymore, purely because theres no need and switching channels between cooking shows, reality tv and other crap isn’t worth my time.
With the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and the like you pick and choose what your content is - great.
A TV licence is expensive and (frankly) a rip-off given what you get...some would even argue its a scam.
A Netflix/Amazon subscription is cheaper than a TV licence and gives value for money.
The BBC makes its own content...fine, but so does Netflix (Black Mirror, Mindhunter, American Horror Story, Breaking Bad, New Star Trek..a ton of other TV boxsets from around the world (not to mention literally thousands of ever changing movies) I know which is far better.
Get your telly viewing connected to the internet and you’ll never look back. Seriously.
So much fantastic free stuff out there on Youtube, complete movies, documentries you name it. Lots of 4K content too..for free.
Starting point in an Amazon Fire stick if your telly doesnt have smart apps built in.
Does 4K make less than perfect source material actually worse and less enjoyable to watch?
Not at all...Why would it?
I hear you on improved resolution making the ‘warts n all’ of older/ less polished productions more obvious, but if someone watches something and only sees that and not the story, setting, characters etc then Each to their own, but doesnt that, like, take the joy out of the experience?
In music terms is that a bit like watching a live gig and not enjoying it because it doesn’t sound hifi enough?
Missing the point imo.
For myself, I have a Nvidia Shield android TV box passing Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube etc into my Oppo and onto the big screen, upscsaled to 4K with audio fed to my Dac.
Everything is upscaled to 4K and the experience is tremendous, even on old stuff.
Watched a few old episodes of Space 1999 and sure, you can see the flaws in the sets n stuff...the modelwork is hillarious in 4k on a big screen but its an absolute treat.
Know what it reminded me of?
Watching a theatre play, could see the sets weren’t great and costumes were iffy, but that increased feeling of grit and realism actually added to the experience.
I enjoyed it more.
But hey, Im one of those who can listen to my favourite band in the car and not enjoy the music any less. :)
Good player that Sony :thumbsup:
It's very high in the 'SPPV' (and Picture-per-Value) stakes, Gaz, and ideal for folks just getting into 4K Blu-ray :)
Marco.
Gaz, I am in the process of working out the best reforming my TV equipment, I made a mistake a couple of years ago buying a mid market Panasonic Freeview set and a keyboard and mouse which do not really work at all well with the internet facility.
After refurbishing my lounge and reinstating the Hi-Fi with new improved stuff, I will re-address this and formulate a new and effective TV/internet/streaming system, but the numerousness and maze of possibilities is confusing to me, and I need to thoroughly research the whole thing and get it right this time.
Dennis,
yeah...no point throwing good money after bad, best to get it right.
Decide what you want, dont want and buy the best gear in that field you can afford.
Keywords:
Netflix, 4K, Kodi, Roon, Oppo. :)
Do you want to go surround sound for instance, or just 2 channel...kinda thing.
But the range of possibilities is enormous Gaz, and so often I see posts on forums saying that they have to buy yet another 'interfacing' bit of kit to make things work.
This is funny from members of another forum where they all espouse the use of active speakers to eliminate all the 'old legacy' Hi-Fi complications, dusty rack full of gear, and then they have numerous little bits of cheap digital signal gear to make things work.
I'm looking at Panasonic Sat TV, Mac mini, with remote keyboard - I don't want a HDMI lead across the lounge to the system which I have to plug and unplug every time I want to use it, and I have an Arcam irDAC