AVS Forum banner
Cancel
  • Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

UHD VS Standard Blu-ray(4K upscaled)

8643 Views 27 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  tenthplanet, 
PicoDK
Hi all,

I've made a video comparing the two formats, whereas the standard Blu-ray is being upscaled to 4K.

Let me know what you think :)

The first video comparison is LOGAN:

Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
Panson
PicoDK said:
Hi all,

I've made a video comparing the two formats, whereas the standard Blu-ray is being upscaled to 4K.

Let me know what you think :)

The first video comparison is LOGAN:

Click to expand...
Your 4K UHD Blu-ray sample seems to lack. Maybe try Panasonic UB820? Good luck.

Related:

www.trustedreviews.com

Panasonic DP-UB450 4K Blu-ray player review | Trusted Reviews

The Panasonic DP-UB450 is the most flexible 4K Blu-ray player under £200. Though a few other key features have had to be sacrificed along the way
www.trustedreviews.com www.trustedreviews.com
Reply
Save
Like
PicoDK
Panson said:
Your 4K UHD Blu-ray sample seems to lack. Maybe try Panasonic UB820? Good luck.

Related:

www.trustedreviews.com

Panasonic DP-UB450 4K Blu-ray player review | Trusted Reviews

The Panasonic DP-UB450 is the most flexible 4K Blu-ray player under £200. Though a few other key features have had to be sacrificed along the way
www.trustedreviews.com www.trustedreviews.com
Click to expand...
Hi,

Thank's for watching.

The UB820 is of course the better machine and I might upgrade in the future, if the prices go down. But I still think the UB450 does an excellent job upscaling standard blu-rays to 4K.
I will be testing Black Panther next.

I have been testing out HDR10 and 10+ content on my Apple TV 4K, and it works fine.
My UHD51 projector is not Dolby Vision ready, so I can't test UHD blu-rays or other content with that format.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Cal1981
Your UB450 should be fine. It won't quite match the UB820B or the "built like a tank" UB9000. Although it lacks Dolby Vision and the HDR optimizer, on HDR10 material it should get the job done. It can be difficult to judge these comparisons on YouTube, even at 2160 SDR resolution but, to my aging eyes, the UHD version is the winner. I'm seeing more definition and detail in the UHD scenes and, in a number of cases, more accurate colors. That's not to say that the UB450 did a very good up-scaling job, however.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
PicoDK
Cal1981 said:
Your UB450 should be fine. It won't quite match the UB820B or the "built like a tank" UB9000. Although it lacks Dolby Vision and the HDR optimizer, on HDR10 material it should get the job done. It can be difficult to judge these comparisons on YouTube, even at 2160 SDR resolution but, to my aging eyes, the UHD version is the winner. I'm seeing more definition and detail in the UHD scenes and, in a number of cases, more accurate colors. That's not to say that the UB450 did a very good up-scaling job, however.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply, and your time to watch my comparison.
The UB450 is Dolby Vision ready, but my projector isn't. There are some factors, which could make it difficult to compare, since I am recording with my IPhone XR. But I totally agree with you, the colours on the UHD version does look better in some pictures. Otherwise it's very close. It was even hard to tell the difference, in person.

I also think the UHD version is the winner here, but not by much tbh.

I hope you stick around and watch the next comparison :)!

And again, thank you very much for your input. Much appreciated!
Reply
Save
Like
Z
For your next comparison I'd recommend doing full screen shots of each. Do some repeated A/B comparisons. In this video you've reduced each image to about 25% of the frame, effectively making each image no more than 1080p. Makes it impossible to see any resolution differences.
Reply
Save
Like
M
What is the point of this comparison? I'm sorry but it's completely flawed from the outset. You're comparing a 4K image to an upscaled 1080p one, yet you're presenting the comparison at a fraction of the original image resolution, with no HDR, and on a platform that uses aggressive compression (YouTube)... and to top it off you're even recording on an iPhone?! I just don't get it.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
W
Or, to answer the question - is the 4k disc worth it? Many movies are faux-k since they're 2k DI and upscaled to 4k (granted, the upscaling isn't as much as a 1080p version of the same movie would be - the 2k DI uses the full 1080 lines for picture information, while the 1080p cut is letter boxed and thus usually has around 900 lines of picture information).

There's little doubt that a movie shot in 4k processed on 4k DI will probably look better on UHD than at 1080p up scaled, but what about a movie done at 2k DI? Is the result that the more expensive UHD disc will be better, or will the upscaled 1080p version look reasonably good? There is a price difference and depending it might not be worth the extra $5 for the UHD disc.
Reply
Save
Like
M
Worf said:
There is a price difference and depending it might not be worth the extra $5 for the UHD disc.
Click to expand...
$5 would keep you from getting the UHD? Many UHD releases are remasters/restorations, meaning they are better transfers (and have HDR). Even if you ignore the resolution difference it would be an improvement over the 1080p Blu-ray. I get that there are exceptions, but generally speaking, just get the UHD if the price difference is a mere $5.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 2
S
Worf said:
Or, to answer the question - is the 4k disc worth it? Many movies are faux-k since they're 2k DI and upscaled to 4k (granted, the upscaling isn't as much as a 1080p version of the same movie would be - the 2k DI uses the full 1080 lines for picture information, while the 1080p cut is letter boxed and thus usually has around 900 lines of picture information).

There's little doubt that a movie shot in 4k processed on 4k DI will probably look better on UHD than at 1080p up scaled, but what about a movie done at 2k DI? Is the result that the more expensive UHD disc will be better, or will the upscaled 1080p version look reasonably good? There is a price difference and depending it might not be worth the extra $5 for the UHD disc.
Click to expand...
I am still to find out a disk where I can see a visible difference between 4K UHD and upscaled blu-ray in my home theater. I'd expect the increased resolution to be visible from example in facial features/skin pores etc. - but I don't see anything. Unlike the difference between blu-ray and regular dvd which is massive and obvious.
Reply
Save
Like
Panson
st_o_p said:
I am still to find out a disk where I can see a visible difference between 4K UHD and upscaled blu-ray in my home theater. I'd expect the increased resolution to be visible from example in facial features/skin pores etc. - but I don't see anything. Unlike the difference between blu-ray and regular dvd which is massive and obvious.
Click to expand...
Resolution is only one factor. I don't like to sit too close, so I have more appreciation for image depth and brightness, which 4K UHD Blu-ray's additional information and HDR afford.

Can't make you see something, but I do respectfully suggest you have your HDMI cable and system settings checked.

Cheers.
Reply
Save
Like
W
Can also be the movies he watches. Hard edged animation will look better at 4k, a typical rom-com probably less so. A blockbuster with a director who likes fancy toys (like Michael Bay) will be more noticeable than a director who plays with more traditional techniques

The best way is to try some of the well reviewed reference discs in the review forum.
Reply
Save
Like
alokeprasad
st_o_p said:
I am still to find out a disk where I can see a visible difference between 4K UHD and upscaled blu-ray in my home theater. I'd expect the increased resolution to be visible from example in facial features/skin pores etc. - but I don't see anything. Unlike the difference between blu-ray and regular dvd which is massive and obvious.
Click to expand...
The presence of HDR on UHD-BD makes it hard to compare w HD-BD discs.

For me, content is king. I'll watch good movies in the best format available. That becomes UHD-BD, if available. Or DVD if that's the only choice, over marginal movies in highest quality.

I haven't come across any movie for which UHD-BD is worse than HD-BD
Reply
Save
Like
InTheNickOfTime
martinlk said:
Many UHD releases are remasters/restorations, meaning they are better transfers (and have HDR).
Click to expand...
I personally have that same philosophy. Although blu-rays still look fantastic with my tv set up, given the choice I usually go with the UHD version. Or upgrade when it's available.

Lately I have been buying a lot of blu-rays second hand for really good prices, but if I go to let's say Target or Best Buy to grab a new movie, I go for the UHD version. And more often than not, the UHD version has a blu-ray disc with the movie as well.

Not to mention if you WANTED to, you could sell the disc version you don't want to recoup some of your money spent on that movie.
Reply
Save
Like
Josh Z
alokeprasad said:
I haven't come across any movie for which UHD-BD is worse than HD-BD
Click to expand...
Oblivion
The Fifth Element
Starship Troopers

IMO, of course.
Reply
Save
Like
W
The Blu-Ray included with a UHD disc is hit or miss. Usually the disc is exactly identical to the earlier Blu-Ray release, but more than a few movies have featured remastered Blu-rays as well so both discs benefit from the remastering process.
Reply
Save
Like
InTheNickOfTime
Sorry for the dumb question you guys, but do you think after a film is remastered for UHD it can look grainy because of the way it was originally shot? Or because of the way it was remastered?

@Worf I'll have to pay more attention to that. Usually the blu-ray that comes with the movies I get go untouched because I just watch the UHD version. So I never really pay it attention.
Reply
Save
Like
Josh Z
InTheNickOfTime said:
Sorry for the dumb question you guys, but do you think after a film is remastered for UHD it can look grainy because of the way it was originally shot? Or because of the way it was remastered?
Click to expand...
100% yes. I find that many movies shot on 35mm don't actually have relevant picture detail beyond 2K. With a 4K scan and transfer, what you wind up mostly doing is better resolving the film grain, as though you can see down to the molecular level on the emulsion.

In many cases, this is not how the filmmakers intended their movies to look. Even though that grain may be present on the OCN, actual theatrical prints would have been several generations removed from the negative, and thus not as sharp. The filmmakers were fully aware of this at the time and planned accordingly.

Watching the UHD of Spaceballs recently, for example, I couldn't help feeling that there was no way Mel Brooks or anyone else who made the movie ever wanted it to look so grainy. The standard Blu-ray disc included with the UHD is downsampled from the same 4K master and I feel actually does a better job of managing the grain without losing noticeable picture detail. (It doesn't help that the HDR grading on that particular movie is also very tepid and hardly extends beyond the SDR range anyway.)

Of course, this is not the case for every movie. But it is the case for a lot of them, unfortunately.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
S
Josh Z said:
Oblivion
The Fifth Element
Starship Troopers

IMO, of course.
Click to expand...
The Fifth Element is one of the disks I specifically used to do A-B comparison between the UHD and the blu-ray (and that is a blu-ray that I've had for years not the one that came with the UHD). There is exactly zero visible difference. I switched between scenes and popped out one disk and put in the other multiple times - and I couldn't see any visible improvement on the UHD. On a projector - the HDR is not brighter than SDR either. The only difference is that the SDR blu-ray looked naturally great whereas I had to tinker with the HDR to make it look as good and not dim (and that on a calibrated projector).

I didn't re-buy Oblivion and Starship Troopers on UHD. I have them but don't consider them great enought to re-purchase.

I also tried Lord of the Rings - and the detail on those UHD is nothing better.

I am still looking for a disk where the improvement in the UHD disk is clearly visible over playing the blu-ray. Sure - I am selective and won't buy a title just for that (content beats presentation every time). But none of the ones I tried worked.

And - there is nothing wrong with my HDMI cables or any of the equipment. The HDMI cables are 48Gb-rated and transmitting only 18Gb most of the time. Oppo 203 player feeding directly JVC NX5 projector - or alternatively Samsung QN90A TV - not passing through receiver (receiver being fed for sound from the 2nd HDMI port on the player).
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Josh Z
st_o_p said:
The Fifth Element is one of the disks I specifically used to do A-B comparison between the UHD and the blu-ray (and that is a blu-ray that I've had for years not the one that came with the UHD). There is exactly zero visible difference. I switched between scenes and popped out one disk and put in the other multiple times - and I couldn't see any visible improvement on the UHD. On a projector - the HDR is not brighter than SDR either. The only difference is that the SDR blu-ray looked naturally great whereas I had to tinker with the HDR to make it look as good and not dim (and that on a calibrated projector).
Click to expand...
Oh, on my screen, The Fifth Element UHD looks very aggressively sharpened and contrast boosted. It has a very harsh and overprocessed appearance, without any appreciable difference in picture detail. The "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray from a few years earlier looks more natural and easier on the eyes to me.

I didn't re-buy Oblivion and Starship Troopers on UHD. I have them but don't consider them great enought to re-purchase.
Click to expand...
Oblivion is a notorious case where the UHD has been filtered and has less visible detail than the Blu-ray.

Starship Troopers is contrast boosted to hell and back. I can't find a tone-map setting on my projector where that movie doesn't look completely blown out. Again, the Blu-ray looks more natural. (However, the Blu-ray does have a weird issue with edge enhancement during the last half hour, which was cleaned up on the UHD.)

I am still looking for a disk where the improvement in the UHD disk is clearly visible over playing the blu-ray. Sure - I am selective and won't buy a title just for that (content beats presentation every time). But none of the ones I tried worked.
Click to expand...
Try Universal's recent release of The Thing. Big improvement over any of the existing Blu-rays, IMO.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 2
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
AVS Forum
A forum community dedicated to home theater owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, TVs, projectors, screens, receivers, speakers, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Receivers, Amps, and Processors LCD Flat Panel Displays Speakers HDTV Programming Home Theater Computers
Top