So has it actually been confirmed that the underlying format is BDXL? Does this mean that existing BDXL drives will be capable of properly reading a Ultra HD Blu-ray?
Audio won't improve much more than it currently has. We already have access to the lossless (and sometimes uncompressed) audio sources used in the theater. Current Blu-ray discs already come with Dolby Atmos - you just need a newer AVR that can process the flags, otherwise you just hear the "normal" 5.1/7.1 stream.
Probably my favorite part about these new object-based audio mixes (specifically DTSX) is the ability to control object volume instead of channel volume. So if you want to increase the volume of the score and turn down everything else, you can. If you want to turn up the dialog so you can hear it over 'splosions, you can. Of course, it's unlikely that we'll be given too much freedom over that since sound engineers usually take great pride in their mixes.
Being able to turn up the dialog and/or turn down the rest would be a welcome improvement to many movies out there. Too many times I find myself holding the remote and cranking up the audio to hear dialog, cranking down the audio during action, rinse and repeat.
If that works well, it would be worth investing in a new audio setup.
that's because you're not doing reference listening like the technicians meant you to. If you want the cinema experience, you will get cinema volume dynamic range. You're not meant to crank it down when there are explosions.
Anyway current AVRs can already do dynamic compression if you want to listen at low volumes, it has different names depending on the brand.
Room shaking explosions might be fun in the cinema itself (YMMMV); but if you're trying to watch a movie at home while someone else is sleeping, or in an apartment building with poor sound proofing standard linear volume controls are inadequate. Doubly so if one of the people watching is hard of hearing and needs to turn the volume up above normal levels to hear the dialog at all.
For anyone curious how rec 2020 compares with the Adobe RGB standard that's been common on wide gamut monitors over the last few years, Rec 2020 is about as large of an increase over it as aRBG was over sRGB.
So all these early 4k adopters cant even display all the colors no rec 2020 support on current 4k tv's. I'm glad I got a 1080 lg oled instead of 4k. Need 10bit lcd screens with wide color gamut backlight or 10 bit oled that can support wide gamut before its worth buying a 4k tv.
It's great. I hope now, contents should be moved to 500gb usb 3 hard disk with all the additional material and appropriate copy protection for ultra HD.
HEVC is considerably more compute intensive for encoding (decently) than H.264, so yes, encoding into these formats would be bad.
OTOH decoding HEVC is not more compute intensive, so transcoding to a lower resolution from HEVC to H.264 should still be viable. OTOH the savings might not be worth it...
First, there's no screen that can display the Rec 2020 color space (I believe about 90% coverage has been achieved, but only in a lab/prototype). Second, by the time such a screen becomes mainstream, BluRay will have gone the way of the Dodo.
Well, if you can't see the wider gamut, all that's left is the UHD resolution. And that only makes sense if you have an 80"+ screen. A rather limited audience I'd say.
You not only need a large screen, you need to be at a close viewing distance.
Most people with projectors are running well above 80", generally 92"-144". But they're also usually at a viewing distance in the 10-20 foot range. So the benefit of UHD is still questionable.
FYI, based on a poll at Avsforum, 30% of their users use projectors as their primary movie display. So there are quite a few people in that group (myself included). People on AV forums don't represent the typical public though. (People on Anandtech don't either.)
I assume there's 48fps and 60fps support in the spec?
I wonder what the chances are PS4 supporting the discs? I did hear that many drives could get a firmware update to support BDXL but I'm not entirely convinced.
Rec. 2020 supports 4:4:4 encoding. If you've ever noticed that red objects (especially) on your Blu-ray look high pixelated, it's because they are encoded with 4:2:0 or similar, which causes such artifacts.
Back a decade ago if you ever shot DV and then encoded it onto DVD you got 4:1:0 (in NTSC countries). Meaning that red smeared horizontally pretty obviously.
4:2:0 means every alternate pixel site (vertical and horizontal) contains color information, a good compromise given human vision characteristics. 4:4:4 means every pixel contains not only luminance but also color information, important for some studio stuff but not so much for end users.
Blu Ray? Seriously? People are not renting discs anymore, they are cutting the cable and going to HULU, Roku and Netflix. That leaves people too old to comprehend beyond the disc player paradigm, and collector nerds. Not a great business plan. But hey, lets repackage Firefly and BSG as UHD Bluray!
I just got a 4K monitor and researching Blu Ray players for the Windows PC. I found that Blu-Ray Players are about $50 and Blu-Ray Burners about $70-$140! In addition; you have to buy Blu-Ray software to run on top to get Blu-Ray Disc to play! LOL! So basically, if you buy a player and software; you back to about $100-$150! And the burner setup is $120-$170 range. Sort of pricey still for just playing Blu-Ray Disc on the PC!
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
36 Comments
Back to Article
auralcircuitry - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
How does this color definition differ (if at all) from the Dolby Vision spec? If TVs start to incorporate one or the other will it matter?http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-visi...
Brandon Chester - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
Dolby Vision uses Rec. 2020 so it shouldn't matter what it's branded as.dragonsqrrl - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
66GB discs? I'm guessing that's the dual layer version of BDXL?Ryan Smith - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
Correct. 2 layers for 66GB, 3 layers for 100GB.chucky2 - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
So has it actually been confirmed that the underlying format is BDXL? Does this mean that existing BDXL drives will be capable of properly reading a Ultra HD Blu-ray?Ryan Smith - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
So far I have not seen any information to confirm that.Murloc - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
absolutely not a given, maybe a firmware upgrade will do it, or maybe the hardware just can't do UHD and you have to upgrade....herocero - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
I buy discs for movies where I care about SOUND. any changes in the ultra spec I can drool over?phoenix_rizzen - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
Object-based sound systems like Dolby Atmos and digital something or other are included.cmdrdredd - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
I read elsewhere that it includes support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X Lossless formats.nathanddrews - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Audio won't improve much more than it currently has. We already have access to the lossless (and sometimes uncompressed) audio sources used in the theater. Current Blu-ray discs already come with Dolby Atmos - you just need a newer AVR that can process the flags, otherwise you just hear the "normal" 5.1/7.1 stream.Probably my favorite part about these new object-based audio mixes (specifically DTSX) is the ability to control object volume instead of channel volume. So if you want to increase the volume of the score and turn down everything else, you can. If you want to turn up the dialog so you can hear it over 'splosions, you can. Of course, it's unlikely that we'll be given too much freedom over that since sound engineers usually take great pride in their mixes.
phoenix_rizzen - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Being able to turn up the dialog and/or turn down the rest would be a welcome improvement to many movies out there. Too many times I find myself holding the remote and cranking up the audio to hear dialog, cranking down the audio during action, rinse and repeat.If that works well, it would be worth investing in a new audio setup.
Murloc - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
that's because you're not doing reference listening like the technicians meant you to.If you want the cinema experience, you will get cinema volume dynamic range.
You're not meant to crank it down when there are explosions.
Anyway current AVRs can already do dynamic compression if you want to listen at low volumes, it has different names depending on the brand.
DanNeely - Saturday, May 16, 2015 - link
Room shaking explosions might be fun in the cinema itself (YMMMV); but if you're trying to watch a movie at home while someone else is sleeping, or in an apartment building with poor sound proofing standard linear volume controls are inadequate. Doubly so if one of the people watching is hard of hearing and needs to turn the volume up above normal levels to hear the dialog at all.DanNeely - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
For anyone curious how rec 2020 compares with the Adobe RGB standard that's been common on wide gamut monitors over the last few years, Rec 2020 is about as large of an increase over it as aRBG was over sRGB.http://www.pixelution.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/201...
Laststop311 - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
So all these early 4k adopters cant even display all the colors no rec 2020 support on current 4k tv's. I'm glad I got a 1080 lg oled instead of 4k. Need 10bit lcd screens with wide color gamut backlight or 10 bit oled that can support wide gamut before its worth buying a 4k tv.Rishi100 - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
It's great. I hope now, contents should be moved to 500gb usb 3 hard disk with all the additional material and appropriate copy protection for ultra HD.A5 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
My Blu-Rays don't lose data when I drop them, so no thanks.DCide - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
So do they expect a 50GB Ultra HD Blu-ray to take more or less time to encode than a current 50GB Blu-ray?On the surface the answer would seem obvious, but there's so much difference in codecs that the time and processing power required can vary widely.
psychobriggsy - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
HEVC is considerably more compute intensive for encoding (decently) than H.264, so yes, encoding into these formats would be bad.OTOH decoding HEVC is not more compute intensive, so transcoding to a lower resolution from HEVC to H.264 should still be viable. OTOH the savings might not be worth it...
bug77 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
First, there's no screen that can display the Rec 2020 color space (I believe about 90% coverage has been achieved, but only in a lab/prototype).Second, by the time such a screen becomes mainstream, BluRay will have gone the way of the Dodo.
A5 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Pushing masters to be encoded at these specs should mean that the streaming services will move that direction by the time displays are available.And barring Netflix/Amazon suddenly giving a crap about PQ, anyone serious about image/sound will be buying or renting BRs.
bug77 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Well, if you can't see the wider gamut, all that's left is the UHD resolution. And that only makes sense if you have an 80"+ screen. A rather limited audience I'd say.barleyguy - Monday, May 18, 2015 - link
You not only need a large screen, you need to be at a close viewing distance.Most people with projectors are running well above 80", generally 92"-144". But they're also usually at a viewing distance in the 10-20 foot range. So the benefit of UHD is still questionable.
FYI, based on a poll at Avsforum, 30% of their users use projectors as their primary movie display. So there are quite a few people in that group (myself included). People on AV forums don't represent the typical public though. (People on Anandtech don't either.)
OrphanageExplosion - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
I assume there's 48fps and 60fps support in the spec?I wonder what the chances are PS4 supporting the discs? I did hear that many drives could get a firmware update to support BDXL but I'm not entirely convinced.
A5 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
PS4 doesn't have HDMI 2.0 that I know of, so the odds are really low.twizzlebizzle22 - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Yeah I did read at the beginning of this year. Sony and MS releasing a hardware varient with HDMI 2.0 to support Netflix 4K.Not sure how true this rumour is but it could incorporate this standard.
Sivar - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Rec. 2020 supports 4:4:4 encoding.If you've ever noticed that red objects (especially) on your Blu-ray look high pixelated, it's because they are encoded with 4:2:0 or similar, which causes such artifacts.
DorkMan - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
Not so much pixelated, but smeary.Back a decade ago if you ever shot DV and then encoded it onto DVD you got 4:1:0 (in NTSC countries). Meaning that red smeared horizontally pretty obviously.
4:2:0 means every alternate pixel site (vertical and horizontal) contains color information, a good compromise given human vision characteristics. 4:4:4 means every pixel contains not only luminance but also color information, important for some studio stuff but not so much for end users.
phatboye - Thursday, May 14, 2015 - link
you mean to tell me this new format does not even support 8k?Lolimaster - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link
Problem is there is no new optical media format (HVD?), just a BD patch with an additional layer.Aside from less color banding, current 1080p h264/AVC BD's will have better or same overall picture quality than 4k HEVC UHBD's, no improve.
We need 150-200GB optical media to actually get the benefits of 10bit HEVC 4k high quality video.
CalaverasGrande - Monday, May 18, 2015 - link
Blu Ray? Seriously?People are not renting discs anymore, they are cutting the cable and going to HULU, Roku and Netflix. That leaves people too old to comprehend beyond the disc player paradigm, and collector nerds. Not a great business plan. But hey, lets repackage Firefly and BSG as UHD Bluray!
laughingguy - Tuesday, May 19, 2015 - link
I wonder how long it will take from until I put the disc in the player to the start of the movie?Harry_Wild - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
I just got a 4K monitor and researching Blu Ray players for the Windows PC. I found that Blu-Ray Players are about $50 and Blu-Ray Burners about $70-$140! In addition; you have to buy Blu-Ray software to run on top to get Blu-Ray Disc to play! LOL! So basically, if you buy a player and software; you back to about $100-$150! And the burner setup is $120-$170 range. Sort of pricey still for just playing Blu-Ray Disc on the PC!