Technical Issues and Questions

[Michael Kerpan]

The oldest equipment still in use here are are Klipsch stero speakers (30 or so years old, at least).

[Finch]

Is anyone else planning on buying a second or even third 4k player as backup for when the first one ceases functioning? I feel like in light of 4k being expected to be the last physical media format, I want to be covered and able to play all these discs still when I'm retired. I'm 45 now.

[kuzine]

Ok, I'm having the following issue atm:

Recently bought a new tv (TCL Q5 55") as my previous tv has a black line in the screen. Connected my two players: 1) Oppo BDP93, 2) LG UHD player. Both are connected with hdmi directly to the tv (tv / oppo sound separately go to a regular stereo amp). First I did was of course disable all noise reduction etc. Image on the LG 4K looks fine, but on the Oppo blu-rays look like a digitally processed hot mess. With a regular dvd there doesn't seem to be much if any difference between the two players (but that might be the source material that wasn't particularly grainy, I only tried one).

I tried the following:
- Connecting both players back to my old tv, no issues, both give good image as they used to do. So at least what the Oppo is outputting seems still ok.
- Switched the hdmi input both players connect to on the tv: no change, Oppo still a mess.
- Switched the cables, no change.
- Switched the hdmi output the cable plugs into on the Oppo, no change.
- Double checked all tv picture settings in every instance and they are the same for both inputs (so all bells and whistles disabled). I did check that changing settings affects the image coming from the Oppo.
- Combinations of the above

No clue what to try next. It looks like either the TLC tv either does some processing on the Oppo in a weird way independent of settings and input etc. (most likely?), or the Oppo decides to process its output when connecting to the new tv?

If anyone has any ideas....

[TMDaines]

When ripping discs for playback on my Oculus Quest 2, I routinely replace the disc’s own graphical subtitles (whose size is fixed against the image, and invariably too big for comfortable viewing) with SRT subs whose size and colour I can control.

And I suspect I’ll be doing the same thing here.

Sorry, to bump this several years later and to cut it from another thread to somewhere more on topic, but everybody else seemed to no sell it at the time. Watching films on a VR headset is a thing nowadays, or is this purely an alternative to the tablet when taking flights?

[fdm]

kuzine, was your old tv a 4K set also? Is your oppo running with firmware BDP9x-85-0106B?

[hearthesilence]

Is anyone else planning on buying a second or even third 4k player as backup for when the first one ceases functioning? I feel like in light of 4k being expected to be the last physical media format, I want to be covered and able to play all these discs still when I'm retired. I'm 45 now.

I've had this discussion with people struggling to find CD players, and for whatever reason, they never seem to buy a universal player (not a video game console) even though they're all CD compatible.

I still listen to physical digital music (on CD, SACD, even Blu-ray) as well as films on Blu-ray and UHD, and for various reasons, I always have two or three players just to ensure both compatibility and the best quality playback for any combination of those formats. I haven't kept the same two or three players, I switch out one or two of them periodically, but this is why I'm kind of doing what you're suggesting already. It's not a bad idea honestly - I still use my iPod from 2007 which I upgrade and maintain very well, and I was surprised to hear some music critics talk about scouring secondhand shops for them as they're becoming harder to find. (The DAC on some of them are better than what's used now for phones, and it's also nice plugging in a set of good headphones or ear monitors - I'm not a fan of wireless ear buds.)

[kuzine]

kuzine, was your old tv a 4K set also? Is your oppo running with firmware BDP9x-85-0106B?

Yes, previous one was a Vizio 4K tv. I don't think I ever upgraded the firmware on my oppo, it shows BDP9x-65-0302. It's a (hardware) modded one to switch regions A/B so I wasn't sure if anything could interfere with an upgrade.
I was beginning to think it could be the upscaler in the new tv that's just crappy compared to my previous one? As the oppo does not output a 4K signal, the TV still upscales that to 4K. I'm also seeing a noticeable difference between my current and old tv when I check something on Tubi (which presumable also doesn't output 4K directly?), especially in people's faces (noisy, orange peel). My other LG UHD player does the upscaling to 4K on blurays and dvds and not the tv.

[fdm]

Kuzine, I know the (beta) firmware I mentioned has at least one fix related to things not working right with 4K due to the older hdmi hardware that oppo model came with (it was released when 4K sets first had issues with playback). I don't have a 4K set but I do run this firmware… if you change regions using dimmer-dimmer-dimmer-mute it shouldn't hurt anything to try it (never had any issue with updating oppo firmware with those particular types of region-free kits), plus there were several other firmware updates prior to it to fix or add certain other capabilities. (http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP0903 ... -0106B.zip - it being http rather that https might make your browser intervene, but that's been the link for ages, so let it download.)

Oppo still provides support and may have other ideas if this firmware doesn't work or you want to wait until they offer it to you: https://oppodigital.com/ContactUs.aspx

[ianthemovie]

Is there any way to get rid of PAL speed-up by changing my TV or Blu-ray player settings? (Blu-ray player is a Sony UBP-X800; TV is a Sony Bravia X85J.)

[therewillbeblus]

I've noticed that, on a few 4K Criterion discs (Trainspotting, Lone Star, et al) the first audio track plays voices very softly (DTS-HD) through the LG soundbar. None of the things I tried online worked (i.e. changing my player's Digital Audio Output's "secondary audio from 'off' to 'auto'"), at least not on its own.

However, I then played around with the OLED settings and saw "TV Sound Mode Share" was off, tried turning it on, and viola.. not sure if this is something I should be keeping off most of the time, and not apply to all settings(?) or if this is even me receiving the audio track correctly(?) - but it boosted the voices to an audible level, at least.

Any OLED owners have an opinion on any ill effects of that mode?

[fdm]

Does that mode result in both the tv speakers and the soundbar putting out audio? Your tv and soundbar are both LG?

[kuzine]

Kuzine, I know the (beta) firmware I mentioned has at least one fix related to things not working right with 4K due to the older hdmi hardware that oppo model came with (it was released when 4K sets first had issues with playback). I don't have a 4K set but I do run this firmware… if you change regions using dimmer-dimmer-dimmer-mute it shouldn't hurt anything to try it (never had any issue with updating oppo firmware with those particular types of region-free kits), plus there were several other firmware updates prior to it to fix or add certain other capabilities. (http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP0903 ... -0106B.zip - it being http rather that https might make your browser intervene, but that's been the link for ages, so let it download.)

Oppo still provides support and may have other ideas if this firmware doesn't work or you want to wait until they offer it to you: https://oppodigital.com/ContactUs.aspx

Forgot to respond to this, but thanks for the suggestion. I could indeed update the firmware with no issue, but no discernible difference in the image. At this point my guess is still the issue is due to the upscaler in the TV given that some streamers also look pretty dire compared to my previous TV. But in your opinion it'd still be worth reaching out to Oppo with details of the issue to see if they have a response?

[fdm]

You still might want to reach out to Oppo, they could possibly have a suggestion for a setting change or two in their player that might help. Maybe they have run across this issue with TCL tvs and could offer something there. Doesn't cost anything to ask, except a little time. But it does seem like you are out of options with what you have on hand.

(Maybe some day I'll have a 4K set of some sort to play with… And there still doesn't seem to be anything I can hook up to my mac to play 4K UHDs through it.)

[therewillbeblus]

Does that mode result in both the tv speakers and the soundbar putting out audio? Your tv and soundbar are both LG?

No I think it's still using the E-Arc output only in the soundbar, the only noticeable difference in switching this "on" was vocals elevated to somewhat (but-not-quite-average, perhaps) levels. The TV is an OLED C3, and the soundbar is the LG S90QY

[fdm]

Why I asked is I recall reading something about one of the tv brands doing special things with its own soundbars, but I don't recall which brand. Maybe a little more playing around with settings will get it even better?

A receiver and speakers is what works for me… and even then with all the technologies involved it took me quite some years to figure the ins and outs of the various audio settings to get them to what I ass-ume to be as right as they are going to get, and a lot of that happened after I retired… never really had the time while I was working (and commuting 2+ hours a day) to get everything quite right. And that's just for movies… I'm still not very happy with how music sounds through it in general (records, discs), though for some reason cassettes sound pretty sweet (aside from the hiss). In the last couple years, I've since settled on a very nice headphone setup for digital music (and I haven't even really gone beyond the basic adjustment settings with it, nor seemingly have I had to). But I ramble…

[therewillbeblus]

Why I asked is I recall reading something about one of the tv brands doing special things with its own soundbars, but I don't recall which brand. Maybe a little more playing around with settings will get it even better?

Ugh, I just tried playing The Master's blu with "TV Sound Mode Share" ON and it was horrible, turned it off and it sounds like gold on Dolby Atmos. Does anyone else have LG OLED / LG sound bar combo that has experience with this feature, or having difficulty with vocal audio on DTS-HD soundtracks? The internet is saying various things about downloading apps and stuff, but I'm not finding anything really specific to mine (S90QY - which seems to be pretty well regarded and talked about, otherwise..)

I guess I can just turn it on manually for those discs, but I'm pretty sure the sound is still muffled, it's just better than "awful."

[therewillbeblus]

Can't edit my posts either, so here's an update: LG live chat was unhelpful, but DTS-HD will play okay on "standard" rather than "Cinema" or "AI" modes - the only problem is, they are much better. Standard sounds weird, I don't feel like the sound is as well-handled but at least the focus is on the vocals so I hear what's happening in the movie. I can't imagine this is the fix, though!

[nicolas]

Can't edit my posts either, so here's an update: LG live chat was unhelpful, but DTS-HD will play okay on "standard" rather than "Cinema" or "AI" modes - the only problem is, they are much better. Standard sounds weird, I don't feel like the sound is as well-handled but at least the focus is on the vocals so I hear what's happening in the movie. I can't imagine this is the fix, though!

Very annoying, I wish I could be of better help here but I never had the issue myself. Have you tried resetting your soundbar? This is a good way to start. Then see if the affected audio tracks play fine through your TV speakers. If yes, it’s definitely soundbar-related, otherwise the TV might also do weird things to the audio. That’s the only way I can put it right now. I don’t have issues with these tracks and my Sennheiser. Hopefully you get this fixed. Are discs of other labels okay? (If resetting your SB doesn’t work, I think you don’t get around doing the TV next).

[therewillbeblus]

What's weird is that certain blu-rays (i.e. The Master) also have DTS-HD tracks labeled the same, yet play fine. I have to imagine plenty of discs I've been playing have had that audio track as a primary and I never noticed a thing. So I have no idea why it's happening with just a few UHDs. I'm almost positive all issues have been with Criterion 4Ks, but not consistently.

I've tried fiddling with my Panasonic 820's settings just in case I have audio outputs/inputs wrong. I'm also plugging my soundbar into the TV and not the player, since I figured as both LG products it would be better that way. I'll keep fooling around, but just when I thought we were moving in a more positive direction, this format jump feels unsafe yet again!

[nicolas]

What's weird is that certain blu-rays (i.e. The Master) also have DTS-HD tracks labeled the same, yet play fine. I have to imagine plenty of discs I've been playing have had that audio track as a primary and I never noticed a thing. So I have no idea why it's happening with just a few UHDs. I'm almost positive all issues have been with Criterion 4Ks, but not consistently.

I've tried fiddling with my Panasonic 820's settings just in case I have audio outputs/inputs wrong. I'm also plugging my soundbar into the TV and not the player, since I figured as both LG products it would be better that way. I'll keep fooling around, but just when I thought we were moving in a more positive direction, this format jump feels unsafe yet again!

The soundbar definitely needs to be connected to your TV directly using the eARC port, which should be the HDMI 2 one on your TV just like mine. I’d say trying a reset is the best option for now. I can’t imagine this having anything to do with 4K BDs themselves. For example, if audio tracks glitch during playback, it may be due to extremely high bitrates of the tracks. This can occur with high fidelity tracks, such as audio Blu-ray’s and SACD discs if the HDMI cable is too old. Film audio is usually not affected by this due to compression that bring these bitrates down. The UHD of My Fair Lady has an exceptionally detailed 192 kHz 7.1 track, which caused my soundbar to black out. I had to report this to Semnheiser for investigation as something like this is normally unheard of.

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks everyone - I think it could possibly be my player's audio and HDMI settings, which I've been reading instructions to fix sound issues on online, but they all offer different advice and none that I've tried has worked. I'll keep fiddling. I really appreciate everyone's help and support in trying to help me fix this (a few people are behind the scenes, and not everyone wants to be named, but thank you!) - Maybe I'll reach out to Panasonic next

[denti alligator]

My 2 1/2-year old region free Panasonic UB420 stopped playing region 2 discs. Does the region free hack expire? How do I get it to work again?

[Michael Kerpan]

My Seiko is still working with R2 and Rb discs after quite a few years -- not sure if there was something unique about the Panasonic one (but I've never heard of things expiring).

[denti alligator]

I wonder if I accidentally updated the firmware and overrode the hack?

[Michael Kerpan]

I have kept my Seiko unconnected to the Internet.