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nicolas wrote: Fri Dec 12, 2025 2:12 pm

therewillbeblus wrote: Fri Dec 12, 2025 12:51 pmThank you, I just went ahead and did that with a 3-year warranty just in case. Here's hoping!

Good decision! Fingers crossed everything works out and you’re able to enjoy your 4K discs again!

Thanks to you and EddieLarkin (for all your support in general over the years)! The player seems to be a success so far. I even sampled my most problematic disc - Le Mépris - and it played fine during the parts it previously didn't. I'm weary to count my chickens.. but Eyes Wide Shut played all the way through, and that's what counts. Plus it's nice to also be able to hit pause on movies without knowing that'll disrupt the disc

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Dec 14, 2025 8:56 pmThanks to you and EddieLarkin (for all your support in general over the years)! The player seems to be a success so far. I even sampled my most problematic disc - Le Mépris - and it played fine during the parts it previously didn't. I'm weary to count my chickens.. but Eyes Wide Shut played all the way through, and that's what counts. Plus it's nice to also be able to hit pause on movies without knowing that'll disrupt the disc

Fantastic to hear that! Keeping my fingers crossed for further positive impressions. Have you tried the problematic Criterion discs they replaced for you? I’d be particularly interested if the original discs are now playing too. If they do, you probably got a good unit that’ll do its job irrespective of where the discs were manufactured.

I haven't playtested them, but Criterion didn't really replace many for me. I didn't even need to replace The Princess Bride like everyone else because it played fine for me, but it would be pretty funny if that one suddenly had problems

So this isn't exactly a problem, but it's a question about the Panasonic 820... Is it supposed to shut off after a period of time if you pause a movie? In my experience most players do, but my last 820 would stay on indefinitely if you paused a movie - a feature I liked. I'm wondering if my new player has a problem or if my old one had a weird bug that allowed it to stay on..

therewillbeblus wrote: Thu Dec 18, 2025 10:43 pm So this isn't exactly a problem, but it's a question about the Panasonic 820... Is it supposed to shut off after a period of time if you pause a movie? In my experience most players do, but my last 820 would stay on indefinitely if you paused a movie - a feature I liked. I'm wondering if my new player has a problem or if my old one had a weird bug that allowed it to stay on..

Yes, mine (regular model, no mods) goes to standby after five minutes. This is the default setting. I never bothered changing this and appreciate it as it prevents OLED burn-in but if you want to disable it, go to System -> TV settings -> Screen Saver Function and disable it there.

It really seems you had a very weird, bugged unit before your current one.

Thanks nicolas! Exactly the answer I was hoping for

An interesting thing happened with my copy of After Hours and I'm wondering if anyone has encountered something like it (trying to determine if this is a weird disc problem or something up with the player - not specifically with this disc but any experience one might have): When played from the start (whether fast-forwarding or not) it begins skipping for a minute at the 48:00 mark.. however, if you jump to a chapter (whether from the main menu, or starting from the beginning and jumping from there using the remote button) and then fast-forward or play through, it's fine, no problems. I've run a bunch of tests, and there's something specifically about starting it from scratch and not jumping to chapters that results in this glitch. I tried cleaning it too, same situation occurs.

My Sony 4K player sometimes has trouble reading layer changes on 4K discs, especially triple layer discs. I’ve had the exact same thing that you’re describing happen to me a number of times, most recently during play through on His Girl Friday around the 80 minute mark. If I press stop and then restart the disc and go to the closest chapter stop before the freeze, it plays through fine.

It’s almost as if the player is too tired to read the layer change unless it has a short break.

Thanks for the detailed reply!

Would getting a replacement disc potentially help things at all? Not sure whether it's worth connecting with Mulvaney or if the same issue will persist

Aspect wrote: Sat Dec 20, 2025 3:29 am My Sony 4K player sometimes has trouble reading layer changes on 4K discs, especially triple layer discs. I’ve had the exact same thing that you’re describing happen to me a number of times, most recently during play through on His Girl Friday around the 80 minute mark. If I press stop and then restart the disc and go to the closest chapter stop before the freeze, it plays through fine.

It’s almost as if the player is too tired to read the layer change unless it has a short break.

I've seen some people elsewhere online say that it's a problem of the player overheating, and that if you somehow raise it so that air can flow underneath that fixes the problem. It didn't work for me and my Sony, but it might be worth trying.

therewillbeblus wrote: Sat Dec 20, 2025 3:02 am An interesting thing happened with my copy of After Hours and I'm wondering if anyone has encountered something like it (trying to determine if this is a weird disc problem or something up with the player - not specifically with this disc but any experience one might have): When played from the start (whether fast-forwarding or not) it begins skipping for a minute at the 48:00 mark.. however, if you jump to a chapter (whether from the main menu, or starting from the beginning and jumping from there using the remote button) and then fast-forward or play through, it's fine, no problems. I've run a bunch of tests, and there's something specifically about starting it from scratch and not jumping to chapters that results in this glitch. I tried cleaning it too, same situation occurs.

This sounds like a disc issue to me. I imagine there’s a scratch that goes deeper than the surface. If you fast forward with the fastest speed, your player is likely to skip over it and the same thing happens when you select a chapter later in the film. When you fast forward slower, your player should hang up there.

Even when I fast forward at the fastest speed, it stalls there. I’ll still try to get the disc replaced, thanks!

therewillbeblus wrote: Sat Dec 20, 2025 12:54 pm Even when I fast forward at the fastest speed, it stalls there. I’ll still try to get the disc replaced, thanks!

That is also entirely possible. I’ve experienced both variants and in the end the disc was always the culprit. I had this last with my 4K disc of Babylon (Chazelle) which wasn’t even made in Mexico. I was surprised as I didn’t see any imperfections on the surface but when I looked at it with a flashlight, I saw a tiny, tiny scratch that’s less than a centimeter long which must’ve been so deep inside the disc to ruin it.

The Curious Sofa wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 2:12 pm

TMDaines wrote: Wed Nov 12, 2025 10:19 pm

The Curious Sofa wrote: Mon Oct 13, 2025 6:10 amI've been using a BenQ W1080ST for the last 7 years and am looking at the BenQ W2720i or the BenQ TK705STi for an upgrade. The first one has slightly better PQ for watching films but the second one is more flexible about positioning. The TK705STi also has only just come out and I'm waiting for reviews.

Similar boat. I had a W1110 since 2016 and am looking to get a
W2710, W2720, W4000 or W4100 depending on what seems best value in an upcoming clearance sale. We moved this year and haven’t had the opportunity to get the “home theatre”
lounge sorted yet.

I ended up buying a Hisense C2 Pro in the Black Friday sales as it's a short throw projector that fits my room and got great reviews. I haven't had the time to try it out yet as I'm in the middle of moving.

I finally managed to try out my projector and was put off by red and blue edges around any bright sections, like for instance subtitles. It's not RBE, which I'm not that sensitive too, even if I occasionally catch it.
I thought it was a flaw with the projector but turns out, if you are shortsighted and wear glasses, this can happen. When I take off my glasses it's gone. So I'll try contact lenses or will have to get used to it. This is not something they tell you about, it took the projector sub on Reddit to find this information. Otherwise I tried out a few of my new 4K Blu-rays and the image looks spectacular. After a while of watching, the edges become less noticeable.

So I have thousands of DVDs, Blus, and now 4k (with 3D, other regions, etc) and I take very good care of them- they're always kept in the case, no smudges, scratches, stored against a brick wall in my 3rd floor apartment in Philadelphia. The apartment is always cool in the summer/warm in the winter.

However, I am now terrified to play my blu rays as so many no longer seem to work. Right now I just played A Man Escaped - and the extras work fine - but the film does not play. Neither of my 70s Malick films play at all. The Gold Rush doesn't play the silent version and The Vanishing stops playing near the end.

Yet when I played Grand Illusion (Criterion DVD) it was not a problem at all!

I mention a brick wall - because I was concerned about disc rot - which terrifies me because I own so many movies! However, none of my discs have any physical damage of any kind that I can see. The temperature change in my apartment is only seasonal - so that can't be the issue.

Right now I have at least 10 Criterion Blus that are not playing or skip. But I own HUNDREDS.

Obviously I don’t want to send any back that work-so I’ll be testing them-but how has anyone else had this problem?

There is one 4k that isn’t working-but going by what others have said here in forum, it’s an issue you guys already know about: Winchester 73.

This whole situation makes very anxious, and depressed because I love movies. I have 3 player, Panasonic UP820, and Sony XM800 both new, the later being all region from 220 Electronics. I even tested the troubled blus on my old LG all region/PS4…

I would suggest just watching your collection like normal and tackling bad discs as you encounter them. If you try to test your whole collection at once, you'll go mad

On the other hand, madness is the rare trait that won't get you banned around here.

The issue with taking the time to simply go through this along the way is that when you took too long to find out a disc has rotten, the label might not want to replace it anymore. We had several cases like this in France. Right holders might have changed, the older ones don't want / can't replace it anymore, there hasn't been a new release, but the older discs are still sold second-hand, and sometimes even first-hand (though heavily discounted).

In Criterion's case though, it's easier because Criterion keep these rights "forever" for most of their titles. But for other labels, YMMV.

Yes, this worries me, too. My only consolation (I hate to say it) is that I can get rips of every disc I own on the back channels (if I were less lazy, I could do it myself). As an archive of OOP and otherwise unavailable films (even if only because the disk is damaged and no replacement is forthcoming), these places are indispensable. With digital media, I see no other solution. You can't expect a company to offer replacements of releases that may be years if not decades old.

The worst, though, is when this happens midway through a film.

Considering getting a 4K TV for another room in the house. I'm a bit tired of having to wait for complete darkness to watch films in the summer, which is how it has to be with an LCD projector. So, the Bravia 8 has been highly recommended. There seems to be a $1k difference in price between the '24 and '25 models. What would I be gaining by going with the newer one and is it really worth $1k?

Hi Denti,
Based on your displeasure with needing a low light environment to watch TV, it appears that the 2025 version would better meet your wishes. The 2025 (model 8 II) has upgraded QD-OLED tech, which is reported to be up to 50% brighter than the standard WOLED in the 2024 (model 8), so more suitable for viewing in bright rooms as well as darker HDR content, with higher color vibrancy and contrast. As a bonus, it features an upgraded XR processor that uses "AI-based scene recognition" for image enhancement, but hopefully that can be turned off, if Skynet permits. Also, if size matters, it appears the 2025 are 55-65", whereas 2024 also sells in 77" diameter.

Just doing some quick comparison shopping, I found ~$700 difference in price, and that's without looking for special deals (for example, Best Buy open box and floor models can be 30-50% off the sale price, from personal experience ... the 65" 8 II is $3300 MSRP, "excellent condition" open box is $2300). Expecting you will use this TV for many years, the newer technology model should be more accommodating to whatever comes next. I'm interested in 4K, especially with some favorite boutique labels releasing media exclusively in that format (Arrow Salem's Lot), but it's difficult to justify when my 15-year-old Pioneer Kuros are still looking wonderful to my ageing eyes... I'm not sure I would be able to discern 4K from HD. Once I figured out how to play 4K discs using our Xbox One S, I can still enjoy the content with "only" 2K resolution.

Not sure if we can post links to video, but see if this helps:
YouTube comparison

Thanks Godot. It was worth waiting for your response. Ha!

OK, I got the Bravia 8 (not the 8ii). I was counting on my son's PS5 supporting Dolby Vision. It does not. I have a couple region free Blu-ray players, but now I need a UHD player that handles Dolby Vision. I'd prefer something simple and cheap. I don't need bells and whistles. I don't need Atmos. I don't need 3D. I don't need region free. Just UHD HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Recommendations?

I've been making my way through the Eureka Louis Feuillade set, which I've been thoroughly enjoying
(the restoration of Judex is amazing).

However, it seems as if the sound on all the discs is peaking no matter what level the player or the
speaker system is set at. I've tried various ways of manipulating levels but it doesn't seem to make
any difference. Does anyone who has this set have the same issue?

Question about Dolby Vision / HDR: I seem to be unable to get DV with my Panasonic 450. It just won't make the handshake with the TV. I don't know how to update firmware without a LAN connection, which I can't easily do, anyway (my router is nowhere near a monitor to make this possible), plus I really really don't like the brightness of the subtitles. So the next step up is the 820, which has DV and subtitle luminosity settings, but that model has a very very bad reputation (around here and elsewhere) for simply not being able to read discs. Now I don't know what to do. I really don't want to have to spend 4 digits on a player. What other options are out there?