The State of Blu-ray Players: A Lament

Kind: captionsLanguage: enOn today's episode of You Asked, it's time to check the pulse on Blu-ray again. How's Blu-ray doing? Not dead yet, but how much longer have they got? And what does that have to do with the sad state of affairs with Blu-ray players?

How to connect a turntable or any other analog audio device to the Bravia Theater Quad.

Do Samsung's best soundbars support Dolby Vision? And why are there no AV receiver reviews around here?

Welcome back, everyone. I'm Caleb Denison, and this is You Asked, the show where I answer questions you've asked in hopes that I can help you and others with similar tech questions. If you've got a question for me, please email it to youd@digitaltrends.com, and we'll see if your question gets picked to be answered on the show.

We start with a question from John Sirua, who apparently has been sending this question in on and off for about a year here without any attention from me whatsoever. Well, John, you're not the only one, but your clever comment in a recent YouTube video got my attention, so now you're getting the primo treatment.

Oh, speaking of primo treatment, we're about to roll out some membership stuff that I think y'all are going to be into, so stay tuned for news on that. Anyway, back to poor John's question.

I'm just playing with you, John. So John updated his AV setup in 2022, and when he did, he was dismayed to learn that so many major electronics brands had ditched Blu-ray players. It was between super-premium stuff from Oppo (rest in peace), Magnetar, or Panasonic and Sony—no real budget-friendly players left. And what's more, he was further dismayed to learn that so-called current Blu-ray players, even the Panasonic UB 820K that he bought, were really several years old and running software that feels like it came from the '90s, making the players feel even older, even though they fetch very modern, premium prices.

So the question ends up being about whether we can expect better in the near future or whether I might be able to convince any brands to do better with Blu-ray players. Well, John, the short answer to your question is that I don't think we can expect much better, and I don't think we're going to be able to blame Sony and Panasonic—at least not directly or exclusively.

Um, well, let's start by recognizing that 4K Blu-rays do offer the best possible picture and audio quality. That is not debatable. I'd even go so far as to say that plenty of people could tell the difference between a 4K Blu-ray and the same content coming from a streaming service if they saw it side by side. Man, I still want to make that video.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enOn today's episode of You Asked, it's time to check the pulse on Blu-ray again. How's  it doing? Not dead yet, but how much longer have they got? And what does that have to do  with the sad state of affairs with Blu-ray players? How to connect a turntable or any  other analog audio device to the Bravia Theater Quad. Do Samsung's best soundbars  support Dolby Vision? And why are there no AV receiver reviews around here?Welcome back, everyone. I'm Caleb Denison, and this is You Asked,  the show where I answer questions you've asked in hopes that I can help you and others with similar  tech questions. If you've got a question for me, please email it to youd@digitaltrends.com,  and we'll see if your question gets picked to be answered on the show.We start with a question from John Sirua, who apparently has been sending this question in on  and off for about a year here without any attention from me whatsoever. Well, John,  you're not the only one, but your clever comment in a recent YouTube video got my attention,  so now you're getting the primo treatment. Oh, speaking of primo treatment, we're about to roll  out some membership stuff that I think y'all are going to be into, so stay tuned for news on that.Anyway, back to poor John's question. I'm just playing with you, John. So,  John updated his AV setup in 2022, and when he did, he was dismayed to learn that so many major  electronics brands had ditched Blu-ray players. It was between super-premium stuff from Oppo (rest in  peace), Magnetar, or Panasonic and Sony—no real budget-friendly players left. And what's more,  he was further dismayed to learn that so-called current Blu-ray players, even the Panasonic UB  820K that he bought, were really several years old and running software that feels like it came from  the '90s, making the players feel even older, even though they fetch very modern, premium prices.So, the question ends up being about whether we can expect better in the near future or whether I  might be able to convince any brands to do better with Blu-ray players. Well, John, the short answer  to your question is that I don't think we can expect much better, and I don't think we're  going to be able to blame Sony and Panasonic—at least not directly or exclusively. Oh my gosh,  where do we start here? Um, well, let's start by recognizing that 4K Blu-rays do offer the  best possible picture and audio quality. That is not debatable. I'd even go so far as to say  that plenty of people could tell the difference between a 4K Blu-ray and the same content coming  from a streaming service if they saw it side by side. Man, I still want to make that video.But—and it's a big \"but\" here—the issue isn't about whether 4K Blu-ray is visibly superior.  The problem is that not very many people care enough to keep the Blu-ray player market  invigorated. We live in a \"good enough\" society. Hell, you could even call streaming a \"great  enough\" situation. High-quality streaming looks pretty great to most folks, with 4K resolution,  HDR, and improving bit rates and bit depth. But setting aside the quality for a moment,  streaming is way more convenient. And I don't think I need to lecture anyone here about how  convenience always beats quality among the populace, at least in North America.If we look at disc sales, they are still in an active decline—especially DVD. Yeah,  I said DVD. You'd be shocked to know how long DVD has clung to life. And if disc sales are  declining, so too are disc player sales. You see where this is going, right? Not many disc  players are being sold, and so there's no real reason to release new models every year—or even  every five years. As long as it can handle the video and audio codecs on the discs, it's good,  right? I mean, the software part, the part you interact with, is being run by a chip  that is so not powerful. Gosh, I'm trying to think of a modern-day equivalent. Um,  let me put it this way: there are now smart microwaves with more powerful chips in them.Those chips can't run a very modernized UI, even if someone wanted to make one. Manufacturers  would need to turn to a more powerful chipset that would have to work with the player. Now,  this doesn't sound super complicated to me, but the manufacturers that make players,  they'd have to care enough. And then they'd have to place an order big enough for these  new parts so they didn't cost an arm and a leg. And then they are on the hook for selling a bunch  of premium players that will probably collect dust because of declining player sales. That's  all a very pragmatic and kind of kind way of saying that we just don't matter enough,  those of us who dig Blu-ray discs. Money talks, sure, but there aren't enough of us waiting to  open our pocketbooks for a fancy new disc player—not enough to move markets anyway.I mean, it's tough being an enthusiast. I feel that every single day. Prine from India writes  in that he'd like to connect his turntable to his Sony Bravia Theater Quad, noting the challenge is  that the Theater Quad only accepts HDMI. Hey, Prine, so you're going to need at least one  box to do this, but for anyone else thinking of doing the same, you may need two boxes. Prine has  the Audio Technica LP60X, which happens to have a built-in phono preamp, but if your turntable  doesn't have a built-in phono preamp, you're going to need to get one. Then you're going to  need an analog-to-digital converter box that takes analog audio, digitizes it, and spits it out via  HDMI. Now, I'm including a link to just such a device down in the description, and here it is.  This thing is only $9 US, which sounds great, but my concern is that it won't actually sound great.In the interest of time, I need to move on here, but I did want to show you that you need to get  an analog-to-digital converter. It takes an analog audio or video signal and converts it to digital  for HDMI output. Don't get it backward—there are a lot of boxes that do the reverse. They break  HDMI down into analog video and analog audio. I would spend a few bucks on a decent ADC, guys,  not DAC—ADC—because that conversion has everything to do with the quality that you're going to get.  Oh, and also, since the Theater Quad only has one HDMI input, I would suggest you run the  turntable signal out of that box via HDMI into one of your TV's inputs and then let the TV's  ARC or eARC connection spit the audio out to the Quad. That, or you will need another box in the  form of an HDMI switcher so you can switch between TV sound and your turntable sound.By the way, this is exactly the kind of audio jerry-rigging I used to do when I was younger,  which is why I was powerless against your email. I had to answer it.Next one. Zorer wants to know if the Samsung Q990D's HDMI port supports Dolby Vision on  non-Samsung TVs. Well, support? No. Technically speaking, pass it along though? Yes, they do. See,  passing along a signal in a soundbar doesn’t require much in the way of special hardware. It  can be as simple as taking in a signal, tapping it for its own use, and then passing that same signal  along. What Samsung won't support is processing that Dolby Vision signal once it has arrived at  its destination. In this case, Dolby Vision—that’s a TV. And Samsung TVs don't support Dolby Vision  processing, so the Q990 will pass along a signal with Dolby Vision in it, but that's all it does.  It just passes it right along to the next thing to deal with. So, you should be good  if you want to use an Apple TV, pass it through your soundbar, up to a TV with Dolby Vision.Martin writes, \"Hi, enjoy your videos, but why no reviews on AV receivers? After all,  they make a huge difference to the overall viewing experience.\" Indeed,  they do, Martin. Indeed, they do. So, why no AV receiver reviews? Well, I used to do them,  but I started leaning into TVs at some point, and to a smaller degree, soundbars and super popular  headphones because—well, because those products tend to get the most views. And at least part  of my job is to pull in revenue from YouTube. Popular videos make more YouTube revenue. Also,  there are just a ton of TVs, and the demand for me to review those TVs is super high.Still, I love AV receivers and want to do more of them. I just need to figure out which ones to  pull in. I mean, there are as many receivers as there are TVs, I think. But if I could only do,  let's say, six receivers a year, which ones should they be? Y'all let me know down in  the comments. Let's see if we can get something cooking. And while you're down there commenting,  don't forget to like and subscribe. Ring that bell. Thanks so much for watching, everyone.  I'll see you on the next one, and until then, here are two other videos I think you might like.Back to poor John's question. I'm just playing with you, John.\n"