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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Sony's version of REDRay.

BTW the press release states this for live demo:

Starting today, six Sony Store locations (Century City, Calif.; Costa Mesa, Calif.; Houston; Las Vegas; New York and Palo Alto, Calif.) will be the first to feature the XBR-55 & 65X900A 4K TVs, offering consumers in-store demonstrations of true 4K and enhanced (upscaled) video.
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Its not streamed, its similar to the Red device though the codecs are quite different. Content is slowly sent over the intent and then can be unlocked for a fee for a limited period of I think 8 hours of forever. The content service won't start for awhile but the server comes preloaded with a modest amount of content. The Sony player at this time will only work with 4K displays and it looks like existing 4K Sony displays will need to be modified in the field by Sony techs.
 
Sergio Perez said:
I bet the PS 4 will come with 80% of the functions of this thing.
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PS4 will do everything this video player will do. This Sony player also works with any 4K UHD TV, not just Sony. Those who buy the 84" get the player for free. Those who buy the 65" and 55" Sony 4K TV's get mail-in rebates for $200 and $100 off respectively. I don't recall if the player is $600 or $700 MSRP. IMO, the down-side of it is that it runs off Sony's own content service, so very limited selection outside of the Sony library. As of right now, anyway, and players really haven't started shipping to the masses. The players should support upcoming 4K content from Netflix and Vudu, probably others as well.

As for the Macpro, I will buy one day one of release, maxed out. Will report then.
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Ditto. If it sucks, I send it back. ;)
 
I think that Sony's "REDray" is called a Playstation 4 and it has a much bigger fanbase than RED... and it's only $400... And plays blu-rays and games as well, and will likely sell ~50-100million units over the course of its lifetime.

EDIT: Beaten...
 
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Jeff Kilgroe said:
PS4 will do everything this video player will do. This Sony player also works with any 4K UHD TV, not just Sony. Those who buy the 84" get the player for free. Those who buy the 65" and 55" Sony 4K TV's get mail-in rebates for $200 and $100 off respectively. I don't recall if the player is $600 or $700 MSRP. IMO, the down-side of it is that it runs off Sony's own content service, so very limited selection outside of the Sony library. As of right now, anyway, and players really haven't started shipping to the masses. The players should support upcoming 4K content from Netflix and Vudu, probably others as well.
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The FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player will exclusively work with only some Sony displays. Particularly mentioned are the 55" and the 65". Possibly the 84".
As for now it doesn't work with any of those displays that are already shipped. They will need a HDMI module change before the FMP-X1 will work with anything.

It doesn't work with the Sony VW1000 4K projector. No secure confirmation that the VW1000 will ever get a upgrade so it will work with the FMP-X1 later.
The VW1000 owners are naturally in a uproar over this. Owners of $25000 projectors don't like to be left out in the cold.

It is possible that Sony too late in the production cycle of the new UHD TVs decided to implement HDCP 2.2.
This launch is quite a bit of scandal really, and will cost Sony dearly with changing all these HDMI modules.

Sony also have big plans for various DRM schemes. Read more here; http://torrentfreak.com/sony-video-players-should-be-internet-connected-to-beat-pirates-130703/

Nanotech will have a 4K media player, Nuvola NP-1 for $299 in the shops July 15, preloaded will ten 4K movies. This player will be for 4K streaming content when they launch their service.

Seems like the right time for Odemax to reveal some of the content they will offer.
 
So it seems to me that its pretty much impossible to load in to the player footage that we have shot ourselves. Is that a correct assertion?
 
Daniel Stilling said:
So it seems to me that its pretty much impossible to load in to the player footage that we have shot ourselves. Is that a correct assertion?
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Yes and No. It's up in the air at the moment and the functionality of the player beyond straight 4K playback of Sony-provided media varies from market to market but the few blurbs I've found about the player indirectly implies that you can use it to playback user-made 4K footage. I'd have to get my hands on the manual that comes with the player - if there is one - as the material Sony has made available on their website is merely a two-page quickstart guide.
 
I think it's more like a 4k apple TV then a red ray, I'm not even too sure how long term this thing is as I figured it was just a way of providing 4k content for the early adopters who forked out for their 4k displays.
 
Daniel Stilling said:
So it seems to me that its pretty much impossible to load in to the player footage that we have shot ourselves. Is that a correct assertion?
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The player has usb drive and SD inputs for some purpose. The question is whether they are enabled. Why wouldn't they be?
 
Iannis Holwech said:
The FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player will exclusively work with only some Sony displays. Particularly mentioned are the 55" and the 65". Possibly the 84".
As for now it doesn't work with any of those displays that are already shipped. They will need a HDMI module change before the FMP-X1 will work with anything.
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Erm... Some of the originally shipped 84" displays will need an HDMI module update. The 55" and 65" displays do not, same with any of the 84" models that have rolled off the line since about march or april, shouldn't need an update. The VW1000ES projector will also need an interface board upgrade. It needs it anyway as it's proving to be incompatible with most every 4K source out there. :rolleyes:

Players are being delivered NOW. I've already seen reports on these forums here from people who have received them this past week. Actually it shows they're in-stock now on the US Sony site for $699 w/ free shipping. Order now, ships on the 8th.

Current players being delivered, in the USA anyway, include 10 movie titles in 4K plus a few other samplings. You have to activate your 4K player with the serial number from your Sony 4K display in order to use it. "Unlocked" players will be available at some point later where people can just buy them and attach them to other brands of 4K panels. These players will not have the included content, if I understand correctly.

I have a 55" Sony 4K panel coming in next week. Supposed to get the 4K player as well, but I'm told it will be a few weeks after as they're only now shipping and have a lot of back-log to work through.

PlayStation4 will connect to the Sony media network as well and will do everything these 4K players will do. Much more, obviously, and for about the same money. So it will be interesting to see how these 4K players do on the open market once the PS4 is shipping. They will have to slash prices, which I"m betting they will do. I'd skip the 4K player myself and just do a PS4 on this 55" TV, but it's a perk from one of my distributors. They actually wanted to give me the 65", but I decided to put it in my new home office that I just put in as part of a basement finish and home remodel and the 55" is as big as I can go with those Dumbo-ear speakers on that thing. haha.


Not sure about the 4K player status outside the USA, but they're shipping now. They have one running Spider-Man at my local Best Buy store right now on the 65" Sony 4K. Looks pretty darn good, actually. Makes Blu-Ray look like poop, especially on the showroom floor where everyone stands only a few feet away from the thing. IMO, REDRAY is the superior product for a variety of reasons, but it's 3.5X the price and not a visible product as far as the general consumer base is concerned.
 
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HEVC and VP9

HEVC and VP9

Frank Glencairn said:
Sooo...

you have to buy a $5000 to $7000 Sony TV first, to use that thing, and I can't use it to watch the material I shot?
Well I guess that's a pretty small market.

I wonder what codec they use. Any ideas?
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Sony work with a company up in the Palo Alto area called eyeIO (catchy I know) ... bunch of supersmart engineers and ex msft guys who have developed a very efficient compression pipeline based around H.264 ... what's cool is that they've also found a way to leverage xvYCC 10 bit color space which Sony calls 'Triluminous' to give "deep colors" which should give SONY a competitive advantage in the UHDTV market place ... but if you go into your local BestBuy and watch the SONY 4K TV demo you'll see for yourself what happens when your average BestBuy TV "expert" cranks up the saturation and brightness on the $5000 TVs ... equivalent of double LUTing a RED camera in RedCineX ... really lovely effect :-(

http://eyeio.com

Not sure that H.264 is the way to go forward ... H.265 aka HEVC compression has been ratified by the ITU and will start being embedded in silicon encoders/decoders soon ... way more efficient compression algorithm with greatly reduced bandwidth requirements and less blocky artifacting than H.264 approach which was designed for a totally different purpose.

Google is also working an even better approach called VP9 which is already enabled in the HTML5 tags in Chrome and allows 4k playback on your Chrome browser ... we're testing it on our YouTube 4K Content Competition:

http://www.youtube.com/user/4Kcompetition

I think that once HEVC and VP9 hit the streets (think CES 2014) you'll see H.264 gradually disappear ... also, not sure about the commercial viability of proprietary 'hi-end' codecs and closed playback systems ... OTT HEVC decoding boxes for under $100 are going to become the norm for most households ... sure, there will be people who'll want to spend $700 (or $1700 for that matter) for a "high-quality" proprietary decoder/playback system but for the majority of consumers, a SEIKi UHDTV and a $99 HEVC OTT box is probably going to be the preferred route ... or better still, watch 4K VP9 content off YouTube on your Chromebook for free :-)

Neil
 
Iannis Holwech said:
The FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player will exclusively work with only some Sony displays. Particularly mentioned are the 55" and the 65". Possibly the 84".
As for now it doesn't work with any of those displays that are already shipped. They will need a HDMI module change before the FMP-X1 will work with anything.

It doesn't work with the Sony VW1000 4K projector. No secure confirmation that the VW1000 will ever get a upgrade so it will work with the FMP-X1 later.
The VW1000 owners are naturally in a uproar over this. Owners of $25000 projectors don't like to be left out in the cold.

It is possible that Sony too late in the production cycle of the new UHD TVs decided to implement HDCP 2.2.
This launch is quite a bit of scandal really, and will cost Sony dearly with changing all these HDMI modules.

Sony also have big plans for various DRM schemes. Read more here; http://torrentfreak.com/sony-video-players-should-be-internet-connected-to-beat-pirates-130703/

Nanotech will have a 4K media player, Nuvola NP-1 for $299 in the shops July 15, preloaded will ten 4K movies. This player will be for 4K streaming content when they launch their service.

Seems like the right time for Odemax to reveal some of the content they will offer.
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The Sony media player eventually will work with all Sony 4K panels and the Sony VPL-vw1000ES. At present it will not work at all until the panels are modified in the field by Sony (for those panels which have already shipped) with an HDMI board change incorporating HDCP 2.2. The Sony projector will also need a modification as well and Sony is presently working on the modification and establishing procedures for installing it. Of course, Sony could just bag HDCP 2.2 for 4K content and avoid the modifications. I am glad I preordered the Redray not that I am going to take delivery of same. The $300 I saved over the new price will pay for a Nuvola NP-1 not that I really want that but I look at it as buying 10 4K movies at only $30 each and getting the player for free.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Erm... Some of the originally shipped 84" displays will need an HDMI module update. The 55" and 65" displays do not, same with any of the 84" models that have rolled off the line since about march or april, shouldn't need an update. The VW1000ES projector will also need an interface board upgrade. It needs it anyway as it's proving to be incompatible with most every 4K source out there. :rolleyes:
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I think you might be badly informed.
Several owners of the 55X900A and 65X900A have already scheduled HDMI module with Sony repair.

It even notes in the FMP-X1 manual (pdf.) with an illustration of the HDMI Port-4 with the note;
"• XBR-65/55X900A; If the HDMI jack configuration matches that shown in the illustration on the right." should contact Sony support.

In the trouble shooting section it says;
The player cannot pair with the TV.
– Make sure that the player and the TV are connected to the network, or check the status of
the network connection (See “Types of indicator”).
– The player is connected to a TV model other than XBR-65X/55X900A.
– The player is not connected to the HDMI IN 4 jack of XBR-65X/55X900A.
If the player is connected to the HDMI IN jack that is located slightly farther away from the HDMI IN 1 and
HDMI IN 3 jacks on the lower right of the rear of the TV, contact customer support.​

Players are being delivered NOW. I've already seen reports on these forums here from people who have received them this past week. Actually it shows they're in-stock now on the US Sony site for $699 w/ free shipping. Order now, ships on the 8th.
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Have you actually seen reports on the forums that these owners have made it work on their displays they have bought before the player went on sale?
They are in stock everywhere. Somebody called all the large vendors, everybody from B&H to Amazon. They all said the FMP-X1 would work with any TV.
That is complete contradictory to what Sony has said for months, which is that they will only work exclusively with the Sony UHD TVs.
There is also a doubt among owners of the 84" if they will be offered a upgrade or are stuck with the Dell server.

Click at the View Footnotes on the dark grey bar at the bottom of the grey splash screen in the Sony store for the FMP-X1 and you will see the text;
"2. The Sony FMP-X1 4K Ultra Media Player is exclusively compatible with Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs (55X900A and 65X900A). Ethernet connection required. Fees may apply for 4K networked video service."​
Nice way to hide a rather important message for people that don't own these TVs.

We will hear more about what works out of the box or not next week, and towards July 15 when the official release date of the player is.

Current players being delivered, in the USA anyway, include 10 movie titles in 4K plus a few other samplings. You have to activate your 4K player with the serial number from your Sony 4K display in order to use it. "Unlocked" players will be available at some point later where people can just buy them and attach them to other brands of 4K panels. These players will not have the included content, if I understand correctly.
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You are the very first that even hints on the possibility to "unlock" the player for other brands.
I Don't understand how that should be possible when it won't even work on Sony's own displays with regular HDMI. It is not to just to protect the preloaded ten mostly old movies, but all the 4K content that will be offered to download from sometime later this year.
Why would Sony go through the hassle of upgrading HDMI boards for free if the player could work on any TV later.

I have a 55" Sony 4K panel coming in next week. Supposed to get the 4K player as well, but I'm told it will be a few weeks after as they're only now shipping and have a lot of back-log to work through.
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No reason to hesitate. They are in stock everywhere. You will get it in a few days. Then you can tell if it works out of the box with your 55".
PlayStation4 will connect to the Sony media network as well and will do everything these 4K players will do. Much more, obviously, and for about the same money. So it will be interesting to see how these 4K players do on the open market once the PS4 is shipping.
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I believe it will take time (a year or two), and have considerable restrictions before PS4 gets any 4K movie content.
It is easy for Sony to say that the PS4 is 4K capable without saying anything about the terms for 4K content delivery.
Not sure about the 4K player status outside the USA, but they're shipping now. They have one running Spider-Man at my local Best Buy store right now on the 65" Sony 4K. Looks pretty darn good, actually. Makes Blu-Ray look like poop, especially on the showroom floor where everyone stands only a few feet away from the thing. IMO, REDRAY is the superior product for a variety of reasons, but it's 3.5X the price and not a visible product as far as the general consumer base is concerned.
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I guess we will hear more about the status of the FMP-X1 outside the US at IFA. and at CEDIA where also Red will exhibit for the first time.

Owners of displays that cost from $5000 - $25000 will be willing to fork out the RedRay price provided that Odemax has enough interesting content. Particularly all the Samsung, Toshiba, LG and Sharp 4K-UHD owners that don't get any content from the Sony system.
 
Well, in about a year's time, they will need another HDMI board replacement anyway as HDMI 2.0 will be out and about around the middle of 2014 according to Silicon Image and Sony will have new 4K displays by then anyway.
 
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