There are a lot of reasons to pick up a 4K Blu-ray player. They are the gateway to increased video and audio quality, and they can also play CDs. In that way, they are a physical media powerhouse, and they’d be a perfect fit for anybody looking to get the most out of their large collection of discs. Not only do you get the lossless audio that a player offers, but you also get access to some high-quality HDR formats depending on your player.
If you use a PS5 or Xbox Series X as your 4K Blu-ray player, as many people do, then you get access to HDR10. This is the default 4K HDR format, and it’s included on every 4K TV. Some TVs offer HDR10+ or Dolby Vision, and in some cases, you can get both. You also need an accompanying player that supports those formats, and that means you need to go out and buy a 4K Blu-ray player because your game console won’t cut it.
There are few options out there, but the two major players in the standalone 4K Blu-ray player game are Sony and Panasonic. Sony tends to be the cheaper of the two, but you need to spend over $100 for either option. If you go for a Sony player, as I did, then you need to be aware of the Dolby Vision drawback.
Dolby Vision is a manual toggle that’s easy to miss
Don’t make my mistake
Dolby Vision is a big selling point of the 4K format, and that’s why it’s important that you make sure it’s on. Panasonic 4K Blu-ray players, and many TVs for that matter, automatically shift over to the Dolby Vision settings when what you’re watching has Dolby Vision. My Sony Blu-ray player isn’t like that. Instead of it happening automatically, I need to go into my player’s settings each time to make sure it’s toggled on.
You might be wondering why I don’t just leave it on all the time. That’s a fair question, and I’m sure many people do, but that comes with its own can of worms. Having Dolby Vision on all the time means it’s going to force Dolby Vision onto everything, even if it’s not supposed to have it. This results in inaccurate colors, and that’s something I want to avoid. If something isn’t supposed to have HDR, then I don’t want it to.
If you leave this Dolby Vision setting off all the time, it’ll still give you HDR10, so it’s a situation where it’s better to leave it off and forget about it every time instead of always having it on. I’d feel much better about getting regular HDR10 instead of forcing Dolby Vision onto a Blu-ray that isn’t supposed to have HDR at all. I wish it would just automatically toggle on as my TV does, but that’s not the case with my Blu-ray player. It’s a very easy setting to forget about, so I’ve gotten into the habit of checking each time I turn on my Blu-ray player.
A tedious, but worthwhile process
The price we pay for quality
There’s no question that it’s annoying to have to switch back and forth between the Dolby Vision setting. Each time I put a disc in, I have to look at the fine print on the disc and make sure there’s Dolby Vision. If there is, I have to grab the Blu-ray player’s remote, hit a few buttons, and set it down. It’d be a lot easier to do nothing at all, but I don’t feel like upgrading my Blu-ray player just to get one additional setting out of it.
It’s certainly tedious, but I’m glad it’s there because I really do love having Dolby Vision. I always get excited when I add a new 4K Blu-ray to my collection and see that it comes with Dolby Vision. While HDR10+ is a good format on its own, it feels like hardly any disc coming out these days supports it. Much like the battle between Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, it feels like Dolby is winning out in the end. It’s always a bummer when I find out that I don’t have the Dolby Vision setting on when I finish watching a movie, but it doesn’t ruin my experience. The reality is that HDR10 still looks great, so it’s not like I’m getting a compromised experience if I forget to turn it on. I think of Dolby Vision as something that enhances the experience, an experience that’s already excellent as it is.
I have a big collection of movies that don’t have Dolby Vision of any kind, and I don’t get upset at that. I love the old Universal Monster films, and none of those come with anything other than HDR10. Despite that, these are movies that are approaching 100 years old and still look great. That’s a testament to the restoration, and Dolby Vision is just a cherry on top of that if it’s included.
