The Xbox One X 4K Blu-ray Player Is a Disaster

Megalith

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Forbes claims that the Xbox One X’s 4K Blu-ray drive is a bit of a mess: the problem is raised black levels when playing high dynamic range images (which are the star attraction of pretty much all 4K Blu-ray discs) into HDR-capable TVs. It has something to do with the way the Xbox One X is outputting its video, which seems to be raising the base luminance level of the entire high dynamic range image.

The issue also affects color and detail, with some tones looking washed out compared with how they look on other 4K Blu-ray decks. Some very bright shots look flared and bleached, too, and noise levels are consistently elevated rather than this issue only affecting dark scenes. Which is all exactly what you would expect to see if an image isn’t being presented with the correct luminance information.
 
LOL. They probably have some settings messed up and wrote a whole article saying it’s the consoles fault. My One X looks great playing 4K HDR movies. Mine looked over saturated at first until I reset the input settings on the TV and left HDR on auto.

Definitely this. They shouldn’t write an article like this without listing all of the settings on their TV and XBX.
 
My xbox one s works great as a 4k media player. Why would the newer one do worse?
 
Well, this is Microsoft.
You have heard of Windows 10?

I don't think MS knows how to HDR. They broke it in Windows 10 CU, haven't heard if it's fixed in FCU but I'm avoiding any more half baked "updates" for at least 6 months post release, or until they re-hire the QA division.
 
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"Except, sadly, for the Xbox One S - something I’ll come back to later." then "However, the issues don't seem to me as consistently damaging to picture quality on the S as they are on the X"

What a rollercoaster of nothing, such a short article for him to contradict himself. Since I never had a dedicated BR HDR player for my OLED (man do I love 0 nit), I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see any failings on the Xbox S playback (always seen the Xbox S as the best choice for it's multifunction over stand alone player). So I'll just ignore this article of nothing because as I said, I'm loving 0 nit on an OLED.

LOL. They probably have some settings messed up and wrote a whole article saying it’s the consoles fault. My One X looks great playing 4K HDR movies. Mine looked over saturated at first until I reset the input settings on the TV and left HDR on auto.

Thanks, this makes me feel better :) I tweaked my settings and have TV profiles for how much lighting is in the room, it's all that needs to be done I imagine.
 
Today I read that article and I figured I'd try it out. At first I thought it was probably just a settings issue. Unfortunately after an hour of messing with color spacing and bit depths, the hdr washing out is undefeatable. I made a video showing what happens.



Since then I've returned the console for a full refund.
 
Today I read that article and I figured I'd try it out. At first I thought it was probably just a settings issue. Unfortunately after an hour of messing with color spacing and bit depths, the hdr washing out is undefeatable. I made a video showing what happens.



Since then I've returned the console for a full refund.


Oh snap! but a good post by ND40oz

Seriously though man, I'm sensing a lot of bias in your vid. You state clearly the real reason you bought it was for BR playback, if so, why not spend only half the money and get the S for the same playback abilities that will still allow gaming if you choose, and correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that an Xbox S on the shelf under the white controller?

Send it back, I'm sure a console gamer out there would love to have it.
 
At the end of the day you bought a gaming console. Does it do that?
 
LOL. They probably have some settings messed up and wrote a whole article saying it’s the consoles fault. My One X looks great playing 4K HDR movies. Mine looked over saturated at first until I reset the input settings on the TV and left HDR on auto.


Sure

I've spent the past 20 years writing about the world of home entertainment technology--first at Home Cinema Choice magazine, where I became Deputy Editor, and for the past 17 years on a freelance basis. In that time I'm fairly confident that I've reviewed more TVs and projectors than any other individual on the planet, as well as experiencing first-hand the rise and fall of all manner of great and not so great home entertainment technologies. I am currently a regular contributor to The Sunday Times, Ideal Home, Trustedreviews.com, Techradar.com, Home Cinema Choice magazine, Wired, and, of course, Forbes.

But hey, some punk 13 year old on hardforum probably knows better.
 
Forbes isn't much better than a listicle site these days. That doesn't mean this is wrong, but they aren't exactly a trusted source anymore.

I haven't watched any 4K Blu-Rays yet, but just launching the Blu-Ray player enables HDR by default. That definitely requires different TV color/brightness settings than most people have by default. I have a settings toggle on my TV and anyone using HDR regularly should probably try to do the same. I didn't notice anything offputting when watching a normal movie with my HDR settings enabled, but it's going to look bad if your set is using normal color calibration.
It'll be interesting to see if the fix is related to HDR auto-toggling for all movie disk content.
 
Forbes isn't much better than a listicle site these days. That doesn't mean this is wrong, but they aren't exactly a trusted source anymore.

I haven't watched any 4K Blu-Rays yet, but just launching the Blu-Ray player enables HDR by default. That definitely requires different TV color/brightness settings than most people have by default. I have a settings toggle on my TV and anyone using HDR regularly should probably try to do the same. I didn't notice anything offputting when watching a normal movie with my HDR settings enabled, but it's going to look bad if your set is using normal color calibration.
It'll be interesting to see if the fix is related to HDR auto-toggling for all movie disk content.

If your tv requires different settings for HDR... you need a new tv.
 
If your tv requires different settings for HDR... you need a new tv.

:rolleyes: 90% of the HDR TV's on the market need different color/brightness settings for HDR content. There are entire websites and forums dedicated to it.
 
:rolleyes: 90% of the HDR TV's on the market need different color/brightness settings for HDR content. There are entire websites and forums dedicated to it.

Then i would buy that 10%, or not watch HDR content.


"lets watch a movie... oh wait, have to find the tv remote in some random drawer and change the color setting first!!!" #killerfeature
 
Then i would buy that 10%, or not watch HDR content.


"lets watch a movie... oh wait, have to find the tv remote in some random drawer and change the color setting first!!!" #killerfeature

All the HDR TV's I know about have different modes for HDR and SDR so once you get your HDR settings calibrated it will automatically switch to those when the TV detects an HDR signal. You set them once, then you are good to go.
 
Oh snap! but a good post by ND40oz

Seriously though man, I'm sensing a lot of bias in your vid. You state clearly the real reason you bought it was for BR playback, if so, why not spend only half the money and get the S for the same playback abilities that will still allow gaming if you choose, and correct me if I'm wrong, isn't that an Xbox S on the shelf under the white controller?

Send it back, I'm sure a console gamer out there would love to have it.
The Xbox One controller is my favorite. I bought that white controller a year ago on sale for $30.

As for bias, I guess I expected too much from "the most powerful console" as certain games couldn't hold 60fps in "light" mode. Combine that with broken bluray and I'll just stick to PC.
 
All the HDR TV's I know about have different modes for HDR and SDR so once you get your HDR settings calibrated it will automatically switch to those when the TV detects an HDR signal. You set them once, then you are good to go.

Correct, but dude i was replying to is talking about hitting a settings toggle lol. I would do without if I had to do that.
 
"Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own." There're a lot of people writing worthless opinion pieces on Forbes website if you haven't noticed.

You have just summed up all news today in the internet age, where some guy in Tuscon with an interesting personality can have as much attention paid to him as a writer from the Wall Street Journal. People figured out all they needed to do was twist the truth or lie a little bit, or even just honestly believe they saw what they saw and put their own spin on the story, and suddenly they were rich and/or famous...and if they got caught lying or if it was found out that their opinion was biased in some way after-the-fact? Well, nobody was going to jail...it was just they wouldn't be rich or popular anymore...so with nothing to lose, everyone can say or do whatever they want. Welcome to Journalism in 2018: Every Piece is an Opinion Editorial.
 
Have PE2 coming tonight. I'll let you know in the morning how big of a disaster it is. Netflix streaming HDR sure looks fine and Forza 7 is beautiful..
 
Correct, but dude i was replying to is talking about hitting a settings toggle lol. I would do without if I had to do that.


HDR requires different backlight and calibration settings than SDR, and at first, it sounded like you had a problem with the TV needing to be calibrated differently for HDR. I was all set to agree with everyone else, until I went back and reread what you said, and now I understand that your issue is with having to manually toggle those settings. I'd have a problem with that too.

My TV remembers three separate calibration settings, one for SDR, one for HDR10, and one for Dolby Vision. It automatically loads the correct settings I've set based on what HDR mode is activated. I didn't realize there were TVs that didn't do that... I'm glad it's not an issue for me.
 
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