http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/03/sonys-4k-ultra-hd-player-now-available-for-699
I know 4K is still new, but you know eventually it'll be part of every TV. It might be 3 or 4 years, but increased resolution isn't the gimmick that 3-D is.
So this is the first actual content-delivery device I have heard of. Sony does some stuff decently, so I had hoped that it might have promise. Instead, I'd call it a $700 dud.
First of all, it looks like a black optical disc stack. I know I'm in love with the Mac Pro design, but it being round seems to have way more of a purpose than this 4K box. Round and short means you're wasting space in some fashion since almost every computer part is rectangular. But that's just personal taste.
Then comes the stupid. It has 2TB of internal storage. I guess that seems OK, but that also probably means a hard drive. I guess it's a tradeoff to make it more affordable, but wouldn't flash speed be quite useful for these gigantic files?
The really stupid, to me, is the pre-loaded movies. If it has 10 4K videos that will "start" at $29.99, that means almost half the price of the device is pre-loaded movies. I mean are these really "free" gifts to 4K owners, or added cost? There's not an option without the movies, so it's hard to tell.
But then the clincher is the "this only works with Sony 4K sets" thing. Hence "Black-ray." I have no problem with Blu-ray, but it was so loaded with DRM and licensing issues that it never made it to Macs. But at least with BD your player works with any HDTV. With this box, you're a slave to Sony. It sounds a lot like MiniDisc, which was a great technology killed by being Sony-only.
Digital movies, TV shows and books are hamstrung so much by "you must use our devices" DRM, and Sony just continued that with this box. Why? I don't know.
It's just sad, because this is an obvious move signaling that 4K video isn't going to exactly be stocked on shelves like DVD and BD. So that's the way the game will go. I've kind of leapt in through iTunes on it all, but there are still tons of issues, again mostly around DRM and owner rights, keeping it from being DVD without the disc.
Thoughts?
I know 4K is still new, but you know eventually it'll be part of every TV. It might be 3 or 4 years, but increased resolution isn't the gimmick that 3-D is.
So this is the first actual content-delivery device I have heard of. Sony does some stuff decently, so I had hoped that it might have promise. Instead, I'd call it a $700 dud.
First of all, it looks like a black optical disc stack. I know I'm in love with the Mac Pro design, but it being round seems to have way more of a purpose than this 4K box. Round and short means you're wasting space in some fashion since almost every computer part is rectangular. But that's just personal taste.
Then comes the stupid. It has 2TB of internal storage. I guess that seems OK, but that also probably means a hard drive. I guess it's a tradeoff to make it more affordable, but wouldn't flash speed be quite useful for these gigantic files?
The really stupid, to me, is the pre-loaded movies. If it has 10 4K videos that will "start" at $29.99, that means almost half the price of the device is pre-loaded movies. I mean are these really "free" gifts to 4K owners, or added cost? There's not an option without the movies, so it's hard to tell.
But then the clincher is the "this only works with Sony 4K sets" thing. Hence "Black-ray." I have no problem with Blu-ray, but it was so loaded with DRM and licensing issues that it never made it to Macs. But at least with BD your player works with any HDTV. With this box, you're a slave to Sony. It sounds a lot like MiniDisc, which was a great technology killed by being Sony-only.
Digital movies, TV shows and books are hamstrung so much by "you must use our devices" DRM, and Sony just continued that with this box. Why? I don't know.
It's just sad, because this is an obvious move signaling that 4K video isn't going to exactly be stocked on shelves like DVD and BD. So that's the way the game will go. I've kind of leapt in through iTunes on it all, but there are still tons of issues, again mostly around DRM and owner rights, keeping it from being DVD without the disc.
Thoughts?