wrote:
I have received my XG1v4 4K box and have performed some testing to compare the video quality I get from multiple display resolution settings. Following are my findings:
If I select one of the 4K settings, the XG1v4 outputs 4K to the TV at all times, regardless of the original content resolution. In other words, the cable box is upscaling everything to 4K regardless of the content... Even for regular 1080p station broadcasts. I know this because my projector has an information screen which shows the resolution of the input it is receiving.
If I select the 1080p or 1080i display setting, the video I receive is significantly better... Better contrast and better clarity. This is because I have the XG1v4 installed in my Home Theater and it is connected to a high-end 4K projector which does an amazing job of 4K upscaling of 1080p content to my 145" screen. In this case, it certainly does a far better job of 4K upscaling than the XG1v4 box does.
If I select one of the 4K settings, Netflix doesn't show the UHD content. Even the Netflix content which should be UHD (like House of Cards, Stranger Things, and etc) shows up as HD 5.1 rather than UHD. I also tried unplugging the power after selecting the 4K display option in order to reset the XG1v4 box. That didn't help.
If I select one of the 4K settings, I'm still not seeing any 4K Olympics options in the Olympics On Demand. I don't know if this content has shown up yet so it may not be there for anybody at this point. I also tried unplugging the power after selecting the 4K display option in order to reset the XG1v4 box. That didn't help.
As a side item, I was surprised by the fact that all of my DVR recordings showed up on the new unit. Before I replaced my previous DVR, I did the "SYNC" option in the settings. When I installed the new 4K box, all of my recordings are accessible. I assume that everything was synced in the cloud and that is what made this possible.
Based on these findings, until there is native 4K content, it appears that I am better off leaving the display setting at 1080p60 so that my projector can do the upscaling of the 1080p content. I was really hoping that it would output the original resolution for everything... 1080p for 1080p content and 4K for 4K content. This is a huge disappointment as I was looking forward to using this box for broadcast 4K.
Now that I have viewed the Olympics in native 4K resolution, I have one more comment to add to my previous comments:
Although my projector is a high end Sony projector (VPL-VW1100ES), it was "pre HDR" so it doesn't support HDR. If my testing is any indication, it appears that the XG1v4 does a very bad job of supporting non-HDR 4K displays. In my case, the 4K Olympics Opening Ceremony is extremely washed out on my projector, which is typically very bright and crisp on 4K content. The same HD version of Opening Ceremony viewed with the 1080p60 setting then upscaled to 4K by my projector is much more crisp and has much better contrast.
The net here is that it appears that, if you don't have a HDR capable 4K TV or Projector, your results may not be what you are expecting. Hopefully others who have non-HDR setups can do their own testing and either confirm or dispute my findings. I hope that there might be future firmware updates to the unit which will do a better job of supporting SDR.
The good news is thatk, even though the 4K part isn't working that well for me, it seems to be a little snappier than the previous DVR so I certainly haven't taken a step backwards... Just not as much of a step forward as I was hoping for.
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