Toshiba U79 and U80 Owners Discussion And Review !!

[aditya2603d]

I think this might be because the firestick will need to stream 4k 12-bit 60Hz signal which isn't possible with HDMI 2.0b. You can only stream 4k 10-bit 60Hz with HDMI 2.0 which might be causing this.

Can you try these things and see if it fixes them(not sure if already done):

1. Set HDMI to enhanced in TV
2. Try to send 4k 10-bit 60Hz signal from your firestick, or anything less than 4k 12 bit 60Hz, say 4k 12 bit 24Hz if it's possible.

If Dolby Vision doesn't work, there's absolutely no reason to get firestick right? I can just save ₹2.5k and get the Mi Box 4k. It supports 4k HDR10, has android TV + Google assistant, and supports Chromecast ultra inbuilt.

1. I have already set HDMI to Enhanced.
2. I tried sending 4K 10bit/8 bit signal at 60 Hz and 50 Hz but it doesn't seem to play in DV until and unless set to automatic or 1080p resolution. At 4K it defaults to HDR10.

Yes currently it makes no sense to buy firestick when the set can't play in DV through it. I got firestick 4K only because I could get it for around 2500 from US. It's Indian pricing is atrocious, more so when undiscounted. I don't know whether it's an issue with Firestick 4k or TV because through TV's internal Netflix app it can easily play DV at 4K resolution.

 

[Dr. House]

You can read the last few pages for real life reviews and it does seem to be the same panel as H8F. Pretty solid contrast ratio and brightness for the price along with decent local dimming. Apart from the OS, the one big flaw is the input lag which is pretty bad.

Yeah! One should get the new google TV (renamed chromecast) device or Fire stick 4k for this TV. By input lag you mean with remote or in gaming?

 

[lightgamer]

but for me the voice is not clear when watching prime videos and there is a lip sync issues in optical out which I tried to adjust but it resets itself, Can you please try prime video in your app and let me know how it sounds try listening to conversation, I want to check if the issue is only in my TV.

I've been meaning to do this test.

Using the TV speakers, I don't get any lag whatsoever, prime video or otherwise. By default the TV is set with a lyp sync nonsense set to 3. You need to disable that or you will get slight audio lag everywhere. And you need to set it for different sources.

So I connected my bluetooth headphones to it (WH 1000XM3) which should definitely have more lag than ARC. Again, absolutely zero audio lag and it's perfectly synced in prime video as well as other places. So not sure what's happening to your end.

I also have lots of issues with the inbuilt apps. So prime might be acting up on you. If other apps are working fine, the TV doesn't have an issue but the OS does.

The speakers sound like garbage compared to my headphones yes, but there is no lag.

 

[lightgamer]

Yeah! One should get the new google TV (renamed chromecast) device or Fire stick 4k for this TV. By input lag you mean with remote or in gaming?

I believe he meant response time, not input lag. This TV is not a great option for PC usage or gaming because of quite poor response time. Doesn't matter for movies or TV shows though.

 

[Dr. House]

I believe he meant response time, not input lag. This TV is not a great option for PC usage or gaming because of quite poor response time. Doesn't matter for movies or TV shows though.

Well then I should not consider that. My main purpose is to enjoy action films, sports and PS4 gaming. Will buy PS5 in future as well. How is 55 inch the frame TV 2020 by Sasmung. Website price is 85k and I can get in cost price. It has 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 port for PS5.

 

[lightgamer]

Well then I should not consider that. My main purpose is to enjoy action films, sports and PS4 gaming. Will buy PS5 in future as well. How is 55 inch the frame TV 2020 by Sasmung. Website price is 85k and I can get in cost price. It has 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 port for PS5.

This TV is a great value as long as you only plan to watch content on it. Action movies and sports are fine as well. However, it's a poor choice for gaming.

If you're considering the PS5, frame 2020 is an excellent option. It doesn't support Dolby Vision and doesn't get as bright, but will be a much better option for gaming.

Don't get it at 85k though. There are routine offers for 9-10k or so off with credit cards. At 74-75k I wholeheartedly recommend it if you'll use the 120Hz panel. Also it looks great due to the uniform design and fancy frames.

 

[Rane-2020]

Well then I should not consider that. My main purpose is to enjoy action films, sports and PS4 gaming. Will buy PS5 in future as well. How is 55 inch the frame TV 2020 by Sasmung. Website price is 85k and I can get in cost price. It has 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 port for PS5.

frame is a good tv.If you are planning to get it wait for flipkart BBD.you might get it for 70-75K range.

 

[BLASTO]

Well then I should not consider that. My main purpose is to enjoy action films, sports and PS4 gaming. Will buy PS5 in future as well. How is 55 inch the frame TV 2020 by Sasmung. Website price is 85k and I can get in cost price. It has 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 port for PS5.

The frame is good. Go for it if you are going the samsung route. Rtings has the review.

Samsung The Frame 2020 Review (QN32LS03TBFXZA, QN43LS03TAFXZA, QN50LS03TAFXZA, QN55LS03TAFXZA, QN65LS03TAFXZA, QN75LS03TAFXZA)

Samsung The Frame 2020 is an overall good TV that's designed to blend into your decor and showcase beautiful works of art when the TV is idle. Like its predecess...

www.rtings.com

 

[iambatman28]

The frame is good. Go for it if you are going the samsung route. Rtings has the review.

Samsung The Frame 2020 Review (QN32LS03TBFXZA, QN43LS03TAFXZA, QN50LS03TAFXZA, QN55LS03TAFXZA, QN65LS03TAFXZA, QN75LS03TAFXZA)

Samsung The Frame 2020 is an overall good TV that's designed to blend into your decor and showcase beautiful works of art when the TV is idle. Like its predecess...

www.rtings.com

Frame is the only TV from the Big 3 that's somewhat reasonably priced and has a rich feature set. Pretty decent panel with good contrast and great response time. The only drawback is low peak brightness and FALD.

 

[Dr. House]

Frame is the only TV from the Big 3 that's somewhat reasonably priced and has a rich feature set. Pretty decent panel with good contrast and great response time. The only drawback is low peak brightness and FALD.

What's big3? I don't need very bright LED because my room is in dark and I usually watch in night. Also as per the review of rtings peak brightness is above 500nits. That's way too much for me. I don't think I will keep above 20%. Too much bright is strain for your eyes.
Why is FALD is a drawback? Full array local dimming is considered premium I think.

 

[Dr. House]

This TV is a great value as long as you only plan to watch content on it. Action movies and sports are fine as well. However, it's a poor choice for gaming.

If you're considering the PS5, frame 2020 is an excellent option. It doesn't support Dolby Vision and doesn't get as bright, but will be a much better option for gaming.

Don't get it at 85k though. There are routine offers for 9-10k or so off with credit cards. At 74-75k I wholeheartedly recommend it if you'll use the 120Hz panel. Also it looks great due to the uniform design and fancy frames.

Do you know other TVs that offers 120Hz in this price range? Why it's so cheap in India? In USA the frame 2020 55 inch costs 1400 USD (1.02 lakh) plus state tax.

 

[Rane-2020]

Why it's so cheap in India? In USA the frame 2020 55 inch costs 1400 USD (1.02 lakh) plus state tax.

I am sorry to be a spoilsport but is this relevant in the thread specifically for Toshiba U79&80 discussion thread.

I have specially made a recommendation thread here.

Tv suggestion/Recommendation thread

I am making this thread so that members can get suggestion/recommendations under 1 thread.It will easier to search and recommend in a single thread that going to 10 different threads. Guys what u think.

www.hifivision.com

But it seems people are not following it.I thought it will be easier for new members to just go through one thread for all the suggestions/recommendations than searching 10 different threads .also it will be easier for old members to recommend at single thread rather than recommending same things every other day to in 10 different threads.

Even in future If someone wants to know about a frame tv.that person is not going to read in the thread called Toshiba U79 and U80 Owners Discussion And Review !!

 

[sijuvrm]

Okay I tried a few things. Like yours I set the resolution on my firetv 4k to automatic. In this mode it restricts to 1920x1080. I could get Dolby Vision working(along with Dolby Vision prompt coming up). But somehow I was not satisfied with the PQ as local dimming supposedly wasn't working in DV titles with raised blacks(raised blacks is an issue with DV content). The DV also worked in Disney+ but again restricted to 1080p.
So I returned to forcing 4K resolution in firetv 4K and then I was still receiving DV signal in Disney+ as can be seen from screenshot. But it is I assume being converted to HDR10 standard and being displayed as the picture mode selected is HDR night. As far I am concerned in Disney+ the quality in both DV and HDR10 both were similar with HDR10 having deeper blacks, brightness being equal. Using Netflix in firestick with forced UHD resolution, the Dolby Vision titles run in HDR10 mode and the overall picture is drastically less brighter and less pop then when playing using DV. So the option left is to use internal Netflix app to get Dolby Vision working in Netflix in 4K resolution.
Raised black in Our Planet, Night On Earth in Dolby Vision in Netflix was very apparent. I even tried DV content (Tehran) in Apple TV which also suffered from raised blacks. And when I switched to forced UHD resolution in firestick all DV contents defaults to HDR10 with significantly less brightness in Apple TV and Netflix DV titles.View attachment 50242View attachment 50243View attachment 50244View attachment 50245

1. I have already set HDMI to Enhanced.
2. I tried sending 4K 10bit/8 bit signal at 60 Hz and 50 Hz but it doesn't seem to play in DV until and unless set to automatic or 1080p resolution. At 4K it defaults to HDR10.

Yes currently it makes no sense to buy firestick when the set can't play in DV through it. I got firestick 4K only because I could get it for around 2500 from US. It's Indian pricing is atrocious, more so when undiscounted. I don't know whether it's an issue with Firestick 4k or TV because through TV's internal Netflix app it can easily play DV at 4K resolution.

Yes @aditya2603d, I observed same. I was aware that Disney+ is working with Dolby Vision at Full HD (1080p) but what you observed is correct, Forcing 4k resolution on Firestick 4k results in 4k HDR content. When I was using Auto Resolution what confused me was Prime Video was doing in App frame rate adjustment and resolution switching and rendering at Ultra HDR, Netflix was not showing any stats on click of info button so I assumed if was also rendering DV and HDR in 4k but I was wrong.

So, I did some more research, Enabled the Developer Tools Menu in Firestick 4k and played content with Auto Resolution Vs 4k Resolution Forced.

This research is only for Firestick 4k, Please ignore otherwise -
DV - Dolby Vision
FHD - Full HD (1080p)
UHD - Ultra HD (4k)

Firestick 4k with Auto Resolution -

• Firestick UI launches at 1920*1080p resolution @ 60Hz by default.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, HD. On playing DV content we get DV logo and TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is FHD, no UDH in DV or otherwise. Can see the video options available before playing any title. No Stats.
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. App does its own frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available. Can see the video resolution when playing any title.
• Hotstar and Disney+ - Content available in DV, HD. On playing DV content we get DV logo and TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is FHD, no UDH in DV or otherwise. Option to see detailed stats of content playing.
• Youtube - Max FHD option available for Videos.
• 4k File from local server - VLC is able to render 4K files at UHD as expected.

Firestick 4k with forced 4k Resolution -

• Firestick UI launches at 3840*2160p resolution @ 60Hz with HDR 10 by default.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, UHD, HD. On playing DV content we don't see DV logo and TV's HDR Picture Mode menu is activated instead. Max resolution available is UDH (for DV too).
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. No in-app frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available.
• Hotstar and Disney+ - Similar to Netflix's.
• Youtube - Till 4k option available for Videos.
• 4k File from local server - VLC is able to render 4K files at UHD as expected.

TV's Inbuilt App -

• UI feels like at 720p, bit blurry.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, UHD and HD. On playing DV content we don't see DV logo but TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is UDH in DV or otherwise. Can see the video options available before playing any title. Small Stats available that says 2160p content is being played (For a UHD + DV).
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. App does its own frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available. Can see the video options available before playing any title.
• 4k File from local server - Inbuilt media player is Able to render 4K files at UHD as expected, But content lags after some time.

Conclusion -

• Developer tools confirm that Firestick 4k is using dolby vision codec for playing DV contents and Resolution is UHD but for some reason TV is considering it as HDR content or its giving priority to HDR Picture mode over DV Picture mode when Video being played is UHD + DV. But works fine if video played is FHD + DV. Maybe it has to do with the fact that when forcing 4k resolution connection established is by default HDR 10 and it takes priority over DV. Or there is some bug that's stopping DV mode to kick in with UHD.
• Codec and Color Standard used as shown by Developer tools -
  • UHD + DV - dolby vision, BT2020_10_DoVI (Seen mostly on Netflix and Disney+)
  • UDH + HDR - hevc, BT2020_10_HDR10Plus (Seen on Prime Video), hevc, BT2020_10_HDR10
  • UHD & FHD - hevc, BT709_8_SDR, BT709_10_SDR
• 4k @ 60hz vs 4k @ 50hz made no difference to the results, same goes for 8 bit, 10 bit and 12 bit.
• To enjoy the 4k contents on Firestick 4k (exception Prime Video), Looks like we have to force the 4k Resolution and sacrifice the DV mode and settings that TV provides and settle with HDR Picture mode options instead or else use inbuilt Netflix app as suggested by @aditya2603d

I will add few pics soon for the above observations. @lightgamer - Couldn't find a way to get Firestick 4k UHD DV content play on TV as DV with DV Picture mode. Tried almost all settings. So I will suggested as well to skip it unless okay with HDR Picture mode..

 

[lightgamer]

What's big3? I don't need very bright LED because my room is in dark and I usually watch in night. Also as per the review of rtings peak brightness is above 500nits. That's way too much for me. I don't think I will keep above 20%. Too much bright is strain for your eyes.
Why is FALD is a drawback? Full array local dimming is considered premium I think.

Big 3: Samsung, LG and Sony. And 500 nits is actually very low for HDR content, and very high for SDR content. HDR and SDR follow different tone mapping curves so even if you have it set to 100% backlight it won't be too bright even in a dark room with 500 nits. SDR, on the other hand, you'll have to set at 20% so that you don't sear your eyes with higher than 100 nits of brightness.

FALD is not a drawback. What he meant was that the Frame doesn't have FALD and that's a drawback.

Do you know other TVs that offers 120Hz in this price range? Why it's so cheap in India? In USA the frame 2020 55 inch costs 1400 USD (1.02 lakh) plus state tax.

There are some upcoming LG TVs which will offer 120Hz, but they are IPS and I don't recommend IPS for bright or a dark room. Even in a bright room contrast ratio of 1000:1 is too low. There's also the Toshiba U80 coming up with a 120Hz panel but no HDMI 2.1, so you won't be able to use it with 120Hz and PS5. If you're thinking of gaming, wait for Diwali offers on Frame and get it.

It's a showcase of how cheap TVs can be without the dealer-distributor mafia network. This shows how much profit margin middlemen eat in general. The Frame is an online-only model. Also, I'd say it's not cheap in India but more expensive in the US. You can get much better Samsung TVs cheaper than the Frame in the US like the Q70R and the Q80R. The reason Frame commands a high price there is because people would pay a higher premium for room decor in the US than in India.

If you're still interested in continuing this discussion, I'd recommend please do it on a relevant thread. You can tag folks to notify them and they'll reply.

 

[lightgamer]

I will add few pics soon for the above observations. @lightgamer - Couldn't find a way to get Firestick 4k UHD DV content play on TV as DV with DV Picture mode. Tried almost all settings. So I will suggested as well to skip it unless okay with HDR Picture mode..

Thanks for the detailed reply man. So it seems like the issue is not with the Firestick but with the TV not interpreting that data properly. In that case, I can go with the firestick 4k as well since it can get fixed eventually with the firmware/OS update.

I get 16.5% reward rate on Amazon purchases. Combining that with the 10% HDFC discount we're getting on the sale it's effectively a 25% discount. The firestick 4k went down to 3599 on the August sale and 3100 during February sale, so there's a good chance it will hit 3600 at least on the big Diwali sale. At that price paying for it makes sense considering I'll get it for 2700 effectively with my discounts. That's cheaper than the current US pricing at $49. Also you get Dolby Atmos and 4k in UI v/s no Atmos and 1080p UI on Mi Box 4k.

Since you have a local server for trying out HDR playback, I'm sure you didn't have any issues playing back HDR movies over local network on VLC? The TV's native app works fine with local stuff and even HDR10 stuff, but doesn't work for a lot of formats and has extremely inefficient I/O. So is VLC and Plex on Firestick 4k better?

 

[harryneopotter]

Thanks for the detailed reply man. So it seems like the issue is not with the Firestick but with the TV not interpreting that data properly. In that case, I can go with the firestick 4k as well since it can get fixed eventually with the firmware/OS update.

I get 16.5% reward rate on Amazon purchases. Combining that with the 10% HDFC discount we're getting on the sale it's effectively a 25% discount. The firestick 4k went down to 3599 on the August sale and 3100 during February sale, so there's a good chance it will hit 3600 at least on the big Diwali sale. At that price paying for it makes sense considering I'll get it for 2700 effectively with my discounts. That's cheaper than the current US pricing at $49. Also you get Dolby Atmos and 4k in UI v/s no Atmos and 1080p UI on Mi Box 4k.

Since you have a local server for trying out HDR playback, I'm sure you didn't have any issues playing back HDR movies over local network on VLC? The TV's native app works fine with local stuff and even HDR10 stuff, but doesn't work for a lot of formats and has extremely inefficient I/O. So is VLC and Plex on Firestick 4k better?

I am so glad I picked up Firestick 4k for 30$ from Walmart 2 years ago.

 

[sanshil]

I have gone through the discussion on this thread and I would like the view of you experts here if the Toshiba U7980 would be a good purchase in 65 inch size or should I wait for the U80 model to get launched ? Screen size is definitely 65" that i would want. My requirements are mainly movies on Fire tv stick 4k and a little TV watching on my HD set top box...... would a QLed display of U80 justify the extra spend of around Rs. 25000/27000.
My current TV is Vu Premium 55" 4K 2019 model for which i have a buyer at Rs. 28000/=. Suggestions requested.

 

[sijuvrm]

Yes @aditya2603d, I observed same. I was aware that Disney+ is working with Dolby Vision at Full HD (1080p) but what you observed is correct, Forcing 4k resolution on Firestick 4k results in 4k HDR content. When I was using Auto Resolution what confused me was Prime Video was doing in App frame rate adjustment and resolution switching and rendering at Ultra HDR, Netflix was not showing any stats on click of info button so I assumed if was also rendering DV and HDR in 4k but I was wrong.

So, I did some more research, Enabled the Developer Tools Menu in Firestick 4k and played content with Auto Resolution Vs 4k Resolution Forced.

This research is only for Firestick 4k, Please ignore otherwise -
DV - Dolby Vision
FHD - Full HD (1080p)
UHD - Ultra HD (4k)

Firestick 4k with Auto Resolution -

• Firestick UI launches at 1920*1080p resolution @ 60Hz by default.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, HD. On playing DV content we get DV logo and TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is FHD, no UDH in DV or otherwise. Can see the video options available before playing any title. No Stats.
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. App does its own frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available. Can see the video resolution when playing any title.
• Hotstar and Disney+ - Content available in DV, HD. On playing DV content we get DV logo and TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is FHD, no UDH in DV or otherwise. Option to see detailed stats of content playing.
• Youtube - Max FHD option available for Videos.
• 4k File from local server - VLC is able to render 4K files at UHD as expected.

Firestick 4k with forced 4k Resolution -

• Firestick UI launches at 3840*2160p resolution @ 60Hz with HDR 10 by default.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, UHD, HD. On playing DV content we don't see DV logo and TV's HDR Picture Mode menu is activated instead. Max resolution available is UDH (for DV too).
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. No in-app frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available.
• Hotstar and Disney+ - Similar to Netflix's.
• Youtube - Till 4k option available for Videos.
• 4k File from local server - VLC is able to render 4K files at UHD as expected.

TV's Inbuilt App -

• UI feels like at 720p, bit blurry.
• Netflix - Contents available in DV, UHD and HD. On playing DV content we don't see DV logo but TV's DV Picture Mode menu is activated. Max resolution is UDH in DV or otherwise. Can see the video options available before playing any title. Small Stats available that says 2160p content is being played (For a UHD + DV).
• Prime Video - Contents available in HD, HDR, UHD HDR. App does its own frame rate and resolution adjustment. Max Resolution is UHD with TV's HDR Picture Mode available. Can see the video options available before playing any title.
• 4k File from local server - Inbuilt media player is Able to render 4K files at UHD as expected, But content lags after some time.

Conclusion -

• Developer tools confirm that Firestick 4k is using dolby vision codec for playing DV contents and Resolution is UHD but for some reason TV is considering it as HDR content or its giving priority to HDR Picture mode over DV Picture mode when Video being played is UHD + DV. But works fine if video played is FHD + DV. Maybe it has to do with the fact that when forcing 4k resolution connection established is by default HDR 10 and it takes priority over DV. Or there is some bug that's stopping DV mode to kick in with UHD.
• Codec and Color Standard used as shown by Developer tools -
  • UHD + DV - dolby vision, BT2020_10_DoVI (Seen mostly on Netflix and Disney+)
  • UDH + HDR - hevc, BT2020_10_HDR10Plus (Seen on Prime Video), hevc, BT2020_10_HDR10
  • UHD & FHD - hevc, BT709_8_SDR, BT709_10_SDR
• 4k @ 60hz vs 4k @ 50hz made no difference to the results, same goes for 8 bit, 10 bit and 12 bit.
• To enjoy the 4k contents on Firestick 4k (exception Prime Video), Looks like we have to force the 4k Resolution and sacrifice the DV mode and settings that TV provides and settle with HDR Picture mode options instead or else use inbuilt Netflix app as suggested by @aditya2603d

I will add few pics soon for the above observations. @lightgamer - Couldn't find a way to get Firestick 4k UHD DV content play on TV as DV with DV Picture mode. Tried almost all settings. So I will suggested as well to skip it unless okay with HDR Picture mode..

I am adding Pics for my above observation. I am adding those pics only that I captured at UHD with Firestick 4k running @ 4k resolution forced.
Doesn't make sense to post Firestick 4k running @ Auto resolution since everything was in Full HD (except VLC and Prime Video).

I am happy that I got my phone setting somewhat right, These pics are close to real life TV's performance (around 50-70% close, meaning TV display in real is still 50-30% better than pics demonstrate here, had to compress pics too under 1mb to be able to upload).

D+ is Disney +, PV - Prime Video, NF - Netflix, YT - YouTube. Everything running at UHD with difference being SDR, HDR, HDR10 Plus, DV.
Backlight at 50%, Local Dimming Medium, Brightness 50, Contrast 50, Color Sat 40, Sharpness 0, Adaptive Contrast Off, Ultra Smooth motion Custom - Judder 6 Blur 5, Noise / MPEG Reduction Off, Color Temp Warm, Picture Mode HDR Day. Two Pics of TV too, Netflix playing UHD + DV and Prime Video with UHD + HDR 10.

In Pics you can see Firestick Developer tools giving vital info. In top left (or in some case bottom left) you can see the Display resolution and Hz that a particular App launches in Firestick 4k. There is CPU, RAM usage etc on top in some pics. On Right you can see the actual Audio and Video details of content playing.

 

[sijuvrm]

Thanks for the detailed reply man. So it seems like the issue is not with the Firestick but with the TV not interpreting that data properly. In that case, I can go with the firestick 4k as well since it can get fixed eventually with the firmware/OS update.

I get 16.5% reward rate on Amazon purchases. Combining that with the 10% HDFC discount we're getting on the sale it's effectively a 25% discount. The firestick 4k went down to 3599 on the August sale and 3100 during February sale, so there's a good chance it will hit 3600 at least on the big Diwali sale. At that price paying for it makes sense considering I'll get it for 2700 effectively with my discounts. That's cheaper than the current US pricing at $49. Also you get Dolby Atmos and 4k in UI v/s no Atmos and 1080p UI on Mi Box 4k.

Since you have a local server for trying out HDR playback, I'm sure you didn't have any issues playing back HDR movies over local network on VLC? The TV's native app works fine with local stuff and even HDR10 stuff, but doesn't work for a lot of formats and has extremely inefficient I/O. So is VLC and Plex on Firestick 4k better?

@lightgamer - Its actually a HDD connected to my Router where I keep movies and access over local Network/smb with max transfer speed of 25-30 MB/s over 5Ghz. I had issues in past playing very large movies like 15-20GB plus over the local network (Maybe because of speed limitation or TV not able to render, I had VU Premium then).

Anyways, I played HDR, SDR movies on VLC on Firestick 4k from local network and had no issues on U79 (file sizes were under 10GB though). I did have issue with TV's inbuilt media player, It played fine initially but started to lag / buffer after sometime. I am using Firestick 4k for more than 1 year now. Its a solid device, never lagged and UI is super fast. And as you can see in my earlier pics, Its CPU and Ram are in good state when playing UHD HDR10 or DV content. From my past experiences I can say VLC is much better on Firestick 4K also due to superior and stable 5ghz connection. May want to check the audio lag when connecting Bluetooth speaker to Firestick 4k or try using TV's Bluetooth connection, whichever works faster. Not an issue on VLC as it has audio delay adjustments. Have not tried Plex recently.

 

[lightgamer]

I am adding Pics for my above observation. I am adding those pics only that I captured at UHD with Firestick 4k running @ 4k resolution forced.
Doesn't make sense to post Firestick 4k running @ Auto resolution since everything was in Full HD (except VLC and Prime Video).

I am happy that I got my phone setting somewhat right, These pics are close to real life TV's performance (around 50-70% close, meaning TV display in real is still 50-30% better than pics demonstrate here, had to compress pics too under 1mb to be able to upload).

D+ is Disney +, PV - Prime Video, NF - Netflix, YT - YouTube. Everything running at UHD with difference being SDR, HDR, HDR10 Plus, DV.
Backlight at 50%, Local Dimming Medium, Brightness 50, Contrast 50, Color Sat 40, Sharpness 0, Adaptive Contrast Off, Ultra Smooth motion Custom - Judder 6 Blur 5, Noise / MPEG Reduction Off, Color Temp Warm, Picture Mode HDR Day. Two Pics of TV too, Netflix playing UHD + DV and Prime Video with UHD + HDR 10.

In Pics you can see Firestick Developer tools giving vital info. In top left (or in some case bottom left) you can see the Display resolution and Hz that a particular App launches in Firestick 4k. There is CPU, RAM usage etc on top in some pics. On Right you can see the actual Audio and Video details of content playing.

Thanks a lot. The settings you used are kinda dull, no? I don't see any reason to keep local dimming at medium and backlight at 50% for HDR/DV content. You won't get good blacks without local dimming high and the backlight at 50% essentially makes it a mediocre 350 nit TV.

I've watched a lot of content till now and the only place where you'll keep local dimming to low is sports and and high everywhere else. Medium is bad with everything.

I'm assuming that if you go to the menu while playing DV you still get into HDR day or the HDR10 mode you set, no?

What about when you played HDR10 content with VLC? The TV correctly switches to HDR10 mode, right?