LG UBK80 4K Ultra HD HDR Blu-ray Player, Black

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An issue reported by @ kaiyen in the unveiling thread (i.e., white screen, freezing, failing to respond) had me concerned. I hooked mine up using Premium Certified HDMI cables and just finished watching a Blu-Ray (non 4K UHD) and it played flawlessly. I have and extensive collection of Blu Rays... but no UHD's to test at this time. Will be adding some to my collection this week. I'm hoping (guessing) kaiyens problem might have be related to cable issues.

So here I come across the first missing feature that really annoys me. There is no way to disable upscaling (that I have found) of standard blu rays at the player and send your TV a 1080p signal. I know the Sony X700 can do this. I would imagine the C8 has much better upscaling capabilities than an entry level UHD player. Has anyone found a way to disable the upscaling done by the player?Please note: A Smart Blu-Ray Player is a platform that can run 3rd party Apps. 3rd party content providers may remove Apps from the Smart TV platform or stop supporting them at any time, and we cannot guarantee an App’s availability. When new Smart Blu-Ray Player products are launched, there may be also be a delay before certain Apps become available. Availability of Apps is not included within the terms of the manufacturer’s warranty, or the John Lewis 2-year Guarantee for audio visual products, or the 5-year Guarantee for TVs. This is one of the most affordable Blu-ray players we've tested. Add it to your 'maybe' pile if you're shopping for a basic Blu-ray player, but be warned that this model doesn't have 4K upscaling technology and won't play 3D Blu-rays. I turn on the player and am greeted with a super blurry LG logo and then the sparse menu. The menu looked blurry as well. I know that the interface on these budget players usually aren't rendered in 4K, but it still seemed off. I popped in the Brave blu ray as my first test to see how standard 1080p content would play. I found the image to be extremely soft. Looked kind of like the menu. I verified that the TV was receiving a 4K signal from the player upscaling the blu ray. I figure this soft image is not normal, so I hunt down another HDMI cable. I grab the one that I was using between my PS4 and the plasma the OLED was replacing. Things visibly improved. The menu wasn't as blurry and the Brave disc seemed much sharper. However it still seemed a bit soft. I know that the C8 is capable of upscaling 1080p content quite nicely because hours before the family and I watched Coco via Netflix. It looked amazing, much better than the Brave disc and that Coco stream was only 1080p.

Solution: Thanks to @ mikez28 In the menu turn the Simple-Link feature off. The UBK90 will no longer turn on when turning on your set.

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LG's support of their TV's is very good, firmware regularly released and information given to show what the FW update does. To use the player, including settings and selecting options there will be an on-screen display on your TV which makes all the processes much easier to follow. Also, look out for notifications on the display for software updates. Pros The first job should be to get the player connected to your TV which will require the HDMI cable we previously mentioned. Other equipment you could connect includes an amplifier, and a computer or laptop.

The first of these is Wi-Fi capability meaning you can connect the UBK90 wirelessly to the internet. When you do, you will be able to access streaming services such as Netflix, which you cannot do with UBK80. The player did a wireless update right away which went without a hitch. First UHD disc I tried was tomb raider 2018. The unit is very quiet so that’s good since the previous gen player had a lot of noise complaints. The one I got is very quiet. The disc loaded right up and the Dolby Vision indicator popped right up on my OLED. My AVR is older so I have to run the two HDMI cable setup. I have the player set to PCM and I chose the resolution since if it’s on AUTO then the player does the scaling and I’d rather my TV do it. Many products can also play music, via a variety of formats, or access the FM radio. Features like this make up the best rear entertainment systems.NOTE: Unfortunately... it seems the Magic Remote that comes with the LG TV is not 100% compatible with the UBK Bluray player. (at least not in the case of my B6) The only keys that work are the d-pad buttons, play, and pause. The scroll wheel in the center does not interact with the BD player. You'll find in some situations you'll need to use the remote that comes with the player.