Tech question?????

Keep seeing an AdChoices banner at the top of threads -- is that supposed to be there or is my computer being weird?

i think if you log in they are supposed to disappear

My office's VPN wants my "portal address." That's the same as the IP address I found on my laptop, right? Also known as IPv4 address?

Because this is all new to me... I also just found out I have a 64-bit OS. As a side question, DO THEY REALLY THINK ORDINARY NONGEEK PEOPLE KNOW THIS MOTHERFUCKING SHIT?????

i'm asking bcz the IT guy is no doubt overwhelmed and miiiight answer my email in 2-3 hours.

the portal address is the address of the VPN you're connecting to ... could be the domain name of a server at your office (something like vpn.company.com)

thanks... how OBVIOUS

We're considering updating our old HD television to a 4K one, and I have a couple of stupid questions, I'm sure one of you can answer them:

1) Do 4K devices require special HDMI cables for 4K quality picture, or will any old HDMI cable do?

2) We have a Yamaha RX-V673 A/V amp from 2012. Our current setup is that I have a Chromecast connected to the amp, and then the amp is connected to the HD television. AFAIK the amp just lets the visual signal go through it and only processes the audio signal? If I buy the the 4K capable version of Chromecast, would this setup still work? I.e., will the amp let the 4K signal from the Chromecast go through so the television shows a 4K image, or do we need a new A/V amp too?

picked a random tech questions thread and find the previous (unanswered) question is quite similar to mine...

i don't have a 4k player or a 4k TV. what happens if i play a 4k disk? nothing? downscaling?

(the 4k disk is in a box with 3 other non-4k disks so it's not like I'm buying it specially, am just curious)

nothing

the tv doesn't matter but you need a compatible blu-ray player for the 4k disc

interestingly the 4k and non-4k versions appear to be on the same disk. or is it?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ju-Grudge-Collection-Limited-Blu-ray/dp/B08R5LCFN7
says disks 2 and 3 for the first film, which i guess is 4k and non-4k disks

my box looks identical but the second case only has one disk inside it. the cover and the outer box and the write-up on the website mentions a new 4k transfer. disk is marked as 1080.
https://www.arrowfilms.com/ju-on-the-grudge-collection-blu-ray/15065815.html

(and my box was also 1/3rd the price in the recent sale)

the ones in the arrow link seem to be all standard blu-rays, your player will handle them fine.

the ones in the amazon link seem to be as you say, disk 2 is the 4k UHD disc that you can't play, evertyhing else is blu-ray like in the arrow box

4k transfer refers to the digitisation process and doesn't matter for playback; regular blu-rays are all AVC encoded 2k (1080p), and UHD blu-rays are HEVC encoded 4k (2160p)

they have a 4k disk for sale separately and it must've been part of the earlier limited edition box. i don't have the booklet they mention either.

(i helped write the avc packager they use in iPlayer, and the hevc version that's forthcoming so, yeah, familiar with that down to the tiniest detail, but that's streams and I've never thought about disks, beyond dvd)