If you’ve had that 4K TV for what seems like forever, just itching for some more great content to watch on it, then this will be the news you were waiting for:
Samsung’s 4K Blu-ray player is now available for preorder at Best Buy.
With it, you’ll be able to watch Ultra High-Definition (UHD) Blu-ray movies and other 4K content on a compatible 4K/UHD television.
Why would you want to watch 4K content? UHD offers four times the resolution of standard HD, at 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, resulting in better, brighter images, a wider colour range, and the potential for an improved, overall viewing experience. With the proper set up in place, including a UHD TV, source device (like a Blu-ray player), source content (like a UHD Blu-ray disc), and ideally, a great surround sound setup for audio, the full benefits of 4K/UHD content can finally be realized.
Samsung’s player offers up to 64 times greater colour expression than conventional Blu-ray players, and playback at a fast 60 frames-per-second to offer a smoother picture for fast-action scenes in high-action movies and other content, like sports. Plus, you can still view your standard Blu-ray discs on the player, and it will upscale the content to near-UHD quality. You can also view standard DVDs in upscaled quality.
Additionally, the Blu-ray player supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, which helps output better contrast and brightness: your blacks will look a deeper black and whites much brighter. Images can be more lifelike, and the picture overall more pleasing, particularly on a large-sized TV, and even when viewing up close.
If streaming content is your preference, you can use the player to stream from services that plan to offer a growing list of 4K titles, like Netflix. And you can use it to play back music via CDs as well.
Designed to match Samsung’s latest SUHD TVs, the upcoming Blu-ray player employs a sexy, curved and super-slim brushed black design. On the front are touch-sensitive control buttons and an LED display. Considering AV equipment can be the focal point of your living room, it’s a nice tough to have gear that looks great, too.
Other specs include built-in Wi-Fi to connect to your home network, along with the the Samsung Apps Smart Hub; 7.1-channel Dolby Digital, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD audio processing; wireless multi-room capability; two HDMI out ports, one optical digital audio output, Ethernet, and AllShare DLNA.
The unit, which measures a mere 15.98” x 1.76” x 9.06” (w/h/d) and weighs 4.19 lbs., consumes just 0.3-watts of standby power, or 34-watts operating power.
Thankfully, many studios have confirmed upcoming titles that will be offered in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, including Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. It won’t be long before you’ll be able to pick up UHD Blu-ray versions of titles like Kingsman: The Secret Service, Salt, Life of Pi, and The Martian to enjoy on a 4K TV and through a UHD Blu-ray player like this one.
You can now pre-order the Samsung 3D Blu-ray Player with 4K Upscaling & Wi-Fi.
It’s great to see that 4K Blu-ray is on the way, but I think the market will be limited until that price comes down. The difficulty faced by 4K Blu-ray is simple: most smart TVs are coming with 4K Netflix, which is “good enough” for the majority of buyers out there. They’re unaware that they’re missing out on a picture that is less compress, better audio formats and extras, because for many people the thought is that “4k is 4k” right?
Streaming, for the foreseeable future, simply won’t be able to match physical media in quality, so for image and sound purists out there, a $600 bill (plus media at $40 a pop or whatever the exchange rate hits us with) are in your future.
Sadly I’m in that crowd. My poor wallet. Glad I have a Best Buy card
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