Samsung Unveils World’s First 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player

Megalith

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At the IFA in Berlin this week, Samsung unveiled the UBS-K8500, which will play back movies at four times the resolution of Blu-ray discs. Will you be an early adopter?

Samsung didn't reveal the UBS-K8500's exact pricing or availability, only saying that it would be "less than $500" (~£400) when it launches in the US and Europe next year. Some of the first content for UHD Blu-ray players will come courtesy of 20th Century Fox, which promises to launch several UHD Blu-rays for the launch of Samsung's players. Not only will new films get the UHD treatment, but there'll be some remastered back-catalogue stuff, too. Fox showed off the box art for one such film, the Colin Firth-led Kingsman: The Secret Service.
 
I can definitely see myself getting one of these and a 4K TV for Christmas 2016. If memory serves, many ordinary BDs are down-converted from 4K and still retain some of the 4K information.
 
I'll probably get one eventually, especially if I get a larger TV.
 
About time. I have been waiting for a 4k player before buying a 4k tv.
 
So is the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD war over now?

It occurs to me that some of you newbies might be too young to know what HD-DVD was. That was ten years ago.
 
What war? That was a skirmish that was over the day the PS3 came out, even if skirmishes continued for a few more months.

I've got some HD DVDs as well as a Hybrid player on my PC, but I only got that because HDDVD disks were really cheap.

That said, I'm really happy that this is coming and that we'll get the wider gamut and HDR support from day one. I may go 4k this year, but there's a good chance I'll wait till next year. Either way, this is good news. The only thing I'd like to see is an end to side lit back lighting. They really need localized back lighting on all TVs, not just the top of the line $9,000 models.
 
Will you be an early adopter?
Since I've never been happy with any Samsung product I've purchased, no, if it's just Samsung I won't be buying it.

I am looking forward to UHD Blu-ray. Love my Sony 4K TV.
 
Less then $500?

You may not realize this but that is an insanely good price for the 1st generation of new content.
 
So is the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD war over now?

It occurs to me that some of you newbies might be too young to know what HD-DVD was. That was ten years ago.


Still have my Toshiba XA2 in my rack ;) wonderfully built player.... though it rarely gets used now. My Oppo BDP-93 has taken over obviously.
 
If these players support h265 and VP9 then I'll end up getting one when the prices drop, perhaps 18 months time. That's definately out of the early adopter window :)
 
The article mentioned that UHD spec supports 60fps. I would love to see that becoming a standard in the near future.
 
Yeah, action movies at 30frames is eye murder.. for all other movies, 30 is not broken.!
 
What war? That was a skirmish that was over the day the PS3 came out, even if skirmishes continued for a few more months.

I've got some HD DVDs as well as a Hybrid player on my PC, but I only got that because HDDVD disks were really cheap.

That said, I'm really happy that this is coming and that we'll get the wider gamut and HDR support from day one. I may go 4k this year, but there's a good chance I'll wait till next year. Either way, this is good news. The only thing I'd like to see is an end to side lit back lighting. They really need localized back lighting on all TVs, not just the top of the line $9,000 models.

had nothing to do with the PS3 having a BD player and everything to do with the big corporations being bought out by the "winning" standard!
 
If these players support h265 and VP9 then I'll end up getting one when the prices drop, perhaps 18 months time. That's definately out of the early adopter window :)

"However, the reason why Samsung decided to call its new UBS-K8500 player the first 4K Blu-ray player in the world is because it is the first to feature the H.265 / HEVC codec in 4K decoding, something that the old BD-F7500 didn't have." (source)
 
had nothing to do with the PS3 having a BD player and everything to do with the big corporations being bought out by the "winning" standard!

It had just as much to do with the PS3 as it did by any "buying out" you claim. HD-DVD had its big backers too, who i would dare say had equally as much cash flow. PS3 was instant millions of BD players in households, dont be dull.
 
I like the part where the article said netflix 4K streaming will be "hard to beat" got a good laugh out of that one, unless you live in an area where you can actually GET a reliable 50mps stream then this is the way to go.
 
I been watching netflix 4K streaming and it's pretty good as I am only now just starting to watch Blacklist and Breaking Bad .. from start of both.

The HD DVD was a good standard if it won and I would say the PS 3 is what helped Blu-Ray win by selling more players even if the buyers never used them.. When the fight was over you can pick up a HD DVD player for $99 and has one of the best upscales out there for a DVD player.. I have 2 of them and both still work fine.
 
Less then $500?

You may not realize this but that is an insanely good price for the 1st generation of new content.

I thought the same, but it's worth nothing that HD-DVD launched at 499.99 (or was it 399.99?).
 
This would excite me a lot more if there was still a place you could rent discs. I have no interest in buying discs. It costs too much and then the disc takes up room in your house.
 
It had just as much to do with the PS3 as it did by any "buying out" you claim. HD-DVD had its big backers too, who i would dare say had equally as much cash flow. PS3 was instant millions of BD players in households, dont be dull.

Not even close. If they had "just as much money" they would have been able to buy out the other powers-that-be and HD-DVD would have "won". But those backers were in it for the correct format with the most benifits to the consumer. Something the BD possy weren't really that keen on. Don't be dramatic.
 
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