The race for the first 4K Blu-ray player is well and truly under way at CES 2016, as both Samsung and Panasonic have announced more details about their forthcoming home entertainment systems. First up was Panasonic, who unveiled its very first 4K Blu-ray player in the form of the DMP-UB900.
According to Panasonic, the DMP-UB900's new 4K High-Precision Chrome processor will allow it to reproduce images "exactly as their creators intended them to look", and it will use the same chroma processing and high gradation processing that has been used by Panasonic's Hollywood Laboratory Blu-ray R&D facility. It will also have support for high dynamic range (HDR) and the BT.2020 wide colour gamut, making it a perfect candidate for the UHD Alliance's UHD Premium logo which was unveiled yesterday.
How do I watch 4K Ultra HD and what content is available in the UK?
Panasonic also hopes the DMP-UB900 will be able to deliver a next-generation audio experience thanks to its hi-fi quality audio components. Using a twin HDMI arrangement, Panasonic says this will separate audio and video signals to help suppress unwanted noise. It also supports 7.1-channel audio with each terminal receiving the gold-plated treatment to help prevent oxidization and maintain high signal conductivity. As you'd expect from a flagship Blu-ray player, there's high-resolution audio support as well, including both 5.6MHz and 2.8MHz DSD files and ALAC formats.
To help combat the lack of content currently available in 4K, Panasonic is also planning for the UB900 to support 4K video-on-demand services, so expect to see Netflix and potentially Amazon Instant Video built-in as standard apps. Of course, you'll also be able to use the UB900 to watch 4K videos and photos you've shot yourself, and its 802.11ac, Miracast and DLNA support means you can share content with your whole family over your home network.
Samsung, meanwhile, announced that you'll be able to pre-order its first 4K Blu-ray player from today. Originally unveiled at IFA last year, the UBD-K8500 will be available for $400 in March, with the UK to hopefully follow shortly afterwards. We'll bring you more details as they're announced.
