Samsung unveils world’s first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc player

Ars Technica 2015-09-03

Mark Walton

Oooh... curvy. Samsung's new UBS-K8500 UHD Blu-ray disc player.

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ars.AD.queue.push(["xrailTop", {sz:"300x251", kws:["bottom"], collapse: true}]);BERLIN—Samsung has debuted the world's first ultra high-definition (UHD) Blu-ray player at IFA, the catchily titled UBS-K8500. Sporting a curved design to go along with the company's many curved TVs, the UBS-K8500 promises to play back movies at four times the resolution of standard Blu-ray discs, and with a colour palette that's 64 times larger (10-bit vs. 8-bit colour). Samsung's new UHD Blu-ray player will also support the new high dynamic range (HDR) standard via its HDMI 2.0a port.

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.

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