Samsung releasing first Ultra HD blu-ray player

The Samsung UBD-K8500 player supports HDR, the HEVC codec, 10-bit colour depth and has a “UHD Up-scaler” for non-4K video.

Although 4K or ultrahigh definition TVs are becoming common, the problem has been distributing content as 4K movie file-sizes are too big for traditional Blu-ray disks.

Samsung said the new player was also capable of upscaling traditional DVD and Blu-ray content to 4K quality. Although the market for home entertainment has significantly changed thanks to the introduction of video streaming websites like Hulu and Netflix, Inc. While some of these services also offer Ultra HD streaming, this can lead to bandwidth congestion and “buffering”, which is why a physical format disc for Ultra HD could gain some traction.

Samsung has announced a new Ultra HD Blu-ray player at IFA 2015 in preparation for the first wave of movies that will be releasing on the new format. In January 2014, Samsung Australia vice-president for consumer electronics Philip Newton told The Australianthat Samsung already had technology in place to produce high-quality four-layer Bu-Ray disks for distributing 4K content.

The debut of the format is expected by observers to revitalize Blu-ray Disc, given the familiarity of the format and the fact that more than 72 million households in the United States alone have at least one Blu-ray playback device. The improvements include sharper pictures, better contrast and richer, more natural colors.

During Samsung’s presentation, the Blu-ray Disc Association announced that Kingsman: The Secret Service will be the first 20th Century Fox film to be sold on Ultra HD Blu-ray, but a price for such discs hasn’t yet been revealed; expect films at launch to cost around £20. As is now becoming standard, dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) is supported, and there is a USB port up front.

However there is a catch and that is if you want to experience the new Ultra HD content, you will need a compatible Ultra HD TV, which in itself can be an expensive purchase.

Enter the Samsung Ultra HD Blu-ray Player (UBD-K8500).

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.