Panasonic: The THX-certified DMP-UB900 ships in the spring in Europe and comes to the U.S. and Canada sometime in the second half. Pricing wasn’t disclosed.
It supports playback of high-resolution audio formats, including WAV, DSD, ALAC and FLAC. It also offers 4K streaming services, DLNA, mandated HDR 10 and dual HDMI outputs. One HDMI output features HDMI 2.0a to send copy-protected 4K HDR video to a compatible TV. The other features HDMI 1.4 to send surround sound to the installed base of AVRs whose 1.4 HDMI 1.4 inputs and outputs don’t pass through copy-protected 4K content to a TV. It lacks internal hard drive, which was included in a model unveiled at IFA for non-U.S. markets. Additional details were unavailable.
P&F USA: Under the licensed Philips brand, the company plans spring availability of the BDP7501 a suggested retail of less than $399.
It is equipped with HDR 10 but not Dolby Vision HDR, even though some Philips 4K TVs this year will be Dolby Vision-equipped. It also features HEVC and VP9 decoders for playing 4K Netflix and 4K YouTube content. The player also comes with HDMI 2.0a and 1.4a outputs, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Ethernet and USB Multimedia.
It lacks the format’s copy-and-export option, formerly called Digital Bridge, enabling a built-in or external hard drive to store bit-for-bit copies of multiple 4K discs, including bonus content and interactive features, and transfer only the movie itself to a portable device.
Samsung: The UBD-K8500 player, priced at a suggested $499 but available for preorder at $399, will be available in March, the company said, though Amazon posted a release date of Feb. 14. Best Buy’s website said preorders would arrive by Feb 22. Both retailers offer free shipping.
The player lacks the copy and export capability but plays CDs and 3D Blu-ray discs, supports HDR 10, and up-scales Blu-ray discs and DVDs to 4K. Other features include Wi-Fi and such streaming services as Netflix and Amazon in 4K. Other streaming services include Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Amazon Video, Spotify, Facebook, Google TV, MLB.TV, Bloomberg, DivX, CinemaNow and YouTube.
The player also sends audio wirelessly to Samsung’s wireless multiroom-audio speakers. Two HDMI outputs are available, one with HDMI 2.0a and the other with HDMI 1.4.
