If you are looking for a 4K Blu-Ray player then they aren't cheap. Samsung UBD-K8500 costs £429 while the Panasonic DMP-UB900 costs £599.

The cheapest option is to buy the forthcoming XBox One S 500GB version for £249 (more expensive options are available if you seek more storage). Whats more I have found with so called smart DVD / Blu-ray / TV's that support is pulled pretty quickly and some apps for online service cease to work. (I should know I have a Sony Blu-ray ) Plus I would expect about 10 years of support for the XBox One S as they are still supporting the 360.

Sony look set to offer a 4K version of the PS4 in the new year which will have more details about it on the 7th September.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/1384...nning-4k-discs

What about Samsung UBD K8500?

Slightly expensive than the Xbox One S

http://www.techradar.com/news/video/...ht-now-1321481

I already mentioned that one in my original post. The XBox One S is a much more capable machine and goes beyond what the Panasonic or Samsung can do making them very poor value for money.

Sounds like good news for anyone more interested in 4K UHD HDR blu ray movies than gaming.

It's set to do what the PS3 did for Sony back when blu ray (BD) itself was launched. It helped blu ray win the BD vs HD-DVD format war by getting a box, capable of playing the then new blu ray discs, under many gamer's TVs.

A shame it doesn't have the AV enthusiast in mind, the lack of a second HDMI output for the connection to standard AV receivers that do not support HDCP 2.2 pass through would be a deal breaker for some, both the Samsung and Panasonic feature two HDMI outs which are able to split video and HD audio for those who do not yet have a UHD capable receiver.

I agree it's good value for money as long as you're happy with standard 5.1. How long will it be before players are available for under £100.

Looking forward to hear what the PS4.5 has up its sleeve, I've resisted UHD until it settles down a bit, the PS4.5 could be on top of the player list as it would be a perfect replacement for my PS3 Slim.

A console may have more features, but there are caveats to using it as a Blu-ray player.

More involved set-up process.
More complex menus to navigate.
No proper remote control included.
Regular firmware updates required.
Internet connection required for first use.
Higher power consumption.
More noise.
More heat.

Dont get me wrong, if you're buying a game console anyway, the fact it includes a "free" 'Blu-ray player is a massive bonus. They are also cheap way in.

At the same time, I'm sure there are people that would rather pay more money for a simple to use device created purely for that purpose.

I thought the Xbox has a dedicated media controller, like the PS3 does, which should make it easy to use as a UHD BD Player.

They all do, but they are an additional purchase and not always great to use.

Regular firmware updates are a great thing. Standalone players might get a year or two's support if you are lucky. So if there are problems with new discs or new features you can simply chuck the standalone player in the bin.

Like others have said the media centre remote controls are available. The PS3 and PS4 are Bluetooth. The Xbox 360 and XBox One have one as well.

Yes there is a place for standalone players but with such silly price tags it makes little sense to spend money on them right now.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/11/9...rice-announced

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/a...s/media-remote

Yep, although it has to be said that the rules of the game are a bit different this time. There's no rival format, and while 4K is the new kid on the block I do wonder if the take-up of the format will be as big as the manufacturer's hope. Back in 2007/2008 when the battle was raging there wasn't a HD streaming option either. That's not the case today. I think a lot of folk will choose streamed 4K (albeit at lower quality) for it's convenience rather than investing in another physical medium. So while MS has pinched a leaf out of Sony's book I think they're signed up for the wrong race. Don't get me wrong, having more 4K players out there won't hurt, and if it's part of the strategy for bigger and better games then great; but it's not the same master stroke that Sony pulled all those years ago.

Occasional firmware updates to keep features alive is one thing. But multi-GB, mandatory, monthly updates can become intrusive, especially when they are maintaining and tweaking a bloated OS that the owners won't be using most of.

As I said, I'm not disputing the fact that consoles make for a good alternative to a standalone BD player, especially to gamers willing to compromise on the experience, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them to the wider public unless price was the leading factor.

I'm not a gamer, but have just pre-ordered a 500gb One S.
Having just purchased a new Sammy SUHD TV I'd now like a 4k player to show it off to it's best advantage, and at the price the new xbox seemed a "no brainer".
Remember when the PS3 came out, I bought one for the Blu Ray capabilities and even now, years on, you can't knock it for it's performance.

Initially sales look promising with UHD bluray selling four times as fast as bluray.

228,000 UHD titles sold upto June 24th compared to only 57,000 bluray titles.

http://variety.com/2016/digital/news...or-1201804322/

Seriously?? beyond my Panasonic thx certified UHD player that has been reviewed as having better sound quality of many high end cd players?

A games machine that unlike the forthcoming Sony only "upscales games to 4k"

From TechRadar
"The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format sets a new benchmark in picture performance, and Panasonic's DMP-UB900 is a worthy poster boy. Coupled to an HDR display, its imagery is often astonishing. It's also a great regular Blu-ray player, and a surprisingly fine CD spinner."

And best of all it isn't made by Microsoft, HDDVD anyone.

You cannot even consider comparing these two machines, one is a dedicated UHD player, the other one is trying to cover all bases and not very well, a non dolby atmos uhd player an upscaling 4k playing games machine, no dedicated socketry for home cinema users.
What is your next post, that a bus is a cheaper alternative to a Lamborghini because they both carry passengers and have 4 wheels??

Non argument before it even started.

On the plus side UHD players are considerably cheaper then blu ray players were at the beginning. There are more titles available than blu ray had at the same stage because there's no format war, where many titles were exclusive to one format or the other.

The main long term risk is the growing uptake of streaming, and that risk applies to the whole future of disc based physical media - not just UHD blu ray. I think they'll coexist for a very long time (20-30 years) much like CD still does alongside audio streaming services.

A games machine can offer value for money option for those who don't need bells whistles top end machines but want to cover many bases at a reasonable cost. Believe it or not not everyone needs or want the best quality ever either because they cant afford it or just don't care about it. Hence most people don't own Lamborghini's.

We don't know what the specs for the new PS4 will be so this is just supposition by yourself. The XBox One that will be released in 2017 (Scorpio) will support 4K Gaming.

Video and Audio format wars are nothing new. There is a long list. Sometimes you back an winner sometimes you don't. Sony and Betamax


I think you will find a bus has more than 4 wheels (6 wheels is quite common actually)

From Pocket-lint
"Picture quality with 4K Blu-rays is excellent and easily on a par with other dedicated UHD machines we've seen in the past. We have to admit that we only had an older 4K TV to hand, one without HDR, so couldn't reliably tell you how the movies would look with the higher dynamic range colour and contrast, but for crispness and detail there is no parallel".


I think there is an argument for anybody looking at PQ above all else.

BIBI i don't think there's a problem with the new Xbox PQ, but really, pocket lint were beyond stupid to say anything about movie PQ when they had not hooked it up to an HDR TV.

Not quite the PS3 had a good media remote but it was nearly £50 or so (if I remember) the PS4 still doesn't have a 1st party remote (the 3rd party is apparently garbage). Sometimes I wised they'd stop messing with VR, and actually give us things we need.

Perhaps I would agree with some of those caveats in the past, especially noise in the previous console generation. However, the Xbox One is one of the quietest systems I have ever used and is virtually inaudible in all but the most intensive gaming thanks to a really good cooling system. The PS4 sadly is worse in this regard but still very quiet in light usage like movie playback.

The Xbox One has an official remote, which is also really good, though perhaps a bit on the small side for some. It does light up on touch though which is nice if you view in a darkened room.

Overall though I just think Microsoft has been really smart in being one of the first to market with a 4K Bluray capable system and ironically beaten Sony to market too, a complete reversal of the 360 vs PS3 situation of last generation. Likewise I just cannot understand the logic for some people to pay more for dedicated players with a far lower feature set and fewer capabilities. Dedicated players have their place but IMHO there should be an associated cost benefit for the features you give up over not buying a multifunction device, yet this generation the reverse is true, which just appears ludicrous to me but I guess I’m not their target market.

I have however recently got a 4K set and would like to get the Xbox One S but as I own the original ‘old’ Xbox One I am struggling to justify it. Maybe if I could sell my old system for a good price but I suspect the market is saturated with people having the same idea. Real shame Microsoft did think of existing customers and include some kind of trade in/upgrade initiative….