Review: Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player brings true Ultra HD to your lounge room without bandwidth stress

FIRST came 4K TVs, now 4K content is catching up, and it’s arriving on discs. We put the first wave of 4K Blu-ray Disc players to the test.

The Panasonic Ultra HD UB900 Blu-ray player is simple on the outside on smart where it counts.

FIRST came 4K TVs, now 4K content is catching up, and it’s arriving on discs.

For early 4K or ultra-high definition TV buyers, the choice was about future-proofing. Buy the screen now to be ready for 4K content later.

Streaming Netflix was the first practical way to see native 4K content on those 4K TVs but bandwidth restrictions can be problematic. Now the first wave of 4K Blu-ray Disc players are coming out, with Panasonic owning the first Australian announcement and Samsung’s model the first to arrive in Australian stores.

SLOW DRIVE: Aussies buying 4K TVs waiting for 4K content on disc

The Panasonic Ultra HD Blu-ray player (DMP-UB900) supports HDR (high dynamic range), which is the hottest TV technology this year.

The player will deliver true 4K content from a Blu-ray Disc to a TV but it also has built-in Netflix app for Ultra HD HDR streaming as well.

Like HDR photography, which combines images of different exposures, HDR television shows greater contrast. In a scene with both bright and dark parts, HDR will let you see more details.

If early 4K adopters feel frustrated, it’s surely because the first TVs didn’t support HDR technology. It’s stunning.

The Panasonic 4K Blu-ray Disc player has HDR which gives more detail in the darker and lighter parts of a scene.

All 4K TV makers boast about their ability to upscale HD content to UHD, but you get a better image — a truly cinematic quality — when playing native 4K content on a 4K TV.

The Panasonic Blu-ray player looks deceptively simple, with a glass panel on the front and sleek edges to blend with your home entertainment system.

Behind the basic appearance, there is a lot of technology, including colour gamut advancements developed in Panasonic’s Hollywood lab to deliver more lifelike colour.

The rear is confusing at first because it has two HDMI ports. One you connect to a TV, the other a surround-sound amplifier.

Digital optical output and 7.1-channel analog connections also feature, along with an SD card and USB connection.

We viewed the Blu-ray player connected to Panasonic’s new flagship TV, the 65-inch DX900 Ultra HD HDR television ($7149) and compared the image with a conventional Blu-ray Disc playing on a Panasonic DX640 TV ($4199) that had 4K but no HDR support.

From Mad Max: Fury Road to San Andreas, the contrast between 4K HDR content on one and upscaled 4K (no HDR) content on the other was chalk and cheese. The brilliance of one made the other look disappointing.

Of course, there are things you should consider before rushing off to buy a Panasonic Ultra HD Blu-ray player. It won’t be available until September for an unknown price.

Also, not every title that comes out in Ultra HD Blu-ray was shot in 4K, so making them Ultra HD involves some tweaking.

So far there are a dozen 4K Blu-ray titles available, costing about $50 each, but by Christmas, there should be 100 titles.

In an age of streaming media, buying content on disc can seem old-school, but there are good reasons to buy this Ultra HD Blu-ray player and the top reason is to make the most of that pricey 4K TV without worrying about your broadband bandwidth.

Panasonic DMP-UB900 Ultra HD Blu-ray player

Panasonic / 4.5/5 / tbc / panasonic.com/au/

Originally published as Review: Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player brings true Ultra HD to your lounge room without bandwidth stress