DVDs see a Blu-ray of light in Samsung format

DVDs will make a comeback, after Samsung announced new high-density DVDs and a player capable of displaying 4K movies.

DVDs will make a comeback, after Samsung announced last night new high-density DVDs and a player capable of displaying 4K movies. The new format, Ultra HD Blu-ray, is probably the most significant development in DVD formats since Blu-ray itself.

Although 4K or ultra-high definition TVs are becoming common, the problem has been distributing content as 4K movie file sizes are too big for traditional Blu-ray disks. Viewers have had to resort to portable hard drives to get genuine 4K content.

That problem is solved today, with Samsung in Berlin announcing a new Ultra HD Blu-ray player that will play new UHD Blu-ray in what the company said was “a breakthrough in the world of at-home viewing”. Samsung said the new player was also capable of upscaling traditional DVD and Blu-ray content to 4K quality.

The new player has been a long time coming. In January last year, Samsung Australia vice-president for consumer electronics Philip Newton said Samsung had technology in place to prod­uce high-quality, four-layer Blu-ray disks for distributing 4K content, but the issue was developing a universally accepted industry­-wide format for it.

Samsung plans to have the new Ultra DVD players in retail shops early next year.

The South Korean electronics makers said it had forged a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox to distribute 4K movie content suitable for Samsung players.

The new format will also be capable of delivering high dynam­ic range quality media. It is understood Twentieth Century Fox has made a commitment to make future movies available in UHD with high dynamic range.

It’s not known whether the new format will see DVD movie stores reopen their doors, but it might give a few remaining ones an extra lease of life.

Chris Griffith travelled to Berlin courtesy of Samsung