4K/Ultra HD Blu-Ray Discs: Everything You Need To Know! (Release Date, Players, Movies)

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• published: 05 Jan 2016
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CES 2016 has arrived, and 4K/Ultra HD Blu-Ray Discs are a very hot topic. But are they worth it? In this video, I'll review all the info and tell you everything you need to know about the new format, and answer questions like: How much has picture quality been improved? Will HDR be included? Are there any cool features? What's "Digital Bridge"? And when are players and movies being released? -- Hey, if you enjoyed this informational video, then please SUBSCRIBE to my channel, HandyAndy Tech Tips, for more quality content! -- MORE TECH SPECS: - It uses the H.265 (also known as HEVC) codec. - The maximum capacity of 4K Blu-Ray is 100GB. In fact, there's three different capacity discs, each with their own bitrate: 50GB has 82Mbit/s, 66GB has 108Mbit/s, and 100GB has 128Mbit/s. - The colour gamut is going from Rec.709 (developed for use with old CRT TVs, and outdated) to Recommendation BT.2020, just so you know. - All 4K Blu-Rays have HDCP 2.2, which is the latest version of the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection Standard, designed to prevent the copying of digital video content. This means that, if you're buying a home theatre receiver or a 4K TV, then you'll need to have one which supports this standard over HDMI 2. - REVIEW of video contents: - The most obvious thing about Ultra HD Blu-Ray is that it has better video quality - its 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 means you're getting 4x as many pixels as standard HD, which is 1920 x 1080. - But there's some more exciting features. It will support 4K video at up to 60Hz, plus Full HD at that resolution as well. As opposed to 1920 x 1080 at 24p, which was the maximum frame rate of HD Blu-Ray. 60Hz is the refresh rate of most common computer monitors. - You'll also get 10-bit colour, which allows for HDR, or High Dynamic Range, images. This is really exciting - essentially, instead of the 256 levels of brightness per channel you get with 8 bit displays, you'll be able to get 1024 intensity levels per channel (so that's for red, green, AND blue), which means a larger difference between full black and full white, so a wider colour gamut and better contrast is possible. - But unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), 4KBD doesn't support 3D content. Unsurprising, since every time 3D appears, it seems to die a slow death. But while you might not be able to get 3D at 4K, it turns out that manufacturers are free to make players that support the current generation of Blu-Ray 3D, which is 1080p to each eye. - A cool feature is Digital Bridge, which is like Ultraviolet, but allows you to make a bit-for-bit identical copy of your disc and watch it on other devices, like your tablet for example. You'll also be able to transfer your movies to a connected hard drive, and create a movie library on your 4K BD player without inserting physical discs. - So, what's the release date of Ultra HD Blu-Ray? Well, at the IFA Trade Show in Berlin in 2015, Samsung became the first company to announce an Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player, and it will be launched early this year. - A lot of major movie studios are readying to release titles on the new format - Sony has announced that its first wave of releases will come out early this year and will include five titles, including "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "The Smurfs 2". - And very recently, Warner Home Video also pledged their support, announcing that their first movie titles will include "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Man of Steel". - The format certainly seems worth it, and I hope consumers give it a chance.