Panasonic Debuts 4K Blu-ray Player at CES (1 Viewer)

At the 2015 CES Show, Panasonic has unveiled their first prototype 4K Blu-ray player which strangely enough, doesn't have an optical drive yet. Either way, it's exciting to see a tangible step on the path to UHD discs for the home.

Source:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7494863/panasonic-4k-blu-ray-player-prototype-ces-2015

Y'know, there's going to be some problems down the road, with the studios mastering 4K disks, and the hardware companies inexplicably obsessed from the beginning with the idea that 4K was going to be "all streaming"...

Ejanss said:

Y'know, there's going to be some problems down the road, with the studios mastering 4K disks, and the hardware companies inexplicably obsessed from the beginning with the idea that 4K was going to be "all streaming"...

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who said it was going to be all streaming? The only ones i heard that from was Netflix and Roku and maybe a few streaming fanbois? "All streaming" would leave out physical sales as well as downloads or any other non stream format would be a foolish assumption. Too much money on the table.

I agree - it's pretty clear that the BDA has always wanted to do physical media 4K, and the BDA includes hardware manufacturers. Streaming companies are all over 4K because they don't have any standards to ratify or technologies to develop, so of course it's quick to get 4K streaming to market. The quality however leaves much to be desired.

I am extremely excited to see a real 4K Blu-ray release in the next few years.

Ver exiting news! Can't wait to hear more and to see what titles come to the format this year !

Panasonic announces "Yeah, we got nothin'"

OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed the world's first1 Blu-ray Disc™ playback technology supporting the latest technologies such as 4K and High Dynamic Range , which are expected to be adopted in the next generation Blu-ray Disc standards2 (ULTRA HD BLU-RAY™). A prototype player will be on display at the 2015 International CES (Las Vegas, NV, United States) January 6-9, 2015.
This prototype integrates video processing and optical disc drive technologies that Panasonic has refined over many years, making it capable of reproducing 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixel)/60p[1]/10-bit[2] high resolution video, and supporting the latest technologies such as High Dynamic Range[3] that marks a major leap in the brightness peak from the previous 100 nit3 to 1,000-10,000 nit to improve the power of expression; wide color gamut standard BT.2020[4], which greatly increases color reproduction; high-efficiency video compression technology HEVC (H.265)/ Blu-ray Disc playback at a high bit rate of 100Mbps[5].
This marks a major advance in picture quality over current Blu-ray Disc players, and paves the way towards allowing consumers to enjoy the crisp, true-to-life quality of amazing 4K Ultra HD content in their own homes.
Since the announcement of the Blu-ray Disc standards in 2002, Panasonic has consistently taken the lead in standardization. In 2004 it released the world's first 50GB Blu-ray Disc recorder capable of double-sided recording, and in 2006 the world's first recorder capable of playing BD-Video, as well as being the first in the world to develop the technology to play back full HD 3D image data recorded to the Blu-ray Disc in 2008. With these and other achievements, Panasonic has constantly led the industry in developing Blu-ray devices.
Panasonic is now further redoubling its R&D efforts to bring its customers products that deliver amazing experiences and emotional impact. Panasonic will also participate in the newly-formed UHD Alliance4 to contribute to the progress of whole 4K (UHD) industry.
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates around 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.74 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2014. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.
1. As of January 6, 2015, for a Blu-ray Disc player supporting the latest technologies (e.g. 4K (Ultra HD) and High Dynamic Range) to be adopted in the ULTRA HD BLU-RAY™ next generation Blu-ray Disc standards.
2. The next generation Blu-ray Disc standards are being formulated by the Blu-ray Disc Association and have not yet been finalized. The technology to be adopted may change in the future.
3. Luminance per square meter (cd/m2) - "Blu-ray," "Blu-ray Disc," and "ULTRA HD BLU-RAY" are trademarks of the Blu-ray Disc Association.
4. The UHD Alliance is a global coalition of leading TV brands, film studios, content distributors and technology companies that aim to create a unified criterion for premium UHD platforms, from devices to content.
SPECIFICATION NOTES
4K / 60p
High speed display in 60 frames per second of 4K video (3,840 x 2,160 pixels - Ultra HD), which has four times the resolution of Full Hi-vision, for highly detailed videos with extremely smooth movement.
10-bit gradation
Previous Blu-ray Discs displayed the color signals (Y, Cb, Cr) in 8-bit gradation each (256 gradations). By expanding this to 10-bit gradation each (1,024 gradations), even minute signals can be faithfully reproduced to realize richly textured video.
High Dynamic Range
A technology that drastically expands the brightness peak from the previous 100 nit to 1,000-10,000 nit, marking a significant leap in the dynamic range of the picture. Bright light sources (e.g. lights or rays of the sun) and reflected light (from metal or water) that up to now were difficult to display can now be shown in rich textures.
BT.2020 wide color gamut
Compliant with the ITU-R BT.2020 wide color gamut signal formulated for 4K/8K broadcasting. Enables vividly rich coloration not previously possible on Blu-ray discs (BT.709 standard).
HEVC (H.265) / 100Mbps
Support for the highest 100Mbps video signal using the latest high-efficiency video compression technology. Compression efficiency and high bit rate far beyond previous Blu-ray discs (MPEG-4/AVC (H.264), maximum 40Mbps) enabling outstanding playback of high quality video with 4K/60p/10bit, High Dynamic Range, BT.2020, etc.

Sam said:

Panasonic announces "Yeah, we got nothin'"

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always the optimist...

Towergrove said:

who said it was going to be all streaming? The only ones i heard that from was Netflix and Roku and maybe a few streaming fanbois? "All streaming" would leave out physical sales as well as downloads or any other non stream format would be a foolish assumption. Too much money on the table.

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They suspiciously seem to always be seen together: Any praise of streaming/DL's future inevitably turns to "When quality 4K streaming becomes the dominant studio format, then you'll be sorry you said such mean things!", while any debate over 4K's future never seems to get past "But will the public have enough bandwidth to support 4K streaming?"


The only ones who seem to be talking about the disks are the ones trying to sell them, and that before the players.

Hah! So there is an optical drive after all. Sneakily done Panasonic. Now - if only the BDA could hurry up!

Prototype hardware is great, I'm sure every manufacturer has one they could have shown off. Without an official disk format tho we're not looking at a 2015 consumer release I'm afraid. Hell they finally just got together to announce that they agreed to talk amongst themselves....

Some actual useful details on the player here:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/uhd-bd-201501053979.htm

I have no need for one until its proved itself without hiccups and has studio content from all sides producing and if all looks fine in few years there should be great decrease in prices and lots of content to chose and buy.

As excited as I am about the possibilities of this new format and as much as I want to have 4K capability in my ht. If there is not a decent selection of 4K discs, if there are only 2-3 titles with no news about when we can expect to see titles released from a wide range of studios. Then I will not buy a player even though I have the 4K UHD TV to view the content! The sad part IMHO is that we are not getting enough news to have any idea if we will see both player and movie titles on disc by the time they are saying. I would very much like to see a player and movies available by Christmas 2015 and more importantly be able to demo a player in a retail store before buying.

Great article from our friend bill hunt:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/010615_1530

Note from his research that uhd bd may not be out until ces next year. 2016.

He also has a great follow up article today on the format with his thoughts as well.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/010815_1530

It will be interesting to watch all of this develop. Sound like many users are going to download. I have streaming services and they are ok. I am frustrated by their lack of titles that I want to watch. My father in law has Netflix and commented on this as well.
I have not purchased or rented a digital movie as of yet. I still prefer discs.

I'm interested in a 4k projection system. It's getting there, but not soon enough!

I will wait for UHD Bluray physical media! I wouldn't mind renting UHD content but like any other digital format I will not buy downloadable content or content I have to stream using the internet even though my connection is 150mb/sec upload and download. Besides the fact I keep hearing about how the UHD (4K) quality is around 1080p streaming quality. My goal is to eventually get a (4K) UHD projector and 120" - 160" screen!

Other than native support for silent frame rates this hits everything on my 4k wishlist

I'm not buying in for quite a while - until they are mastering everything they release in 4K. What's the use in spending the big cash now, when a lot of the titles may be 2K upscaled? We're complaining of the catalog titles that the studios won't release now in 1080, because the restorations cost too much. This seems more geared toward future releases, not catalog titles, excepting maybe the Gone with the Winds etc.