Panasonic has unveiled the UK’s cheapest dedicated 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player in the form of the £399 Panasonic DMP-UB700. Here’s what you need to know about the new machine.
Panasonic revealed its second Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DMP-UB700, at IFA 2016 ahead of a November consumer release.
Costing £399 here in the UK, the price tag makes the UB700 the cheapest 4K Blu-ray player to be sold in the UK, notwithstanding the double-dipping Xbox One S games console.
Despite being almost half the price of the firm’s flagship DMP-UB900 player, it retains most of the best-in-class unit’s key features, including a UHD Premium certification (meaning it’s happy pumping out both 4K and HDR content), plus twin HDMI outputs for separating video and audio feeds.
Speaking of audio, it’s still a priority with the UB700, which supports hi-res sound up to DSD 5.2Mhz, so the only clear omission I can see so far is a lack of THX certification, something that the UB900 boasts.
Will that make a noticeable difference in performance? We’ll be sure to test that in a full review.
The DMP-UB700 is not the only news Panasonic has to share: the company has also confirmed it is working on another OLED TV. A prototype unit exists, and we’ll be posting first impressions of that shortly.
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Watch: Buying a new TV – All you need to know
Is it worth paying £399 for a stand-alone 4K Blu-ray player when the Xbox One S exists? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
