Another neat feature that expands the utility of these devices is the ability to upscale SD and HD content into 4K. The final quality may vary drastically based on the quality of the upscaling software used by an individual player, but players are still a fantastic way to squeeze a little more life out of your aged DVDs. Make sure to read our guide on what to know when you buy a Blu-ray disc player before diving into our top picks for the best 4K Blu-Ray Players. Physically, it’s a fairly plain-looking black box, but it’s what’s inside that counts. Support for Dolby Vision, rare in this price range, makes for brighter, more-vibrant video and smoother color transitions on discs that support it. The X700 also does a better job of upscaling SD or HD content than any of its lower-cost competitors, and many of the more expensive ones as well. That will be particularly important if most of your existing discs are in these older formats. Both disc caddy and the remote control respond quickly, and the interface is refreshingly simple to use. The player also supports a wide range of streaming services, including the usual suspects like Netflix and YouTube. If you don’t already have them via your television or a plug-in device, that’s a useful extra. That’s definitely what it’s best at, with smooth motion and impressive detail even in technically-challenging scenes. There’s no Dolby Vision or HDR10+, although neither is a major concern today given the limited availability of discs in either format. There are no streaming service options available (in fact, there’s no network support at all,) but you can play music, video, and still images from a USB stick or portable hard drive via the socket on the front. Quick to respond to commands from the basic remote, the user interface is straightforward and easy to use, rather than getting in the way as many others do. There’s good backward compatibility with CDs, DVDs, and non-4K Blu-Ray discs as well. All in all, the UBK80 is a great value option in the 4K Blu-Ray space. While no DVD player can make older content look like it was recorded in 4K, some do a much better job of upscaling SD and HD video than others. The Panasonic DP-UB820 is arguably the best of the lot, and if you’ve got a lot of older discs, you’ll want to seriously consider it for that reason alone. Panasonic’s “HDR Optimizer” can make a noticeable difference when viewing HDR content, especially very bright scenes (or parts of scenes) that lose detail on most televisions. It even takes the type of display you’re using into account, reducing or intensifying the effect as needed. There’s support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, as well as both Ethernet and the latest Wi-Fi standards for high-speed network playback. All in all, the UB820 is a high-quality 4K Blu-Ray player that’s well worth looking at, especially if you want to make the most of your existing disc collection. The unit itself is very simple, with just eject and power buttons on the front, and HDMI and Ethernet ports (there’s no Wi-Fi) on the back. The remote is small, but unless you have particularly large hands, it does the job well enough. While you won’t get any of the extras like Dolby Vision or HDR10+ here, the quality of native 4K content is surprisingly good for the price. Other than the occasional stutter on complex scenes, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference versus players costing two or three times as much. The player also does a good job of upscaling older DVD and Blu-Ray discs, as well as playing audio discs and files, but don’t expect to stream online content. As well as Dolby Vision-compatible 4K HDR Blu-Ray discs, the slimline device can play both commercial DVDs and CDs, as well as all of the various writeable disc formats. Playback is also multi-region compatible, so it should be able to handle your DVD and Blu-Ray discs regardless of where you bought them. The playback options don’t stop there, though. You can stream from Netflix and YouTube, or select media from a USB stick or portable drive, or via local Wi-Fi or physical network. Over a dozen different audio and video encodings are supported. There’s a pair of HDMI outputs, along with separate optical audio out, and a simple but effective remote. Besides providing you with high-quality playback for all of your physical media, the UB9000 also features Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity for streaming content and firmware updates as well. It may cost multitudes more than some of the picks on our list, but for anyone that demands the best experience from their Blu-Ray player, the DP-UB9000 provides unrivaled visual and audio quality with a smattering of handy features to help justify the hefty price tag. Picture quality is impressive, and although there’s no Dolby Vision or HDR10+ support, you’re unlikely to be disappointed with the end result. As you might expect, though, configuration options are limited, and controls can be quite fiddly when using a game controller instead of a remote. If all you want to do is play 4K Blu-Ray discs, you’ll be better off getting a similarly-priced player that’s dedicated to the job. However, if you’d like to mix up your movie nights with a bit of gaming, then the Xbox One S is a perfect choice.
