Samsung took to CES 20016 in Las Vegas to unveil the pricing details for its Samsung UBD-K8500, one of its first 4K UHD Blu-ray players.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray player is now up for preorder on the company's website at a $399.99 price point and is apparently set to start shipping in March.
Samsung only announced pricing details for the U.S. at this point, so it remains unclear for now just how much the UBD-K8500 player will cost in other regions such as the UK or Australia. Based on current conversion rates, the price would translate to roughly £270 and AU$550, but it remains to be seen what other premiums are in store for other markets.
The company also unveiled a number of intriguing SUHD TVs with small bezels and great visuals at its pre-CES conference, but the Samsung UBD-K8500 4K Blu-ray player was among the most exciting announcements.
According to Samsung, the UBD-K8500 aims to offer the "ultimate cinematic experience" with amazing picture quality, "dramatic detail" and a wider color range, upscaling even lower-resolution media content to an incredible UHD resolution.
Samsung did not forget about the importance of design either, and crafted its UBD-K8500 Blu-ray player with a stylish, curved form factor that will complement any Samsung Curved SUHD TV.
The company further highlights that the 4K UHD resolution of its latest Blu-ray player delivers four times the image quality of other Samsung Blu-ray players.
"It also boasts incredibly life-like images with 4K UHD playback," adds Samsung.
HDR technology, meanwhile, aims to ensure that the Samsung UBD-K8500 offers top-of-the-line quality for UHD content, delivering sharp contrasts and exceptional brightness levels with deeper blacks and brighter whites.
Furthermore, the new UHD Blu-ray player from Samsung also boasts twice the color range of traditional Blu-ray players currently available on the market, as well as quality color expressions that are 64 times higher.
As previously mentioned, upscaling will also improve the quality of lower-resolution content, bringing all media to near UHD quality with sharp images that have four times the resolution of FHD. However, the quality of upscaled images can vary based on the source resolution, which means that not all media will be able to reach near 4K resolution.
When it comes to 4K streaming and player compatibility, Samsung boasts that its UBD-K8500 enables users to enjoy high speeds for streaming the latest 4K media on demand, as well as access a wide pool of content from various online providers such as Amazon or Netflix. Compatibility-wise, the 4K Blu-ray player will work with all of your old DVDs, Blu-ray discs or music CDs, delivering "outstanding compatibility."
Lastly, it's worth pointing out that the Samsung UBD-K8500 costs $399.99 now, with preorders open, but it will go up to $499.99 afterward.
