4K Blu-ray Playback Questions:
“4K optical drives for PC? Blu-ray optical drives have been available awhile now to watch blu-ray movies, and even burn BD discs on a Windows PC. Are 4K optical drives available? To watch 4K movies on my PC? I don’t think 4K blank media is available yet but I could be wrong. I heard the movie “The Revenant” was released in 4K.”
“4k Blu Ray or PC? With the drop of the new 4K blu rays, the need for a compatible player is obvious.Has anyone done research on 4K optical drives for a PC? If you already have a PC connected to the home theater, wouldn’t this be a more sensible option?”
“4k Blu-ray disc playing on PC? Hi, I currently have multiple Blu-ray drives on multiple PC’s and none of which can recognize a 4K Blu-ray disc… Yes they are BDXL and support 100 and 128gb Blu-ray discs. I was wondering if anyone has got this to work or if PC’s just cannot play them yet. I have a i5 skylake, GTX970, 8gb memory. Thanks in advance!”
“UHD BluRay on PC WHY ISN’T IT WORKING? I’m having a problem playing my shiny new Deadpool 4K Bluray on my PC. Why? what player do I need for this ridiculous?”
Four times as many pixels as 1080p, 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) is becoming a well-known resolution now. It produces a sharper and clearer picture and people are more willing to enjoy this vivid video with ease. Since 4K Blu-ray disc has not been widely applied for home theatre system, many people might not know how to play 4K Blu-ray, or have no idea on which 4K Blu-ray player software or hardware to play 4K Blu-ray movies. In this post, we would like to share some important information about 4K Blu-ray Playback.
Part 1: Conditions Required for 4K Blu-ray Playback
Part 2: Top 5 Best 4K Blu-ray Player Software
Part 3: Top 5 Best 4K Blu-ray Player Hardware
Part 1: Conditions Required for 4K Blu-ray Playback
To watch 4K Blu-ray Movies, UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray UHD, there are actually 2 ways: make use of Blu-ray 4K player software and Blu-ray player 4K hardware. To play 4K Blu-ray movies on computer, there are some requirements to your computer equipment. You need Intel Core i7 2.3GHz four-core processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M video card. It also requires 8GB RAM, 7200rpm hard drive or SSD for media. To get the best visual effect, you also need a 4K resolution monitor. For Mac users, you should also note that only iMac 27-inch with Retina 5K display can play 4K videos. Then make sure a powerful 4K Blu-ray player software installed on your computer, you could freely open 4K Blu-ray movies on computer and then stream 4K Blu-ray movies to 4K HDTV, as long as your computer gets a Blu-ray recorder drive.
On the other side, with 4K Blu-ray player hardware, just like a DVD player, you just need to insert the 4K Blu-ray disc into the Blu-ray 4K player and then you could watch Blu-ray 4K movies on your 4K HDTV. Obviously, you must have a 4K HDTV to enjoy the superb 4K Blu-ray movie experience.
However, to make sure everything goes smoothly, you could make things clear when you purchase a Blu-ray recorder drive for your computer. You could choose to update Blu-ray drive to allow compressed 4k disks to be read. Normal 4 layer blu-ray disks that use BDXL drives might be not able to read a pressed 4 layer disk. The newer LG BDXL drives can read them (make sure to get one with an initial manufacture date 2015 or later). With the update in Blu-ray drive, your computer could rarely get any problem in reading 4K Blu-ray discs.
If you’re watching 4K Blu-ray disc with Blu-ray 4K player hardware or UHD Blu-ray player hardware (like Samsung UBD-K8500 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player), you should have no question on playing 4K Blu-ray discs, unless there is region restriction, which could be adjusted.
Part 2: 5 Best 4K Blu-ray Player Software
Once your computer has no problem in playing 4K Blu-ray disc, the only thing you need to play Blu-ray 4K disc is 4K Blu-ray player software. The below 5 best UHD Blu-ray player software would be of great help to you, some of which are 4K Blu-ray player with 4K upscaling.
No. 1 Best 4K Blu-ray Player – UFUSoft 4K Blu-ray Player
(15% Coupon Code: BEST-526H-SOFT)
UFUSoft 4K Blu-ray Player (Free Download: Windows Version, Mac Version) is a powerful player that could play 4k/1080p Blu-ray disc, Blu-ray folder, Blu-ray ISO file and 4K video, common media files and videos smoothly. You are able to play any Blu-ray disc/ISO files directly with 4k/1080p HD visual effect and play H.265/HEVC encoding 4K video files losslessly on PC. What’s more, this UFUSoft Blu-ray Player also acts as a common media player for any 4K/HD/SD video files like XAVC, XAVC S, MP4, H.264/MP4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPG, M4V, TS, MTS, M2TS, MXF, RM, RMVB, WMV, ASF, MKV, AVI, 3GP, F4V, FLV and VOB and you are able to enjoy the immersive audio effect. This Blu-ray Player works on Windows 10, Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista/XP pc.
No. 2 Best 4K Blu-ray Player – Aurora Blu-ray Player for Mac
(15% Coupon Code: BEST-526H-SOFT)
Aurora Blu-ray Media Player is a Windows based multimedia player software which can play Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray ISO files and any other video formats as far as you can imagine. If you don’t want to shift your Blu-ray media player from time to time to ship with all various kind of video formats, Aurora all-in-one Blu-ray media player with a pretty design and easy-to-use experience will be your helpful assistant.
Aurora Blu-ray Player is the best Blu-ray player software for Mac OS X. It was specially designed for Mac users enjoy the protected Blu-ray movies, ISO, online resources on their computer without any difficulty. This Mac Blu-ray player software is an all-functional tool, that means you can not only play the Blu-ray movie disc, standard Blu-ray folder, Blu-ray ISO, but also use it as Mac DVD player, Mac media player, audio player and photo viewer, etc. The latest supporting for DTS HD make your enjoy the Blu-ray DTS 7.1 without any difficulty.
No. 3 Best 4K Blu-ray Player – CyberLink PowerDVD 16 Ultra
The CyberLink PowerDVD 16 Ultra could plays 4K UltraHD videos, DVDs, Blu-rays, VCDs and CDs, casts media wirelessly to Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast, has a dedicated TV mode for optimizing videos for big screens, and supports lossless HD audio formats such as FLAC and APE.
Unlike most media players, PowerDVD not only plays videos on your PC but can also stream them to your TV. With its dedicated TV and PC modes, this PowerDVD media player lets you binge-watch your favorite Netflix shows up close on your laptop or enjoy them on your widescreen HDTV. With its free Android and iOS companion app doubling as a remote, all you need to control playback from across the room is your smartphone.
No. 4 Best 4K Blu-ray Player – Media Player Classic
When it comes to 4k UHD players, Media Player Classic is not-to-be-missed. MPC is an extremely light-weight, open source media player, which unfortunately, runs on Windows only. It supports all common video and audio file formats available for playback, including 4k videos, HEVC H265 videos playback. However, as the MPC itself comes with no 4k playback ability, you will have to install the K-Lite Codec Pack first. Then you can play 4K videos with it.
No.5 Best 4K Blu-ray Player – VLC Media Player
VLC player, widely known for compatibility with a huge number of file formats, like Blu-ray disc, DVD disc, video formats MP4, MKV, AVI, FLV etc and audio formats MP3, WMA, M4A, AACA and many more, has a strong ability to play files and codecs many other programs fail to handle with. Recently, this video player get a got a boost and updated its support to cover 4K videos playback, as well as 8K video playback. Besides, this 4k video player software runs on both Mac and Windows for free.
Part 3: 5 Best 4K Blu-ray Player Hardware
Also, there are 4K Blu-ray player hardware options for you to play and watch 4K Blu-ray disc at home, though they would cost you a lot more. If you want 4K Blu-ray player with 4K upscaling, most 4K Blu-ray player hardware would satisfy you.
1. Sony BDPS6500
Sony BDPS6500 3D 4K Upscaling Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi lets you enjoy 300+ streaming entertainment services, including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus and more. Upscale your favorite Blu-rays, DVDs and photos to near-4K quality, and get stunning resolution thanks to TRILUMINOS technology, making your favorite 3D Blu-ray movies look better than ever. You can even bring your mobile media to the big screen with Miracast screen mirroring, or play select PS3 games with PlayStation Now-no game console required.
Main features:
- Inputs/Outputs: 1 HMDI, 1 USB, 1 Coaxial, 1 Ethernet:
- Smart Functionality: With built-in Wi-Fi you can wirelessly access popular streaming apps and services including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, PlayStation Now & more;
- 4K Upscaling: Get the most out of your 4K Ultra HD TV by upscaling the quality of your Blu-ray movies to near 4K quality. The upscaling chip also improves the quality of online content, and upconverts DVD’s to near HD quality for an improved viewing experience
- Sound: Experience HD sound with Dolby and dts-Master Audio
- Screen Mirroring: View your Android mobile devices’ content on your TV with Miracast screen mirroring technology.
- Front USB Port: Enjoy your videos, photos and digital music with USB connectivity.
2. Samsung BD-J6300
The Samsung BD-J6300 Blu-ray player elevates your viewing experience with the ultimate entertainment technology. UHD upscaling allows you to watch your favorite content at near UHD quality, while built-in Wi-Fi® lets you stream movies and shows from a variety of services including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and MGO.
It could act as web browser, smart 4K Blu-ray player, UHD upscaler, 3D Blu-ray player, etc. Also, it features built-in dual Wi-Fi connection and USB connectivity.
3. Philips BDP7501
The Philips BDP7501 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player will play back content at four times the resolution of current Blu-ray players for a stunningly detailed image. And with HDR support, content played on the HDR TV, such as any Philips 2016 4K Ultra HD set, will deliver images with startling brightness, contrast and color. Creed 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc included.
Main features:
- Inputs/Outputs: 1 x HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2 output for 4K Ultra HD HDR, 1 x HDMI 1.4b for discrete audio output to legacy AVRs, 1 x USB for multimedia, 1 x Ethernet
- Smart Functionality: 4K Streaming Apps, DLNA Multimedia Playback, USB Multimedia Playback
- Available Apps: Netflix with 4K HDR Streaming support, YouTube with 4K streaming support
- Sound: Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HDMasterAudio | Essential
- Connectivity Technology: USB, Wireless LAN 802.11ac with MIMO antennas
4. Samsung UBD-K8500
Elevate your home entertainment viewing with the new Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player—designed to deliver the ultimate cinematic experience. Enjoy incredible picture quality, a wider color range and dramatic detail with a Blu-ray player capable of upscaling all lower resolution media to a stunning ultra-high definition resolution. Plus, this Ultra HD Blu-ray Player features a sleek, curved design—matching seamlessly with any Samsung Curved SUHD TV.
The K8500 is currently the cheapest route into 4K Blu-ray and probably offers pound-for-pound the best looking images you’ll see on your 4K HDR TV. It’s also a useful hub for 4K OTT services from Netflix and Amazon, and while the design is a bit Marmite, you’ll be consistently impressed by its loading speed and colourful UI. If you want your 4K HDR TV to look its best, then you can’t beat 4K Blu-ray. And when it comes to sheer image fidelity, the UBD-K8500 certainly impresses.
5. Toshiba BDX5500
The Symbio streaming media box is a Blu-ray Disc player, DVD player, CD player, and streaming media box all in one. Enjoy your favorite Blu-ray and DVD movies in Full HD 1080p or access the variety of content with the key media apps including Netflix, YouTube, VUDU, and more for expanded entertainment. The BDX3500 offers advanced media box features such as an enhanced easy-to-use ePortal interface to access apps, and open browser with bookmarks to surf the web, and a new Smart TV Alliance app to ensure ongoing library expansion. Equipped with built-in Wi-Fi and Miracast, you can share content from one device to another without the use of cables.
Main features:
- 4K Ultra HD Up conversion
- Compact Square Design
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- Ultra HD 4K up scaling – Video Upconversion up to Ultra HD 4K (3,840 x 2,160) through HDMI
- 3D Blu-ray experience
- Miracast
- WiFi Connectivity
- Open Browser
Hope you can enjoy your 4K Blu-ray movies with ease.
Not holding the title of a “proper Blu-ray player” doesn’t stop the Xbox One S from being a great, cheap way to play 4K Blu-ray discs.
While most manufacturers have one or two models on the market at the moment, the list of available Ultra-HD Blu-ray players is still a fairly short list.