Vote

Will You Buy an Ultra HD Blu-ray Player?

John Sciacca  |  Dec 9, 2015

Panasonic’s DMR-UBZ1 Ultra HD Blu-ray player went on sale in Japan last month.

Ultra HD Blu-ray is looming on the horizon as manufacturers get ready to bring the first players to market. (See John Sciacca’s Connected Life blog.) Do you plan on buying a new Ultra HD Blu-ray player? Choose the scenario that best describes your intentions and we’ll tally up the results.

Will You Buy an Ultra HD Blu-ray Player?
Yes! I’m an early adopter! I buy all of the newest technologies!
6% (141 votes)
I will…but only if the players are between $500-1,000
8% (167 votes)
I will…but only if the players are between $250 and $499
17% (374 votes)
I will…but only if the players are less than $250
10% (220 votes)
I will…but I’m going to wait until there is more content available and the price drops
29% (648 votes)
I will only buy if the Ultra HD movies sell for the same or less than current Blu-rays
12% (265 votes)
I’m done buying discs and will wait until streaming takes off
7% (145 votes)
I don’t care about Ultra High Def or 4K
11% (238 votes)
Total votes: 2198

COMMENTS
jaym's picture
Submitted by jaym on December 9, 2015 - 11:55am

There wasn't an option for: "I will... when Oppo releases a player" so I chose "Yes! I'm an early adopter! I buy all the newest technologies!" because cost wasn't the issue, the quality of a company's prior DVD and Blu Ray players is much more important to me. Frankly though, I'm already streaming some 4k with Netflix and Amazon Prime on 300Mbs FiOS... but I'll still buy an Oppo UHDBRP when available and buy movies that I love in 4k too.

pathfinder2810's picture
Submitted by pathfinder2810 on December 9, 2015 - 9:37pm

I almost never buy on day one .... before you buy a Blu-ray 4k wait to see the first models, their price and features. So much so that then I will buy the new Oppo player

Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on December 10, 2015 - 2:36am

I will only buy if the Ultra HD movies sell for the same or less than current Blu-rays - Actually I'll only get one if Netflix starts stocking a LOT of titles, I stopped buying disks long ago.

John Sciacca's picture
Submitted by John Sciacca on December 10, 2015 - 9:56am
Netflix will be a big decider for me as well. I do almost all of my viewing via Netflix Blu-ray discs and only buy certain marquee films that I know I am going to watch over and over. I'm not going to shell out $30-40 for most discs, but am happy to subscribe to Netflix for $20+ a month to get 4-6 movies in pristine quality. If there isn't an active rental market for UHD discs, then I think this will leave me on the sidelines as well.... :/
Tangential's picture
Submitted by Tangential on December 10, 2015 - 4:25am

I've just got a 1080p projector. My AVR has 4K pass thru, so when my projector dies then I will. Hopefully that'll be some years down the line.

schneiderbecket's picture
Submitted by schneiderbecket on December 10, 2015 - 4:22pm

I'm just done with physical media. Great players under $300 (compleling reviews from journalists I trust) and disks at less than $10 each would change my mind for a few "cream of the crop" movies, 2-5 a year. Otherwise I'm never touching any disk again, streaming to my UHD smart TV and routing audio with ARC has been great and super easy to get setup.

To emphasize I do not poses a single optical disk with information on it (I still have a few blanks although I might throw those out when I get my next laptop, it WILL NOT have a disk drive, that's the last disk drive I own), I tossed the last out about 2 years ago. I'm also a frequent Steam customer and a Spotify customer, I'd hate dealing with physical media again so it better be worth it if they think I'm going to buy it.

trashmanssd7's picture
Submitted by trashmanssd7 on December 11, 2015 - 6:36am

I am in the same boat as Tangential, My projector is 5 or so years old but its a very nice JVC model and works flawlessly. So I dont plan to up grade that till it dies or begins to show its age. Also I have no other 4K tvs as of yet and same goes for those not upgrading just to upgrade, 1080P looks very nice when done right. The projector with 110" screen is the only one in the house that will noticeably benefit from the added resolution. I may upgrade to a 144" or so screen when I go for 4K or by then it may be 8K at the pace they are going with the advancements.

gopherman1933's picture
Submitted by gopherman1933 on December 11, 2015 - 12:05pm

$3,300 for a disc player. What am I Donald Trump??????

Audio_Geek_00's picture
Submitted by Audio_Geek_00 on December 27, 2015 - 7:59pm

I'll buy one. Like jaym said I'd likely buy an Oppo as well. Like the current Blu-Ray format I have yet to see streaming video that compares to the disk. 4k is going to be even more compressed. The speed of your broadband will dictate the quality and that will vary. I also like owning the content. I don't compromise unless I have to when it comes to video quality. There is some content that I have no problem streaming, like TV series shows or some documentaries. Movie genre's I love must be as unadulterated as possible for me to watch or I feel like I am not getting all of the artistry in sound and video that the director intended for me to hear and see. I don't want "mp3 video". Life is too short for half measures.

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