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[Vashetti]

Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed the world's first Blu-ray Disc™ playback technology supporting the latest technologies such as 4K and High Dynamic Range, which are expected to be adopted in the next generation Blu-ray Disc standards (ULTRA HD BLU-RAY™). A prototype player will be on display at the 2015 International CES (Las Vegas, NV, United States) January 6-9, 2015.

This prototype integrates video processing and optical disc drive technologies that Panasonic has refined over many years, making it capable of reproducing 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixel)/60p]/10-bit high resolution video, and supporting the latest technologies such as High Dynamic Range that marks a major leap in the brightness peak from the previous 100 nit3 to 1,000-10,000 nit to improve the power of expression; wide color gamut standard BT.2020, which greatly increases color reproduction; high-efficiency video compression technology HEVC (H.265)/ Blu-ray Disc playback at a high bit rate of 100Mbps.

This marks a major advance in picture quality over current Blu-ray Disc players, and paves the way towards allowing consumers to enjoy the crisp, true-to-life quality of amazing 4K Ultra HD content in their own homes.

Since the announcement of the Blu-ray Disc standards in 2002, Panasonic has consistently taken the lead in standardization. In 2004 it released the world's first 50GB Blu-ray Disc recorder capable of double-sided recording, and in 2006 the world's first recorder capable of playing BD-Video, as well as being the first in the world to develop the technology to play back full HD 3D image data recorded to the Blu-ray Disc in 2008. With these and other achievements, Panasonic has constantly led the industry in developing Blu-ray devices.

Panasonic is now further redoubling its R&D efforts to bring its customers products that deliver amazing experiences and emotional impact. Panasonic will also participate in the newly-formed UHD Alliance4 to contribute to the progress of whole 4K (UHD) industry.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates around 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.74 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2014. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.

1. As of January 6, 2015, for a Blu-ray Disc player supporting the latest technologies (e.g. 4K (Ultra HD) and High Dynamic Range) to be adopted in the ULTRA HD BLU-RAY™ next generation Blu-ray Disc standards.

2. The next generation Blu-ray Disc standards are being formulated by the Blu-ray Disc Association and have not yet been finalized. The technology to be adopted may change in the future.

3. Luminance per square meter (cd/m2) - "Blu-ray," "Blu-ray Disc," and "ULTRA HD BLU-RAY" are trademarks of the Blu-ray Disc Association.

4. The UHD Alliance is a global coalition of leading TV brands, film studios, content distributors and technology companies that aim to create a unified criterion for premium UHD platforms, from devices to content.

SPECIFICATION NOTES

4K / 60p
High speed display in 60 frames per second of 4K video (3,840 x 2,160 pixels - Ultra HD), which has four times the resolution of Full Hi-vision, for highly detailed videos with extremely smooth movement.

10-bit gradation
Previous Blu-ray Discs displayed the color signals (Y, Cb, Cr) in 8-bit gradation each (256 gradations). By expanding this to 10-bit gradation each (1,024 gradations), even minute signals can be faithfully reproduced to realize richly textured video.

High Dynamic Range
A technology that drastically expands the brightness peak from the previous 100 nit to 1,000-10,000 nit, marking a significant leap in the dynamic range of the picture. Bright light sources (e.g. lights or rays of the sun) and reflected light (from metal or water) that up to now were difficult to display can now be shown in rich textures.

BT.2020 wide color gamut
Compliant with the ITU-R BT.2020 wide color gamut signal formulated for 4K/8K broadcasting. Enables vividly rich coloration not previously possible on Blu-ray discs (BT.709 standard).

HEVC (H.265) / 100Mbps
Support for the highest 100Mbps video signal using the latest high-efficiency video compression technology. Compression efficiency and high bit rate far beyond previous Blu-ray discs (MPEG-4/AVC (H.264), maximum 40Mbps) enabling outstanding playback of high quality video with 4K/60p/10bit, High Dynamic Range, BT.2020, etc.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15769

 

[Archer]

Good luck.

 

[Brianimaniac]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

 

[Chittagong]

Amazimg spec, but can't see myself ever buying a piece of physical media again. It's been two years since I last did. But just out of interest, what cable is capable of 4K/60FPS?

 

[Vashetti]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

Already with the incorrect statements. What next, gonna post a "chart"?

 

[Chance Hale]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

It's actually 113.8008" before the human eye can distinguish the difference.

 

[Dwalls]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

You should have posted the viewing distance chart and it'd be the best troll post ever. While I know some of y'all can't see screendooring and shit at 1080p, I sure as fuck can. The sooner 4k goes live and content gets made the better. It's just unfortunate for videogames because the power required to render at 4k is a big limiting factor.

 

[Brianimaniac]

Already with the incorrect statements. What next, gonna post a "chart"?

No, my opinion that this is unnecessary is not incorrect. That's not how this works.

 

[Fudgepuppy]

I'm buying one when it looks good.

 

[Vashetti]

No, my opinion that this is unnecessary is not incorrect. That's not how this works.

You said we'd need a 90" TV to see the difference and make it worthwhile. That's incorrect.

 

[Neoxon]

Tempting, but I'll wait for the price to go down.

You guys think the PS4 will be able to read 4K Blu-Rays or is it a hardware upgrade?

 

[Brianimaniac]

Unless you have like a 90" TV. That is what I said, and I said it that way for a reason.

I thought I went big enough that it was clear that I was exaggerating for effect, but I guess I'm talking to people that see that as a plausible number and I should have gone with 300". The point is to say that you need a ridiculous television.

 

[Escape Goat]

Tempting, but I'll wait for the price to go down.

You guys think the PS4 will be able to read 4K Blu-Rays or is it a hardware upgrade?

Nope. Will have to wait for the PS5 and Xbone2 and Wii Z.

 

[Vashetti]

Tempting, but I'll wait for the price to go down.

You guys think the PS4 will be able to read 4K Blu-Rays or is it a hardware upgrade?

I think it would be a hardware upgrade.

Mind you, they performed magic and got the PS3 to read 3D Blu-ray. So, who knows.

 

[Zombine]

One time some rich dude I met who couldn't keep his mouth shut said they were working on some digital-only box back in 08. I wonder what ever came of that?

 

[mrklaw]

What storage capacity do the discs have?

I know HEVC is supposed to be more efficient, but 100mb/s is only around 3x the peak of bluray (maybe around 4x what normal movies peak at), and they are touting a 4x increase in resolution, a significant increase in colour depth, and a frame rate increase. (I think bluray doesn't even support 1080p/60)

Seems a big jump.


I want the quality, but I'd prefer digital delivery. Even 100mb/s isn't feasible for most, you could cache movies overnight and playback locally

 

[Escape Goat]

One time some rich dude I met who couldn't keep his mouth shut said they were working on some digital-only box back in 08. I wonder what ever came of that?

Rich dudes should be trusted implicitly.

 

[Vashetti]

What storage capacity do the discs have?

I know HEVC is supposed to be more efficient, but 100mb/s is only around 3x the peak of bluray (maybe around 4x what normal movies peak at), and they are touting a 4x increase in resolution, a significant increase in colour depth, and a frame rate increase. (I think bluray doesn't even support 1080p/60)

Seems a big jump.

Supposedly there will be 50, 66, and 100GB variants.

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/4k-blu-ray-discs-arriving-in-2015-to-fight-streaming-media/

 

[Zombine]

Rich dudes should be trusted implicitly.

Without a doubt. Then he offered me a modeling job. Maybe he just wanted to see me naked.

 

[Neoxon]

Nope. Will have to wait for the PS5 and Xbone2 and Wii Z.

Makes sense, reading 4K Blu-Ray would require a new disc reader.

I think it would be a hardware upgrade.

Mind you, they performed magic and got the PS3 to read 3D Blu-ray. So, who knows.

 

[Theonik]

I think it would be a hardware upgrade.

Mind you, they performed magic and got the PS3 to read 3D Blu-ray. So, who knows.

3D Bluray was relatively easy to do considering the disk medium is the same and you only need software suport. That had more to do with the way the PS3 was setup than anything.

I think the PS4 has a 6x BD Drive though that would be able to read fast enough for this but the technology used in these disks is unclear and might be physically impossible for the drive on the PS4 to read them.

 

[SoulClap]

Are there any displays yet that can take advantage of the HDR and wider color gamut?

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Are there any displays yet that can take advantage of the HDR and wider color gamut?

I'm not aware of any display technology that can show 100% of the 2020 colour space. Even the HP z27x can only display around 70% of it.

 

[Theonik]

What storage capacity do the discs have?

I know HEVC is supposed to be more efficient, but 100mb/s is only around 3x the peak of bluray (maybe around 4x what normal movies peak at), and they are touting a 4x increase in resolution, a significant increase in colour depth, and a frame rate increase. (I think bluray doesn't even support 1080p/60)

Seems a big jump.

BD standard was locked years ago and featured lower efficiency than later versions of h.264 offered. h.265 can be 2x more efficient than h.264.
Also, the required bitrate for these increses to maintain the same level of quality is not really simple to express as a lot of the extra detail might be very compressible.

 

[NekoFever]

What storage capacity do the discs have?

I know HEVC is supposed to be more efficient, but 100mb/s is only around 3x the peak of bluray (maybe around 4x what normal movies peak at), and they are touting a 4x increase in resolution, a significant increase in colour depth, and a frame rate increase. (I think bluray doesn't even support 1080p/60)

Seems a big jump.


I want the quality, but I'd prefer digital delivery. Even 100mb/s isn't feasible for most, you could cache movies overnight and playback locally

The discs are bigger, but I don't think the size requirements will be that astronomical in comparison.

The rule of thumb I've heard is HEVC is twice as efficient as AVC, so the same quality in half the bit rate. You can probably get a 4K movie onto a standard Blu-ray without too much difficulty on that basis, since file size and resolution don't go up linearly (4x resolution is not necessarily 4x file size) and most BD movies don't come close to filling the disc.

I guess if you took something like the Hobbit movies where you could have a 4K, 3D, HFR, 3+ hour film with all the other enhancements there, it really adds up.

 

[crazygambit]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

I disagree. The benefits of BT.2020 can be seen on even a 32" screen. Of course no TV yet supports that standard, but that's a whole other problem.

One time some rich dude I met who couldn't keep his mouth shut said they were working on some digital-only box back in 08. I wonder what ever came of that?

Sony has a 4k digital player out. Can't be bothered to look it up right now though.

 

[Somnid]

Makes no mention of 3D. I guess for a regular 24FPS movie it has enough bandwidth but 48FPS might be pushing it.

 

[Damian.]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

I have to sit about 6-7 feet back from my 55" TV to alleviate my ability to see a screendoor effect. Were you one of the ones that said 1080p had no benefit for anything below 42" as well?

 

[ComputerMKII]

Already with the incorrect statements. What next, gonna post a "chart"?

Like this one?

 

[POWERSPHERE]

Movies aren't THAT good

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Like this one?

This hurts my brain.

 

[b&jy77VjiKn$#F]

Movies aren't THAT good

u wot m8

 

[Gemüsepizza]

This is great, but still totally confusing. What resolutions / framerates etc. are now possible?



4K 2D @ 60 fps: Yes.

4K 2D @ 48 fps: Yes.

4K 2D @ 24 fps: Yes.

__________________________

4K 3D @ 60 fps: No?

4K 3D @ 48 fps: No?

4K 3D @ 24 fps: Maybe?

__________________________

2K 3D @ 60 fps: Yes?

2K 3D @ 48 fps: Yes?

2K 3D @ 24 fps: Yes.



I mean even 4K 3D @ 24 fps doesn't seem to be guaranteed. Take a look at the spec sheet for last year's flagship 4K TV from Sony:

http://store.sony.com/84.6-diag-x95...-27-catid-XBR-4K-Ultra-HD-TVs?_t=pfm=category

3D Format Support : Yes (2K only)

What? So the advantage of a 4K TV is that you can display 2K 3D using passive 3D tech without resolution loss? And 2K 3D stuff at higher framerates? Or am I missing something? There also seems to be not much talk about 3D in the Panasonic press release. As long as I will get "The Hobbit" trilogy and "Avatar 2" in 2K 3D with 48 fps I am somewhat happy, but still a little bit disappointing.

 

[Jigolo]

This is great, but still totally confusing. What resolutions / framerates etc. are now possible?



4K 2D @ 60 fps: YES

4K 2D @ 48 fps: YES

4K 2D @ 24 fps: YES

__________________________

4K 3D @ 60 fps: No?

4K 3D @ 48 fps: No?

4K 3D @ 24 fps: Maybe?

__________________________

2K 3D @ 60 fps: Yes?

2K 3D @ 48 fps: Yes?

2K 3D @ 24 fps: Yes



I mean even 4K 3D @ 24 fps doesn't seem to be guaranteed. Take a look at the spec sheet for last year's flagship 4K TV from Sony:

http://store.sony.com/84.6-diag-x95...-27-catid-XBR-4K-Ultra-HD-TVs?_t=pfm=category




What? So the advantage of a 4K TV is that you can display 2K 3D using passive 3D tech without resolution loss? And 2K 3D stuff at higher framerates? Or am I missing something? There also seems to be not much talk about 3D in the Panasonic press release.

Don't 1080p3d displays only do 540p per eye? In the case of this (and all 4ktvs in general) it would be 1080p per eye for bluray. In other words "2k"

 

[params7]

but i just got into 1080p and normal bluray

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Don't 1080p3d displays only do 540p per eye? In the case of this (and all 4ktvs in general) it would be 1080p per eye for bluray. In other words "2k"

This is only somewhat true for passive 3D TVs. With those you will get 1920x540 per eye. With today's active 3D TVs you can already get the full 1920x1080 per eye.

 

[pottuvoi]

Don't 1080p3d displays only do 540p per eye? In the case of this (and all 4ktvs in general) it would be 1080p per eye for bluray. In other words "2k"

Active 3D shows full frame for both eyes.
Passive 3D interleaves data to 1920x540 on 1080p displays. (on 4k passive display you get full 1080p vertical resolution.)
On 4k it's expected to work in similar fashion.

 

[Spineker]

The market is rushing to 4K way too quickly. I'm sure 50% of the world doesn't even regularly get 1080p programming

 

[Josh7289]

I would like to see this. I wonder if 100GB is enough. I hope so.

EDIT: Well, if they only start off with 50GB then I'd be much more concerned about the potential hit to image quality. 100GB would be a lot safer. I suppose we'll have to wait and see for now.

 

[MilkyJoe]

What is the point in bringing out a "new" Blu Ray format when the price of current Blu Ray is still so high that DVD is still what most people are buying. By most people I mean joe public, not enthusiasts.

Current BR needs to crash in price, it's been too expensive for too long.

 

[crazygambit]

Active 3D shows full frame for both eyes.
Passive 3D interleaves data to 1920x540 on 1080p displays. (on 4k passive display you get full 1080p vertical resolution.)
On 4k it's expected to work in similar fashion.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I know that I couldn't get active 3D on my set on a 4k@30 connection on a 1.4 HDMI graphics card (the TV has 2.0 HDMI). I had to set it to 1080p@60 to get 3D.

 

[spookyfish]

There is no need for this unless you have like a 90" TV.

My 4K TV is 55", and I notice a difference.

Omigosh ... do I have SUPERPOWERS???

 

[Vashetti]

What is the point in bringing out a "new" Blu Ray format when the price of current Blu Ray is still so high that DVD is still what most people are buying. By most people I mean joe public, not enthusiasts.

Current BR needs to crash in price, it's been too expensive for too long.

We can only hope that the introduction of 4K Blu-ray will drive down DVD and Blu-ray prices.

DVD is still making far too much money to be phased out. The BR association needs a fresh marketing campaign to make people aware that Blu-ray players will also play and upscale people's DVDs.

 

[dallow_bg]

The market is rushing to 4K way too quickly. I'm sure 50% of the world doesn't even regularly get 1080p programming

I'm glad as I've been watching 1080p content for almost a decade now. I'm ready to move on.

 

[SugarDaddy]

next up, 8k tv's "We promise you can see the difference, take our word for it!"

 

[dallow_bg]

next up, 8k tv's "We promise you can see the difference, take our word for it!"

Why wouldn't you be able to?

 

[Pimpwerx]

Like this one?

This dumb chart again? How long has this thing been going around? This isn't for people with 20/20 or better eyesight. 720 and 1080 on 50" is noticeably different even at 15ft. According to this thing, I'd never need more than a 50" 720p screen, but I've noticed a considerable difference in quality between the resolutions.

That said, physical media? LOL! I'm never buying another piece of physical media ever again. The last disc I bought was probably Burnout Paradise on my PS3 something like 6 or 7 years ago. WTF is asking for this technology? PEACE.

 

[AstroNut325]

Definitely want this. I care about quality. And digital doesn't even comes close.

 

[CloudyTuba]

wide color gamut standard BT.2020

Out of all of it, I'm most excited for this.

Unfortunate that this thread will quickly be filled with stupid graphics about how much resolution the eye can distinguish.

 

[Jigolo]

Definitely want this. I care about quality. And digital doesn't even comes close.

Is there a site or something that compares BR to say 1080p Netflix? I'd like the see the difference in quality here