Panasonic’s first two Ultra HD Blu-ray players (the DMP-UB700 and DMP-UB900) are a bit more expensive than introductory models from Samsung and Philips, but that’ll change this year when the company releases two new models at a lower price.
All four models were on display at CES in Las Vegas, and from what we heard the lower-priced (and smaller sized) new players won’t be giving up too much in terms of what the step-up DMP-UB700 offers.
Both the DMP-UB400 and DMP-UB300 deliver 4k HDR images with Panasonic’s 4K High Precision Chroma Processor (and their HCX technology), Direct Chroma upscaling from 10-bit to 12-bit color depth, and HDR down-converting to SDR for non HDR 4k TVs.
For audio, the players support High-Resolution Audio Playback formats including DSD, ALAC, FLAC and WAV. The DMP-UB400 also features twin HDMI ports so audio and video can be split into dedicated signals (and High Clarity Sound by turning off the video in the audio playback). The DMP-UB300 only has one HDMI port.
That’s one of the major differences between the two models. The other being the DMP-UB300, surprisingly, does not support Wi-Fi. Another notable difference is the DMP-UB300 has a USB port on the front, while the DMP-UB400 must have all ports in the back.
Neither of the new UHD BD players are THX-certified like the flagship UB900, nor do they have SD card slots.
So how much more would you pay for twin HDMI ports and Wi-Fi with the DMP-UB400? $50? $100?
Sorry to let you down, but pricing and ship dates were not yet available.
