Can Impressive Sound And Vision Make Panasonic’s DP-UB9000 Flagship UHD Blu-ray Player King Of The 4K Jungle?

Panasonic is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming DP-UB9000 high-end 4K Blu-ray player.

At a preview of the eagerly anticipated disc spinner, due to launch in October, it revealed some of the technology that it hopes will enable it to monopolise the premium Blu-ray player market, including a high performance DAC and an HDR Optimiser which improves playback of HDR by reducing the amount of dynamic tone mapping a TV is required to do, be it a high performance panel or low brightness UHD display.

The DP-UB9000 arrives only months after the retreat of Oppo from the consumer electronics space. Chief video engineer Kazuhiko Kouno says that while that provides an opportunity for Panasonic, he was sad to see Oppo leave the market. “Competition is good for everyone,” he told Inside CI.

The preview offered a closer look at the player, with both video and audio demonstrations. As with the DMP-UB900, the model is built around the brand’s second-generation HCX (Hollywood Cinema Experience) image processor. However, build quality is a magnitude more impressive.

Australian pricing and availability yet to be confirmed.