New Ultra HD Blu-rays Offer 4K Without Streaming

If yous have a 4K TV, you've probably noticed that there's non a whole lot yous can watch at total ultra HD resolution. The options, and so far, have been limited to a few shows on select streaming services and costly proprietary boxes with long, unwieldy downloads. If yous yearn for the simplicity of popping in a disc and watching a picture show, the Blu-ray Disc Clan (BDA) has you covered: UHD Blu-rays are on the way.

The BDA unveiled the Ultra Hard disk Blu-ray designation yesterday (May 12), and detailed what kind of specs the new discs will sport. The biggest departure betwixt Ultra HD and traditional Blu-ray is that the sometime supports resolutions upwardly to 3840 x 2160 (colloquially known every bit 4K), while the latter caps out at 1920 x 1080 (1080p).

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Another important distinction is that Ultra HD Blu-ray discs can agree between 66 and 100 GB of data, whereas old-school Blu-rays can hold just 25 to 50 GB. This may not audio very exciting, but 4K video takes upwards a lot more space than its 1080p analogue. Without improved storage options, you'd take to watch 4K movies on multiple discs.

Ultra HD Blu-rays will also take advantage of a few features unavailable to traditional Blu-ray discs. The new discs will permit for the display of many more colors, which will let Ultra HD Blu-rays deliver high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rate content, up to 60 fps. (Whether this would be a good thing is a matter of opinion, since video content in lx fps tends to resemble video games.)

Although Ultra Hard disk Blu-ray players and discs will start aircraft this summertime, the BDA did non give whatsoever indication of what such products might toll, or which companies will be offering the technology. Nevertheless, await big companies like Sony, Samsung and Fob to get in on the activity sooner rather than later.

Although videophiles have been predicting the eventual expiry of physical media similar video discs for years, information technology hasn't come to pass merely nonetheless. Every bit long as broadband technology is besides deadening to stream 4K in many locations, a disc is even so a simpler choice.

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Marshall Honorof is a senior writer for Tom'south Guide. Contact him at mhonorof@tomsguide.com. Follow him @marshallhonorof. Follow the states @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site'due south coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing groundwork, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.