Physical media has a high barrier of entry because not only do you need to build up a collection of discs, but you need something to play those discs on. If you’re getting into 4K Blu-ray collecting, then that means you need a 4K Blu-ray player. If you’ve looked around at the current state of things, you’ll notice that 4K Blu-ray players aren’t exactly cheap, and there are hardly any new options available.
The good news is that there’s nothing wrong with looking into the past and getting an older 4K Blu-ray player. I have a Sony player that’s pretty long in the tooth, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad performer. It performs the exact same as the day I bought it, so these are highly reliable if you don’t submerge them underwater or something.
Another good choice for a lot of people is a game console. Your Xbox Series X and PS5 are both good entry points, and your older Xbox consoles still hold up too. Both the Xbox One S and Xbox One X can play 4K Blu-ray discs, and you can grab that former console for under $100 these days. That makes it one of the most affordable 4K Blu-ray players on the market, and you get the bonus of being able to play Xbox games. I actually used one of these for a while before getting a dedicated player.
UHD Blu-ray technology
Trivia challenge
4K discs, Dolby Vision, and beyond — how much do you really know about UHD
Blu-ray?
4K VideoAudioHardwareFormatsStandards
What is the maximum video resolution supported by the UHD Blu-ray format?
Correct! UHD Blu-ray supports a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160,
commonly known as 4K UHD. This is four times the pixel count of standard 1080p Full HD Blu-ray,
delivering stunning on-screen detail.
Not quite. The answer is 3840 x 2160, which is standard 4K UHD
resolution. While 8K (7680 x 4320) exists as a consumer format, UHD Blu-ray tops out at 4K — still a
massive leap over traditional Full HD discs.
What is the typical maximum data capacity of a dual-layer UHD Blu-ray disc?
Correct! A dual-layer UHD Blu-ray disc can hold up to 100GB of data.
This extra capacity over standard Blu-ray’s 50GB ceiling allows studios to pack in high-bitrate 4K video
alongside lossless audio tracks and bonus features.
Not quite. The correct answer is 100GB for a dual-layer UHD Blu-ray
disc. Standard Blu-ray maxes out at 50GB on a dual-layer disc, but UHD Blu-ray needed more headroom to
accommodate the much larger 4K video files and premium audio formats.
Which of the following lossless audio formats is natively supported on UHD Blu-ray
discs?
Correct! DTS-HD Master Audio is one of the lossless audio formats
officially supported by the UHD Blu-ray specification. It delivers bit-for-bit identical audio to the
studio master, making it a favourite among home cinema enthusiasts.
Not quite. DTS-HD Master Audio is the correct answer. Dolby Digital Plus
is actually a lossy compressed format, not lossless, while MP3 Surround and AAC 5.1 are not part of the
UHD Blu-ray audio specification at all.
Which High Dynamic Range (HDR) format was mandatory in the original UHD Blu-ray
specification?
Correct! HDR10 is the mandatory baseline HDR format for all UHD Blu-ray
discs. It uses static metadata and supports up to 10-bit colour depth with a peak brightness of 10,000
nits, significantly improving contrast and colour range over SDR content.
Not quite. HDR10 is the mandatory HDR format in the UHD Blu-ray spec.
Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are optional enhancements that some studios add on top, but every UHD Blu-ray
player and disc must support HDR10 as the baseline standard.
What laser colour is used in UHD Blu-ray players to read discs?
Correct! UHD Blu-ray players use a violet (blue-violet) laser with a
wavelength of 405nm, the same as standard Blu-ray. This shorter wavelength compared to the red laser
used in DVDs allows data to be packed much more densely on the disc surface.
Not quite. The answer is violet — specifically a blue-violet laser at
405nm. DVDs use a red laser at 650nm, and CDs use an infrared laser at 780nm. The shorter the
wavelength, the more data can be stored, which is why Blu-ray outpaces its predecessors.
What maximum video bitrate does the UHD Blu-ray specification allow for video
content?
Correct! The UHD Blu-ray specification allows a maximum video bitrate of
82 Mbps. This is substantially higher than standard Blu-ray’s 40 Mbps ceiling, enabling richer detail,
smoother gradients, and less compression artefacts in 4K content.
Not quite. The correct maximum video bitrate is 82 Mbps. Standard
Blu-ray tops out at 40 Mbps, and while streaming services like Netflix offer 4K, they typically deliver
it at just 15–25 Mbps — making physical UHD Blu-ray the highest quality option available to consumers.
Which video codec is most commonly used to encode 4K content on UHD Blu-ray discs?
Correct! H.265, also known as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), is
the dominant codec used on UHD Blu-ray. It offers roughly twice the compression efficiency of H.264,
meaning studios can deliver 4K footage at high quality without exhausting the disc’s storage capacity.
Not quite. H.265 (HEVC) is the correct answer. While H.264 was the
workhorse of standard Blu-ray, it simply isn’t efficient enough to handle 4K video at acceptable quality
levels within the disc’s bitrate limits. AV1 is a newer codec but isn’t part of the UHD Blu-ray spec.
Which of the following connection types is required to pass a UHD Blu-ray signal at
full 4K HDR quality from a player to a TV?
Correct! HDMI 2.0 or higher is required to carry a 4K HDR signal from a
UHD Blu-ray player to a display. HDMI 2.0 supports the 18 Gbps bandwidth needed for 4K at 60fps with
HDR, whereas HDMI 1.4 maxes out at 4K/30fps without HDR support.
Not quite. HDMI 2.0 or higher is the correct answer. HDMI 1.4 can
technically carry a 4K signal but only at 30fps and without HDR, making it insufficient for the full UHD
Blu-ray experience. Component video is an analogue connection and cannot carry 4K signals at all.
Your Score
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Thanks for playing!
An affordable 4K Blu-ray player that can play some games
The player we’ve been looking for
Physical media is an expensive hobby, and the price of these players doesn’t help matters. While a lot of people are covered with a game console, not everybody is a gamer. As a result, that’s something that can fly under the radar as an affordable player. I wouldn’t recommend getting a modern console for this, however, as the prices of those have only gone up since launch. Last generation consoles can be found for quite cheap now, and the Xbox One S is a perfect solution to the expensive 4K Blu-ray player problem.
Your only option for a One S is to go used, and you can often find them on eBay for under $100. You can get them even cheaper if you’re willing to troubleshoot problems because there’s a bunch of them being sold for parts. I wouldn’t recommend that latter path because that’s just more trouble than it’s worth for a lot of people, and there’s no telling what the problem is if the person doesn’t specify anything.
Another downside is that this is a 10-year-old console that might have a lot of wear and tear on it. In my experience, an Xbox can last a long time, and my original Xbox is still alive to this day. With that said, your Xbox could give out at any time, and the older ones are certainly more prone to that than something that’s brand new. Warranties don’t exist for these consoles anymore, so you’re just gambling. If you can grab one for $50, and you don’t already have a 4K Blu-ray player, then I’d say it’s worth a shot.
What makes the Xbox One S over a PS4 is that the Xbox One S can play 4K Blu-ray. For whatever reason, the PS4 line couldn’t do 4K discs, even the Pro, so the Xbox was a good pick for people that generation. It’s not any issue anymore as both of the current-gen Xbox and PlayStation models can play 4K discs, provided they’re the versions with disc drives. This could very well be the last generation that allows this, because the next PlayStation won’t have a disc drive, and it’s rumored that the Xbox could follow in its footsteps.
The best bang for your buck, but there are limitations
All game consoles have this flaw
While the Xbox One S makes for a good 4K Blu-ray player, it has one major drawback compared to dedicated players, and that’s the lack of Dolby Vision. It does have access to HDR10, which is a great HDR format, but Dolby Vision is a step further and a better implementation. Many 4K Blu-ray discs come with a Dolby Vision scan, and it’s one of the big selling points of the format. Not having access to that isn’t the end of the world, but I’d say it’s worth the cost of admission.
It’s worth knowing whether your TV is capable of Dolby Vision or not before losing sleep over it though. Many 4K TVs don’t support Dolby Vision, and if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter if your player does. All 4K TVs, on the other hand, support HDR10, so it’s not like you’re getting a bad experience by any means. I forget to toggle the Dolby Vision on with my player all the time, and I’ve never watched a movie and was disappointed that I forgot to turn it on. The important thing about a movie is enjoying it, and you’ll enjoy it all the same whether it’s Dolby Vision or HDR10. If I had to pick between the two, however, I’d pick Dolby Vision.
