The UltraHD Blu-ray standard was announced this month (BDA Completes UltraHD Blu-ray), and Panasonic has wasted no time in talking about pricing, with a promise of ‘No thousand-dollar machines’.
Ron Martin, of Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, has told What Hi-Fi that Panasonic – and most other manufacturers – will be showing UltraHD Blu-ray players by IFA, and are hoping to launch these products by Christmas.
Prices are expected to be “Maybe two to three times the cost of equivalent HD players. But that will drop over time”. Disc prices are expected to be roughly equivalent to today’s prices.
Samsung has also put its support behind the format, separately announcing that it would launch an UltraHD Blu-ray player at the end of the year.
