Sony 4K Ultra HD Media Player puts high resolution content on your UHD TV for $699

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sony-4k-media-player.jpgOne of the lucky (flushed-with-cash) few who have bought a Sony 4K television, but have no Ultra HD content to view on it? Sony have you covered with their new 4K Ultra HD Media Player.

Set to cost $699 (£460) when it touches down in the US from 15 July, the biscuit tin-shaped hub works with Sony’s new KD-65X9005A 65-inch 4K TV and comes pre-loaded with 10 4K movies, as well as giving access to Sony’s new Video Unlimited 4K service once it launches later in the year.

The 10 pre-loaded movies include The Amazing Spider-Man, The Karate Kid, Bad Teacher, The Other Guys, Battle: Los Angeles, That’s My Boy, Salt, Total Recall 2012, Taxi Driver, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. Housing 2TB of storage, you’ll be able to attach your own hard drive to expand the number of films that can be stored on the the player, and you’ll likely need it; 4K movies are set to be huge files taking up lots of storage space, and will be difficult to effectively stream at most standard current broadband speeds.

Sony have also popped in a number of short demo films which can be used to showcase the supreme clarity of the new TV tech.

Once launched, the Sony Video Unlimited 4K service will offer a catalogue of regularly updated full length films in 4K resolution which you can rent or buy from (most likely populated with just Sony Pictures movies). It’ll cost $29.99 to buy the films, or $7.99 to rent them for 24 hours.

It’s good to see Sony providing for the early adopters in this way, but you have to wonder how quickly this $700 machine will be made obsolete. With streaming technology improving all the time and broadband speeds similarly speeding up, I imagine it won’t be long until the likes of Netflix can deliver 4K content as part of their package. It may take a year or two, but it’s definitely on the horizon.

Gerald Lynch
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2 comments

  • If the device lasts a year or two before becoming obsolete it will be worth the investment. Sony is offering a $200 discount on the player and given what I paid for the set, paying a bit more to get the box with pre-loaded movies is nothing. Meanwhile Netflix can already stream 4K and 3D movies if your provider is connected to the right servers… mine isn’t but only a matter or time. And regular BDs look so good on this set it almost doesn’t matter if the content originates in 4K or is upconverted.

  • If the device lasts a year or two before becoming obsolete it will be worth the investment. Sony is offering a $200 discount on the player and given what I paid for the set, paying a bit more to get the box with pre-loaded movies is nothing. Meanwhile Netflix can already stream 4K and 3D movies if your provider is connected to the right servers… mine isn't but only a matter or time. And regular BDs look so good on this set it almost doesn't matter if the content originates in 4K or is upconverted.

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