Sony UBP-X500 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Player, Black

We've had a large 4k TV for a few months now and never got round to upgrading the disc player - we were using the old Sony BDP-S3700 - until now!Picture quality of this has to be seen to be believed - We've bought Toy Story 4 Antman vs the Wasp and a couple of others in 4k and the picture quality is head over heels better than regular Blu Ray, HD Netflix and the like.However - even if you don't plan to splash out an extra say £5 per disc to go UHD, I'd still recommend this player. Its an unsung hero for improving Blu Ray and DVD viewing too. We have a load of DVDs not available on HD media - classic Thomas and friends, Buzz Lightyear of star command and other things enjoyed by our 2 year son. The upscale process is definitely impressive even where the original soruce material isn't great. Best of all is the way it handles 4:3 - as it doesn't attempt to skew a 4:3 picture into a 16:9 frame.I'm giving this 5 stars for smart features as it has none - there are very few "dumb" TVs on the market and if you really want something with reliable smart features, you're best looking at say the Apple TV.The payoff of keeping this "player" dumb appears to be the startup time - which is a huge improvement over the old S3700 and is reminiscent Sony's earlier DVD players.Build quality of the palyer is better than the S3700 too. The case is feels far more sturdy with less reliance on cheap plastic; the gloss finish to the front is an impreovement too. The player isn't quite as noisy either - again a good thing. Only winge would be that it shares the same trailing power supply transformer as the S3700 and Sony don't give you a particularly long figure of 8 cable to suit - however this is easily overcame.Do be careful what HDMI cable you buy - you'll want a properly certified 4k capable HDMI cable that isn't too long. We had a few problems using the AmazonBasics 3m 4k cable - white snow, flickering, picture and sound dropouts on DVDs, BluRays and the built in menus. Swapped it for a certified Belkin 2m cable - no problems at all.Bottom line - this player is a worthwhile investment for anyone still watching any kind of discs on 4K TV.

The upscaling feature is pure trash. Don’t even bother with that, turn that setting off, you will have better results letting your TV do the upscale! Trust me! It makes Blu-rays muddy and look way worse, so turn it off.Everything else is fine. 4K looks glorious, deep colours.

This is a 4K UHD Blu-Ray player plain and simple, it does what it is claimed it will do play Blu-Ray UHD, and virtually any other video disc format you put in it. If you want Smart functionality look elsewhere, but as I have other means of acces to Netflix etc, I just wanted a player that did just thatPicture quality is excellent especially at this price point, so it looks like Sony put the money where it mattered, rather than add frills that might not be wanted or needed.It played every disc I put in from 4K UHD through Blu-Ray, DVD and even an MPEG1 VCD of the Twiglight zone, and a VCD made from some old 8mm camcorder footage in 1999 amazing that is still playable. The VCD looked better than some of the output on Satellite and Freeview filler channels upscaled on the Sony. DVD is upscaled quite well and again on a 4K TV looks better than a great deal of streamed SD content. Picture is The Fog DVD upscaled to a 4K TV.It also played a data CD i stored couple of MPEG 2 files on.You do however have to make sure the HDMI port on the TV is HDMI 2.2 compliant, not all are so check the TVs user guide.and use a cable that can handle the data flow. If you dont the chances are that you will get stuttering video and a corrupted image on the TV.So if you want a player to play discs and media from USB, (there is a USB Port on the front) nd already have Smart functionality on the TV or a Roku etc, this one might well fit the bill.Pros:Great picture quality on UHD content, So 5 Stars for picture at the price pointdecent Blu-ray,more than acceptable DVD, so no need to bin them off yet.Plays nearly anything you put in itCons:No Smart functionality so if you really need that look elsewhere not gripe after buying itNo WiFi, again there is an ethernet cable port for updating Firmware, and Blu-Ray Live, does anybody even bother with that? as not Smart, WiFi not really essentialSo has to be 1 Star for Smart, but really it doesn't apply as is a player onlyOverall rating is a 5 Star due to versatility of media it can handle, and the picture quality.

Needed a 4K UHD player as Id bought a few 4K DVDs. Yes its Made to a price, so quite plasticky, light weight , small remote and no display, small compact remote, Transformer attached to plug not internal , another money saving. But its the picture quality ease of use and speed of loading that are important . And Yep, Picture, sound < everything that matters is superb, It up scales BR and SD to UHD quality . My TV and Soundbar are Sony , so no problems getting them to talk to each other and set up was a doddle. Now find myself playing slightly more DVDs . Good value for the money, Produces a quality & sound . One wee niggle, It don't continue where you left off , you have to FF to where you stopped the disc. other than that a good buy from Sony.

Everything was as advertised, plus delivered early. well done!.