Disc Players

If the UDP-LX800 doesn't deliver the very best images we've seen from 4K UHD Blu-ray discs, it comes darn close. It boasts a solidity of image that's often mesmerising and aces all the usual image metrics. Standard 3840x2160px test patterns look crisp and clean with a vibrant and wide colour gamut, so images typically pop but don't fizz! Star Wars: The Last Jedi demonstrates an intangible dimensional quality that invites you deep into its visuals. The deck supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision out of the box, but a firmware update for HDR10+, the dynamic metadata open standard, is expected before the end of the year.

Picture presets (Reference, OLED, LCD and projector) optimise the HDMI feed for different displays and the 'LX800 can interpolate native 8-bit discs to 10- or 12-bit depth, without adding obvious artifice. This improvement eliminates colour banding, as evidenced by Despicable Me 2, an animation notable for rich, demanding hues. There are no streaming content apps, but by way of recompense we get an in-depth Playback Info screen that reads HDR10 metadata to reveal the Maximum Frame-Average Light (MaxFALL) and Maximum Light Level (MaxCLL) of 4K UHD discs. This insight into the Blu-ray mastering process reveals if your display will be required to implement heavy tone mapping. SM