Panasonic DP-UB9000

TIME ON TEST: 18 months REVIEWER: Steve May

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WITH THE DP-UB9000, Panasonic set a high benchmark for Blu-ray players. When launched in 2018 it was unquestionably the finest Blu-ray disc spinner the Japanese manufacturer had made. Three years on it’s beginning to look a lot like a swansong for the format.

The DP-UB9000 is the sort of hardware that swallows years of R&D time before production, only to cause considerable angst from marketing managers worldwide who have to guess just how many units they’ll shift.

That this model even went on sale outside of Japan, which can be considered safe ground for this kind of AV exotica, strikes me as vaguely extraordinary.

The fact that we’ve seen nothing to eclipse it since probably confirms it’s as good as Blu-ray players are ever likely to get in this age of streaming ubiquity.

The DP-UB9000 has held its price well since launch, and currently sells for around £850, which can be considered excellent value. Current firmware is v2.0; the player hasn’t had an update for some time.

What’s good about it?

The DP-UB9000 remains a powerhouse performer. It created a home cinephile buzz when it first hit stores, not least because it was the first 4K Blu-ray player to offer both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ dynamic metadata support, alongside HDR10 and HLG.

This accommodating nature remains of interest today, although HDR10+ has never really found traction on 4K Blu-ray and it’s chances of catching on now seem slight in the extreme. So this isn’t quite the hook that once was.