This was expected. The UHD Alliance recently announced that the certification would be expanded to cover Blu-ray players, and the next day Panasonic’s player received the logo. UBD-K8500 has now also been certified, says Samsung.

UHD Premium for... UHD players?
One would think that it is implied that UHD Blu-ray players live up to the stringent requirements set for 4K, HDR, and wide color gamut in “UHD Premium” since all these parameters are mandatory in the new Blu-ray standard. Nevertheless, the industry has expanded the “UHD Premium” initiative to cover UHD Blu-ray players.

Following Panasonic’s player, Samsung’s first UHD Blu-ray player has now received the certification. Samsung says that for the remainder of 2016 its UBD-K8500 will “bear a certification logo from the UHDA to ensure consumers identify it as a leading product”.


- “We are honored that our first Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which provides the ultimate cinematic experience, has received Premium Certification from the UHDA,” said Jim Kiczek, Vice President of AV Marketing. “As we continuously strive to bring consumers the most advanced home entertainment products and services, we look forward to furthering our work with the UHDA to incite progress and growth throughout the industry.”

The “UHD Premium” logo has also been awarded to select TVs, including Samsung’s 2016 “SUHD” line-up, Panasonic’s DX900 flagship, and LG’s entire 2016 line-up of OLED TVs. Several UHD Blu-ray movies also bear the logo on the cover. You can learn more about the program here.

The UHD Alliance consists of TV manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, LG, and Panasonic, content distributors such as Amazon and Netflix, content creators such as Disney, Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros, and technology companies such as Dolby and Technicolor.