Budget brand launches its first UHD Blu-ray player

Australian brand Laser has announced its first Ultra HD Blu-ray player, launching at the end of November at a very reasonable price, although with some compromises.

With an oddly fitting name for a disc player, Laser is entering the Ultra HD Blu-ray market at a time when many major electronics brands have abandoned it, including Oppo, Samsung and LG, while Sony is planning to abandon PlayStation game discs.

Who is Laser? It is an Australian consumer electronics brand established in Sydney in 1987, specializing in affordable consumer technology.


Some compromises
The new disc player is called the Laser Blu-BD4K-384, and it plays UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and CD.

It spins movies in HDR10 and Dolby Vision format, but seemingly not HDR10+. There is no Wi-Fi either, and while USB playback is supported, it relies on a USB 2.0 port.

For analog audio, there is only a stereo output, so you will have to use the single HDMI port for surround sound. There is not explicit mention of Dolby Atmos, but we would be surprised if it cannot output the audio bitstream for your AV receiver or soundbar to decode.


Region-free Blu-ray and DVD
So far, it has only been announced for Australia but, notably, DVD and Blu-ray playback has been made region-free – UHD Blu-ray is always region-free – making it easy to import the player and use it in other countries.

With a suggested retail price of 500 Australian dollars at launch, equivalent to around 350 USD or 310 Euro, it is one of the most affordable Ultra HD Blu-ray players on the market, competing with Panasonic's entry-level UHD Blu-ray players that recently got a price hike.

This goes against the trend of Ultra HD Blu-ray players becoming increasingly high-end and aimed at enthusiasts.

- Source: Laser, Reddit via TechRadar