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The best Blu-ray players in 2024 make it easy to catch up on your favorite shows
Physical media is far from dead. In fact, it’s a better time than ever to own your favorite TV series and movies, given that they often disappear from streaming services in the blink of an eye. So if you’re someone who collects Blu-ray discs for your home theater setup, you’re going to want to start with a great Blu-ray player first.
A great Blu-ray player can make all the difference when it comes to getting the most out of what you watch. With the advent of 4K and HDR, they’ve evolved to deliver crisp, crystal clear picture and sound quality. So no matter what you buy on Blu-ray, you can enjoy it to the fullest at home with the right player.
But which Blu-ray player should you bring home? Whether you’re a casual viewer or a dedicated film fan, we’ve rounded up some picks.
The best Blu-ray players in 2024
Best Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB820
If you’re looking for the best Blu-ray player for most users, look no further than the Panasonic DMP-UB820. This player has a nice balance of features, performance and value. That makes it the best choice for just about everyone who needs a Blu-ray player.
It has full HDR support for vibrant colors, sharp textures and accurate black tones. Even when you play standard, non-4K Blu-ray or DVD discs, this player’s upscaling ability sharpens and enhances picture quality so it’s almost like seeing your favorites come to life in a new way. It also has Dolby Atmos support so it can fill your room with loud, clear sound.
Aside from connecting it directly to your TV or stereo system, it can use Wi-Fi for video streaming and even has a dedicated HDMI audio output for even higher-quality sound. That means it should mesh well with just about any setup you have going on in your living room with little muss or fuss.
Best premium Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB9000
If you want the absolute best in home entertainment and have an elite home theater setup, the Panasonic DP-UB9000 is the ultimate 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Yes, it’s pricey, and that’s because it’s for the most elite cinephile. That’s why everything about it says “luxury” in many ways.
The heavy metal build and premium design make it clear that this player is in a class of its own. It supports all the key HDR formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision. You can also count on it for fantastic audio quality. With high-quality DACs, two-channel and 7.1-channel analogue outputs as well as support for Hi-Res Audio, this player has you covered in terms of audio. To top it all off, the DP-UB9000 comes packed with plenty of smart features.
This level of performance doesn’t come cheap, so you’ll absolutely be paying a pretty penny. But if quality is of the utmost importance to you, this is the Blu-ray player of your dreams.
Best budget Blu-ray player: Sony UBP-X700
Don’t want to spend an entire paycheck on a Blu-ray player? You don’t need to. The Sony UBP-X700 is an affordable player offers an impressive array of features and performance that belies its budget-friendly price point.
Its exceptional picture quality may come as a surprise, given that this player is so afforable. But whether you’re watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster or a classic film, this Blu-ray player can offer a great-looking picture that you can be proud of, even if you’re watching only top-of-the-line 4K releases.
It supports multiple HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10, ensuring that you can enjoy the widest possible range of 4K content. While it doesn’t support HDR10+, this omission is hardly a dealbreaker considering the player’s affordable price point. Despite not being marketed as a hi-res audio player, the UBP-X700 can even play high-resolution audio files and supports various formats such as WAV and FLAC.
For less than $200, you really can’t do better than this Blu-ray player, so be sure to grab it if you want to have high quality at a low price.
Best Blu-ray player and console combo: PlayStation 5 Slim
If you need to play Blu-ray discs but want a multifunction player to handle it, you can’t go wrong with a PlayStation 5, namely the PS5 Slim, which means you can play movies as well as video games from the same device.
As a 4K Blu-ray player, the PS5 Slim is a great space-saving option for anyone who loves video games, movies and TV. It lets you enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows in high definition, then switch over to the latest and greatest games without having to get up and change the disc out given the PS5 Slim’s spacious hard drive.
You don’t need a remote since you can use the included DualSense controller, and given that there are tons of new games always releasing in tandem with films and TV, you can kill two birds with one stone with this device. Plus, you’ll have more space free, without having to have both gaming console and Blu-ray player.
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Businessman Frank McCourt says company working to be in position to buy TikTok amid ban threat
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Transcript: Frank McCourt on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 8, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with business executive Frank McCourt on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Dec. 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: A panel of federal judges in DC last week upheld a new law that could effectively ban the popular social media app TikTok by mid-January if its Chinese owners do not sell it to a new buyer. Frank McCourt, the Executive Chairman of McCourt Global, and founder of Project Liberty, is one of the potential buyers, and he joins us now. Good to see you here.
FRANK MCCOURT: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So TikTok says, well, they might go to the Supreme Court on this one. If they don’t, their parent company, ByteDance, has said they’re not interested in selling. Do you have any indication that they will and that the incoming Trump administration would support someone like you buying it?
FRANK MCCOURT: Well yeah, I think where we are now, Margaret, is, there’s three options. You know, one is an appeal. Our lawyers tell us there’s very little chance of a successful appeal by Bytedance, strong bipartisan legislation, a three to zero vote by the three by the appellate court. So now that leaves us with two, a ban or a sale. We don’t want to see it banned. I’d add that President- President-elect Trump, has also said he doesn’t want to see it banned. So now let’s talk about the sale. So we’ve been working for the last eight months on the assumption that the legislation would be upheld and that there would be a sale. So that’s where we are right now, and we’re working very, very hard to be in a position to buy the US portion of TikTok so it’s not shut down.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So what is that worth to you? There are estimates it could be as high as $200 billion in worth.
FRANK MCCOURT: $200 billion would be more more in the range of what the entirety of the platform is worth, not just the US piece. And let’s be clear, the Chinese government has said they’re not selling the algorithm. They view that as IP of the country. So US Tiktok is a piece of bytedance. If it’s sold, it will be sold without an algorithm. So the value will be far, far less than 200- $200 billion. We have circled over $20 billion to be in a position, and we’re very serious about raising whatever capital is required to buy the platform and and to be clear, yeah, we’re looking to move the 170 million users over to a new protocol where the individuals will own and control their identity and their data. We’re not looking to replicate the existing version.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So let’s talk about that. As you said, 170 million Americans use TikTok, especially young people. US law prohibits foreign control of mass media, but this social media space is kind of a loophole here. There aren’t a lot of governing rules in this space. Do you think Congress needs to write new rules of the role- of the road to ban foreign ownership and to put restrictions on even owners like you?
FRANK MCCOURT: I think we need to upgrade our regulations and our policies. There’s no doubt about that. But far more importantly, we need to fix the technology. The internet is broken, fundamentally broken. We heard your guest earlier, Representative Turner, talk about the threat from China on our telecom hack, massive hack, massive threat to Americans.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And they’re still in the telecom system.
FRANK MCCOURT: Absolutely. And we heard your recent guests, Representatives Kelly and Crow, talk about the deluge of misinformation and disinformation, the fact that it’s a very dangerous world right now. The reason why the Congress moves so quickly with TikTok to pass the legislation is because it is a national security threat to Americans, and the reason why the judges upheld it is for that same reason. So let’s turn a problem into a solution by taking advantage of this moment, move the 100 and 70 million users over to a new protocol where individuals are respected.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have an indication from President elect Trump that he wants to see an American entity buy this? Because he would also have some influence in the outcome.
FRANK MCCOURT: Of course, as president elect he’ll have massive influence.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you spoken to him?
FRANK MCCOURT: But President Trump is a deal maker. We know that. I’m a deal-maker. Okay? I’ve been doing business deals my entire- my entire life. Let’s make a deal where everybody wins, where China’s able to sell the US portion of TikTok, where American citizens are protected, and where there’s- and 170 million users continue to enjoy the platform. So he has said he doesn’t want it banned, which means a sale. And the legislation and the- the appellate decision require that this platform be- be owned by Americans. We have built a clean, bottom-up American stack to move this user base over, where there’ll be no Chinese back doors and no ability to to take advantage of American citizens.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re indicating you’ve built out some technology you think that will not allow for government surveillance.
FRANK MCCOURT: Correct.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But can you, if you are- whoever owns this is going to be powerful if you get 170 million Americans on a platform, particularly young people, to consume the information on this. System. So what guarantees do you make? Because Facebook and Twitter, they also harvest information about consumers. Would you?
FRANK MCCOURT: Yeah, well, that’s exactly what we don’t want to do. So the reason why we want to move people to a new stack where you can’t harvest without permission, so individuals will own and control their identity and their data permission its use, will actually have an internet that respects people as opposed to exploits them. Imagine empowering people. And to be clear, Margaret, I’m not looking to be the CEO of TikTok. We call it the people’s bid, because we want this to empower people and to stop this nonsense where we’re exploiting people by scraping their data and taking advantage of them, and in the case of Tiktok, actually creating a national security threat.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Elon Musk, who owns X, formerly known as Twitter, now has raised concerns about content moderation, restricting free speech. Do you share that concern, and what restrictions would you put on paid political ads?
FRANK MCCOURT: I mentioned earlier that we need better policies, for sure, but we need better tech right now. We have a tech stack that’s built and these giant apps scrape our data and exploit it. Why not flip the power? Why not actually give people their data back. Our data is our personhood in this age, let us decide how to use it. Let us each decide what moderation we’re comfortable with, what censorship we’re comfortable with, what privacy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so the Surgeon General says you need a warning label, because this is damaging the mental health of young people in this country. Should people under the age of 16 have access?
FRANK MCCOURT: Under the current tech stack, I agree with the Surgeon General, under a new technology. Listen, I’m a builder. My family has been building for five generations. This is an engineering problem that can be fixed. Let’s take this ban of TikTok, this massive national security problem and turn it into a solution for Americans. Let’s make it a win, a win, win.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, mid-January, we will see what happens in this case, and we will watch your potential bid here. Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back in a moment.
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Transcript: House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Turner on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 8, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Dec. 8, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Ohio, Congressman Mike Turner. Just a stunning turn of events within such a short period of time. The US doesn’t have a diplomatic presence inside of Syria. Our visibility is a little limited here. What is it that you think Americans need to know about this turn of events?
REP. MIKE TURNER: Margaret, that was an excellent report, because you certainly laid the groundwork of this has been an incredibly brutal civil war with hundreds of thousandss of people dying, including the use of chemical weapons. And of course, reminding people that the Obama administration had said this would be a red line, that we would use military force to stop the use of chemical weapons, then failing to do so. This is a Islamic militia that has risen up and has continued and now is successfully toppling the Assad regime. As your report indicated, it’s al Qaeda in its origins, but it opposes ISIS. It is Turkish-backed. This is a blow to Iran, a blow to Russia. We’re seeing what is likely a disintegration in Syria. The big questions will be, what does this mean for the US? What does it mean for Iran, Russia, the neighbors of Israel and Jordan, which are strong allies of the United States?
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you mentioned there, and we showed the picture of Abu Muhammad al-Jolani. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, people call HTS. You’re going to hear a lot about that in the coming days and weeks, the rebel group that appears to be taking control. But they are working also with the Prime Minister. The United States government has a ten million bounty on the head of Jolani. Do you think the United States still should keep that? Should Americans be concerned that this will mean something in terms of impact for terror threats to the United States.
REP. TURNER: This is a terrorist organization and group, but this is not going to be just a passing of power and authority. It could be. We’ll have to, obviously, watch that. You know, one of the things that we do see here, though, is this is a diplomatic failure with respect to the United States and Turkey. You know, the U.S. has troops in Syria. This is on the border of Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The United States is working with the Kurds. This really could have been an opportunity for the United States to work to try to resolve the issue between the Kurds, Turkey and the United States and working with Turkish interests in Syria. Hopefully this could be an opportunity where there could be a diplomatic support there that hopefully could have- help in this transition in Syria.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are 900 US troops in Syria in the South. Donald Trump in 2019 pulled US troops out of northern Syria, abandoning our allies there. Do you believe he will stand by the 900 US troops that remain there? Or should he consider pulling them out when he takes office?
REP. TURNER: Well I think, you know, one of the things that Donald Trump will make clear is, is that any any threat to us, troops will be unbelievably responded to. So everyone should understand, absolutely, the United States troops are to be secure. The second thing is, is he does absolutely support the Kurds and that he’s going to look for a diplomatic solution. I think there will be an assessment as to whether or not those troops should remain. But it’s, you know, I think here there is an opportunity for the parties, especially now that Iran and Russia’s roles are going to be domin- diminished. They have been brutal in their support with Assad, the hundreds of thousands of people, including use of chemical weapons that have been killed, have been under the Russian influence there. Russia still has two bases, a naval and air force base there that are going to be, you know, both at risk for Russia, but also a risk to the population of Syria because they could- they have been used before to attack the Syrian population. We’ll have to see what Russia does there. But this is going to be an area that’s going to be highly volatile and in transition.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And no idea where Bashar Al Assad might have fled to?
REP. TURNER: No, not at this time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, since we’re talking about the incoming administration, Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, the former Congresswoman, a former Democrat, now Republican, to be the Director of National Intelligence, overseeing 18 intelligence agencies. She not only went and met with Assad, she publicly doubted high confidence assessments by U.S. intelligence that he did what we showed you pictures of him doing, using chemical weapons there. Do you trust that she could actually represent the intelligence community, lead it and be trusted to brief the Commander in Chief?
REP. TURNER: Well, I obviously differ in a great deal in a number of areas with both her judgment and and her background and experience, but what I do trust is the–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You’re smiling when you’re saying this–
REP. TURNER: The Senate is the Senate process, and I think this- the senators are going to put her through a process. She has been nominated. She will go through the process, and I think there will be significant debate and evaluation. I think–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You don’t think she’ll be confirmed?–
REP. TURNER: –that Donald Trump has put together in his last term, and I think he will in this term, a great national security team. I think CIA director, Radcliffe, I think Mike Waltz as National Security Director, are both great examples of people who are going to be foundational. I think you’re going to see a great national security team.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, this is a community that you also have oversight of, so you may not vote in the Senate, but it sounds like she doesn’t have your confidence. What about Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon at a time of global instability?
REP. TURNER: Yeah, I think the Chairman of the Armed Services in the Senate made a great statement. He said, we certainly support the process, and he has his support going through the process, and we’ll have to see how that goes through. One thing that is absolutely clear is that the Pentagon needs reformed. We are not keeping pace with what Russia and China are doing in advanced weapon systems. At the same time, we’re seeing the weapon systems of advanced technology that are being utilized on the battlefield of Ukraine, and our acquisition systems and our accounting systems, our spending systems are not working at the Pentagon–
MARGARET BRENNAN: -That requires experience–
REP TURNER: –We need reform. We need reform. Someone has to be able to lead that, and that’s going to be the debate in the Senate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I love when I ask Congresspeople, and they just keep reminding me that they don’t sit in the Senate and don’t want to comment. I sense some some uncertainty there on your part, but I don’t want to put words in your mouth. I want to ask you though about what is ticking down in Congress right now, and that is something there’s a scramble at the end of this year to get a bunch of work done. Your Democratic colleague in the Senate, Mark Warner, said “it is an urgent priority to address cybersecurity gaps in these final weeks.” Is it a priority for you to do something because of this massive breach by China, of U.S. Telecom?
REP. TURNER: You know, one thing that’s- it’s very disappointing, and we’ve seen from this administration, this this malaise of this stasis of where they’re unable to move as a result of the president unable to make a decision. Here we have this massive breach, this hack that has occurred from China, but we’re hearing nothing from the president himself, no action from this administration as to what their- what consequences that will be. This is not- doesn’t need just a technological fix. This needs also a diplomatic fix, a nation to nation, consequences to China–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –What would consequences look like?
REP. TURNER: Now in the Obama administration, in the Obama administration, China hacked the personnel management system of the US government, and there were no consequences, and now we’re seeing China hack the entire system of the nation. There needs to be consequences. They can be economic. They can be in a number of ways. But right now we have zero, we have nothing coming out of the administration. What need to be talking about is not technologically how do we fix this? But how do we address, which is what Donald Trump is doing, is coming in and saying China is our most, gravest threat. How do we address the fact that China is aggressively attacking the United States, and they’re doing that in our telecom?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Question for the incoming administration to pick that up. Thank you, Chair Turner. “Face the Nation” will be back in a minute. Stay with us.