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The best Blu-ray players in 2024 make it easy to catch up on your favorite shows

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Best Blu-ray Players

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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 

Panasonic DP-UB820

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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

Panasonic DP-UB9000

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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

Sony UBP-X700

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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

PlayStation 5 Slim

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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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After UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shot in Manhattan, police launch all out manhunt for his killer

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Manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer enters day 2


Manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer enters day 2

03:06

NEW YORK — More than 24 hours after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan, a citywide manhunt continues for his killer. 

Detectives are combing through his electronics to see if he faced any threats, and they say the gunman may have dropped vital clues. 

Video shows brazen shooting outside Hilton Midtown


Chilling video shows suspect run off after murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO

00:31

Surveillance video captured the brazen and targeted attack early Wednesday morning. 

A masked shooter using a silencer approached Thompson from behind and shot him in the back and the leg. The weapon appeared to jam, but the suspect cleared it and kept shooting.

The gunman then jogged across the street, in plain view of witnesses. 

“I was looking at my phone, then I hear the shot. And when I looked, the guy was with a gun, like a silent gun,” one witness said. 

Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was heading to the Hilton Midtown to address investors at a UnitedHealthcare conference.

The NYPD is now working with authorities in Minnesota, where he is from, to identify any specific threats against him. Police sources say detectives uncovered rantings directed at the company, but no threats to his personal safety. 

“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Wednesday. “Every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”

Manhunt leads police to Central Park

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A map shows where UnitedHealtcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and the escape route used by the gunman, who got away on a bike, according to police. 

CBS News New York


From the Hilton, investigators believe the suspect hopped on a bike and rode to Central Park. Video obtained by CBS News appears to show him leaving the park on West 85th Street about 15 minutes after the shooting.

“What we’re looking at is a gunman who was thoughtful and prepared, staked out the scene, began by shooting the person in the back,” said CBS News law enforcement contributor Richard Esposito, a former NYPD deputy commissioner. 

Police said the suspect planned carefully, but not perfectly. He went to a nearby Starbucks minutes before the shooting, where sources say surveillance images may have captured enough of his face to run through facial recognition. 

“The full investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway, and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case,” Tisch said. 

Police sources say investigators are running forensic tests on a water bottle and candy bar wrapper they believe the suspect left at the Starbucks, as well as a discarded cellphone found near the scene. 

“A wonderful person with a big heart”

Thompson arrived in the city Monday from Minnesota and was scheduled to address investors at the company’s annual investor relations conference. Top executives quickly canceled the shareholders meeting. 

“The company is just distraught, his colleagues are distraught,” said Taylor Smith, who was staying at the Hilton.

Investigators are now probing every aspect of Thompson’s life to try to find a motive. 

“They’re going to look at the business end, you have a company that’s laid people off. They’re going to look at the personal stories, and they’re going to focus on letters, desperate people who were denied care or tests or something that could’ve saved a life or who blame the company,” Former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.  

The 50-year-old was married with two sons. His wife, Paulette, spoke about the family’s loss. 

“Brian was a wonderful person with a big heart and who lived life to the fullest,” she said. “He will be greatly missed by everybody. Our hearts are broken and we are completely devastated by this news.”

The NYPD is offering a $10,000 reward in the case, asking the public to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via their website. All calls are kept confidential.  



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Biden to participate in final White House Christmas tree lighting of presidency

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President Biden will participate on Thursday in the annual Christmas tree lighting on the Ellipse, his last time taking part in the annual tradition before he departs the White House next year. 

Mr. Biden returned to the White House on early Thursday after spending the beginning of the week in Angola. Before he left, he ignited a firestorm when he issued a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter, who had been convicted on federal drug and gun charges, and pleaded guilty to tax charges. When asked about the pardon earlier this week, the first lady, who attended every day of Hunter Biden’s Delaware trial, said “of course I support the pardon of my son.”

This year’s Christmas tree is a 35-foot Red Spruce from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia. A collection of 58 smaller trees are adorned with student-designed ornaments from every state and territory.  

The 102nd Tree Lighting Ceremony will be hosted by Mickey Guyton featuring performances by Adam Blackstone, Stephen Sanchez, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood. Viewers can watch the full ceremony on CBS on Dec. 20

2024 White House holiday decorations 

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The State Dining Room of the White House is decorated for the holidays, Sunday, December 1, 2024. 

Official White House Photo by Erin Scott


The tree lighting is the last part of the White House holiday transformation, with this year’s theme being “A Season of Peace and Light.”

First lady Jill Biden unveiled the holiday decor in the East Room on Monday, speaking to volunteers who made the winter wonderland come to life. 

“As we celebrate our final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values that we hold sacred: faith, family, and service to our country, kindness toward all of our neighbors, and the power of community,” she said.   

It takes over 300 volunteers from across the country along with about 9,810 feet of ribbon, 28,125 ornaments and 2,200 paper doves to deck the halls of the White House. 

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The State Dining Room of the White House is decorated for the holidays, Sunday, December 1, 2024. 

Official White House Photo by Erin Scott


The White House expects to welcome over 100,000 visitors during the holiday season. The first lady on Tuesday welcomed families of National Guard members to be the first to view the decorations. Upon arrival, visitors will see a Christmas tree dedicated to Gold Star families with six stacked stars representing all six branches of the military. Down the East Colonnade guests will be surrounded by bells “symbolizing the peaceful sounds of the holiday season.” In the East Room, a reflective canopy twinkles next to the chandeliers like snowfall as two large Christmas trees guard the main door. 

The first known Christmas tree inside the White House was in 1889 during the Benjamin Harrison administration, according to the White House. It was a much smaller affair with only a Christmas tree in the Second Floor Oval Room decorated with candles by President Harrison’s grandchildren. 

The annual gingerbread White House manages to combine 25 sheets of gingerbread dough, 10 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 65 pounds of pastillage, 45 pounds of chocolate, 50 pounds of royal icing, and 10 pounds of gum paste into the form of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

First Lady Jill Biden Previews The White House's Holiday Decor
The Gingerbread White House is displayed in the State Dining Room during a media preview of the 2024 holiday decorations at the White House on December 2, 2024 in Washington, D.C. 

Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images


Volunteers who bring the decorations to life 

Alisa Cooper de Uribe, a first-grade bilingual teacher at the New Mexico International School in Albuquerque and the 2021 New Mexico Teacher of the Year, was one of the volunteers who assembled the thousands of doves. She traveled to Washington, D.C., with her family to be part of the White House decorations team. 

“It’s a sisterhood, a brotherhood. It was a very collegial atmosphere,” Cooper de Uribe told CBS News. “And that was one of the things that I was really impressed by was how so many people who were gathered together without any knowledge of each other before, how well these people work together.” 

The holiday volunteers are teachers, military families, nurses, and small business owners from across the country who all apply before being selected for decor duty. Bright and early the day after Thanksgiving, the volunteers arrived at the White House to begin full days of glitter and garland before the first lady unveiled all their work. The Office of the First Lady sent out special invitations to State Teachers of the Year winners like de Uribe to join the holiday volunteer tradition. Some volunteers formed text chains and Facebook groups, intending to keep in touch long after the ornaments are taken down.

Centerpiece of the holiday decor 

The centerpiece of the holiday decor inside the Blue Room is a 18 ½ foot Fraser Fir that traveled from the Cartner Family of Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in North Carolina. The tree was one of the survivors as thousands of others were devastated when Hurricane Helene hit the Blue Ridge Mountains. The owners named it “Tremendous” as a tribute to the resilience of North Carolina communities affected by Hurricane Helene.

In the state dining room, there are ornaments on the Christmas tree that feature self-portraits of students, including four of de Uribe’s first graders. 

“It was an opportunity for the students to see themselves reflected in the White House and in this season, and that it’s their place, and it’s their opportunity to have their individual and unique selves and their culture shine out through their portraits,” de Uribe said.  



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Legendary Colombia cartel drug lord released from U.S. prison after 25 years: “He won’t be retiring a poor man”

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One of Colombia’s legendary drug lords and a key operator of the Medellin cocaine cartel has been released from a U.S. prison and is expected to be deported back home.

Records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons show Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was released Tuesday after completing 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence.

Ochoa, 67, and his older brothers amassed a fortune when cocaine started flooding the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to U.S. authorities, to the point that in 1987 they were included in the Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires. Living in Miami, Ochoa ran a distribution center for the cocaine cartel once headed by Pablo Escobar.

Although somewhat faded from memory as the center of the drug trade shifted from Colombia to Mexico, he resurfaced in the hit Netflix series “Narcos” true to form as the youngest son of an elite Medellin family into ranching and horse breeding that cut a sharp contrast with Escobar, who came from more humble roots.

Ochoa — who also went by the nicknames “Julio” and “Pepe,” according to the U.S. Justice Department — was first indicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in the 1986 killing of Drug Enforcement Administration informant Barry Seal – whose life was popularized in the 2017 film “American Made” starring Tom Cruise.

Cocaine Cowboys Early Release
This undated file photo shows Fabio Ochoa Vasquez. 

/ AP


He was initially arrested in 1990 in Colombia under a government program promising drug kingpins would not be extradited to the U.S. At the time, he was on the U.S. list of the “Dozen Most Wanted” Colombia drug lords.

Ochoa was arrested again and extradited to the U.S. in 2001 in response to an indictment in Miami naming him and more than 40 people as part of a drug smuggling conspiracy. Of those, Ochoa was the only one who opted to go to trial, resulting in his conviction and the 30-year sentence.

At the trial, the jurors were driven back and forth to court in vans with tinted windows to protect their anonymity, the BBC reported, and their identities were even kept from prosecutors and defense lawyers.

The other defendants got much lighter prison terms because most of them cooperated with the government.

The BBC reported that after Ochoa was arrested in 1999, he erected billboards in Medellin and Bogota declaring: “Yesterday I made a mistake. Today I am innocent.”

Richard Gregorie, a retired assistant U.S. attorney who was on the prosecution team that convicted Ochoa, said authorities were never able to seize all of the Ochoa family’s illicit drug proceeds and he expects that Ochoa will have a welcome return home.

“He won’t be retiring a poor man, that’s for sure,” Gregorie told The Associated Press.

Richard Klugh, a Miami-based attorney for Ochoa, declined to comment.

But in years of litigation, he argued unsuccessfully that his client deserved to be released early because his sentence far exceeded what was appropriate for the amount of seized cocaine that authorities could attribute to Ochoa.

Colombia remains the world’s biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe. Last year, the South American country set a new record for cocaine production and cultivation of the coca leaf it is made from.

Just last week, the Colombian Navy said authorities from dozens of countries seized over 225 metric tons of cocaine in a six-week mega-operation where they unearthed a new Pacific trafficking route.



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