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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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New York prosecutors say Trump’s criminal conviction should stand: “President-elect immunity does not exist”
New York prosecutors say President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House should not undermine the decision of 12 jurors who found him guilty of dozens of felonies in May, telling the judge overseeing the case that the conviction should stand.
“This Court should reject [Trump’s] motion to ‘immediately’ dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s guilty verdict based on the outcome of the recent presidential election,” prosecutors wrote in their filing, which was made public Tuesday. “There are no grounds for such relief now, prior to defendant’s inauguration, because President-elect immunity does not exist.”
Soon after Trump’s election in November, his defense lawyers promised to urge Justice Juan Merchan to toss his indictment in the “hush money” case and set aside the verdict. They made their motion on Dec. 2, hinging their push to discard the will of 12 jurors who sat for the seven-week trial on an unlikely subject: President Biden’s son, Hunter. Trump’s attorneys said the announcement of Hunter Biden’s controversial pardon echoed Trump’s complaints about his prosecution, claiming it was politically driven.
Prosecutors did not mention either Biden or the pardon in their response filing.
They hit back against the core of Trump’s effort to set aside his conviction. Trump’s lawyers — two of whom are slated to take on senior roles in the Justice Department after Trump’s inauguration — have argued that it would be unconstitutional for an incoming president to carry the burden of a guilty verdict reached before his election.
“[Trump’s] suggestion that his subsequent election ‘superseded’ the jury’s verdict is deeply misguided,” prosecutors wrote. “As this Court carefully and correctly instructed the jury, it was the empaneled jurors who were ‘deciding whether the Defendant is guilty or not guilty’ because only these jurors — not the general electorate — heard all the evidence in this trial.”
Prosecutors argued Trump’s lawyers are trying to “effectively extend the period of [Trump’s] immunity to a time before his presidency, by wiping out the effects of an indictment and jury verdict that took place before he was even reelected President.”
Trump’s sentencing has been postponed three times since his conviction in May. It was initially scheduled for July 11, but Merchan pushed that date back so Trump’s attorneys could file a separate motion to dismiss following a landmark Supreme Court ruling. The nation’s highest court concluded in early July that former presidents could not be charged for official acts, and evidence related to their official work as president could not be used as evidence against them.
Merchan has not ruled on that motion. He postponed the second sentencing date, Sept. 18, after Trump’s lawyers argued it was too close to the election. After Trump’s election victory on Nov. 5, they demanded a Nov. 26 sentencing date be postponed so they could file the new motion to dismiss the case, revolving around his return to the White House.
Bragg’s office said in its filing it would be open to postponing sentencing and other proceedings until after Trump’s term in office, which ends in 2029.
“If [Trump] is not sentenced before his inauguration, there is also no legal barrier to deferring that sentencing until after the end of his presidency,” they wrote.
The judge’s decision will be the latest moment in the case to set a historical precedent. Trump was the first person to be elected president after being convicted of crimes. When the unanimous jury concluded in May he was guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records, he became the first former president ever convicted of crimes. In March 2023, Trump became the first former president ever indicted when a grand jury concluded he should be charged.
The case focused on a coverup of a “hush money” payment to an adult film star. Trump authorized a scheme to conceal reimbursements to a lawyer who made the payment days before Trump’s first election.
Trump pleaded not guilty in the case and has promised to appeal his conviction.