Samsung is going beyond Blu-ray, unveiling its first Ultra HD Blu-ray player at the IFA tech convention in Berlin. The company says the player can provide up to four times the resolution of standard Blu-ray devices, as well as 64 times "higher color expression." The player can upscale content to "provide UHD resolution for any disc," and is compatible with 4K streaming services as well as supporting high dynamic range (HDR) video. It's Wi-Fi enabled (both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), has a USB port at the front, and can connect to the company's new SmartThings hub. Samsung hasn't mentioned anything about price or availability, but we'll hopefully be able to find out more details at IFA.

As well as the player itself, Samsung says it is committed to expanding the ecosystem for Ultra HD or 4K content. It's partnering with a number of firms including Amazon, Netflix, British Telecom, and Canal Plus, to create and deliver more UHD content worldwide. The company also talked up its range of UHD TVs (which it said would be the first to support the new HDMI 2.0a format which allows HDR input) and shared the stage with the president and CTO of Fox, who promised that the movie studio was dedicated to releasing all of its upcoming movies in Ultra HD format. Fox unveiled its first HDR package (for spy film Kingsman: The Secret Service) and promised that other titles such as Fantastic Four and Maze Runner would be available soon.