Ultra HD Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray)[2][3] is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray.[4] Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players.[1] Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progressive frames per second,[4] encoded using High-Efficiency Video Coding.[4] The discs support both high dynamic range by increasing the color depth to 10-bit per color and a greater color gamut than supported by conventional Blu-ray video by using the Rec. 2020 color space. Ultra HD Blu-Ray discs also support a 12-bit per color container via Dolby Vision.[5] Dolby Vision content on 4K UHD Blu-Ray can also be mastered for 10,000 nits peak brightness, whereas standard HDR10 can only achieve a maximum of 4,000 nits of brightness.[6] Moreover, Dolby Vision makes use of dynamic metadata, which adjusts the brightness and tone mapping per scene. In contrast, standard HDR10 only makes use of static metadata, which sets the same brightness and tone mapping for the entirety of the content.[7]
Media type
The format is supported on Microsoft's Xbox One X,[8] One S,[9] Series X, and Sony's PlayStation 5.[10] Software made for the PlayStation 5[11][12] can use 100 GB UHD Blu-ray discs.[13]
The first Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs were officially released in the United States on February 14, 2016.[14] To differentiate retail Ultra HD Blu-ray releases, the format usually uses a black opaque or largely transparent keep case packaging format (as opposed to blue). The case size is the same as that of a normal Blu-ray disc.
The Blu-ray Disc Association also completed the specification for an 8K Blu-ray format supporting 8K UHD (7680 × 4320 pixel resolution) videos for use in Japan.[15]
PC playback[edit]
Only computers with activated Software Guard Extensions (SGX) support Ultra HD Blu-ray playback. Intel introduced SGX in the Skylake generation Core processors in 2016, enabling PCs to play protected Blu-ray discs for the first time. In January 2022, Intel deprecated support for SGX for the Rocket Lake and Alder Lake generation desktop processors, leading to Ultra HD Blu-ray discs being unplayable on those systems, even with licensed software such as PowerDVD.[26][27][28] However, on systems without SGX support, Ultra HD Blu-ray discs can be ripped using a drive with patched firmware (LibreDrive) and compatible software such as MakeMKV, DVDFab, or AnyDVD HD.[29]