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Samsung UBD-M9500 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player Review

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Samsung UBD-M9500 Detailed Features

Let’s begin this section with an overview of what the Samsung UBD-M9500 offers: 4K Ultra HD (UHD) Blu-ray playback, digital multimedia playback via USB, streaming media playback from any of the myriad of apps available to this smart device (Netflix, HBO Go, HULU, etc…), as well as playback from any other supported Samsung device. You’ll need to register for a Samsung account if you want to download for-pay apps and rent movies.

Samsung UBD-M9500 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review Tray

 

Samsung’s latest SmartHub UI gives users quick access to menu features without having to go back to the home screen while playing a disc. I found this to be a useful when switching between audio channels during playback. Another Samsung-specific feature included with the M9500 is 360° photo and video playback.

Streaming content playback is a nice added feature, making this a smart device like so many of the latest TVs, but with the Samsung’s N Screen feature you can wirelessly stream content from this UHD Blu-ray player to any of their supported mobile devices on the same wireless network. Samsung explains that this is so you can watch Blu-ray content on your mobile device (Samsung lists their S3, S6 with Nougat OS, S7, S8, Tab Note5), while watching content from another source on your TV. This means you could also watch on your mobile with the TV turned off.

Samsung UBD-M9500 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review Corner Buttons

While functional, the OLED message screen blends into the players finish, making it equally fashionable. The M9500’s combination 802.11 ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna resides behind the front panel, below the power indicator. This is helpful for reception, but also for transmitting to wireless soundbar devices. The player’s tray eject/retract and power buttons are actually touch sensors – they’re not pressure-activated buttons.

Samsung UBD-M9500 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review Back Detail

Aside from the USB port on this UHD BD players right front side, all other connections are located at the units backside. The Samsung UBD-M9500/ZA enables 7.1-channel Dolby and DTS decoding in 24-bit 192 kHz audio, so digital output via HDMI is a necessity. An optical digital audio port is available, which outputs 2-channel PCM. For modern subwoofers and soundbars, a dedicated HDMI audio port is supplied.

Network connectivity is handled either wirelessly, through the unit’s aforementioned Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna, or by cable, through the player’s RJ-45 Ethernet port. Samsung recommends using a Category 7 STP (shielded twisted-pair) cable with this device, although any Ethernet cable will work just fine, as your modem likely has Cat 5.

Samsung UBD-M9500 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player Review

With disc and streaming playback already covering so much of the multimedia spectrum, it’s rare to find a manufacturer willing to support digital file playback to the extent available on the Samsung UBD-M9500/ZA. For me, especially, this came as a hugely appreciated bonus. While my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray library is just beginning, my collection of MKV and MP4 files encoded in H.265 is quite large. My 2017 4K Roku couldn’t handle some of my larger 4K HEVC movies, but the M9500 played through most at their native frame rates.

UBD-M9500-4K-Ultra-HD-Blu-ray-Player-Supported-Video-File-Formats

Taken together: disc, digital file, and streaming, the Samsung UBD-M9500 is a true all-in-one player. It’s backward compatible all the way down to CDV (pre-DVD, which I’ve only ever seen or experienced in Japan back in 1996), has all the most popular streaming apps (Netflix, Amazon, HBO, YouTube, etc), and plays virtually every digital file format encoded with all the most widespread CODECs. This truly is the consummate home theater player.

In the next section, I offer my final thoughts on UHD BD, and conclude my review of the Samsung UBD-M9500/ZA…


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