I ditched my PS5 Pro for a proper 4K Blu-ray player, and one feature means I can't go back

I've written quite a few pieces in the last six months about how I've been embracing physical media despite being a writer who covers streaming in major detail. That journey reached a really predictable milestone in the last couple of weeks – I finally got a real 4K Blu-ray player.

For the last couple of years, any time I wanted to watch a physical disc, I just used the PS5 I do most of my gaming on. In the last year, that's meant moving my PS5 Pro from my home office into the living room to hook it up and watch something. That's a bit of a pain, but my flat isn't big enough for it to be too annoying a journey.

What's more annoying about using the PS5 or PS5 Pro as a disc player, though, is that neither has a particularly quiet disc drive. Both will add a bit of a whine to your viewing experience, which isn't ideal from a sound perspective. Plus, the PS5 lacks one huge feature – Dolby Vision.

While Atmos is fully supported, Dolby Vision has never been added, meaning that the best discs can't shine to their full HDR potential on a PS5. So, I was extremely eager to try out the Panasonic DP-UB820, which in many people's eyes is basically "the" 4K Blu-ray player.

It's not Panasonic's top model, but at £350 it's by far the best value in the range, since step-down versions don't include Dolby Vision and the top-of-the-line UB9000 costs a massive £999. Still, £350 is the price of a PS5 when you take advantage of sales like Black Friday or Prime Day, so there's no pretending it makes more economic sense than a games console with so many other features.

If you're serious about your viewing experience, though, my initial watches have been pretty stellar, with the two biggest PS5 issues basically banished on the UB820. For one thing, its disc drive is much quieter (although still not entirely silent unless it's in a cabinet).

For another, Dolby Vision is entirely revelatory; I'm always a bit sceptical of codecs making massive differences, but having done some back-and-forth comparisons, this really is some of the best HDR tech you can get, and the fact that it works so easily out of the box is really persuasive.

I just watched the 4K version of Spielberg's War of the Worlds, for instance, and the amount of bright light points in otherwise dark scenes really made the player's contrast levels stand out. Some of the rich colours (like the blood-filled vines that spread around farms and towns) look sumptuous, too.

When I explained to other tech journalists that the PS5 doesn't support Dolby Vision, some of them were incredulous – but it really is absent. The more time passes, the more noticeable that becomes, too, since I'm confident that the PS5 is probably the most common 4K Blu-ray player on the market, technically speaking.

Regardless, now that I no longer have to rely on my PS5 Pro, I'm looking forward to getting as much out of this UB820 as I can over the next few months. From what I've seen so far, it's pretty much the best option for most people looking to get top-quality home cinema presentation.

My next question will be how it fares with standard Blu-rays, since its reputation is stellar on that front, too. If your normal Blu-rays are upscaled fantastically, after all, you might save a bundle by not having to rebuy them in 4K.