Samsung and Fox tout 4K Blu-ray Discs

Samsung is aiming to be the first company to bring an Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray Disc player to market.

The South Korean tech giant announced the news at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin Thursday. The player, which has a curved shape to match Samsung's curved Ultra HD TVs, is due in early 2016; no pricing was announced.

Fox Home Entertainment announced plans to make all upcoming releases available in the 4K Ultra HD format, on the same day that traditional Blu-ray discs hit -- and to have discs out when the player arrives. Among the releases in the works: Exodus: Gods and Kings, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Fantastic Four, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Life of Pi, Wild and The Maze Runner.

Samsung's player will support High Dynamic Range (HDR) content, too, providing an expanded palate of richer color representation. Fox will incorporate HDR into its releases, too.

Appearing on stage at the Samsung event, Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn touted the format. "When my colleagues and I at Fox first saw the side-by-side comparison of Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range vs. HD, it was reminiscent of the difference between standard def and high def," he said. "This is a massive leap forward for the consumer experience."

Fox and Samsung also announced they are collaborating on new TV technologies at the Fox Innovation Lab. "We believe it is critical to have rich,
compelling content available to consumers as the UHD TV market continues to grow," Dunn said.

Back in January 2015, Panasonic displayed an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc player at the Consumer Electronics Show that the company expected to release by the end of 2015.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider