Fans of physical media are gluttonous. (Not only does physical media tend to be more expensive than digital media, but the hardware required to play it often costs hundreds of dollars.

In other words, unless you want the best 4K Blu-ray player ever, you should be prepared to spend at least $1,000.

The model I am referring to is the Oppo UDP-203, a 4K disc player that was manufactured in the mid to late 2010s and then discontinued. eBay average prices for the Oppo UDP-203 models, which are partially unmodified, range from $1,500 to 2,000; it sells for $4,598 new on Amazon, but despite the good things we're about to mention, never pay too much for a used one, as they should work well for a fraction of this price.

There are cheaper alternatives, notably the Panasonic DP-UB820-K, but the Oppo UDP-203 is the holy grail for movie buffs for a reason.

What makes the Oppo so special? It's because it has several advantages over any other Blu-ray player. As long as you download the last firmware update, the UDP-203 can switch between Dolby Vision and HDR10+ modes on the fly, and thanks to its Rec2020 color gamut support, it offers a wider color gamut than cheaper alternatives. Inside, Oppo's proprietary Balanced Universal Disc Loader ensures error-free reading, and it features a dedicated 4K UHD Blu-ray decoder that no other manufacturer has followed suit. [Other talents include DVD-Audio and SACD playback, support for the two major spatial audio formats, DTS:X and Dolby Atmos, and much more. For those who have invested heavily in the short-lived 3D display technology and still have 3D TVs to live up to, there is even support for 3D Blu-ray.

That does not mean that the Oppo UDP-203 has all the latest and greatest technology - it only has an HDMI 2.0 port, for example - but the specs and features needed to make the latest 4K Blu-ray and older HD Blu-ray look their best are It has everything you need to show the latest 4K Blu-ray and older HD Blu-ray at their best.

Ultimately, the result of this symphony of specs, features, and format support is an uncompromised picture, one that delivers a fully detailed image worthy of the name Ultra High-Definition. Oppo's UDP-203 is designed to provide the best possible experience designed from the inside out, and in my experience is the only 4K Blu-ray player I trust when testing TVs for Tom's Guide.

In a cruel twist of fate, Oppo stopped making Blu-ray players in 2018, making existing units rare and coveted by movie fans. As such, they are being traded online for ridiculous amounts of money. (For reference, at the time of its release, Oppo was selling it for $549; today, the Oppo UDP-203 routinely sells for two to three times that price.)

So are there other options? Unfortunately, the major manufacturers of 4K Blu-ray players have found no reason to release new models, so what remains are older models from a few years ago.

Panasonic's DP-UB820-K, mentioned earlier, is probably the second best option. It doesn't have the image processing power of Oppo's UDP-203, but it supports pretty much the same things, except for SACD and DVD-Audio formats; the Xbox Series X can also work in a pinch, but the results are sometimes laughably bad.

If I didn't have the Oppo leftovers from the past decade, the DP-UB820-K would be my first choice, with the more affordable Panasonic DP-UB420-K and Sony UBP-X800M2 as my second and third choices respectively.

Nevertheless, if you are a picky collector, and most 4K Blu-ray collectors are, there is no substitute for the now defunct but GOAT of 4K Blu-ray players, the Oppo UDP-203.