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Martta Borromeo
What is on the forefront of many consumers' minds is Blu-ray. Sure, it is all the talk on the forums and with enthusiasts, but when will John Q. Public start to care? We'll tell you when - when prices come down. At CEDIA this year we took a look at some of the newest Blu-ray players that are either already in stores or will be soon. Some companies seem to be pushing for as many features as possible at the lowest price while other seem to be skating along thinking that a Profile 1.1 player should sell just fine at $600 - $1000. Hey, don't forget that you can pay up to $2200 for a player if you really want a flagship model. All that extras money seems to be spent on analogue audio circuitry, but some people really value that in a player.
The LG BD300represented one of the more exciting players we saw at the show. This model hadthe integrated Netflix movie player and blew the pants off the ($99) Rokuimplementation of this software. For one, it was faster, providing almostreal-time updating of any Netflix queue reorganization, additions or deletions.To contrast, the Roku box has to be manually "prompted" to update itsqueue. Plug any USB thumb drive into the BD300 and LG's new player will sendphotos and music to the display for you to enjoy. The player features BD-Liveand Bonus View. Unlike many other players (some costing much more) it is not"BD-Live ready" it actually works out of the box with no firmwareupdate or additional storage required. Those planning on playing back their DVDcollections on this device will be pleased to know that it upconverts your DVDsto 1080p via its HDMI output. When prompted, LG's product manager would notspecify which video processor they were using for upconversion and scaling, sowe assume it's generic. The player will retail for around $399 and is expectedto be available in October.
Sony Electronicsshowed off its new BD-based 5.1 HTiB system with S-AIR surround wireless rearspeakers. This system has an HDMI input that supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HDMA audio and has 1 HDMI output to get picture to your display. The system isBD-Live "ready", which implies that it requires firmware and/orstorage and the single component video input can be upscaled to 1080p via HDMI.Other features include Sony's xross media bar (XMB) which provides easy (forSony, that is) menu navigation, Digital Cinema Auto Calibration for automatedsurround sound setup and their new BRAVIA Sync for Theatre which is essentiallyan HDMI CEC profile system that allows you, via HDMI, to control compatibledisplays with the same remote you use for the home theater system. Both thissystem and the smaller BDV-IS1000 also include Sony's Digital Media Port, whichallows users to add such items as a cradle for iPod (which is included in thesystem), and a Network Walkman cradle, a PC client device and even a Bluetoothadapter (sold separately). The BDV-IT1000ES (which includes slim floorstandingspeakers) retails for $1,999 and the BDV-IS1000 (which has the golf-ball sizedspeakers) comes in at $1,000.
These players arealmost identical except for the build quality of the BDP-DM55's upgraded audiocomponents. The DMP-BD35 is a BD-Live (profile 2.0) player and has a memorycard slot for playback of music and photos. The player also decodes DolbyTrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in full 7.1 via HDMI. It also runs at 24p so itwill blend well with displays that support judder-free 24p input. CEC isincluded and the device can be operated directly (thanks to HDMI CEC) with anycompatible Panasonic Viera display. The DMP-BD55 takes all of this and adds 7.1analogue audio outputs and a whole suite of upgraded audio components. Thevideo system is completely identical. Pricing was not yet finalized, but wehave the inside (though unconfirmed) scoop that the units will be priced around$399 and $499 to compete with other products which appeared simultaneously atCEDIA this year.
Pioneer's latestElite product has dual HDMI 1.3a outputs, unusual for any Blu-ray player to saythe least. It also features a Pioneer-developed 16-bit Marvell QDEO videoprocessor (Pioneer has been known to make video processors for other well-knownname-brand products). The DACs used within are the Wolfson Audio running in itsdual differential mode (there are eight of these). In general the build qualityof this 45-pound product is absolutely insane. Judging by the toroidaltransformer and caps shown inside this unit, the weak of heart (and wallet)need not apply. It's got the latest features such as BD-Live (profile 2.0) andeven supports 4GB of internal storage to boot. With that said, however, you'vegot to be insane to pay the $2200 asking price unless you or your clients simply want "thebest" regardless of whether you'll need it or not. The player should beshipping this month if all goes according to plan, so start saving yourpennies.
Not to be outdone,Integra also announced its first high def offering since the canceled HD DVDplayer of last year. The DBS-6.9 is a Profile 1.1 machine with component,composite, and HDMI outs and coax, TOSLink, and analogue audio outs. There areno 5.1 outputs so in order to get the best audio you'll need an HDMI capablereceiver. It does sport 192kHz/24-bit DACs and is Deep Color capable. At $599,this isn't the cheapest Blu-ray player on the block and it is unclear if itwill decode DTS HD or Dolby TrueHD. Shipping will be "soon" accordingto the reps (thanks, how helpful).
Marantz is probably relying on brand loyalty or the propensity for people to match their components to sell their $799 Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player. While it sports 150MHz/12-bit video and 192kHz/24-bit audio DACs and HDMI 1.3a, the price tag seems a little high. The BD7003 has component, composite, and HDMI outputs and will only output raw TrueHD and DTS MA for you to decode the audio at their receiver (no on-board decoding via analogue 7.1 outputs). 1080/24p support is included as is 1080p upconversion for standard DVDs. This unit has stereo audio outputs only so you'll need an HDMI capable receiver to take full advantage of the high def audio formats. But hey, it supports DivX so that's something... right?
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