June 12, 2008

Panasonic's DMP-BD50 BD-Live Blu-ray Player Reviewed

bd50(2).jpg The prolific reviewers over at CNET have put Panasonic's DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player through the ringer and were definitely impressed. In fact, they've deemed it the "most recommendable standalone Blu-ray player to date", but added the Playstation 3 is still better and cheaper. The DMP-BD50 is the first standalone Profile 2.0, or BD Live, Blu-ray player on the market so far; only the Playstation 3 offers similar features. This means you'll be able to access internet-enabled features on some Blu-ray discs, but a lack of built-in memory means you'll need an SD card to do it. It's image quality when playing Blu-ray discs is excellent and it can decode all high-res soundtrack formats, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus output them in bitstream format if you want to let your AV receiver handle the decoding process.

The DMP-BD50 also has solid connectivity options including multichannel analog outputs for enjoying high-def audio with older receivers without HDMI. Speaking of HDMI, the DMP-BD50 is HDMI equipped so it'll playback 1080p picture resolution and high-def audio this route as well. It also features a component video output and and SDHC card slot that'll playback MP3s, JPEGs and even AVCHD video from high-def camcorders.

Sounds good so far, but what are the downsides of the DMP-BD50? A couple of performance issues include sub-par DVD playback and a slow operational speed when compared with the $400 Playstation 3. And probably the most important downside? The pricetag: $700.

Via CNET