Hard to believe it, but it's been over 2 years since we unboxed our first Blu-ray Disc player here at Sound & Vision. Despite a sometimes stunning 1080p high-def picture (I say "sometimes" because the picture quality of the initial Blu-ray releases was a mixed bag), those first players had numerous shortcomings.
The first was price: At $1,000 or more per machine, most people had good reason to forget high-def and just continue watching DVDs. Then there were the sluggish load times and the spotty disc compatibility. Waiting 1 minute or more just to have the machine accept, let alone load, a disc -- that's a minute of your life you'll never get back! And once loaded, the disc stood a real chance of not being compatible with your player. Also, those Blu-ray players lacked the full set of features that manufacturers originally touted for their machines, including Bonus View for picture-in-picture video commentaries, BD-Live online interactivity, and internal decoding of high-rez Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.
For all the above reasons, I found myself turning to Sony's comparatively affordable PlayStation 3 game console as my reference Blu-ray player -- and I'm not a gamer! The main reason was that the PS3's performance kicked the standalone machines' collective butt, and the regular software updates that Sony issued helped bulk up its arsenal of Blu-ray features.
But I think it's safe to finally say that Blu-ray has ironed out its kinks. Most new players are Profile 2.0 machines that can be plugged into a home network to enable BD-Live features on discs via the Internet. And that online capability also allows for exciting new features that extend the players' functionality beyond just watching discs -- something we'll talk about more in a moment. Player power-up and disc-load times on the newest batch of players are truly zippy compared with the Blu-ray machines of old. Best of all, prices have come down sharply.
To get a handle on the new generation of full-featured, speedy, and affordable Blu-ray Disc players, we called in a quartet of popular models: Samsung's BD-P2550 ($350), LG's BD300 ($300), Panasonic's DMP-BD35 ($250), and Sony's BDP-S350 ($300). Chances are you've scoped out one or more of these new Profile 2.0 models, all of which provide LAN connectivity for hooking into a home network. Not quite ready to make the Blu-ray jump yet? Well, this overview will help steer you in the right direction, because from our standpoint, there's no longer any good reason to put off buying Blu-ray.
|
SAMSUNG BD-P2550
KEY FEATURES :: BD-Live Profile 2.0 :: Dolby TrueHD decoding :: 7.1-channel analog audio output :: Netflix HD movie streaming :: Plays AVCHD discs |
Samsung's mandate in bringing out its BD-P2550 ($350) seems to have been to design a machine so stuffed with must-have features that there would be no good reason why anyone wouldn't want it. Along with the highly regarded Silicon Optix Reon video-processing solution to deinterlace and upscale standard DVDs (along with those rare 1080i Blu-ray Discs), the BD-P2550 provides both built-in Dolby TrueHD audio decoding (according to Samsung, a firmware update with DTS-HD Master Audio is on the way) and 1 GB of internal memory for data downloads when exploring BD-Live features on discs.
Samsung's latest player also lets Netflix subscribers stream movies they've added to their Watch Instantly queue on the Netflix site. More than 12,000 titles are available, with at least 300 in high-definition. As a regular user of Pandora personalized Internet radio (okay, I'm an addict), I was also psyched to see that Samsung lets you use that service to stream music to the BD-P2550. Can there be too much of a good thing? Apparently not.
The Samsung has a pleasing look, with a gloss-black façade that's virtually uncluttered except for a simple control disc. Rear-panel connections include HDMI and component- and composite-video jacks, along with an optical digital and 7.1-channel analog audio output. The multichannel analog jacks, which permit owners of older, pre-HDMI receivers to hear high-rez soundtracks in native form when hooked up to a receiver with a 6- or 8-channel external input, is particularly notable on a player at this price.
Samsung's remote control is slim and has a keypad dotted with small buttons. A few of these glow in the dark, including the main ones used to control disc-transport/menu navigation. Hitting the Bonus View button gives you direct access to any PIP features on discs. And the Info button calls up the player's onscreen display, which provides only a limited level of information about video and soundtrack formats on discs.
The BD-P2550's operation was satisfactorily speedy. It only took 5 seconds to power up and pop open the disc tray, while regular Blu-rays took only 23 seconds after insertion to display an image onscreen. And those with advanced Java and Bonus View/BD-Live features like Sleeping Beauty took just over a minute.
Overall, the Samsung's video performance was first-rate: Blu-ray movies like Wall•E looked wonderfully crisp and solid, and the player easily sailed through the full suite of Silicon Optix HQV DVD and HD tests -- performance benchmarks that we use to evaluate video processing on both Blu-ray players and TVs.
Just as I started testing the BD-P2550, Samsung issued a firmware update that let me stream films from Netflix in high-definition. After running the Netflix setup for the player and adding a bunch of high-def selections to my queue, I then chose "Genesis" from Season 1 of Heroes on the player's Netflix screen. A bar graphic indicated that it was streaming the show for playback and that the player would display it at full HD quality. At that level, the picture looked quite good -- aside from being in widescreen, the image was reasonably crisp, although it did have a slightly mottled, noisy texture. But when I next tried to stream the Spanish horror film The Orphanage, the quality level dropped to one bar, with the resulting image looking like a YouTube video blown up big -- not a pretty sight.
Setup options for the player's multichannel analog audio output are somewhat limited. You can select between large, small, and none for the main speaker channels, but there's no way to adjust for speaker distance or even tweak output levels for individual speakers. (A cycling test-tone option is meant for speaker verification only.) Nonetheless, my surround processor was able to adequately compensate, and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks coming from Samsung's multichannel analog output sounded great, with no shortage of bass compared with its HDMI connection. It was also a trip to hear my Pandora Internet-radio stations on my main system, as opposed to my computer or iPod.
Like Sony's PS3, the Samsung BD-P2550 is a machine that offers much more than just Blu-ray and DVD playback. As a Netflix subscriber and regular Pandora user, I found that this player's ability to stream content from those services put it over the top in terms of desirability. And then there's its flawless handling of both Blu-ray and DVD video, and a 7.1-channel analog output. To paraphrase Marlon Brando in The Godfather, this is a Blu-ray player you can't refuse.
|
LG BD300:
KEY FEATURES :: BD-Live Profile 2.0 :: Dolby TrueHD decoding :: Netflix HD movie streaming :: Pandora music streaming :: Plays AVCHD discs |
LG hasn't produced many high-def disc players, but the ones it has released have all been interesting specimens. First came the BH100 and BH200 combi Blu-ray/HD DVD models. Next, LG brought out the BD300 ($300), the first Blu-ray player to also feature Netflix streaming -- in high-def, no less (software update required). Beyond Netflix, the BD300 features the very capable Marvell Qdeo processor to handle DVD/HD deinterlacing and DVD upconversion. On the audio side, LG's player can internally decode Dolby TrueHD soundtracks but not DTS-HD Master Audio ones.
With its seamless, gloss-black face and sturdy component feet, the BD300 player has a solid, high-end look -- more so than the other players featured here. It's definitely a radical makeover compared with LG's previous Blu-ray Disc models. Unfortunately, the player doesn't provide built-in memory for you to take advantage of BD-Live features on discs, and its lovely, minimalist looks take a big hit once you plug a USB storage device into the front-panel slot. (This method can also be used to view digital photos.) A/V connections on the back panel include HDMI and component and composite video, along with analog stereo and coaxial and optical digital audio jacks.
LG's remote control is the bulkiest of the bunch, and its keypad is somewhat cluttered with tiny buttons, none of which are backlit or glow-in-the-dark. A Resolution control lets you switch video-output resolution on the fly. Hitting the Home button, meanwhile, takes you to an onscreen menu where you select between Disc, Netflix, or Photo/Music (by way of USB device) playback. The Display button calls up an information screen, although one that's light on particulars about a given disc's video and audio track data.
From an operational standpoint, the LG turned out to be one of the speed demons in the group. It took 20 seconds to power up and accept discs, but once ready, basic Blu-rays loaded in 17 seconds and more advanced titles took 1 minute to start playing. The player's 2x search speed provided reasonably smooth image quality when scanning discs.
Running through our standard round of video test discs on the LG, I found its performance to be mixed. It passed many of the DVD film/video deinterlacing tests but failed a few of the high-def ones, including video and film resolution tests on the HD HQV disc. That said, the Blu-ray movies I watched all looked uniformly solid, with no sign at all of "jaggy" artifacts. For example, the panoramic images on the Sleeping Beauty disc looked as crisp and uniform as they did on any of the other players. And Blu-ray Discs that contain 1080i video-sourced content are so rare that any potential shortcoming here on the LG's part can be filed under fuhgedaboudit. DVDs played on the BD300 also looked very good.
My experience watching high-def Netflix content with the LG basically mirrored that of the Samsung BD-P2550. The widescreen Heroes image looked crisp, if just a bit noisy compared with an average high-def digital cable feed. And when I tried to watch The Orphanage, I got the same soft, mottled, YouTube-quality picture as on the Samsung. I tried streaming the same program at different times during the day over the course of several days with the same results, leading me to believe that the glitch was on the Netflix end.
LG's newest player proved to be a fine all-around performer for Blu-ray and DVD movie playback, and its ability to stream regular and high-def programs from Netflix made it that much better. The lack of built-in DTS-HD Master Audio decoding was a bit of a bummer, but that's a nonissue as long as you pair it with an outboard receiver providing that feature. The BD300 demonstrates that when it comes to Blu-ray, LG is determined to keep rolling out interesting and innovative players.
|
PANASONIC
DMP-BD35: KEY FEATURES :: BD-Live Profile 2.0 :: Dolby TrueHD decoding :: DTS-HD Master Audio streaming :: Plays AVCHD discs |
Panasonic's 2008 Editors' Choice Award-winning DMP-BD55 Blu-ray player deeply impressed me when I tested it for our November 2008 issue. Aside from overall excellent audio and video performance with both Blu-ray and DVD, the main reason I liked it was that it delivered all of the key Blu-ray features, including Profile 2.0 compatibility for BD-Live and built-in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. Also, the player's smooth, speedy, and glitch-free operation was a big departure from other standalone Blu-ray models I'd tested up to that point.
As good as the DMP-BD55 is, one thing about its younger sibling, the DMP-BD35, makes it an even more intriguing option: it costs $100 less. The other main difference between the two is that the BD35 lacks the BD55's 7.1-channel analog output for connection to legacy A/V receivers and audio processors. (The BD55 can also play discs encoded with DivX files, but that's hardly a deal-breaker.) Otherwise, the two players are basically the same.
There's nothing overly special about the BD35's looks other than its super-slim form factor: at just under 2 inches, it makes other players look bulky in comparison. A flip-up door on the front conceals a basic set of control buttons along with an SD memory card slot. You'll need to plug in your own 1-GB SD card to enable BD-Live functions on discs, and you can also insert cards containing digital still pics as well as AVCHD video shot with high-def camcorders. Around back, alongside its HDMI, component-, and composite-video outputs, you'll find stereo analog and optical digital audio jacks and a LAN port.
The BD35's remote control is somewhat bulky and densely packed with buttons, but the buttons are clearly labeled and big, which makes it easier to locate a particular one in a dark room. There are dedicated buttons to switch between disc and SD card playback, as well as main and secondary video and audio tracks on titles with Bonus View PIP commentaries. Hitting the Display button gives you a detailed readout of A/V information for a given disc, including video encoding (MPEG-4 AVC with variable bit-rate readout, for example) and soundtrack format.
Like the LG BD300, the Panasonic provided speedy, responsive operation. It took 20 seconds from hitting the Power button for the player to be ready to load discs, and regular Blu-rays (those free of complex Java apps) started playing an average of 10 seconds after being dropped in the disc tray. Loading up Disney's BD-Live-enhanced Wall•E, meanwhile, took only 45 seconds. Of the player's five disc search modes, just the slowest scanning speed delivered relatively smooth motion.
Turning to the test discs, the Panasonic pretty much sailed through all of the key challenges posed by the Silicon Optix HQV DVD and Blu-ray. This basically guarantees that you won't ever see anything untoward when viewing any type of disc on the BD35. Blu-ray Discs of Wall•E, Sleeping Beauty, and Wanted (Timur Bekmambetov, that last film's Russian director, has a gift for over-the-top visuals), showed consistently detailed 1080p pictures and rich, inviting color. Any DVDs that I watched also looked clean and relatively crisp, thanks to the player's top-notch 1080p scaling.
There's not much to say about the Panasonic's audio performance, other than that both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks sounded full, powerful, and immersive with the player performing decoding and passing on the multichannel PCM signals to my preamp/processor via HDMI. The absence of a 7.1-channel analog output on this player actually prevents setup from being confusing -- an issue I had with its BD55 big brother when I tested that unit.
At only $250, Panasonic's BD35 player is a steal. Its video performance with both Blu-ray Discs and DVDs is beyond reproach, while its ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks out of the box gives it a strong foot up on the competition. When you also take into consideration the player's speedy, reliable operation and its front-panel slot for playing high-def AVCHD movies on SD memory cards, the BD35 becomes an irresistible Blu-ray option. Did I mention that it costs $250?
|
SONY BDP-S350:
KEY FEATURES :: BD-Live Profile 2.0 :: Dolby TrueHD decoding :: Plays AVCHD discs |
Sony A/V products tend to cost more than those from other makers, so a truly affordable Blu-ray machine like the company's BDP-S350 ($300) makes one stand up and take note. But while this player debuted with the ability to internally decode Dolby TrueHD soundtracks (no DTS-HD Master Audio, though), initial shipments lacked BD-Live compatibility despite the presence of a LAN port on its rear panel. That situation was fixed last fall, however, by a firmware update that boosted the player to full Profile 2.0 stature.
The Sony's face is relatively uncluttered, sporting only three control buttons and an LED light to indicate 24p video output. Its depth is notably shallow -- a good thing, too, since the slot for plugging in a USB storage device to enable BD-Live features is located on the player's back panel (an arrangement that, unlike on the LG BD300, avoids marring front-panel cosmetics with an awkward protuberance). Although the BDP-S350 lacks a multichannel analog-audio output, it has pretty much every other jack type you'd expect to see, including HDMI, and component, composite, and S-video, along with stereo analog and both coaxial and optical digital audio.
Like the other remotes here, Sony's doesn't have a backlit keypad, though its buttons are well spaced out and easy to locate. Many key buttons are clustered around the central navigation control, including Home, which launches the player's distinctive XMB (Xross Media Bar) onscreen-display menu, and Option, which calls up a display that lets you adjust noise reduction and other picture settings. Pressing Display, meanwhile, puts up a screen providing detailed data about soundtrack and video-encoding format, along with variable bit-rate readout.
A cool feature of the S350 (at least for those who regularly watch lots of movies) is its Quick Start-up mode. With this, the player goes into permanent standby, powering up and accepting discs in about 6 seconds. Load time was similarly speedy: regular Blu-ray titles took about 25 seconds, while Java-heavy ones clocked in at around 70 seconds. Otherwise, the Sony's general operation was fine, although I found that its slowest fast-scan mode provided somewhat choppy visual quality when searching through discs.
The BDP-S350's handling of test discs was for the most part excellent on both the Blu-ray and DVD fronts. The only significant test that it tripped on was the HQV high-def-video resolution pattern, which is one we use to gauge a player's ability to deinterlace 1080i-format video-based images. As I mentioned in my LG BD300 review, such discs are few and far between, so I wouldn't hold this against the Sony. Wall•E's picture looked crisp and vivid when I watched it on the company's KDL-55XBR8 TV, and so did many of my standard reference DVDs that I checked out.
Sony's BDP-S350 is an all-around basic, good-performing Blu-ray player that won't set you back much. The BDP-S350 doesn't do Netflix streaming or DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. But what this Sony player does do, it does exceedingly well.
Blu-ray Disc has come a long way since we started messing around with it back in 2006. Numerous features we've been waiting for since Blu-ray was announced, like Bonus View PIP video commentaries and BD-Live interactivity, have become commonplace on many new disc releases. And with the arrival of maxed-out new players like the quartet reviewed here, we now have machines primed to take advantage of them.
If you're looking for a player that offers very solid audio and video performance, including decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks, Panasonic's DMP-BD35 is an excellent choice. Its affordable $250 price makes it the best Blu-ray deal going. Those seeking more of a Swiss Army knife approach to Blu-ray should check out Samsung's BDP-2550. It not only offers excellent video performance, including flawless upconversion of regular DVDs, but its Netflix HD and Pandora streaming give you plenty of other stuff to do when you run out of discs. Also, built-in 1-GB local storage for BD-Live features means one less thing you'll have to buy. LG's BD300 is also a solid performer, with its appeal heightened by standard- and high-def Netflix streaming. Last but not least is Sony's BDP-S350, a basic model that provides high-quality Blu-ray and DVD playback at a reasonable price.