- The Good: Excellent picture quality; up-converts standard DVDs to high-definition; remote can potentially be used to control all of your home theatre devices
- The Bad: Over priced; doesn't readily distinguish itself from the competition; doesn't come with HDMI or component cables
- The Verdict: The picture is great, the price isn't
Panasonic's first Blu-ray disc player, the DMP-BD10, can be yours for the low, low price of just $1,500.
Why would you want to drop this kind of cash on a movie player rather than, say, a laptop or a weekend in Paris or a really comfy easy chair so you can sit back and relax as you watch movies played using your existing player?
Because it's a Blu-ray disc player, not just some crummy, boring DVD player. Blu-ray will let you see the pores on your favourite actors' faces and give you an excuse to go shelf shopping (after all, you'll need a new storage solution better suited to the smaller package size of Blu-ray disc boxes).
Jokes aside, Blu-ray, though costly, does deliver a significant improvement in image quality over standard DVDs—assuming you have a high definition television and that you take the time to monkey with the settings on both your player and your display to ensure you're maximizing their potential. It also offers an improved user experience, providing the ability to access menus and scenes without stopping the film and allowing studios to create more interactive bonus features, such as pop-up commentaries and trivia (though few studios have yet to actually do this).
But Panasonic's machine is a cool $200 more than already costly Blu-ray players available from Samsung and Sony, and more than double the price of the upcoming PlayStation3, which also promises Blu-ray movie playing capability. And that's not saying anything of the much cheaper competing next generation format HD-DVD, which delivers essentially the same image quality and features and will soon boast a dirt cheap $199 player in the form of the Xbox 360's add-on HD-DVD drive, which is slated to be released in November.
So, Panasonic, what are you giving us that no one else is?
A top notch picture—just like every other Blu-ray player
In terms of picture quality, not much.
Panasonic is touting its proprietary image processing and conversion systems, which supposedly output more detail and colour than those used by other manufacturers. My measuring post for this claim was Samsung's $1,300 BD-P1000, a significantly cheaper player and the only other Blu-ray deck I've tested.
Distinctions in image quality between the two were lost on me. I watched Silent Hill (before posting a comment keep in mind my taste in film isn't the subject of this review) using the same image settings on the same television—an HP PL4200N 42-inch plasma—at a resolution of 1080i, and, at least to my eyes, the pictures delivered by both players appeared identical.
(By the by, the image quality was terrific. The low contrast colours of Silent Hill looked lovely, and, for better or worse, high definition served to noticeably enhance the movie's gritty and ghastly gore.)
The only problem I ran into using the DMP-BD10 was technical: the player froze for about twenty seconds at one point while I was skipping scenes. It could have been a problem with the disc, but I wasn't able to repeat it, which left me with the impression it was a glitch with the machine.
Remote gets demerits for design
With no appreciable difference in image quality, I thought perhaps the extra couple hundred bucks Panasonic is asking for might at least buy a prettier machine. Not true. With its silver glass flip down front panel and minimal display the DMP-BD10 definitely looks like a high-end deck, but the overall design didn't seem to me to be superior to other players on the market.
And the remote is downright ugly. It's thick, has an awkward flip panel, and sports a cheap brushed silver plastic finish. That said, it does make use of Panasonic's EZ-Sync system that allows users to operate all of the home theatre components in their living room with a single remote—a handy perk.
Your DVD collection isn't obsolete…yet
Perhaps all that extra cash goes toward guaranteeing backwards compatibility.
Many avid DVD collectors fear that the advent of next generation formats will render their existing movie libraries obsolete. Should Blu-ray end up triumphing over HD-DVD, they do indeed have something to be afraid of: unlike HD-DVD, the Blu-ray Disc Association doesn't mandate that Blu-ray players be capable of playing standard DVDs.
Samsung didn't warrant that all DVDs will play properly in its deck, and, sure enough, people have reported problems in the playback of some titles.
Panasonic, on the other hand, is showing some love to DVD collectors by claiming not only full backwards compatibility, but also providing the ability to up-convert standard definition DVDs to various high definition formats. I checked out a few old DVDs and immediately noticed the difference in quality in the up-converted image.
$1,500—and no HD cables included?
The one thing we can be sure of is that the DMP-BD10's $200 premium isn't due to the inclusion of extra cables; users will have to buy all of their own wires. A composite cord is in the box, but early adopters are assuredly not purchasing a next-gen deck to watch standard definition content.
Note to Panasonic: The way to a high-end technology connoisseur's heart doesn't include a stop in chintzville.
Ready, set, hold off
If you've been following the Blu-ray/HD-DVD battle since players began landing on store shelves in June, you've likely heard the same message repeated ad nauseam, and you're going to get it again here: hold off for the time being. The DMP-BD10 is more or less a pretty good movie player, but it's over-priced. Slightly improved image quality isn't worth wagering $1,500 (plus whatever you spend on discs) on a technology the longevity of which is uncertain.
Personally, I don't mind cooling my heels on the next generation DVD revolution. I'm going to use this time to watch all of my DVDs once more before I inevitably start thinking of them as square wheels.
