FIRST LOOK: New Panasonic Blu-Ray/DVD-Audio Player DMP-BD10A

[Chris Gerhard]

So the DVD-Audio works thru the HDMI cable? This bypasses the protection so you can get the real DVD-A

HDMI is copy protected and the player must be connnected to an HDMI compliant amplifier to work using HDMI 1.1 or above. Playing the audio over the analog connections uses no copy protection since recorders exist that can record the analog audio without breaking any laws. Even if HDMI recorders have been made that could record protected audio/video over HDMI, it couldn't be a licensed authorized recorder and would therefore be in viloation of the DMCA in the US and at a minimum subject to HDMI license revocation anywhere in the world. It will be interesting to see how all of this HDMI, HDCP, AACS, BD+ etc. copy protection works out. Right now we are up to HDMI 1.3b and confusion reigns supreme and properly working equipment utilizing all of the capabilities doesn't yet exist as far as I can tell. SACD was added to handle pure DSD with HDMI 1.2 for SACD players, unfortunately Panasonic has never made an SACD player.

Chris

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Watched the first BD movie tonight, the first Pirates movie. From the menu, the surround options in English were:

5.1 Surround
5.1 Uncompressed surround

I chose "uncompressed" and it sounded pretty good. Not sure exactly what I was listening to as far as the new format names go, but it was true discrete. There are sections in the movie with solid sound effects in the rears, although most of the soundtrack is in the fronts.

The picture on my plasma was perfect. (I only can do 1080i, not 1080p)

Yes, Blu-ray and HD DVD are the best quality I have seen and I have one 720p display and one 1080i display. I won't have a 1080p display for years. I am still waiting to see Blu-ray discs using the much higher bitrate and capacity allowed to see how much better than HD DVD it can look, right now, both are basically using the same codecs and bitrates.

As far as the audio, that disc includes uncompressed PCM 5.1 and your player does handle that. I assume you used the HDMI connection for audio but I don't recall what amplifier you have connected.

Chris

 

[timbre4]

Very nice! I like the idea of a Panasonic player for several reasons:

1. My 1998 Panasonic DVD-A310 ($445 1st gen DTS and component outs; w-o-w) is STILL working without a hitch. Just don't put anything burned into it. Bumped from a system by Denon 1930Ci so sitting around for the moment.

2. It supports DVD-A which is huge plus

3. Cost is where I'd jump in once the movie selection improves some more.

4. Not giving money to Sony for a player

 

[timbre4]

I got 1080p at Christmas time by flatly telling the salesman that I was going to wait for it. He'd have to offer me 1080p at 720p price to buy today.

So he did.

 

[JonUrban]

I think you got a great deal on this unit. If I had the money I'd be very tempted to buy. It seems to play all the Hi-Def music formats, except SACD. But because it won't play HD-DVD seems to be the deal breaker. Unfortunately, can't one record Hi-Def now and put it on a HD-DVD disc but you can't do that now with Blu-ray? Or can one record Hi-Def video and put it on Blu-ray Discs.

If I had this unit now I'd be having a blast watching "Pirates of the Caribbean"
in Hi-Def.

I don't think there will be many HD DVD players (BD or HD-DVD) that do the audio HiRez formats, and especially SACD. Even Sony's own BD players don't do SACD (except the PS3). I doubt that any manufacturer wants to pay Sony for the SACD ability when the format was dumped so quickly by the label.

If they came out with a player that did full BD, full HD-DVD, and DVD-A, that would be killer. If Denon or someone did this, I could almost live without SACD capability, because I could actually make DVD-Audio's of the SACDs that I like, and leave the rest in storage.

It will be interesting to see what Denon and the rest do with HD DVD discs. In the mean time, for a little over $500, this machine seems to be killer. Heck, I spent over $1000 for my first Hi-Fi VHS player, my first S-VHS player, my first LD player, my first DVD-Audio player, and my first SACD player. In comparison, $500 is cheap!

 

[timbre4]

Nail on the head moment; when DENON announces a player, then I know it's time to jump in.

 

[bmoura]

I don't think there will be many HD DVD players (BD or HD-DVD) that do the audio HiRez formats, and especially SACD. Even Sony's own BD players don't do SACD (except the PS3). I doubt that any manufacturer wants to pay Sony for the SACD ability when the format was dumped so quickly by the label.

Sony has said they will be making Blu-Ray players in addition to the PlayStation 3 that include SACD support. Since their 2nd Generation Blu-Ray players have added CD support, SACD support is likely to follow down the road.

As far as being "dumped", SonyBMG Music continues to release SACDs. So the format hasn't gone away yet at the label.

 

[JonUrban]

As far as being "dumped", SonyBMG Music continues to release SACDs. So the format hasn't gone away yet at the label.

Here's the latest web page for Sony SACD:

http://www.sonymusic.com/sacd/

Where (or should I say 'When') have I seen that one before??

Feel free to list here all of the "wide release, wide demand" SACD titles coming from SonyBMG Music. Take all of the space you need.......

 

[bmoura]

The SACD releases continue from the RCA, BMG and Sony labels over at SonyBMG.

 

[JonUrban]

I don't mean to be disrespectful. I would like to have tons of SACDs to buy, believe me. It's just that many of us bought players (multiple times) expecting to have new releases coming down the pike for years to come. Same with DVD-A. The difference, however, is that Sony is the company that OWNS the format, and one would expect that they would champion it the way an owner might.

New releases by artists like John Mayer, Beyonce, and other top sellers have no chance of seeing the light of day as SACD, even as stereo SACDs. The racks from the stores are gone, and that's that.

A dribble of classical, jazz, and non-pop releases are not enough for a non-player owner to invest in the format.

It's all so depressing......................................

(PS - I know it's not your fault! )

 

[DaneelOlivaw]

Read the (small) portion of the manual dedicated to bass management and distance settings. Not encouraging for all those people without a receiver that performs these actions on the signals entering via the 5.1 analog input and the MANY people without an HDMI-capable receiver.

From page 23:

* Large: Select when the speaker supports low-frequency (under
100 Hz) reproduction.
* Small: Select when the speaker does not support low-frequency reproduction.

A 100Hz crossover point? Bleh.

The next paragraph is confusing:

When playing discs recorded with Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD, even if
you select “Small”, audio output will have an effect similar to when “Large” is selected.

So....the 100Hz xover is canceled when playing these formats? If true, I can easily see Panasonic's customer service people receiving irrate calls from owners of fried mini satellites, the ones with those ubiquitous 3 and 4" "woofers".

And the distance setting system (same page), while available for hi-res signals uses that same strange "relative distance" chart system for calculating the delay time in milliseconds that usually only budget dvd players use. Why would they include such a clumsy system on a $500 unit??

 

[Ge Someone]

Not encouraging for all those people without a receiver that performs these actions on the signals entering via the 5.1 analog input

And that, I'm afraid, will become more common on newer receiver models, it saves the (8) good quality 192k/24 ADC's on the input side. As an example, my amplifier does have that option, but the next (newer) model (the same type number +1) can not do it anymore.

 

[bobou2]

The SACD releases continue from the RCA, BMG and Sony labels over at SonyBMG.

http://www.sonymusic.com/sacd/releaseschedule/index.html

 

[JonUrban]

If you are toying with the thought of bagging this player, it seems that July would be a good time.

Along with the 5 free Blu-Ray discs in the box, you will get an additional 5 free discs with "any" new Blu-Ray player purchased in July. (10 $29.95 discs is a good deal!)

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=280

I think they are getting serious about making Blu-Ray the standard.

 

[jarofclay73]

If they came out with a player that did full BD, full HD-DVD, and DVD-A, that would be killer.

Here's a noob question: what's "BD?"

 

[bmoura]

Here's a noob question: what's "BD?"

BD = Blu-Ray Disc.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

I was wondering what the picture quality is when it upconverts old DVD's. Also, will the Blu-Ray spec change coming this fall affect this unit?

 

[JonUrban]

For those without HDMI but curious, I hooked this unit up to my non-HDMI system (Denon 5800/Sony VPL-VW10HT Projector) and the 1080i picture through the component video connection was pretty impressive.

 

[elshagon]

I was wondering what the picture quality is when it upconverts old DVD's. Also, will the Blu-Ray spec change coming this fall affect this unit?

I haven't seen this BD player in action as far as upconversion, but all the HD players out seem to do an excellent job at it. The Blu-Ray spec changing is a problem for playing some extras and interactive content. I believe all players that come out after November 1 are required to play the finished specs. So if this concerns you then wait until then to jump in. Prices will keep dropping between now and then as both formats fight it out. HD DVD players starting July 1 are dropping in price, the msrp on the HD-A2 will only be $299, so you can probably find it even less than that. No sacd or dvd-a though .