RoadRunner6
10-30-2008, 11:26 PM
I just received my December issue of Home Theater Magazine. They test the new Panasonic Blu Ray players, DMP-BD35 ($299) and DMP-BD55 ($399) (the 55 supports 7.1 channels of analog audio). For those of you that have one of these units on your short list, good news.
The headline states "Full complement of onboard audio decoding...exceptional video processing." Their review says: ".....These new players did outstanding in our new video processing test set. They support full deinterlacing of high-definition and standard DVD playback with great results. These players have definitely set the bar for video playback performance at these prices......a spectacular job in our video tests. These are the first Panasonic players that pass all of our video processing tests for deinterlacing. The UniPhier also did a great job with our resolution tests. It passed information to the very limits of what's available from the Blu-ray format in pristine fashion. You would truly be hard-pressed to find better video performance with Blu-ray and DVD playback at any price.....Overall these new Panasonics represent my top picks for standalone players on the market today....."
The review states that these players are faster than the previous Panny's but still a bit slower than the Sony PS3. They rated the scaling as excellent. The appearance is very different than the previous models 30 and 50. The new models are very thin (approx 2") and look more like a traditional DVD player.
Sound and Vision Magazine recently reviewed the DMP-BD55 and gave it a "highly recommended" review.
Looks like Panny has a couple of winners here at great prices. (Prices including shipping are down to $272 and $355 at Amazon)
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Video/Blu-ray-Disc-Players.list.75009_11002_7000000000000005702
RR6
The headline states "Full complement of onboard audio decoding...exceptional video processing." Their review says: ".....These new players did outstanding in our new video processing test set. They support full deinterlacing of high-definition and standard DVD playback with great results. These players have definitely set the bar for video playback performance at these prices......a spectacular job in our video tests. These are the first Panasonic players that pass all of our video processing tests for deinterlacing. The UniPhier also did a great job with our resolution tests. It passed information to the very limits of what's available from the Blu-ray format in pristine fashion. You would truly be hard-pressed to find better video performance with Blu-ray and DVD playback at any price.....Overall these new Panasonics represent my top picks for standalone players on the market today....."
The review states that these players are faster than the previous Panny's but still a bit slower than the Sony PS3. They rated the scaling as excellent. The appearance is very different than the previous models 30 and 50. The new models are very thin (approx 2") and look more like a traditional DVD player.
Sound and Vision Magazine recently reviewed the DMP-BD55 and gave it a "highly recommended" review.
Looks like Panny has a couple of winners here at great prices. (Prices including shipping are down to $272 and $355 at Amazon)
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Video/Blu-ray-Disc-Players.list.75009_11002_7000000000000005702
RR6