Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-Ray Disc Player - Excellent But Pricey
Written: Dec 26 '06 (Updated Nov 26 '07)
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Picture Quality:
Durability:
Pros: Excellent performance, picture quality playing both Blu-Ray and standard DVD, good remote
Cons: Price
The Bottom Line: If you want an excellent Blu-Ray DVD player that also excels playing standard DVDs (as well as DVD-Audio) and money is not an issue, the...
dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-Ray Player
After being disappointed with some performance aspects of the Samsung DB-P1000 Blu-Ray High-Definition DVD player, I had to try the Panasonic DMP-BD10. Although it sells for almost twice the price of the Samsung, I expected better performance from it. The Samsung disappointed me with occasional sluggish performance and standard DVD playback that was less than stellar as well as the poorly-designed remote control.
The Panasonic DMP-BD10 so far sells for its full list price of $1,300 minus some cents. Stunning image quality and slow load times were expected, but also better usability and standard DVD playback than the Samsung provided.
Is the BD10 a better choice than the Samsung?
About the Panasonic DMP-BD10
The Panasonic DMP-BD10 is a high-definition Blu-Ray DVD player with HDMI (up to 1080p resolution), component video outs (up to 720p/1080i), standard-resolution DVD upconversion through HDMI (720p/1080i/1080p), S-Video, stereo analog audio and 7.1 analog audio as well as coaxial and optical digital audio outs.
The player plays Blu-Ray DVD, DVD-Video, CD-Audio, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD and DVD-Audio. It plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM. It also decodes Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, multichannel uncompressed PCM and features separate 192 kHz/24-bit audio D/A converters for each of the 8 channels.
The Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio are promised via an future firmware update. The remote control has a jog dial and TV control.
In Use
This Panasonic is expensive and it is reflected in its build quality. It is heavy at 10.25 lbs (one pound heavier than Samsung) and solid. It also looks cool and expensive (it has any right to look expensive since it is expensive).
I had the player connected through the HDMI interface and watched Mission Impossible-III Blu-Ray DVD. First of all, the load time issue with high-definition Blu-Ray discs is still there. Just as in Samsung, it takes half a minute after the disc is in the tray for image to appear. Standard DVDs do not cause this kind of delay on this player.
The BD10 supports playback at the material’s (BR DVD) native resolution through either component video out or the HDMI out (1080p is only available through HDMI).
Performance and Image Quality
The image quality when watching Blu-Ray DVD is excellent and is pretty much amazing. I am having difficulty figuring out if there is any difference in picture quality between Blu-Ray playback of this Panasonic or the Samsung. The images are three-dimensional, comparing to DVDs that look somewhat flat (even upconverted DVD). Also, there are details you would never see on standard-resolution DVD. The colors are great and the sound is at least as good as the sound I get from regular DVDs.
The player still lacks support for Dolby True HD or DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. The 5.1 uncompressed PCM is present, however and the support for the Dolby True HD or DTS-HD Master Audio decoding should be added in the new firmware release in the early 2007.
Unlike the cheaper (if 660-dollar device can be called “cheaper”) Samsung, the Panasonic BD10 excels at standard DVD playback as well. The standard DVD playback (with upconversion or without) is simply excellent. Although no match for true high-definition DVD playback, the player produces excellent detail level, which is as good as with better standard DVD players I have seen.
Aside from slow disc load times, the performance was better than Samsung with faster menu navigation and faster layer changes.
Remote Control
The remote control is also better than the one that ships with Samsung. Although the remote is not backlit, the button layout is very intuitive, the buttons are large and easy to find in darkness.
The jog control on the remote lets you control menus with ease and control the speed of the slow or fast scan. And the top portion of the remote flips open to reveal more buttons underneath (buttons to control image settings that you do not need often, e.g. gamma, noise reduction, contrast, color, etc.)
Bottom Line
If you want an excellent Blu-Ray DVD player that also excels playing standard DVDs (as well as DVD-Audio) and money is not an issue, the Panasonic DMP-BD10 is an excellent choice. In addition to solid performance it also has a good remote control and looks as expensive as it is.
Blu-ray Player Advanced Pixel Processor HDMI 1080P upconvert for all DVD 7.1 Channel Audio, with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, DTS-...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.