Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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95 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Panasonic DMP-BD30, 31 Mar 2008
This is my first Blu-ray player and will go alongside a Toshiba EP35 HD-DVD player on a Samsung LE46F86 telly and Onkyo 705 AV receiver.
It is one of the first Profile 1.1 players to be available in the UK, which is why I waited for it. Profile 1.1 means that it will play the Picture-In-Picture commentary that some may be interested in.
The HD picture is excellent, easily on-par with HD-DVD. Cars looked stunning. Spiderman 3 is very good indeed. SD DVDs up-scaled very well, I could not see any difference between an up-scaled DVD played on either the BD30 or the EP35, which is quite an achievement.
TrueHD was available on the discs and sounded fantastic. Note that there is no on-board decoding of the newer codecs (TrueHD, DD+, DTS-HD) so you will need to bitstream to a suitable AV receiver that can decode them.
The BD30 is fast to turn on and fast to load. Put your ear to it and you can hear the faint fan, but you have to have your head against it! There was no detectable noise from the disc mechanism either.
If you are waiting for Profile 2.0 (to connect it to the Internet) or have an older AV receiver and need on-board decoding, then the Panasonic DMP-BD50 may be worth waiting for. But the BD30 is excellent and easily recommended.
07/11/08 *Note that the BD30 is being replaced by the BD35 which does do Profile 2.0 and does have Ethernet.
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good value Blu-ray player for the masses? Yes !, 30 Jul 2008
This player is, on the whole, good value for money, and a good introduction to the world of blu-ray. The picture quality, when given a good source disc and hooked up to a decent tv is very good. Most commentators who have undertaken an A v B comparison of the BD-30 versus the PS3 feel that this Panasonic model manages to bring out just a bit more detail and its pictures look a bit more vibrant than the PS3, and I have to agree. It is one of the smallest Blu-ray players on the market, by the way, being somewhat slimmer (in height and depth) than most other models, especially the `chunky' Sony ones. Sound-wise, it delivers - if you have the kit to process HD surround sound then you are in for a treat - 7.1 HD quality sound is noticeably crisper with greater dynamic range than `old-fashioned' 5.1 DD or DTS. . If you don't have a 7.1 HD compatible surround processor, don't panic, you can output sound via the optical out to a 5.1 surround processor and it will `downscale' the 7.1 HD soundtrack to 5.1 DD or DTS without a problem (shame the manual isn't very clear on what menu options to set for this to work though). Note that, unlike its more expensive sibling the BD-50, the BD-30 does not perform on-board 7.1 HD decoding, so to get the latest and greatest in HD sound you need a suitable HD-compliant amplifier and speaker set (note also some reported glitches with Onkyo surround amps that may have been fixed in BD-30 firmware 1.7, subject to confirmation).
What about up-scaling of standard def DVD material? Honestly, I have heard complaints about this, but I have found it to do a reasonable job to be honest. If you already have a very good up-scaling DVD player though, hang on to it, and do an A v B comparison between it and the BD-30 before ditching it. But honestly, it's not as bad at up-scaling as some people using test discs and patterns have made it out to be.
Is it worth getting a blu-ray player if your HD-ready TV is only 720p/1080i compatible, as opposed to being capable of `full' 1080p HD? Absolutely - my 32 inch Pannie is only capable of 1080i but you still notice the difference between HD and standard definition.
So, summing up:-
PROS: Great picture and sound quality; frequent firmware updates from Panasonic; 1.1 compliant; small form factor; good value
CONS: Remote design is clunky; no on-board decoding of 7.1/HD sound; build quality feels a little flimsy (sorry, "Made in Slovakia" doesn't instil great confidence - no offence to Slovaks, but I still like "Made in Japan" where possible, even if its old-fashioned)
Good demo discs? Casino Royale, I am Legend, Planet Earth box-set (I know, it's not all shot in HD, but the HD scenes do look amazing, and are presented full-screen, unlike most movies).
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Picture from One of The best BR Players Around , 15 Sep 2008
I have been using the player for the past three weeks now and I have been very pleased with the overall picture and sound quality it produces. The player manages to produce above average black levels, vibrant colours, and sharp edges and offers a good level of depth to films.
The player is connected to my 42 inch Panasonic HD Ready TV, which can handle 1080p, images but scales it to fit its native 720 screen. Even with the scaling, the picture is still sharp and crisp, and anybody who is thinking that a HD Ready TV won't be good enough for blue ray, will not be disappointed with this player.
With regards to the sound, I currently have an old AMP which is unable to decode true HD sound through HDMI. To improve the sound quality, I have connected the player to the Amp via the 5.1 channel out put located on the rear of the player. I have used three six standard AV leads, the red and white connections and the set the player to output PCM in the sound menu. This allows access to PCM uncompressed sound and other HD sound content found on blue ray discs.
I can confirm that having played, Hell Boy, through Bitstream using the OPTICAL lead, and compared it to the 5.1 channels, the sound is truly remarkable. I would advise anybody who's Amp has a 5.1 channel input to give this a go. I Understand that HDMI sound would still supersede this option, but it's better than Bitstreaming the sound using optical leads and will do until I can afford a new Amp.
Note - you will have to set the speaker output inside the player's menu, as the process bypasses the decoding on the Amp
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