Hands on with the Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-ray player - initial thoughts

[Cortiz]

Are there any specific DVD titles that you know the BD55 fails to resume with after powering off? I can try a few but if I start with one that you know doesn't work, then that would make things go a whole lot quicker! The BD80 does have a QuickStart function which leaves the player in a semi-on semi-off (half-asleep?) state, so I will try to test in both modes, but give me a few known "bad" titles so I can at least get a head start.

Thanks,

-Chris

Chris,

The there are a bunch of titles that sometimes it worked, and sometimes it doesn't. Some of them are:

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Freddy vs Jason
Lethal Weapon ( all parts)
Big (Tom Hanks)
The Entity

Weird thing is, if you power the unit off more than once, when it resumed playback it goes back to the point where you left of the first time you powered the unit off. But of course, most of the time it just won't resume playback at all.... I'm surprised Panasonic has not issued a fix for this because there's clearly something wrong....


Thanks!

[MrBoylan]

Chris,

The there are a bunch of titles that sometimes it worked, and sometimes it doesn't. Some of them are:

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Freddy vs Jason
Lethal Weapon ( all parts)
Big (Tom Hanks)
The Entity

Weird thing is, if you power the unit off more than once, when it resumed playback it goes back to the point where you left of the first time you powered the unit off. But of course, most of the time it just won't resume playback at all.... I'm surprised Panasonic has not issued a fix for this because there's clearly something wrong....


Thanks!

OK I just popped in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Played until 55 seconds in, powered down, then hit "Play" once it was off - it powered back up and resumed playing exactly where it was - 55 seconds in. Tried it again, same behavior except now it resumed at 1:06 as expected (that's where it was when I powered down the second time). I do have the unit in "Quick Start" mode. Not sure if this is a really definitive test, but it seems like "resume" is working fine for this particular DVD title on the BD80 with Quick Start mode engaged.

Update: Tested the same thing with Quick Start mode OFF and the behavior was also correct - resumed at 5:39 into the film, right where I left it when I powered off.

Hope that helps.

-CB

[Cortiz]

OK I just popped in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Played until 55 seconds in, powered down, then hit "Play" once it was off - it powered back up and resumed playing exactly where it was - 55 seconds in. Tried it again, same behavior except now it resumed at 1:06 as expected (that's where it was when I powered down the second time). I do have the unit in "Quick Start" mode. Not sure if this is a really definitive test, but it seems like "resume" is working fine for this particular DVD title on the BD80 with Quick Start mode engaged.

Update: Tested the same thing with Quick Start mode OFF and the behavior was also correct - resumed at 5:39 into the film, right where I left it when I powered off.

Hope that helps.

-CB

Chris. Thank you for taking the time to do this test. I appreciate that!

[tdorset]

Chris,

Thanks for answering my question...it appears to be a problem across the board. I'm watching an SD DVD so I'll let you know if the memory position works with it. BTW, the BD-55 does an outstanding job upconverting SD DVDs! I'll also check out the colored buttons when I have a chance. Take care, Tom

[rvp819]

Hi,

Having confirmed with BD60 owners on AVSForum that that model does NOT support DivX (no surprise, as it replaces the BD35 which didn't either), I'm wondering if you could confirm, as part of your review, whether the BD80 supports DivX (and which version) via USB, or only disk, since the BD55 supports DivX but only on disk, not SD card.

Sincerely,
rvp

[MrBoylan]

Hi,

Having confirmed with BD60 owners on AVSForum that that model does NOT support DivX (no surprise, as it replaces the BD35 which didn't either), I'm wondering if you could confirm, as part of your review, whether the BD80 supports DivX (and which version) via USB, or only disk, since the BD55 supports DivX but only on disk, not SD card.

Sincerely,
rvp

Yeah, I think I mentioned DivX in the first post, but the BD80 definitely plays back DivX files. The manual says supported media for Divx playback are CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-R DL and USB drive. I've tested playback of several DivX files on USB and all played back without problems. Some AVI files cannot be fully zoomed to fill the screen, but they are at least presented in their correct aspect ratios, which is more than I could say for the BD55. Some AVI files can be zoomed to fill the screen without any geometric distortion.

In terms of release supported, the manual says codecs of DIV3, DIV4, DIVx, DV50 and DIV6 are supported at up to 30 FPS and at resolutions of up to 720x576 pixels. Subtitle text files for Divx content are also supported.

Hope that helps. BTW, not sure if the upcoming DMP-BD70V VHS/combo player will support Divx, but since they're billing it as a "multi-media player" I'm hoping it does include Divx playback.

-CB

[Daylightdon]

We just got the BD80 (DMP-BD80) in for review and so far it looks great. It's basically the BD55 plus VIERA Cast. I played around a little with YouTube last night and it looks pretty good except for not having control over the screen aspect ratio for YouTube videos. But even at Full Screen on a 50-inch HDTV, many YouTube videos still look watchable.

Over the BD55 it adds a USB drive for playback of video files (including DivX) and MP3 songs. I tested this and the player detected that the drive had videos and music on it, and it asked which I wanted to watch or listen to - playback of both types of media worked like a champ. Unfortunately I was not able to zoom in on a DivX AVI file to view it full screen but at least the aspect ratio did look correct (unlike the BD55 which stretched DivX videos horizontally).

For Blu-ray playback, I only watched a little bit of Bolt - the upcoming Disney animation Blu-ray which was giving the BD55 some trouble (on a BD55 with 1.7 firmware). It played back with no problems on the BD80 and the detail and color accuracy seemed on par with the BD55 (though I have not done any real testing yet of video performance).

There is a "Quick Start" option which does consume a bit more power in stand-by but allows the player to boot up faster. Also, there is a new "High Clarity Audio" feature that allows you to disable the analog audio processing if you're only using the digital/HDMI out.

Overall, the menus and operation seem to be very close to the BD55, but with the addition of the VIERA Cast feature for direct access to web-based content. And all at the same exact price point - sweet!

Expect a full review to be published on the site next week.

-CB

Hi Chris, It's next week??? Waiting impatiently for your review, unless you are having too much fun testing it/watching HiDef movies with HiDef sound???

[MrBoylan]

Hi Chris, It's next week??? Waiting impatiently for your review, unless you are having too much fun testing it/watching HiDef movies with HiDef sound???

It's still "next week" for another 63 1/2 hours. Panasonic just signed off on the fact-checking sample I sent them but I do a have a few more tests I want to run it through today before publishing the review. Should be live tomorrow morning.

And I should have the player for a couple more weeks in case there is anything else specific any forum members want me to hit it with.

-CB

[rvp819]

I'm very much looking forward to reading your review, although I'm quite content with my BD35 for now, and I expect my next player upgrade will be for a brand-name BD player that also supports H.264/MKV (DivX7) via USB.

BTW thanks for responding to my DivX questions.

[rvp819]

I just finished going through the BD60/80 operating instructions manual now available online from Panasonic and I have a question if you have time to check it out as part of your review.

On pages 7 and 45, the manual shows that both models supports MPEG2 video on SD Cards.

MPEG2 is a new feature with these models and I'm wondering exactly what is supported (file structure, file extensions, supported resolutions, etc.).

Likely difficult to answer with no details in the manual, but the question is now on the table.