bluray panasonic 80

[sidoli]

hi just bought new panasonic txp42 v10 plasma and i want to get a bluray player to go with it i have a denon AVR 3802 i dont really want to change amp due to lack of cash so will i be able to get hd quality sound to go with my new plasma , am i in need of a upgrade of more equipment . also is panasonic 60 / 80 the right choice ......

[Daylightdon]

I think if you shop, you can get the 80 for less than $300.
I have the 80 and it's GREAT!

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by sidoli

hi just bought new panasonic txp42 v10 plasma and i want to get a bluray player to go with it i have a denon AVR 3802 i dont really want to change amp due to lack of cash so will i be able to get hd quality sound to go with my new plasma , am i in need of a upgrade of more equipment . also is panasonic 60 / 80 the right choice ......

Hi,

From your TV model number, it appears that you are in Europe, yeah? Well the player models are the same and *most* of the features are the same in different countries so recommendations and reviews from the US should still apply to you. Your Denon receiver does have a multi-channel analog input, but only some of the Blu-ray players have on-board decoding and multi-channel analog outputs.

The players that would support the new HD sound codecs (DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD) with your receiver would be the Panasonic DMP-BD80, Samsung BD-P3600, LG BD390, and Pioneer BDP-320. Most of the other models lack multi-channel analog outputs and so would not support the new codecs with your receiver. You could use a fiberoptic or coax digital output instead, but this will convert the lossless DTS-HD tracks to lossy compressed DTS and will deliver lossy compressed Dolby Digital sound instead of Dolby TrueHD. The only way to properly support these new formats is digitally via HDMI connections or with multi-channel analog cables.

The only hitch here is that your receiver's user manual is not clear on how it supports multi-channel analog devices. It does not seem to have a subwoofer gain setting specific to the multi-channel analog inputs and the manual doesn't specifically say whether the digital speaker level settings also apply to the analog inputs. This is a factor because most of the Blu-ray players with multi-channel analog outputs actually output the subwoofer channel 10 dB lower than the other channels (this is actually "correct" behavior). Most receivers can adjust for this in the set-up menu via a 10 dB or 15 dB gain for the subwoofer which is specific to the multi-channel analog input. But your receiver may not have this.

Your best bet would be to get the BD80 player (or the LG BD390, Samsung BD-P3600 or Pioneer BDP-320), use the multi-channel analog outputs from the player plugged into the EXT IN jacks on your receiver and see how it sounds. If the bass seems low then try adjusting this on the receievr and/or on the volume control on your subwoofer. If you can't get great sound this way, then you can always fall back to the fiber optic or coax outputs and the sound will at least as good as (in many cases better than) standard DVD.

Good luck!

-Chris

[sidoli]

thanks chris that is the way i am going to go now buy ing panasonic 80 you have been a great help ps you right from uk london

[Daylightdon]

Just yesterday, I upgraded the BD80 firmware from 1.5 to 1.7.
Not sure what it fixed but was easy to do.

[vormpie]

Thanks for the review.
I read a few now,.. and this player looks like a winner.
But i was wondering.
Is it possible to play (1080/720)movies in mkv/h.264 format with the use of an sd-card or even the usb port?

My old pioneer (dv-393) plays divx... yes.. but not fluidly. Its choppy here and there.

So have you or anyone tried this? It doesnt come up in the reviews i read so far.

Thanks

Jeroen
Netherlands

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by vormpie

Thanks for the review.
I read a few now,.. and this player looks like a winner.
But i was wondering.
Is it possible to play (1080/720)movies in mkv/h.264 format with the use of an sd-card or even the usb port?

My old pioneer (dv-393) plays divx... yes.. but not fluidly. Its choppy here and there.

So have you or anyone tried this? It doesnt come up in the reviews i read so far.

Thanks

Jeroen
Netherlands

Hello, Jeroen,

MKV videos cannot be played back on the Panasonic DMP-BD60 or DMP-BD80. The BD80 plays back Divx videos from USB, the BD60 in Europe can also play back Divx videos (but not the US version of the BD60). But neither player supports MKV video playback.

I believe the LG BD390 does play back MKV videos as well as Divx and it's been getting pretty good reviews as well. We reviewed the BD370 and were not blown away by it but the BD390 may have a different video processing chip.

Regards,

-Chris