Pioneer intros BDP-95FD Blu-ray player

We've already seen more than a few Blu-ray and HD DVD players make their debut at CEDIA this week, and Pioneer's now tossed an entry of its own into the pack, unveiling its new high-end BDP-95FD Blu-ray player. As Pioneer is quick to boast, this is apparently the first such player to offer bitstream output of "all advanced audio formats" including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD High Resolution, and DTS-HD Master Audio. Otherwise, the player will give you full 1080p24 video, along with HDMI 1.3 connectivity (including HDMI-CEC technology), and Pioneer's "exclusive" Home Media Gallery, which will let you network the player with your computer or other DLNA-compliant gear. Just don't expect to be able to do all that on the cheap, with the player set to pack a $1,000 price tag when it's released in October.

[boulderhorn @ Sep 6th 2007 2:24PM]

i'm really not understanding why companies aren't releasing low-end blu-ray players. I've already got an HD-DVD player and would like to pick up a blu-ray player but damn, $1000, no way in hell...

[IrishGandalf @ Sep 6th 2007 2:43PM]

Well Pioneer has i high quality rep that it built up from it's audio equipment, My dad has an external Pioneer amp that he bought for his turntable (we're talking 30 years ago here) and he swares by the thing and after 30 years it's still rock solid and purring (well it's not a cat but u get the idea), so If Pioneer started throwing out sub €300 blu-ray players guess where it's rep for quality is gonna go?

[Xzavier @ Sep 6th 2007 2:48PM]

Pioneer has always been know to release high end equipment.

I have a Pioneer DV-F727 300 disc DVD player and I think it is AWESOME! So you what I would like pioneer to do, besides make awesome equipment with extremely low prices. :D Is to make a 300 Blu-Ray disc changer, for a reasonable price of course!

Hold on a minuet while I wipe the drool off my lips!

[Frankenstein Black @ Sep 6th 2007 3:18PM]

"not understanding why companies aren't releasing low-end blu-ray players." ??

They do. Its call a PS3 ;^)...

[vinny @ Sep 6th 2007 2:41PM]

YEAH! take that hd-dvd! yeah? anyone?

[simon @ Sep 6th 2007 2:54PM]

Hey Engadget I'm surprised you guys didn't crap on DLNA... or do you just save that for articles about Sony like the one for the HES-V1000 media server?

[Rob @ Sep 6th 2007 3:02PM]

To those in the know... Do these units have to be as big as a stereo amplifier?
Why do they make them so big? Is it to make them stand out more in the crowd of gadgets we already have in our entertainment/media centers?

[Jimmy @ Sep 6th 2007 3:18PM]

Rob,

The size on current generation Blu-ray is a combination of things.

1. They are "standard" component size. This varies slightly but most of the companies releasing these components are targeting them at people with the rest of the stack of components.

2. The units need quite a bit of room for heat dissipation.

3. The units are just not mature enough yet to have a team of engineers shrink the size by putting everything on one small board. Give them about three years and you will start seeing some units the size of some of the smaller DVD players.

[TS @ Sep 6th 2007 3:20PM]

Wow... expensive.

[Jeff @ Sep 6th 2007 4:20PM]

It's a Pioneer Elite model, people. Do you guys go around whining about how expensive all the other Pioneer Elite components are too?

[cmon people @ Sep 6th 2007 4:24PM]

jeff's right. What do you think "Elite" means on the front of the player. If you don't know you can at least guess its going to be expensive.

Ever wonder what may be the difference between the non "Elite" models too? Probably similar to buying a $50 cd player and a $800 rotel cd player.

[JeffDM @ Sep 6th 2007 6:36PM]

I had bought an Elite receiver, though I think refurbushed maybe six years ago. It's quite nice, though the problem is that it's quite behind on the tech specs, it doesn't even have DPL II, though it's a capable 5.1 system. The only reason I'd upgrade is to get HDMI switching, but I guess I'll just get a regular HDMI switch and keep the good amp.

[Jerry Marthin @ Sep 7th 2007 9:46AM]

Too expensive