Denon intros two new high end Blu-ray players

Denon cares about you, movie-buff, and you need only look at the company's two latest Blu-ray player offerings to realize that. Enter the DVD-3800BD and DVD-2500BT, the former supports 1080p, 12-bit DAC at 297MHz, the exciting acronyms of D.D.S.C-HD (or Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit-HD), and D.P.I.C. (Denon Pixel Image Correction), plus HDMI, RCA / BNC, and RS-232C connectivity. The latter is a slightly more stripped-down version which axes some of the capital-letter feature flourishes. Both players will be available in Japan in January of 2008, priced at ¥336,000 for the DVD-3800BD, and ¥231,000 for the DVD-2500BT.

[Via Akihabara News]

[boe @ Oct 17th 2007 11:23AM]

I like Denon stuff for the most part although they do have a few issues - e.g. still using that faroujda chip that has macroblocking issues but their better equipment use a better chip that doesn't have that issue. The 3800 news has been out for a few months now so some information has rolled in about it. The units they showed at CEDIA didn't have great video quality, load times were no better than existing BR players, there was not ethernet which even some existing HD units have and I believe (but could be wrong) is in the latest BR specs. Lastly the units don't have SACD capabilities. While I definitely think Denon has some good stuff, this project at it's current iteration seems less than desirable particularly at their MSRP.

[Joe @ Oct 17th 2007 11:27AM]

No HDMI pass-through, no thanks.

[KC @ Oct 17th 2007 11:48AM]

@Joe, HDMI pass through? This is a player, not a receiver!

[Bizam! @ Oct 17th 2007 11:39AM]

Enough with the high end Blu-ray players, let's get some low end players in the market, that's what wins a format war!

[Galley @ Oct 17th 2007 12:03PM]

Yeah, Denon needs a HDMI 1.3 Blu-ray player that supports SACD and DVD-Audio for no more than $499.00 (but $399.00 would be better).

[Kal-El @ Oct 17th 2007 10:31PM]

Amen to that. In this war, price means everything. IMHO, Betamax was the better choice during the Beta-VHS war, but VHS prevailed because of its low prices.

[NHAnimator @ Oct 17th 2007 11:53AM]

I was wondering why the player was so tall, then I realized that it had to be to fit all of those acronyms inside.

I think it was Thomas Payne who once said, "O to have a supply of currency without end. Methinks the war must soon reach resolution... of which I see none... or I shall wait by her sides until dual-format players are the norm."

[tdileo @ Oct 17th 2007 11:58AM]

That's $2,857.01 and $1,964.19 USD, respectively; whether rich or poor, an incredible waste of money.

[Matthew @ Oct 17th 2007 12:02PM]

No thanks, Already have a PS3.

[Bad Beaver @ Oct 17th 2007 12:13PM]

What, no SACD? They can KEEP it. Also, I have long since bought my last Denon. They make very nice players with outstanding performance at decent prices, but once they sold it to you they basically give you the finger. "It's not our fault our $1,5k player spinning discs sounds like we entrapped a small motorcycle inside, we won't bother doing anything about it, please shut up and go away!"

[boe @ Oct 17th 2007 12:34PM]

Yeah - I've heard a lot of similar things on various forums. I haven't experienced it myself so I can't comment. I know with a lot of companies you have to call over and over again till you get a rep who actually wants to help - not sure if that is the case with Denon or if they just don't help period.

[Bad Beaver @ Oct 17th 2007 12:39PM]

Denon actually sent a _photocopied_ sheet explaining it along when I got it back from service. Because it was such an isolated and unusual issue, you see...

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 17th 2007 12:25PM]

For now, just get a PS3...wait a couple years to go after one of these crazy, high priced devices.

[Vince @ Oct 17th 2007 12:34PM]

nice machine, but I expected dual format from denon. Why bother.

I agree with Bizam, we need low end not high end.

[Shibathedog @ Oct 17th 2007 12:40PM]

Denon doesn't screw around, its nice knowing anything you buy that says Denon on it is going to be some pretty damn decent stuff. But unfortunately this comes at a price :/

Personally I'm expecting the first real cheap HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players to come from Sanyo (Or maybe a similar company, not someone like Denon), Look how cheap their HDTVs are, I'm pretty sure they are deliberately trying to have the cheapest hardware, yet their products are definitely not crappy.

[Gero @ Oct 17th 2007 1:00PM]

Does it have Profile 2.0 if not sorry i´ll wait.

[Dave @ Oct 17th 2007 2:25PM]

It's not even Profile 1.1--of course, neither is any other Blu-Ray player.

[Gero @ Oct 17th 2007 3:24PM]

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08/30/ifa_daewoo_bluray/

[snang @ Oct 17th 2007 1:10PM]

Will never buy another Denon product. Good quality stuff, but their customer service is absolutely terrible. 4-6 weeks for a canned response to an inquiry.

[Dave @ Oct 17th 2007 6:58PM]

Awesome news!

[m4272000 @ Oct 18th 2007 10:08AM]

Garbage1 and a total waste of good money. It does nothing more that anyone can visually see than a PS3 or even a $199 HD DVD player or a dual format player. It's not even up to specs. Imagine how many great Hi Def movie one could buy for a $199 or $399 HD player the price they're selling this thing for? What a hell of a collection that would be.