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Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player reviewed
The Panasonic DMP-BD10 is the second standalone Blu-ray player to become available, not quite making its expected September launch but sneaking onto store shelves near you this month. Was it worth the wait and/or the $1,300 price tag? Compared to the Samsung BD-P1000 player, reviewers note a slightly better picture quality and load times, plus excellent audio output. It doesn't support next-gen lossless audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD out of the box but, those are promised for a future firmware update. Negatives include a clunky remote and lack of BD-Live connectivity that will be present in the PlayStation 3. This player appears to do the same 1080p to 1080i to 1080p conversion present in the Samsung, so if 1080p/24 output is a must, it's a pass. Still, with EZ-SYNC HDMI control to matching SA-XR700 receiver and flat panel HDTV, if you must have the best Blu-ray hardware available -- at least until Sony and Pioneer's offerings hit the street -- the DMP-BD10 is ready to give it to you.Read - Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Disc Player - Canada HifiRead - Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-Ray Player - Home Theater Forum
Panasonic's "most advanced" 58-inch Viera TV officially announced for US
As our own Matt Burns speculated, Panasonic's new line of Viera plasma televisions has been officially announced as coming to the United States. This is complete with the HDAVI (EZ-Sync) HDMI control functionality and 10,000:1 contrast ratio, but its hard to claim "most advanced" with a resolution of only 1366x768. Remember kids, scaling makes baby Jesus cry.The TH-58PX600U and TH-58PX60U come in with MSRPs of $5,999 and $5,499 respectively, with the cheaper model losing the electronic programming guide, PC input (RGB VGA) and four speaker ViVA HD3d sound. Built in NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, CableCARD and SD memory card slots are standard on both.Availability is listed only as Summer 2006. All very nice but really, we know you have 1080p plasmas and Blu-ray players coming, why the 720pish tease?
