LG BD370 Blu Ray Player Review
April 22, 2009
LG was first to introduce the Blu-ray/HDDVD hybrid back when there was two competing formats. It’s not surprising that LG was the first to introduce network capable Blu-ray player in the LG BD300 with Netflix streaming. At this year’s CES, most of the Blu-ray manufacturers announced their second generation players. Samsung also included Netflix streaming with their new players while Panasonic added Viera Cast streaming to their players. LG BD370 is no exception. The BD370 model continues the inclusion of Netflix as well as addition of Youtube compatibility. In line with other second generation players, LG BD370 adds additional features not found on the LG BD 300 model. At 2009 CES, LG announced two new mainstream Blu-ray players. The BD 370 is the entry level model while BD390 is aimed at higher end market.
Features
The features on BD 370 are comparable to the features found on the new Samsung BDP-1600 and Panasonic DMP-BD60. It is profile 2.0 player with USB and RJ-45 ports. All of the high definition audio decoding options are present including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Another feature that’s being more and more integrated into the Blu-ray player is the integration of remote functions for same brand A/V equipments. LG calls their integration the LG SimpLink. It behaves similar to the Sharp Aquos Link where you can operate the television via one remote. Most of the manufacturers including Sony and Samsung also feature similar functionality. As with BD300, the BD370 features Netflix streaming. Combined with Youtube access, the NetCast offers free Netflix trial out of the box. Also, LG has promised to introduce CinemaNow by May. CinemaNow works like video on demand provided by the cable or DirecTV. While Netflix does offer streaming, most of the newer movies aren’t offered for streaming. CinemaNow should fill in the gap quite nicely.
Modern design?
Although I don’t consider design to be a big factor in purchasing a Blu-ray disc player, the LG BD370 offers a nice looking player. The dominant feature of the design is the flip down tray on either side of the silver square badge in the middle. The left side hides the disc tray while the right side houses the playback functions, USB port, and LCD for playback information. The silver badge in the middle has two playback functions on the bottom corner of the badge while the power button is placed in the middle. This design does add some cool look as well as functionality. The only drawback is the placement of USB port. If you want to utilize the BD-LIVE functions, you need to have USB drive plugged into the port. This means you have to keep the tray in open position. The USB port at the back of the player would have been a better placement.
The back of the player includes the HDMI, audio, and RJ-45 ports. The BD370 comes with standard component video and analog audio output. It also comes with both optical and coaxial digital audio output. If you need the 7.1 channel analog out, you will need to purchase the BD390 model due out in May.
Aesthetics of remote, a sight to see
The included remote is very functional remote. The layout is pretty good with directional buttons in the middle and the special function buttons separated by different colors. The playback function buttons are located below the special function buttons. The numeric buttons and other less used buttons are hidden beneath the sliding cover at the bottom of the remote. This was nice design feature as it hides away the seldom used buttons. I found this design to be really nice as it made the remote less cluttered. If you need to use the numeric buttons often, this might cause some hassle. But, most users will appreciate the out of sight numeric buttons.
Picture is worth a thousand..... well you get the "picture"?
A lot of defects in video processing seen on first generation players are virtually eliminated in the newer players. The major brand players all have similar video qualities. It’s fairly difficult to spot any video processing defects like in first generation players. BD370 is no exception. Put through several different movies, the player handles them without any deficiency in video processing. The player handled Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Marley and Me without any hitch in true 1080p 24fps format. The upcoversion of regular DVDs were also fantastic. In some cases, the upconverted DVDs looked almost as good as the Blu-ray discs. Most viewers will have no problem with the video quality. As with other newer players, BD370 improves significantly on the loading times. All three Blu-ray discs took less than 25 seconds to load which is fairly fast by any standard.
An earful for audiophiles
The audio performance boils down to the decoding options. Depending on the sound system setup, most users won’t be able to discern different audio outputs from different players. The BD370 offers decoding for DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA. These should cover all the audio formats on all of the Blu-ray disc movies. Only downside is the lack of 5.1 or 7.1 channel analog audio output. Like the new Samsung and Panasonic player, the entry model lacks the multi channel analog outputs. You will need to step up to BD390 for the 7.1 channel output.
Overall
LG BD370 is another solid entry level player in the already crowded entry level player market. It’s becoming harder distinguish between different manufacturers when it comes to overall quality and value. They are all coming equipped with similar features and streaming capability. BD370 is a solid addition to the entry level market. However, if you want WiFi and internal memory as well as the 7.1 channel analog output, you will need to wait until May to purchase the BD390.
Pictures
Buy LG BD370 Now and Save $$
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LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Sale Price: $279.96  Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Average Rating:   |
Description
Blu-ray Disc Player w/ BD-P, Netflix HD, YouTube, CinemaNow Full HD 1080P Output via HDMI, DVD 1080p Up-conversion.
Features
- Blu-Ray Player with NetCast for YouTube
- BD-P NetFlix HD BD live
- Full HD 1080p output via HDMI with Cinema mode at 24 or 60 frames per second USB Media Host
- Superior audio performance with 7.1 channels with Dolby Digital Plus & TrueHD & dts-HD
- Quick boot with instant tray opening
Video
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LG is giving us good products including this Blu ray. thanks for this. Good work.
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I cannot agree with the statement that this player has trouble with 1080i sources – it passed HQV Benchmark with ease, even PAL DVD 2:2 cadence detection (Achilles’ heel for many players) works fine.
Too bad it can only read FAT32 so no full-blown h.264 mkv movies unless recorded onto a DVD-R…
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Wild Blu Yonder
While LG broke new ground with their BD300, the first Blu-ray player to include Netflix online streaming and YouTube, the BD370 is simply more of the same, with slight improvements to their already quick disc loading times, but little to no improvement to their Achilles heel: video performance on DVD upconversion and 1080i Blu-ray content.
These days, choosing among Blu-ray Disc players revolves around two things: performance (audio and video) and online content access. If performance is the most important element for you, then LG is probably not going to be your first choice. The BD370 is decent at DVD upconversion but it fails to properly de-interlace 1080i Blu-ray content such as you will find on many nature documentaries and concert films on Blu-ray Disc. But its online content access is strong, with Netflix online streaming and YouTube. Between these two, you get an enormous selection of professional (Netflix) and amateur (YouTube) videos that will keep you entertained for hours at no additional cost (above the standard Netflix subscription fee, that is).
Meanwhile, with its direct competitor, the Panasonic DMP-BD60, you’ll get excellent performance on 1080i and 1080p Blu-ray discs and near excellent performance on upconverted DVDs. But the current selection of VIERA Cast online content on the Panasonic players is fairly limited: YouTube and Picasa photo sharing, plus weather and stock widgets (Amazon’s on-demand movie streaming service is coming to VIERA Cast later this Spring). The VIERA Cast platform is extensible, so more content can be added without the need for a player upgrade, but based on what’s available today, the Panasonic player’s online offerings are fairly limited.
And if we look to Samsung, in the entry-level BD-P1600, we see video performance that is comparable or very close to the Panasonic players, plus Netflix online streaming and Pandora music streaming, which are two of the “killer apps” of the online content streaming world. The BD-P1600 is a little slower than the newest Panasonic and LG players (and even the step-up Samsung models), but still pretty respectable compared to earlier models.
The best things going for the LG BD370 right now are its Netflix and YouTube online content access, its disc-loading performance and its low cost. But if you really want top-notch video performance from your Blu-ray/DVD player, you may need to look elsewhere.
A complete review of the BD370 is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).
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LG BD 370: Very good
I have been searching for a new blu-ray that would allow me to do more than just playing Blu-Ray disks. That’s exactly what you get with LG BD 370. Not only you can play watch blu-ray disks in an exceptional quality, you can stream video content from Netlix and YouTube and watch it all on your HDTV. It would be nice if you could get a discount to Neflix to help you get started, but there is plenty of content on YouTube.
This device enhances your DVDs as well and provides you with PIP too. I was a bit disappointed with the Ethernet option as I was hoping to see high speed Wi-Fi support. But when you are dealing with video streaming, you can’t go wrong with Ethernet. It’s a bit inconvenient but not the end of the world. If you can’t live with it, you can always wait for BD390.
Overall, a great device that lets you get more done with your Blu-Ray player and makes spending [...] on it much more easier.
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Best new 6th gen Bluray player so far!
After doing a very thorough round of research on the new 6th gen Bluray players (Samsung BDP1600&BDP3600,Panasonic DMPBD-60K&dmpbd80K,and LGBD370)i picked up the LG BD370 and am blown away by it so far.It was the fastest of the new players listed above as well as having the best picture(equal with the Panasonic DMPBD60 which also offers and outstanding picture and is quite fast but missing ALL of the new addons the other players are offering)The BD370 has TrueHD and DTS Master audio decoding on board as well as being BDLive 2.0 ready, and having out of the box Youtube connectivity(free) and Netflix streaming(you need to have a Netflix sub).I got mine for $259 from my local BB(which has all the new models in stock as of last weekend)with an area price match and find for the price/performance/feature set the LG BD370 offers, that it is easily the top new BR player in it’s price/class range this year.
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Very very good player.
Can play H264 files, i tried mkv hd and can play it!!
No more discs for me.
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LG is making the BEST Blu-ray machines right now
Picked up locally as none were available from Amazon.
Picture & Audio quality are Fantastic. To be honest, sometimes regular
DVD’s look almost as good as Blu-ray discs on this machine.
Fastest loading Blu-ray I’ve seen yet. I like the new design, and the remote is better than the BD300. (Buttons were too small) I really loved my Panasonic DMP-BD30, but wanted the option for Netflix. The interface is very easy to understand .. and setup was a breeze. I don’t think this player will do CinemaNow, at least not yet.
(Update: Just read this feature will be added in May.)
Also coming in May, the BD390 will be the player that has Wireless N for Netflix, CinemaNow, BD-Live & YouTube. It also adds 7.1 analog audio out.
It’ll also have 1GB of built in memory. List is $100 more than the BD370.
I really prefer the design of the BD370, and since memory sticks are like
$5, can’t see paying $100 more for the BD390.
Wish it had a USB port on back so you could just leave a memory stick in.
When the USB stick is in the front, can’t close the door. The memory stick is REQUIRED for BD-Live access.
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