LG BD390 Blu-Ray Player Review
August 16, 2009
Blu-ray players are finally hitting their stride this year with very good performances to go along with lower prices. Even the “base” models are loaded with features and excellent performances. The higher end models from the major manufacturers are priced well below $400 mark. This is far lower than the previous generation players. LG’s high end model, BD390, is priced around $350 and is crammed with features. LG adds very nice features on top of the already very competent BD 370 model.
Features
LG was the first to introduce media streaming with the BD300. BD300 was the first player to incorporate Netflix streaming on the Blu-ray player. Since BD 300, most of the Blu-ray players have copied the media streaming capabilities with their player in one form or another. Some opted to use the Netflix streaming and some have opted to go with some other services. Most players already support plethora of features on top of Blu-ray playback functions. BD390 features includes the integrated WiFi capability, Netflix streaming, Youtube and CinemaNow streaming, and media playback via network connection similar to the Samsung’s new players. The Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are natively decoded via onboard decoder. Also, BD390 includes the 7.1 analog out output. You should have no problem with audio decoding with the BD390. As with other latest Blu-ray players, the BD 390 comes with 1GB of onboard storage. As expected, the BD390 will be fully compliant with Profile 2.0.
Design
LG continues the flush front panel design it utilized on the BD370 model. While you won’t mistake BD390 for BD370, the glossy finish and flush front panel are all part of the BD390’s design. With the panel design, the front looks less cluttered. The LCD sits in the central area and is not visible until information is displayed. The playback function buttons are located on the right side of the player. A plastic cover hides the front USB port at the far right side of the player. As with any other glossy finish, the material tend to be a dust and finger print magnate. Otherwise, it is fairly nice looking player. The back of the player houses all the connectivity. The component and 2 channel audio out is provided for the older television sets. The HDMI and RJ-45 are located next to optical and coaxial digital audio output ports. We would have liked another USB port but it is not a big drawback as you don’t need a WiFi dongle like Samsung player for WiFi functionality. The big addition over the BD370 model is the inclusion of the 7.1 channel analog audio output. If you own receiver with HDMI input, you might not consider this a big addition. Otherwise, it’s nice inclusion for people with older receivers.
Remote
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.
Performance
There’s not too much to say about BD390’s performance. The video/image quality is superb like most other Blu-ray disc players. The new crops of players all have similar video/image quality in Blu-ray playback as well as DVD upscaling. BD390 performed flawlessly on all three Blu-ray titles. Batman Begins and Matrix discs showed no moiré or jaggie defects. All the action sequences displayed without any blocking or blurring artifacts. The less action intense title, Marley and Me, had no problem with colors or any other defects. The area of great improvement is the loading speed over the past LG players. Samsung players all improved greatly in loading times. The BD 390 also does great job with loading time improvement. It is nearly twice as fast as the previous generation players. The loading time used to be hideously long on older players with some player taking minute or so to load certain discs.
Audio
The audio quality greatly depends on the home theater setup. As such, it is important for the Blu-ray player to have good decoding and output options. The decoding quality is similar across many different manufacturers. BD390 handles all known decoding option and includes the 7.1 channel analog output for added bonus. The overall audio decoding quality was on par with other players.
Overall
I was very impressed with all the formats the player was able to decode. The BD 390 can decode MP3, JPEG, PNG, AVI, Divx, and MKV. MKV file containers are usually used for high definition encodings as well as great many formats. This is the first player that actually managed to decode MKV files without too much trouble. The media streaming capabilities were easier to set up than the Samsung version. The included software had no problem setting up the connection to the PC. The included streaming services are more than adequate to cover all the streaming needs. Youtube and Netflix are fairly well known video services. The CinemaNow is similar to Amazon Video on Demand service that offers new video releases for rental.
If I had to purchase a new Blu-ray player, this would be the player to get. It is packed with features and boasts some of the best performances. And, all this comes at relatively low price point of $350. This is a highly recommended player.
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This is very useful information for blu-ray player. Thanks.
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Can i connect my 7:1 speakers with LG BD390? Or i need to buy an amplifier separately??
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I just bought the LG bd 390 and have apple airport extreme and airport express G. What worked was to extend the extreme network with the express next to the unit and then hardwire the unit with ethernet cable hooked up the LG and the airport express. I connected the LG using the wired connection and this worked. Other wireless options were intermittent.
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In short, this is simply the best network of Blu-ray player on the market. Blu-ray, impeccable. Netflix streaming over the Internet without wires, without defects. All complaints are more likely to user error or slow Internet connection speed, so I have some important advice for potential buyers.
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Greg and others, I am currently watching Watchmen and am having the exact same problem that is described- sound goes out for about a second and then is out of synch with the sound track. Looks like this one is going back where I bought it- Sony PS3 here I come.
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I received this bluray player yesterday and worked perfect out of the box. My first movie was Watchmen and I experienced the same problem 4 times during the movie. The sound would go off for 1 second and after that everything was out of sync. Pausing the movie for 2-3 seconds and click play again would resolve the issue but 4 times I find this strange. I’m hoping it’s coming from the dvd. I’ll watch more movies this week end for further testing.
Other than that netflix works great as well as youtube.
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