Newly released Blu-ray player Panasonic DMP-BD50PP-K review sent in by Bill Arkinson from Somerset West.

September 30, 2008

I bought this player with the1.3 firmware and it was great. Yes, it did take a very long time to load I Am Legend - almost 3 full minutes. That is due to the disc predominantly using Java (BD-J) for interactivity. Few days ago I flash updated the firmware to 2.60 in about 16 minutes. See manufacturer's web site for the firmware and carefully follow the instructions. They will even provide you with the disc.
I purchased a 46" HDTV and a Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD Player player along with this Blu-ray Disc Player. I wanted to see the results of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD before investing in more expensive units. After I had updated the firmware to the newest version at the time than even Van Wilder played perfectly. The remote also works great I just wish that it was backlit. There needs to be a ethernet port or some other way to access updates online direct to this player, a wireless method possibly? My Toshiba HD DVD player has the CAT-5 ethernet port and it makes updating (not exactly simple) more flexible. Manufacture's website offers the image (ISO) burn to DVDR method for updating, but this seems not convenient at best. One other thing I immediately noticed is how whisper quiet this player is. There is no noticeable fan noise whatsoever. Compare this to the Toshiba HD-XA2 fan, which has a sound resembling the whine of a tiny fighter jet.

This player's plastic remote is reasonably good. It's well designed and compliments HDTV - the remote controls the TV's basic functions too. We have DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 coming out now. The color quality is exceptional and images are very sharp. When playing regular DVD's the images aren't as sharp naturally. There is low fan noise during dvd playback, which was only audible with the tv turned off. While the movie is playing, I couldn't hear the fan at all. The display on the front is a gray-blue. There are 4 brightness settings (High-Med-Low-Off), which can be accessed with one button on the top top of the remote. Very nice. With the display turned off, this is a very nice viewing experience. There is also an additional display button on the remote, which tells you the TRT of the disc, which chapter you are watching, time remaining in the chapter, and bit rate.

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