Panasonic unveils fourth-generation Blu-ray players
by Stevie Smith - Sep 4 2008, 13:00
Panasonic unveils its fourth-generation BD55 (top) and BD35 (bottom) Blu-ray players. Image: Panasonic.
Sony may be facing a legal patent battle with Orinda Intellectual Properties USA regarding its industry-standard Blu-ray disc format, but that hasn’t stopped consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp. from introducing a duo of fourth-generation Blu-ray players to further tempt fans of glorious high-definition playback.
More pointedly, Panasonic Corporation of North America has today unveiled its new DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55 players to gathered attendees at the CEDIA EXPO 2008 in Denver, Colorado, touting their “cutting edge technologies” that are focused on delivering “the ultimate movie-viewing experience.”
The prerequisite requirement of a sprawling HDTV unit aside, Panasonic looks to make good on that hardware boast through the likes of:
True-To-Life colour technology, which sees the players imbued with PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus video processing, the result of a 15-year collaboration with Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory and professional movie studios to provide “even sharper and more vivid” HD images
Life-Like Surround, which provides both players with HD Audio Decoder technology (Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential) supporting the 7.1-channel surround sound system newly adopted in Blu-ray discs.
That aural performance is enhanced yet further in the DMP-BD55, providing near-cinema quality thanks to a 192kHz 24bit audio digital-analogue converter, high-quality insulators, electrolytic capacitors, copper-foil film capacitors and ultra-low-impedance electrolytic capacitors.
The UniPhier chip LSI system arrives as “a world’s first,” according to Panasonic, delivering both high-quality images and sound through the application of the 45nm manufacturing process -- which also contributes to the DMP-BD35 being the “world’s slimmest” Blu-ray player at a height of just 49mm.
Both new players also come equipped with BD-Live compatibility, which enables users to connect online and download images, subtitles and other data, and take part in interactive activities and multiplayer games directly linked to bonus Blu-ray disc content.
“Panasonic was the first to market with a Blu-ray player with Bonus View (Final Standard Profile 1.1) and the first to bring a stand alone BD-Live player to market,” enthused Alex Fried, the National Marketing Manager of Panasonic’s Entertainment Group. “The introduction of our new DMP-BD35 and BD355 Blu-ray players continues Panasonic’s industry leadership with the inclusion of BD-Live in all our models.”
The DMP-BD35 and BD55 also come with an onboard SD Memory Card slot for easy data transfer from other HD devices (camcorders, digital cameras) that utilise the SD Memory Card system. Memory Card video playback to an attached HDTV is in AVCHD, while still images are transferred as JPEG stills in full 1920x1080 resolution.
Panasonic has not yet confirmed regional pricing or release date details for its new players.
The CEDIO EXPO 2008 is being held in Denver between Sept. 03 and Sept. 07.
Comment on this Story