Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMP-BD50K 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

OK so I am one of the many who were waiting for this player for one big reason. I have expensive audio components and didn't want to replace them just to get HDMI input for True HD and DTS Master Audio. Now that I own it I can positively confirm that this player decodes both of the Hi-Def audio formats internally and sends them to the analog outputs... and OH MY what a huge difference over AC-3 or DTS!! The most noticeable thing is the ambient sound that is lost in compression. Watched 5th Element last night and the beginning of the movie starts with this echoing reverberation during the credits. In AC3 it sounds like an echo, but in TrueHD it's all filled in with a very deep sound field and detailed ambient sound. The overall impression is sound that is much fuller and balanced. It also has a nice feature called Dialog Enhancer which bumps the volume of dialog in soundtracks so you can hear the dialog when listning at low volume levels (so your spouse can sleep...feelin' me?). In 2 words - Worth it!

Next the features and a bonus for older Mitsu owners. I have a Mitsubishi WD-62628 1080P DLP TV. This unit was one of the first 1080P TV's made. They did not have the video processing capability at the time to take a 1080P input. So it's max input on the main HDMI connector or component video is 1080i and the TV upconverts to 1080P. This has left owners of this family of TV's with a quandary in that they want to see movies from their Blu-Ray player in 1080P not 1080i. There have been rumors that you can use the HDMI-2 input for native 1080P input if you tell the TV that a computer is connected. Well I can confirm that this actually works just fine !! You set the Net Command to enable HDMI-2 and that a PC is what is on that input. Disable the audio part (if you are going to use the analog outputs from the Panny like me) and then tell the blu-ray player to output at 1080P (rather than auto-detect). The TV will momentarily display a message that the video signal is non-standard, but will then display it anyway. So I get HD audio and 1080P video with my older TV and non-HDMI audio processor!! Bonus #2 is that this Panny player also has picture controls for brightness, contrast, gamma, color, and black level so you can tweak the picture if necessary. It also has canned settings (normal, cinema and 2 others). I find that movies look best in Cinema. It deepens the color and seems to provide better color spectrum.

I hope this answers the questions for a bunch of you that are still sitting on the wall. This one finally does it all, A/V wise. I have not hooked it up to the LAN yet for BD-Live functions. That was not a big part of my plan for this but will happen shortly.

Happy viewing!

Post Review Note: One thing I have discovered is that the picture controls on the BD50 don't offer as much adjustment as the controls on a TV. The straight 1080P input is a little on the bright side. I found that the BD50 will not enable 1080i component video and HDMI at the same time, it's one or the other. Once you turn on HDMI, it drops the component video to standard def no matter what you set it on. This means I can't look at upconverted 1080i (via component video) with full picture controls vs 1080p on HDMI-2 with the minimal controls offered by the BD50 without stopping the movie and re-starting it... Jury is still out on this one.

This is the FIRST Blu-ray Disc player to offer BUILT-IN decoders for "DTSHD Master Audio". This allows you to listen to the highest quality audio available on Blu-ray WITHOUT purchasing a new Home Theater receiver. Currently all Blu-ray Disc players are capable of decoding "Uncompressed PCM" and about half can also decode "DolbyTrueHD" (which sounds better than the "PCM"), but only the "Panasonic DMP-BD50" can decode "DTSHD Master Audio" (which sounds better than the "Dolby") in addition to the other two uncompressed HD audio formats.

The other UNIQUE feature is the "Profile 2.0" compliance. This is the FINAL standard for the Blu-ray Disc format and the "DMP-BBD50" is the second Blu-ray Disc player (the first being the PS3) to include it in its design specs. This allows the player to connect to the internet and access bonus content, play games and interact with other Blu-ray Disc players which are viewing the same disc. Very cool, indeed.

But honestly, if you've already purchased a new receiver with "DolbyTrueHD" and "DTSHS Master Audio" decoding and you don't care about "Profile 2.0" support, you can save $200 and just get the "Panasonic DMP-BD30". It lacks the BUILT-IN decoders for the 3 uncompressed HD audio formats but can transmit them over an HDMI cable to your capable receiver for decoding and playback (the "DMP-BD50" can do this as well).

[the only DRAWBACK is that the ANALOG output ONLY supports 5.1 (5 speakers) and NOT 7.1 (seven speakers) - the "Sony BSP-S550" due out this Fall ($500) will do EVERYTHING the "DMP-BD50" does, plus 7.1 analog output AND for $200 less - patience is a virtue]

[...]

Needed a Bluray player that would process all the new audio formats internally and send them via HDMI and this Panny is doing everything beautifully. No complaints, had it now for about a month and everything is working great, no hdmi handshake issues, outstanding picture, great sound. Its fairly fast loading up and the standard definition dvds don't look bad either. This is a keeper!! Its connected to a Rotel RSP-1069 via hdmi and to a Mitsubishi 73833 TV

This is my first Blu-ray player and I must say I'm glad I waited for the BD-50. Finally a complete Blu-ray player (profile 2.0). The picture quality seems to be on par with my HD-DVD Toshiba XA2. According to Home Theater Magazine this player comes very close to having the same quality picture as a well known $2000 Blu-ray player. The HDMI input is a little on the bright side, but I adjusted the contrast on my XBR4 a few notches down and it made it just right. I tried many of the known difficult to play discs, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, Ratatouille and all played flawlessly. Having analog output jacks for 5.1 surround was what sealed the deal for me. I have an older receiver so this was a necessity to be able to listen to the lossless audio tracks. Feeling the top of the player indicates that it runs cool. All in all I couldn't be happier. I guess the only thing I don't like is the display window on the front of the player only shows time and not chapter. But that is a very minor annoyance.

Since one of the reviewers had a bad experience with this player's quality, I was hesitant to purchase one... even though it was at the top of my list in every other way.

I decided to take a chance and I'm glad that I did. So far it works flawlessly. It has all the features I'm looking for at a price point worth the player. Easy to use and well designed unit and remote. It also has the support of the high reputation of it's sister player the BD30 among professional reviewers. I have to think the one reviewer with problems was a fluke considering this player's predecessor and it's reputation for quality. Fear not.

I've had this player for about 2 weeks, now. It's not for the faint-hearted to set up! Now that I have confirmed that all functions work, including BD-LIVE, I am thoroughly happy with it. Great picture, great sound, and BD-LIVE. But, because of all the difficulty I had setting it up, I would have liked to have given it a 4.5 instead of a 5. Here are the problems I faced. Perhaps it will save someone else some grief. It took forever for me to connect this to my Onkyo SR-604 A/V receiver I connected it via the 5.1 analog connections because my receiver doesn't decode the HD audio. It took forever to get sound, until I finally read that the "multichannel" button on the A/V receiver needed to be pressed - that was not the fault of the Blu Ray player, of course. Then, today, I couldn't get BD-LIVE to connect - I was using the Iron Man disc. I kept getting the message, "No internet connection," even though there was an Internet connection - in fact, when I established the Internet connection, the first thing it did was offer to download the latest firmware. I did that and installed it successfully. And, the setup allows you to test the Internet connection which verified that I DID have a working connection to the Internet. This was the only problem that required a call to Panasonic. A very knowledgable and courteous support person helped me and asked if I had an SD card inserted into the player - I did not, and I didn't see anything in the instructions that told me that was necessary. I tried that and, voila, the BD-LIVE worked. However, it's still upsetting that the error message was, "No connection to the Internet," rather than, "Please insert an SD card." And, speaking of network connections, I had to buy a power line network bridge to connect the player to the Internet, for about $50. My DISH PVR has that home networking bridge built into the unit - it would have been nice, if the Blu Ray player had that also, or if it had a wireless connection. Lastly, before I had the Internet connection, I downloaded the firware upgrade from the Panasonic web site. I created 6 different install CDs from two computers and the player would not recognize any of them. Having all that behind me, this is a great Blu Ray player - I'd recommend it, highly.

This is my first Blu-ray player, connected to my Samsung 52" LCD TV. It is absolutely amazing. Picked up the BBC Planet Earth series on Blue-ray and the picture is stunning. I was able to add it to my wireless network by using an Airport Express. The only reason I did not give this Blu-ray player 5 stars is that it doesn't not come with built in wireless. For the price point, built in wireless isn't asking too much plus this is compatible with the new 2.0 'Live' discs that enable additional internet content with some Blu-ray discs. With that kind of functionality, wireless seems obvious to me. I was able to update the firmware easily. So far I am very pleased and have owned several Panasonic electronic items and have always had good luck with them. Currently still using a Panasonic DVD Recorder that works perfectly as well.

This player has outstanding audio and video quality. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the owner's manual was written for a total geek. The instructions for even the simplest function are so convoluted that they are virtually impossible to understand.

The Viera Link instructions are particularly difficult to follow, although one can gather that Viera Link is intended to simplefy thing. If it weren't for the owner's manual, I would rate this product five-atars.

I bought the Panasonic HD camcorder at the same time, and those instructions aren't much better. They give you these incredibly complex instructions on how to edit scenes and burn a DVD, but the things most people want to do is make a video of their grandkids. The basic instructions could be made much simpler. (Same comment for the Viera Link)

I am a Blu Ray newbie, and I am so glad I made the decision to go for it. This new Panasonic player is highly rated on CNET and other reviews, and of course, I read the reviews on Amazon.
I have a Panasonic 46 inch Plasma Viera 850 series, which is AWESOME, so went with the Panasonic Blu Ray player. I am glad I did. The player came from 6ave, and it arrived early, and in excellent condition, and hooked up very easily. I did update it via the Ethernet connection (GREAT feature) from my router, and that worked flawlessly. It plays regular DVDs beautifully, and of course the Blu Ray is Awesome. I got The Fifth Element and Pirates of the Caribbean to try in Blu Ray, and loved the perfect picture on both of them. This is a great investment and quality product.

With the money we invested with our audio video system we were hard pressed to replace our fantastic processor to obtain the new codecs. This baby solved the problem. Run five cables to your 5.1 analog input and presto chango you entered sonic paradise. We could not believe the clarity,the openness, the impact of the bass, the detail of the sound, surrounds came alive etc etc We got our high def butt kicked. Picture quality is fantastic very detailed. But the sound is what fried our eggs.
Cheap admission for the results we received. Highly recommended.