Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

by Sharp

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16.9 x 13.2 x 2.7 inches ; 10 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000W8SSXQ
• Item model number: BD-HP20U
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,861 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Manufacturer's Description -- July 20, 2008

Now you can enjoy the best of 1080P video on your AQUOS LCD TV. Especially designed to work with AQUOS LCD TVs, the BD-HP20U AQUOS Blu-ray Disc player provides seamless operability via the AQUOS LINK function through the HDMI connection. Performing as if it were all one system, the BD-HP20U's Quick Start feature lets you enjoy gorgeous Blu-ray Disc video with the touch of a button in less than 10 seconds1. With eight terminal outputs including HDMI outputs and 1080P as well as DVD up-conversion to 1080P, you'll enjoy full digital high-definition video and high-fidelity audio.

Features

HDMI Output – Simple One Cable Connection
A one cable connection carries complete digital audio and video connection between your HDTV and the BD-HP20 player for the best high definition video and the highest fidelity audio in home theater today. Blu-ray Disc technology brings the multiplex experience right to your home.

Full HD Resolution – An Amazing Home Theater Experience in the Comfort of your Home
The Blu-ray Disc format has full 1080P resolution capability – that's the maximum picture resolution available today. 1080P = 1,080 lines of vertical resolution, progressively scanned.

High Fidelity Audio – Real Life-Like Sound
Blu-ray technology lets you take advantage of the latest surround sound formats such as Dolby TrueHD. This means you will enjoy high quality lossless 7.1 Channel digital surround (48KHz only ) that is bit for bit the equivalent of a master recording.

HDMI Up-Scaling – Backwards Compatible
Even your existing standard definition DVD library can look better than ever because Blu-ray Disc players are backwards compatible with your DVDs. By optimizing standard DVD playback signals to 1080P (when displayed on a 1080P capable HDTV with HDMI technology), the BD-HP20 can deliver more picture and sound quality.

AQUOS LINK Function – Seamless Operation among Sharp Audio Video Products with One Remote Control
Why use two remotes when you can use one? The AQUOS LINK function allows you to control both your AQUOS LCD TV and your AQUOS Blu-ray Disc player together. When you connect your AQUOS LCD TV to the Blu-ray Disc player via an HDMI connection, you will have seamless interoperability between your AQUOS LCD TV and BD-HP20 Blu-ray Disc player.

Quick Start – Enjoy Movie Content Quickly without Delay
A proprietary Sharp technology allows you to enjoy viewing high definition content on your big screen quicker than most other Blu-ray Disc players. Unlike many other Blu-ray Disc players, the BD-HP20 has an impressive startup time allowing you to begin watching your movies in approximately 10 seconds. Quick Start time may vary depending on movie content, type of video connection and type of monitor being used. Blu-ray Disc must also be preloaded for Quick Start operation.

Specifications

HDMI Technology (Output Resolution)	1080P
AQUOS LINK Function	Yes
HDMI 1080P 24Hz Output	Yes
Video DAC	Yes
Pop-up Menu System	Yes
Display Dimmer	Yes
Parental Lock	Yes
Quick Start (after preload)	Yes
Media
HD Disc Format	Blu-ray Disc
BD-ROM/R/RE	Yes/Yes/Yes
DVD Video	Yes
DVD-RW/R	Yes
DVD+RW/R	Yes
CD-DA/CD-RW/R	Yes
Format
MPEG2/H.264/VC1	Yes
AC3	Yes
DTS	Yes
Linear PCM	Yes
DTS HD	Yes
Dolby Digital Plus	Yes
Dolby TrueHD (Lossless) (48kHz)	Yes
Control via HDMI (AQUOS LINK)	Yes
Output Terminals
Composite Video	RCA x 1
S-Video	x 1
HD Component	x 1
HDMI Output	x 1 (Ver. 1.3)
Analog Audio Output (L/R)	x1
Analog Audio Output (Multi CH)	x6 = (5.1)
Digital Out (Optical)	x 1
Digital Out (Coaxial)	x 1
Included Accessories
Composite A/V Cable	x 1
Remote Control (with Batteries)	x 1
Additional Specifications
Power Consumption/Stand-by	25W / 0.5W
Limited Warranty	1 year parts and labor from date of purchase
Dimensions (w x h x d)	16.9 inches x 2.7 inches x 13.2 inches
Weight	8.8 lbs.

Product Description

Now you can enjoy the best of 1080p video on your Sharp AQUOS HDTV. Especially designed to work with AQUOS LCD TVs, the BD-HP20U AQUOS Blu-Ray Disc player provides seamless operability via the AQUOS LINK™ function, through the HDMI connection. Performing as if it were all one system, the BD-HP20U's Quick Start feature lets you begin enjoying gorgeous Blu-ray Disc video with the touch of a button in less than 10 seconds.* The BD-HP20U provides outstanding versatility and is compatible with a wide variety of formats including BD-ROM/RE/R, DVD Video, DVD-RW/R and DVD+RW/R. Additionally, the BD-HP20U plays audio CDs as well. With eight terminal outputs including HDMI inputs and 1080p as well as DVD up-conversion to 1080p, you'll enjoy full digital high-definition video and high-fidelity audio. The piano black finish and slim profile design make it the ideal HD source for a large screen AQUOS TV. *Quick Start time may vary depending on movie content, type of video connection, and type of monitor being used.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

324 of 329 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the money, this player definitely delivers quality and speed., December 7, 2007

By 

CPR "xfilebuffyfan" (Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

I recently reviewed my Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player, which gave me an insurmountable amount of quirkiness. In that review I commented at length about firmware updates (and more updates and more updates) to which finally spelled doom for my player. I also commented on replacing my Sony S300 with my newly purchased Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player. At this point I must say that this Blu-Ray player is exceptional - Dolby True HD Sound, HDMI output to 1080p video, etc - all the extras without the cost (without a HDMI cord included of course, but most players come without it).

Out of the box, this needed no firmware updates to play even the newest movie I owned (i.e. Superbad [Blu-ray]- released the same week as this review) - which my Sony BDP-S300 tried to load for 15 minutes before locking up (and this was with firmware 2.6 installed already - firmware 3.30 was needed but it couldn't load due to a system error - now my old player sits in Pennsylvania at a Sony service center). The load time on the Sharp BDHP20U for SuperBad was about 1-2 minutes, not too bad as you might know some players take much longer. The boot up time from off to on was only about a minute also.

The entire system seemed quick, and not to mention quiet. From the beginning I was completely happy. The system startup was simple enough - I connected my HDMI and opened the setup menu to finalize my preferences. In less than 10 minutes of opening the box I was watching a movie that my previous Sony BDP-S300 died attempting to do.

For the money, this is a great player with fairly speedy load time. Compare that to the $440 I paid for the Sony BDP-S300 which I bought and now loathe.

12-29-07 update - Player finally needed an update to play The Simpsons Movie [Blu-ray] - not a problem though! Unlike the Sony S300 I mentioned before, the Sharp Aquos BDHP20U uses a USB port via any ordinary thumb/flash drive loaded to the back of the player to deliver the update files. No more senselessly throwing away DVD-R's and waiting 30+ minutes for updates, my Sharp Blu-Ray player updated in about 8 minutes. That little USB plug on the back and the 8 minutes are two good reasons I'm glad I purchased the Sharp Blu-Ray player. Honestly that's the real reason I like this player... it's design (inside and outside) is well thought out.

02-03-2008 update - Encountered my first glitch problem. While watching Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] my player froze up. I stopped the disc and checked it for scratching or debris - nothing, looked great. So, I instead checked the Sharp website for a player update since this Blu-Ray disc set was so new. The website showed that I had the most recent update already. I then decided to restart the disc. The player froze up again at a different point on a different episode. This time I knew something was wrong. I attempted to eject the disc and the player would not respond, it just powered down. But, it had no response to re-power on or anything else for that matter - only thing that was happening was that the Standby light was flashing - no other lights or responses. I checked the SharpUSAdotcom website, but it had no real error response information. So I checked the handy dandy manual that my player came with. There was information on the very last page of the English section which described power / static electricity / lightning strikes / other interference scenarios. I followed the steps by holding the power button down until RESET appeared on the front LED section. It then re-powered on perfectly - another simple solution that was unavailable on my Sony S300 Blu-Ray player when it froze up.

Sure I might truly be comparing apples to oranges with this problem and my Sony problem, but when I originally asked the Sony customer service rep for help on my S300 - she replied with this for resetting my system. She told me to unplug the AC chord and wait 2 minutes. When that didn't work, she said we could try it a few more times or possibly leave it off for a longer amount of time. She also mentioned that this system reset could cause my latest firmware updates to reset also (as well as my player preferences). With my Sharp Blu-Ray player, the reset only rebooted the system (within 20-30 seconds) - all of my preferences and my latest firmware update were still intact. I must say this was much easier than I would ever guessed. Maybe Sharp needs a newer update for playing Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] and it plans to release it soon, who knows? Well not me. But I DO know this, the reset feature on my Sharp Blu-Ray player was better than sending my Sony S300 to Pennsylvania for over a month.

For those of you who have asked and those of you who are wondering, yes I did finish the entire season of Damages: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] without any other problems. I am still not sure what caused the freeze up, but believe me - I tolerated much worse from my Sony S300. I use this player usually three to five times a week and this has been my first "hiccup" since buying it. So all and all, I am still very pleased with my Sharp player and consider it among my smartest purchases of 2007.

04-14-2008 - New problem that as of now is unfixable. When playing 30 Days Of Night [Blu-ray] there is no dialog in either English or Spanish, all of the background sound works and the other languages work as well. Apparently this model has had some trouble with the True HD sound on some of the newer discs - and the only language tracks on this particular movie in True HD were English and Spanish, so in other words - turning to any other non-True HD audio language fixed the problem... if you listened in Korean or French or whatever then you would have no problems. I went to the website to get any updates, which the latest firmware update claimed to address True HD problems (so Sharp is aware that something is wrong). But, the newest update still didn't fix the problem. I tried the disc on my Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player and on my Playstation 3 40GB - both of which played the audio perfectly. After contacting the Sharp customer service via email they emailed me 3 days later with no answers. So, maybe there is a new fix coming and maybe not, either way this makes the Sharp BDHP20U closer to a 3 1/2 star or 4 star until new firmware fixing the True HD audio problem is released. Personally I didn't mind watching the movie in another room, but not everyone has that option.

04-30-2008 - There was another update listed on the Sharp website, this update again addressed the True HD problem. Fortunately this time was the trick to finally fixing the problem I had with 30 Days of Night. This movie now plays perfectly, so now everything seems perfectly once again. Back to 5 Stars!

04-07-2009 - It's been a year since anything out of the ordinary has happened. The player recently started having trouble with some of the newer Blu rays we were renting. At first it wasn't a big deal, but eventually I decided to check for updates. The newest update (Oct 2008) was loaded but somehow it refused to accept the new firmware. So we had to call Sharp for help. They walked us through a few steps but soon realized that there was something wrong with our BD drive. We shipped our player to Sharp and they emailed us to keep us updated through the process. They had my player fixed, updated, shipped back to us within a week. They shipped it back via FedEx overnight and we were watching movies on the player within 8 days of my original phone call. I can't say that this player is perfect, but I can say that I feel very lucky to be dealing with Sharp. The Sony process for returning my player was very complicated and ended with me spending over $200 to receive a completely different Sony model. That was never an issue with Sharp. The woman at Sharp said what was going to happen and politely assured me that this was going to be a painless process. She was right. Thanks Sharp!

More updates to come...

76 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Blu-ray player from SHARP, November 16, 2007

By 

Ravindra Gogate - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

I ordered this player because it is well integrated with AQUOS TV product line. There are not too many differentiating factors among Blu-ray players from various manufacturers. This one is made in Malaysia, but SHARP says that all critical components are made by SHARP.
BD-HP20U is very sleek. Very easy setup menu. HD picture quality and sound quality is stunning!
The level of each 5.1 speaker can be adjusted via menu. It offers full 1080P output. The sound, even in 2 channel stereo mode, is great.

You can also setup the video output manually to 480i, 720P 1080i or 1080P.
There are mixed opinions about LCD TVs not accepting 1080P input signals (unless you have the very latest one).
When video output was set to AUTO, it selected 1080i for my LC45GD7U AQUOS TV. But when I manually set the output to 1080P there were no error messages.
Frankly speaking I could not tell the difference in picture quality between the two output modes. Regardless of the input mode the LCD TV will convert the signal to 1080P for display (because it does not draw alternate lines even of the siganl input is interlaced signal). So, do not worry over 1080i or 1080p signal output.

I hardly could tell the difference in picture quality between Component Video (Analog)and HDMI (Digital) connections.(The common remote feature will not work in case of analog connection).
In my opinion there is no need to buy expensive HDMI cables. The cheap ones sold for $10 also work great. Check amazon.com for good deals.

One good feature of this player is that it allows firmware upgrades using USB memory device. Instructions are to download files from internet site.
No upgrades are yet needed but I wish that SHARP offers something like this for 2005/2006 AQUOS TVs.

I highly recommend this player to anyone and particularly to those who have AQUOS TV sets.

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Ready for Prime-Time, March 14, 2008

By 

T. Runkle "Animation Geek" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

I ordered a Sharp Aquos TV and the Sharp Aquos Blu-Ray player to go with it. After they were delivered and set-up, it was with great anticipation that I put in one of the two Blu-Ray movies I had purchased. After nearly two minutes of "Reading Disk", I received an "Incompatible Disk" message. So I tried my second movie. Incompatible Disk. While disappointed, I wasn't surprised because I was aware that I'd probably need to a firmware update. This is were my nightmare started.

The Sharp Blu-Ray player is not internet capable, so all firmware updates need to be done through a USB port on the back of the machine. I went to the Sharp web-site, downloaded the firmware update and placed it on the root level of my USB Flash disk. I followed the on screen instructions for updating the firmware. After inserting the Flash disk, I received a message stating that there were multiple files on the disk. Okay, first major hurdle; my Flash drive contains the annoying U3 software that I can't delete.

I went to Best Buy to purchase a new Flash disk, but my Best Buy doesn't carry ANY flash disks without U3. I went to Wal-Mart and finally found a Flash disk without U3. Back home I tried again, and received the same error. After doing some testing I came across my next major hurdle. I am on a Mac and OSX loves to use invisible files in file directories. So even though it looked like the firmware update was the only file on the Flash disk, it wasn't. My solution: use an FTP client to move the firmware update to the Flash disk directly, by-passing the Mac OSX.

Back to the Blu-Ray player. This time I received and an error telling me that the Blu-Ray player couldn't find the update on the disk. Sharp's manual and web site was no help in finding answers, so I turned to the web forums. It was suggested that I needed to do a system reset on the player before attempting an update. Now this is a new player, why should I need to do a system reset, but I'd give it a shot. And lo-and-behold, it recognized the file on the Flash disk. I started the update and after a few minutes received a message stating that the update had failed and to contact Customer Service.

Of course no number was given for Customer Service. I couldn't find a number in the literature that came with the player (maybe I missed it, but I couldn't find it), so back to the internet. On Sharp's web site all I could find was an email form for Customer Service. I did a Google search and found a link to a page on Sharp's web site that contained a Customer Service phone number (It's 1-800-BE-SHARP (237-4277) by-the-way).

I called Customer Service and after 5 different menu options and being on hold for no more than 2 minutes I was speaking with a REAL LIVE person. I was impressed. I explained to the Customer Service representative all that I had gone through, he apologized and was surprised by the amount of trouble shooting I had already done. After answering some questions about the movies I had and conferring with his manager, he started to give me instructions to ship my player back Sharp for repair. I WAS NOT HAPPY! At the last minute he asked if I had tried unplugging the player. No I hadn't. He told me to try unplugging the player, wait and hour, plug it back in, do a system reset, and then try the firmware update. I was VERY skeptical, but what did I have to lose. It was either this or send it back in.

I followed his and instructions and the firmware update went through without a hitch. WOW! Was I surprised.

Now the moment of truth, I put in a movie, and waited, and waited. Nearly two minutes later: Incompatible Disk. I put my other movie; Incompatible Disk.

To say I was upset would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT. I called Sharp back, was instructed that my wait time would be 13 minutes. 45 minutes later I hung up, called 6th Ave (the Amazon third party seller I got this from) and arranged to return my player. I was asked if I wanted a replacement or a refund. I went for the refund. Fool my once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. There was NO way I was going through this again.

I don't know what Sharp is thinking. I'm a pretty tech-savy guy and this player had me knocking my head against a wall. This player is not for the average person. The learning curve and tech knowledge level is just too high. I cringe to think of my mother or father trying to set this player up.

p.s. I want to say that when I did get through to Sharp's Customer Service, the person I spoke to was very nice, knowledgeable and genially seemed to want to help me. Also 6th Ave made returning this very easy.