New Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray Player Shows Improved Picture Quality and Features

[Sclomp]

I have one of those TVs that displays in 1080p but doesn't take a 1080p signal (only 1080i) and the tv does the deinterlacing (quite well actually). Will this, among other blu-ray players, allow me to change the settings to have it output at 1080i over HDMI?? I want to be able to take advantage of the bitstream audio output features such as DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD since I've recently purchased the new Sony STR-DA5300ES receiver that supports these codecs, but don't want to upgrade my television just yet...is still an awesome TV as far as I'm concerned (Sony KDS-R60XBR1).

Very excited about this player...

Cheers,
Sclomp

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

I certainly understand the legal aspects of this, but just wanted to add, before it disappears, you did a fine review, reenforcing my recommendation of this player to the Forum Members. Thanks Chris . . . . Good job! [Jim]

Thanks. I try... And thanks to Shin-Ra for editing the post.

BTW, the player can be pre-ordered from Vanns. We have a link to it now in the review. Free shipping and a small discount from MSRP. I won't link to our review as it's linked earlier in the thread a couple of times and I don't want to be too much of a spammer.

I haven't done a head-to-head comparison against the PS3 (nor against the comparable HD-A35 HD-DVD player) but I plan to do both in the full review. I will say initial tests show the DMP-BD30 looks a little better at SD upconversion than the PS3. But I haven't done any 1080i/p de-interlacing tests on the PS3 because we published that review before we had access to a good 1080p-capable display device. Also, with the frequent firmware updates, the PS3 is a bit of a moving target. When we started that review it didn't even *DO* DVD upconversion but by the time we finished the review, the feature had been added via a firmware upgrade.

Expect a more comprehensive review of the DMP-BD30 some time in early December if not sooner.

Regards,

-Chris

[MrBoylan]

Originally Posted by Sclomp

I have one of those TVs that displays in 1080p but doesn't take a 1080p signal (only 1080i) and the tv does the deinterlacing (quite well actually). Will this, among other blu-ray players, allow me to change the settings to have it output at 1080i over HDMI?? ...
Cheers,
Sclomp

Yes, you can set maximum resolution to 1080i in the Panasonic's set-up menu and deinterlace on your TV. I haven't yet seen an HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc player that does not allow you to do that.

-CB

[Sclomp]

Sweet, thanks! Count me in as another added to the blu-ray camp.