Panasonic DMP-BD60 June 2009 review link (One of the best quality players under $500)

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Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Player
(June 2009 Home Theater magazine review link)

The following quotes are on the Panasonic DMP-BD60 which is one of the best quality BLU-RAY players currently available for under $500 in terms of picture and sound quality. The Panasonic is not perfect, the Playstation 3 has built in memory for BD-LIVE with 1GB speed Ethernet for wired networking connections. The Panasonic offers 100MB ethernet connection instead of 1GB Ethernet connection. The Panasonic DMP-BD60 does not have 1GB of memory built in and requires external memory to be purchased. One positive about the Panasonic is that it uses a SD card slot on the front of the player for BD-LIVE compared to many other brands of players that use front and rear USB flash memory (SD memory looks better cosmetically). I wish all BLU-RAY players would have at least 1GB of memory built in with the option of adding more memory with a front SD card slot. Like most new BLU-RAY players the new Panasonic DMP-BD60 has dropped the legacy 480I S-video connection as a cost cutting feature.

Quotes from the review

" The DMP-BD60’s load times were about average for the newer players I’ve reviewed. Various manufacturers have definitely made improvements in this department, but there’s still room to grow. The DMP-BD60 was a bit sluggish with BD-Java-intensive titles, like those from Disney and Fox. This is still one of the biggest complaints I hear about Blu-ray, and it remains one of the biggest steps back from DVD (along with not being able to resume a disc if you hit Stop). I’m still at a loss as to why this next-generation format didn’t put usability farther up on the priority list."

" It lacks the DMP-BD80’s 7.1-channel analog outputs, but it still shares many core components and features with its big brother."

" The HDMI output is version 1.3a, with Deep Color compatibility and onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (to PCM). It has the ability to transmit both lossless formats as native bitstreams. The DMP-BD60 includes component video, S-video, and composite video connections, along with a TosLink digital audio connection." Note: The player does not have a legacy 480I S-video output, that quote from the review is a error.

" It also supports DVD upconversion to 1080p via HDMI and is among the few players that offer an upconverted 1080p/24 output from DVDs."

" DVD playback was solid, and I was impressed by the player’s 1080p/24 playback with DVD sources. Some of my more difficult test discs revealed some slight artifacts during playback, but typical studio discs played fine. It’s nice to see a manufacturer that pays as much attention to SD playback as HD."

"Unlike some Blu-ray players, the Panasonic player does not have a bitrate meter for video or audio, but it does include a status bar, along with indicators for the audio/video codecs."

"While this player lacks a marquee brand video processor like Faroudja or HQV, Panasonic’s UniPhier is one of the best performers in terms of overall video processing. It offers outstanding color fidelity and resolution."

" The DMP-BD60 sailed through our video processing tests. It supports full deinterlacing of high-definition and standard-def DVD playback with great results. This is the same performance that the DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55 offered, and it’s nothing short of spectacular, especially considering the price point."

" The big difference in this player versus previous Panasonic models is its inclusion of Internet-based video and picture viewing via Panasonic’s Viera Cast."

"Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Viera Cast options, there’s no denying that for $300, Panasonic delivers a Blu-ray player that’s hard to beat. The video performance is better than most higher-priced players I’ve tested, and the feature set gives you the most from your Blu-ray and DVD collection."

http://hometheatermag.com/discplayers/panasonic_dmp-bd60_blu-ray_player/