Panasonic Blu-ray player gets price cut, free movies

Panasonic DMP-BD10A

(Credit: Panasonic)

Among the first-generation Blu-ray players, Panasonic's DMP-BD10 was remarkable for its higher-than-average price tag ($1,300 versus the $1,000 norm) and the company's promise of a future firmware upgrade that would unleash the full sonic power of Blu-ray audio soundtracks. Having made good on the firmware upgrade in April, Panasonic has now shaved 54 percent off the price. In addition to sporting the upgraded firmware, the newly christened DMP-BD10A will retail for $600 and include five Blu-ray movies--Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic Four, and Crash. Not coincidentally, all five films are Blu-ray exclusives; barring a major sea change in the high-def format war, it's unlikely they'll be seen on HD DVD in the foreseeable future.

While the newly discounted DMP-BD10A will be the exact same price as the Blu-ray-capable PlayStation 3, its audio capabilities may give it a leg up on Sony's console--at least for home theater buffs who appreciate such subtleties. Panasonic is pledging that the DMP-BD10A will deliver onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, a feature that would distinguish it from rival players such as the Samsung BD-P1200, which cannot decode those bleeding-edge better-than-DVD audio soundtracks or even pass them to an external AV receiver. And the Panasonic's 7.1-channel analog outputs would, in theory, be able to deliver those top-notch soundtracks to most run-of-the-mill AV receivers--no fancy HDMI ports required.

We'll be putting the DMP-BD10A to the test as soon as we can get our hands on a sample.

[CurtisW-FL]

Now we are talking...

Now we are talking. This system has REALLY peeked my intererst!

[mattmatt32]

PS3 does decode Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio

"its audio capabilities may give it a leg up on Sony's console--at least for home theater buffs who appreciate such subtleties. Panasonic is pledging that the DMP-BD10A will deliver onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio"

The Playstation 3 already supports decoding of these formats, so what's the "leg up"?

[ou8124af]

Sorry mattmatt32 no DTS-HD/MA decoding for the PS3

That's one thing we've all been waiting for. Including the guys at HiDefDigest. At this time if you select the DTS-MA track on a given Blu-ray disc only the 1.5 Mbps 'core' track is extracted. Let's all cross our fingers in hopes that Sony will fix this little problem with a firmware update soon.

[Springmuffins]

It's still redonkulous!

That's right. I said redonkulous. If they (The tech companies that support Blu-Ray) don't come down in price and match HD-DVD, they will never make it. I don't know, just my opinion I guess.

Take care!
Jonathan

[i_am_still_wade]

Yeah! Prices coming down for both formats.

Blu-Ray is coming down, although it still costs WAY too much. But it is coming down quickly, a very good thing. HD DVD players are dropping fast too. Toshiba is is marking their HD DVD player $100 off for Fathers Day. At this rate, it will be fairly cheap to buy both Blu-Ray and HD DVD.

[flywithsean]

Sony preventing Blu Ray player pricing below PS3

I am wondering if Sony is going to try to prevent companies from pricing their suggested retail below that of the PS3. In another article I read Sony is going to start a big push promoting the Blu Ray player aspect of the system. This is Sonys hope to improve the lackluster sales of the PS3. But if someone undercuts the price of the PS3 by too much this would take away from the value of the PS3. Thus screwing Sony.

[DSaint]

Still Over-Priced

And more importantly a format primarily pushed by an arrogant company Sony which has always unsuccessfully tried to force others to adopt their proprietary technology to their later peril as a result of failure in the marketplace (El-Cassette, MiniDisc, Betamax, DAT ... need I mention more?)
I'll take the wiser, saner and more longterm approach of HD-DVD over Blu Ray anyday.
DSaint

[dfichtner]

I wonder if you read my post

I wonder if you read my post about that a few weeks ago. I've been a firm believer in what you just said, and have been posting that on numerous sites.