Pioneer's "budget" Blu-ray player will still set you back $600.
Pioneer announced two new Blu-ray players Wednesday morning, the BDP-51FD and step-up Elite BDP-05FD. Pioneer has so far taken a decidedly high-end approach to the Blu-ray market, with the company's initial players selling for upward of $1,000. Honestly, we're not sure what the appeal of these players are, but Pioneer tells us they can't fulfill the existing orders for the $1,000 BDP-95FD--proof, it would seem, that the enthusiast videophile market is alive and well. With that in mind, let's take a look at the key features of the upcoming Blu-ray players.
Key features of the Pioneer BDP-51FD:
- Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (BonusView)
- Can output Blu-ray discs in 1080p at 24 frames per second
- Onboard Dolby TrueHD decoding, DTS-HD Master Audio onboard decoding available with future firmware upgrade
- Can output Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in bit stream format
- 7.1 analog outputs
- Wolfson digital audio converters
- $600 list price, available this summer
Our first reaction to the specification sheet is that it's underwhelming given the price tag. Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (after a firmware update) is nice--as is Profile 1.1 support--but the Sony PlayStation 3 already offers onboard decoding for both soundtrack formats and Profile 2.0 support for only $400. The step-up BDP-05FD doesn't offer much more, in terms of value:
The Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD will set you back $800.
Key step-up features of the Pioneer BDP-05FD:
- Gold-plated connectors
- Aluminum front panel
- Touch-sensitive buttons
- Two-year warranty
- $800 list price, available this summer
The BDP-05FD has all the jacks you need, including 7.1 analog outputs.
If the BDP-51FD seems a little expensive for what it offers, then the BDP-05FD really seems expensive for its step-up features. The step-ups seem to be mostly cosmetic, with the player sharing essentially the same feature set as the cheaper BDP-51FD. For an Elite player like this, we'd at least like to have seen some enthusiast-friendly features such as SACD and DVD-Audio support, DivX compatibility, or even networking functionality like we saw on the BDP-HD1. We'll have to wait until summer to see these players, which will be going head-to-head with similarly priced high-end competition from Denon and Panasonic. In the meantime, we're sticking with the PS3.
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View the latest prices for Pioneer BDP-51FD
The $2,200 Pioneer Elite SC-07 tops today's announcements.
(Credit: Pioneer)Pioneer has unveiled four new AV receivers in its high-end Elite line for 2008. The VSX-01TXH ($750) and VSX-03TXH ($1,000) will be first out the door in June, followed by the SC-05 ($1,800) and SC-07 ($2,200) in August. (A 2007 model, the VSX-94TXH, remains in the lineup as well and is widely available for 25 percent off its $1,600 MSRP.) In addition to all of the cutting-edge features (HDMI 1.3; upscaling of analog video sources to 1080p HDMI output; on-board decoding for the Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High Resolution, and lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on Blu-ray Discs; multi-source output for up to three zones; Pioneer's top-notch MCACC auto-calibration), the SC-05 and SC-07 boast network connections for streaming digital media from DLNA-compatible network sources, including PC hard drives. The 05 and 07 also offer some super-tweaky features that will potentially appeal to audiophiles, including the Precision Quartz Locking System (PQLS) that's said to offer optimal CD playback from Pioneer's new Blu-ray players by eliminating audio jitter.... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
Pioneer's new Blu-ray player, the BDP-94HD
(Credit: CrunchGear)Pioneer announced its new Elite BDP-94HD Blu-ray player today, following up on its first generation BDP-HD1. Besides the new model name, there doesn't look to be much of a change from last year's model. The biggest addition we can see is onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD, which means it should be able to decode Dolby TrueHD soundtracks and send uncompressed PCM soundtracks to a compatible receiver via HDMI. Pioneer is also claiming to have revamped its Home Media Gallery feature, which allows for some basic network media streaming using the Ethernet port and supposedly the capability to download media straight from the Internet. There's also support for HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC), which allows compatible products to send commands to each other via the HDMI port. It will be shipping later this month with a suggested price of $1,000.
We can't get too excited about the BDP-94HD, considering the press release doesn't mention that it has HDMI 1.3 and CrunchGear reports that it indeed has only HDMI 1.2. If it had HDMI 1.3, it would allow the BDP-94HD to send encoded Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master soundtracks to compatible receivers, which should also be released later this month. There's also no mention of enhanced DVD upconversion performance, which we felt was a little lacking on last year's BDP-HD1. We're also hoping the BDP-94HD offers the capability to play standard audio CDs, a glaring omission on the BDP-HD1. With the Samsung BD-P1200 ($800 street price) sporting by an HDMI 1.3 port, excellent upconversion thanks to its HQV video-processing chip and standard CD play, the BDP-94HD has its work cut out for it. On the other hand, we did like the Home Media Gallery functionality on the BDP-HD1, so we're interested to see how they've revamped that feature.
Source: Pioneer press release.
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