Panasonic DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55

[teachsac]

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Setup:

Display: JVC DLA-HD100
Screen: 120" Stewart 2.35 fixed
Processor: Lexicon MC12HD
Amps: RMB-1095 five-channel; RB1080 2 channel Amp both @ 200 watts/channel
Speakers: SevenM&K s150
Subs: two BG Radia 210i

Initial Setup:

Initial setup was a piece of cake. I took about 5 minutes from opening the box to turning on the power. Hooked up using HDMI. Settings: 1080p/24, Audio PCM, setup ethernet connector. I ran a fixed cable when I ran my HDMI cable to the projector. What I don't like about the 35's audio setup is you either bitstream or PCM. The 30 and 10 separated legacy codec options from the advanced options. No Biggie. I'll live.

Video set to 24p. Picture set to cinema. RGB set to enhanced for 4:4:4. I'll get to SDDVD in a minute for this one Within the video menu, there are several picture modes to choose from including default, soft, fine, cinema, and user. Within the user menu you can adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, color, gamma, 3d NR, and Integrated NR. I chose CInema mode, reds seemed a tad bright in fine.

Put in Forbidden Kingdom. Load-up time from drawer closed to first screen was about 55 seconds or so. Colors on this film are extremely vivid and having watched this film using the 30, were more vivid and true. Not saying the 30 was bad, it wasn't. 7.1 DTS Master was superb through the Lexicon which reminded me why I like really good equipment. Sound was much more detailed and rich than through the Integra, which is a really nice pre/pro also.

Next put in DieHard2 to see how it handled this incorrectly flagged film. Loadup time was much quicker than Forbidden Kingdom. It correctly decoded the incorrectly flagged Master Audio track and sounded much better than when I watched it on the BD10 using the DTS Core.

TrueHD works just as well. Indy4 looked and sounded great.

On to SDDVD:

This player really does shine in the upscaling department. First popped in Dances with Wolves. The colors were accurate and bright. Picture was clean and detailed. It was almost like watching it in HD. There is no sign of artificial edge enhancement which appears on many upscaling players. Here's the kicker. In the video settings, you can enable 24p. The picture is as smooth as smooth can be. Lettering and title were clean and there are no jaggies and/or artifacting visible anywhere.

Next I put in Attack of the Clones. Again it loaded immediately as expected. Moving letters and scrolling was smooth. Picture was clean, no artifacting, bright, detailed, and colors were extremely accurate. No Jaggies anywhere. If I can't have them in HD, this will definitely do.

Note: with SDDVD you have to set 24p each time you put in a new film.

Overall this player is a better SDDVD upscaling player than the 30 (even after the SDDVD firmware update). It is better than the A35, and I see no visible difference between this player and the XA2. It is superb.

This is truly a superb player and shows why Panasonic is at the top of the list for BD players. If you have been waiting to get into the BD game, this full featured player @299 MSRP might be what you have been waiting for.

Rating: 10

S~

BD55 review will come sometime down the road.

[elwaylite]

Thanks for the review. Better SD and BR than the BD30 for $299, its a no brainer.

Pretty neat Panny went with its own chip and is continuing to make it shine.

[teachsac]

Quite a few use the Uniphier including Denon, Yamaha, etc... I like the new chipset.

S~

[Ilya]

By the way, there is an 8% Off Circuit City coupon at www.AAA.com
If you are a AAA member and have just purchased your 35/55 at CC, you might still be able to get a refund.

[Ilya]

Well, after watching several Blu-ray movies, I am pretty happy with my BD35!

But I must admit, my first experience with the player (and the Blu-ray format for that matter) was rather disappointing, almost scary (due to my poor choice of titles, as I realized later).

The first Blu-ray movie I watched was The Godfather (the Coppola Restoration). Great movie: I was anxious to see it in HD. Well, it looked awful to me! Very soft, almost DVD quality and a ton of video noise: pixels dancing all over the place. Something I am not accustom to seeing on HD DVD. I didn't expect that from a new restoration.

The next movie I watched was the new Indiana Jones. This one looked way better! But the colors seemed off, and what frightened me the most, were blue spots and stripes visible in many dark scenes. I almost panicked: thought the video decoder was making errors. I went to Blockbuster and rented the DVD version and played it on a standard player. All visual artifacts were there too! Phew!!! It's all Spielberg's fault - nothing's wrong with the player! What a relief!

Finally I watched Crank and it looked terrific! So, it all depends on the title, the transfer and the so called "director's vision".
Now I just need to get some Blu-ray calibration disks...

[teachsac]

Originally Posted by Ilya

Well, after watching several Blu-ray movies, I am pretty happy with my BD35!

But I must admit, my first experience with the player (and the Blu-ray format for that matter) was rather disappointing, almost scary (due to my poor choice of titles, as I realized later).

The first Blu-ray movie I watched was The Godfather (the Coppola Restoration). Great movie: I was anxious to see it in HD. Well, it looked awful to me! Very soft, almost DVD quality and a ton of video noise: pixels dancing all over the place. Something I am not accustom to seeing on HD DVD. I didn't expect that from a new restoration.

The next movie I watched was the new Indiana Jones. This one looked way better! But the colors seemed off, and what frightened me the most, were blue spots and stripes visible in many dark scenes. I almost panicked: thought the video decoder was making errors. I went to Blockbuster and rented a DVD and played it on a standard player. All visual artifact were there too! Phew!!! It's all Spielberg's fault - nothing wrong with the player! What a relief!

Finally I watched Crank and it looked terrific! So, it all depends on the title, the transfer and the director's vision.
Now I just need to get some Blu-ray calibration disks...

I've had plenty on both formats that were not that great in the PQ department, either soft, artifacting, or DNR. I noticed the blue, also, on Indy. Might be the lighting effects. Bad for a seasoned director. I didn't get Godfather. Every version I've seen has looked horrible. I've been very pleased with both the 35 and 55 so far.

S~

[Ilya]

Originally Posted by teachsac

I noticed the blue, also, on Indy. Might be the lighting effects. Bad for a seasoned director.

It's so bad, that my only explanation is that it's done intentionally.

[Zookster]

Originally Posted by Ilya

It's so bad, that my only explanation is that it's done intentionally.

Maybe the recent South Park episode that parodied Lucas and Spielberg as "raping" Indy in Indy IV wasn't so off the mark after all.

[elwaylite]

Crank, since it was filmed with HD cameras, looks soooo freaking good.

[mitsufan]

Great reviews Shawn!

Here is another review of the 55 where some of the load times are on par or dare I say faster than the PS3. I'm glad I waited and based upon these reviews I think the BPD 55 will fit my current setup needs and yet not stifle me in the near future. While I'd love to have the Denon 3800, I just can't fork out that dough when this model is so competitive and kills it on price.