Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-Ray Player
Panasonic’s DMP-BD60 had a great success which was attained with the help of its stunning picture quality, functionality and killer features. All of which made the player to slide in flying colours to the top of the hi-def player premiership, and with this height being attained by DMP-BD60, let us see what it’s successor DMP-BD80 has come up with.
Design and built:
Everybody will always expect the successor of any product to be having a better built quality to that of its parent, but the Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu Ray Player looks the same as BD60 except being 5mm taller. The Blu Ray Disc Player has an attractive look and is constructed in a robust way but fails to match the built quality of the Pioneer players. It has the most appealing reflexive facia and black finish. The display is clear and clear but is not as fashionable and flashy as that of the Samsung and LG blu-ray players.
The USB and the SD card slots used to play back the digital media is placed on the front. The BD live capability of this Panasonic Blu Ray player urges you to insert a SD card with the capacity of minimum 1GB in order to store the web downloads. The rear side of the player supports the ports for HDMI, multi-channel analogue outputs, component and composite, stereo audio and optical/coaxial digital audio outputs along with an Ethernet port. Panasonic is still being hesitant to include the Wi-Fi and the built-in memory which when included would have made the DMP-BD80 a better choice to that of Samsung’s BD-P4600, yet these absences are made-up with the inclusions in the picture processing area.
Generosity in features:
Being the latest sensation of Panasonic, the DMP-BD80 Blu Ray DVD Player is generously equipped with a great deal of features that we have ever seen in Panasonic products. Some of the inclusions that makes Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-ray Player stand out from the Blu-ray family are, the PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus, High Precision 4:4:4, 7.1ch Lossless Decode and Analogue Output, VIERA CAST, Networking with SD Memory Card and USB Terminal and of course, as always, the player is environment friendly.
The step-up from DMP-BD60 offers you 7.1ch Lossless Decode and Analogue Output which is going to be an eye-candy to the owners of the older amps who would want to taste the high resolution delights of the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. This Blu-ray player decodes these formats into uncompressed PCM giving them out as analogue signals without compromising on the audio quality. The DMP-BD80 also has a superior audio circuitry to that of BD80.
The Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu Ray Disc Player features a playback information window which can be called up while watching a movie. This information window will display to you all the information of the disc that is being currently played such as the native resolution, frame rate of the source content, the HDMI o/p format, the video/audio codecs, the bitrates used and the current HDMI audio settings. All these might seem to be unfamiliar to most of you out there except for a few Blu-ray anoraks and hence we recon that the difference in the prices between the BD60 and BD80 is a bit too much .
The enhancements:
Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu Ray Player has included an useful list enhancements, chief among them being the P4HD and PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus, developed in collaboration with Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, enhances all the core picture elements such as contrast, colour and detail. The P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD) handles the basic video functionalities like 3:2/2:2 cadence detection, up-scaling and diagonal processing. P4HD processes more than 15 billion pixels per second and applies the optimal processing to every pixel. This is made possible with the help of the of the single chip LSI which makes it possible to pack an entire video signal processing circuit onto a single chip. This helps lower power consumption, reducing the number of parts needed and giving way for a more compact design.
Supported formats:
DMP-BD80 gets a five star when it comes to its audio processing credentials. It decodes Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio and can output any of them as uncompressed PCM or a bitstream via HDMI. When it comes to the case of multimedia, it can handle JPEG, MP3 and DivX from USB, CD and DVD, while via SD card it plays the MPEG-2, JPEG files and AVCHD.
The VIERA Cast:
The VIERA cast was previously introduced in Panasonic’s PZ850 2008 Viera Plasma. Viera Cast is nothing but an internet enabled technology that lets the consumer to access the net without the need of either an external box or a PC and enjoy the content of the sites such as Amazon VOD, YouTube, Google’s Picasa Web Album, Bloomberg, and a weather channel.
The Viera Cast is going to be a great news to the you-tube lovers. You would have lots of fun being able to access the clips on your TV. The you tube videos are categorised in a similar fashion as that of the actual website and you can search for your contents using a virtual keyboard. The black spot with this feature being that, this feature allows you to only enjoy the HD video clips in low resolution, being played in a large screen, it is watchable but the laden noise is unbearable. The interface of Viera cast is user friendly as is has a good layout and a responsive on-screen display.
The Picasa portal feature enables you to view pictures in high resolution. This feature too is well designed in an user friendly fashion.
Performance:
The slow loading of the Blu-ray discs that was witnessed in the BD60 was seen in this latest model too. The quick start mode is available which powers up the player quickly. Unlike some of the other complicated models that are available in the market, the Panasonic BD80 is not hard to use which boasts a straight-forward and decent looking setup menu. This menu presents the options that are potentially complicated with absolute ease. The remote control is also being presented with absolute simplicity. The only negativity that can be sensed with the player is that, we have to reset the HDMI connection before accessing the setup menu or playing a disc . This also brings up a blank screen for a while.
Tantalising picture quality:
Coming to the player’s highlight, its picture talents, DMP-BD80 from Panasonic is nothing but tantalising. It handles every single pixel with absolute sacredness producing its intricate details providing it with the maximum sharpness and lucidity. With superb edge definition, the picture appears to be clean and focused throughout. The success with the picture quality was also helped by the excellent purity in the colours, skin tones, the solid blacks and the expansive contrast range. DMP-BD80 was almost flawless while handling the HQV discs. It chose to play the correct video by suppressing the jaggies. Its results with the 1080p DVD playback was brilliant.
Best complimenting audio:
With such a stunning quality in pictures, Panasonics efforts would have been in vain without being complemented by it audio capabilities. Externally decoded TrueHD and Master Audio tracks sound great, but the player does a wonderful job of decoding them itself. This Blu-ray Disc player features a high definition audio decoder that takes advantage of the exceptionally high quality 7.1 channel surround sound, integrated in Blu-ray Discs.
The energy rating:
In order to obtain a reduction in power consumption the Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu Ray Player uses Auto Power Stand-By, a function that automatically turns off the player when you return to TV operation using the VIERA Link menu. The Stand-by Power Save automatically turns off the player’s Quick Start function and when VIERA is turned on, Quick Start also turns on. As we mentioned earlier, the UniPhier plays an important role for the player to be energy rated.
Inside the box:
The packaging provides the basic audio/video cable, a remote control, a pair of batteries and the AC power cord. The power cord is not being permanently attached to the unit as in the case of the Samsung players.
Verdict:
With such hefty features in audio and picture quality, Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-ray Player is certainly one of the best seller in the market. Certain features such as the Viera Cast is an example for Panasonic’s desire to take forward the blu ray technology and link it more to the internet.
Yes, all these features are stunning but not stunning enough with the premium amount that was increased in its cost. In that case, the DMP BD60 is a better option.
Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu Ray Player - Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Panasonic |
| Model Name | DMP-BD80 |
| Product Type | Table top, Blu-ray disc player |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 55 X 430 X 249 mm |
| Colour/Finish | Black |
| Weight | 2.6 kg |
| Compatible media formats | CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD, CD, DVD+R DL, BD-R, BD-RE, BD-ROM, DVD-R DL |
| Video DAC | 12bit / 148.5MHz |
| Audio DAC | 24bit / 192kHz |
| Memory card compatible video formats | AVCHD, JPEG (HD), MPEG-2 |
| Media Load Type | Tray |
| Video specifics | PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus, P4HD Precise Pixel Generation, 16-Level Motion Detection with Pixel-Based Motion Adaptive, Diagonal Processing, 3:2, 2:2 Pull-Down Progressive Processing, Up-conversion to 1080p Playback, Progressive Scan, Digital Noise Reduction (3D-NR/ Integrated NR), Picture Adjustment, NTSC Output Selectable. |
| Built-in audio decoders | DTS decoder, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus |
| Audio details | Sound Output Mode is Surround Sound, Surround Sound Effects, Response Bandwidth- 4 - 44000 Hz, Digital Audio Format is DTS digital output, Dolby Digital output, Signal-To-Noise Ratio 115 dB and Total Harmonic Distortion 0.003% |
| Remote control | Yes, universal remote control |
| Output Resolution | 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p |
| Dynamic range | 100dB |
| Input and output connectors | 1 x 7.1 channel audio line-out ( RCA phono x 8 ) - Rear, 1 x HDMI output ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) - Rear, 1 x Ethernet ( RJ-45 ) - Rear, 1 x SPDIF output ( RCA phono ) - Rear, 1 x Component video output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - Rear, 1 x Composite video output ( RCA phono ) - Rear, 1 x SPDIF output ( TOSLINK ) - Rear |
| HDMI Ports | One, supported version is HDMI V.1.3a and supported features are Deep Colour, x.v.Colour, High Bit rate Audio |
| Digital audio output | 1 Optical and 1 Coaxial |
| Memory card slot | 1 x SDHC Memory Card |
| Video upscaling | Yes |
| Additional features | BD-Live BonusView JPEG photo playback, Progressive scanning, 3:2 pull down compensation VIERA Link(HDAVI Control 3), Super Hi Speed Scan Audio/JPEG Navigation Menu |
| Power source | AC 220V, 50Hz |
| Power consumption | 24.0 W |
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