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#1 ·
After reading of the improved Panasonic color processing, I wanted to months ago purchase the BD-35 Blu-ray/DVD player. But because they were impossible to find I purchased the BD-60 the first day they were availible.

As I've owned a Sony PS3 for several years it was only natural that I compare it to the BD-60.


Pixel Processing Gets Better

--------------------------

Why not state the findings first?

The Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray/dvd player's image quality is superior to the Sony PS3. It mates especially well with my Samsung 950's larger color gamut by (re)generating a tangy, lustrous wider spectrum colors with added clarity and detail. Standard Dvd playback at 24p is enhanced too. Simply set the player to output 24p and picture to "fine".


It is well known that the color portion of an image is sampled much less than the luminance. Original studies dating back in the 1950's gave justification for lowering this sample rate. Can we see the ill effects of using this lower color sampling rate, especially with the new wider LED color gamut displays? Easily. So what can be done to restore the original pixel-level integrity?


A solution is provided in Panasonic HD/DVD players:

The Panasonic Hollywood Laboratories PHL Reference Chroma Processor studies and improves restoration, color correction, compression and digital conversion, then up-samples (4:2:0 to 4:2:2) the color information in decoded video signals. The unique PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus expresses the fine details and nuances of movie scenes by reproducing clearer color boundaries, providing all the qualities that a Blu-ray (and DVD) disc has to offer.


P⁴HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD) Technology

To get the best high definition images from a Blu-ray (and DVD) disc, you need a player that renders high-quality progressive images, expresses motion smoothly, and draws sharp diagonal lines. The Panasonic-unique P4HD technology processes more than 15 billion pixels per second, generating each pixel correctly according to information obtained from up to 60 surrounding pixels, and applies the optimum processing to every pixel in the video data on the disc. The result is images with exceptional resolution. (Note: for optimal PQ set players output to 24p).


Compare all this technology which does make a noticeable improvement in picture quality to reviewers who still rate a player based upon its largely obsolete de-interlacing capability.


In just a day of ownership I find no downsides to the BD-60. Any bugs were fixed in the BD-35. It is a pleasure to use!

It uses less power, is quieter but is not a full fledged media server. (PS3 owners should download the "PS3 Media Server" application. Its awesome!).

It has an Ethernet port finally allowing for convenient updates.


Lastly I don't see how the Oppo 83 can compete with the unique image processing provided by these Panasonic. Pricewise the tables are turned with the Oppo having a 40% higher MSRP. We won't even mention technical and human interface bugs.

Without a doubt the BD-60 is the player to beat. I do not recommend paying extra for the analog outputs of the BD-80, as virtually all receivers and A/V controllers are equipped with HDMI inputs.


Update 8-7-2009

Consumer Reports Rates the Panasonic 80 even with the Oppo 83

--------------------------------------------------------------

Oppo BDP-83 Score: 83 Price: $500

"It's a "universal" player that can play all types of discs, including high-resolution (mostly obsolete) SACDs and DVD-Audio titles."


Panasonic DMP-BD80 Score: 83 Price $350

CR's Take

"This Panasonic Blu-ray player offers excellent overall performance. It includes Panasonic's VieraCast online service, for access to videos from YouTube, digital photos from Picasa, and soon, Amazon Video on Demand. It has internal decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD lossless audio, and 7.1-channel analog outputs. It includes an SD card slot and can play back AVCHD video files.


Highs

Excellent HD picture quality with Blu-ray discs, and excellent picture quality from standard DVDs. It's a BD-Live-ready model with an Ethernet port, and can access extra Web-based content from movie studio servers, or download firmware updates. A USB port provides access to photos, videos, and music stored on a USB flash drive.


Lows

Requires an optional 1GB SD card for BD-Live feature. It was unable to load a badly damaged Blu-ray disc that other players could handle."

---

Note: Members with HDMI receivers should instead consider the Panasonic DMP-BD60 which omits the legacy analog outputs. The Panasonic DMP-BD60 and its clones have a current street price of $200. This would have made the product an obvious "best buy" had CR tested it rather than the 80.

Panasonic DMP-BD60 MyScore: 83 Price $200*


*An AVS Best Buy
 
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1
#8,065 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rayfornario /forum/post/0



I actually burned the firmware to a cd because there is no internet connection where the bd-60 is located. Just want to update it correctly without bricking it.

Sorry, I thought it was the instructions for creating the CD.


Try this one, scroll down a little to see the process.

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...0/bd60_na.html
 
#8,067 ·
BD60, Just Over 25 months old - started having trouble with blu-ray discs about a week ago.


Now plays SD DVDs just fine, but REFUSES to play Blu-rays...



Multiple runs of DR. Blu-ray Disc Cleaner has failed to improve situation. Have also tried Blindly shooting canned air into the tray area, simply hoping for the best...


Add the GREEN BLOBS and INCREASING PINK TINT visible on our 60" ST30, and must confess am not too happy with Panasonic right now.



At least we still have 30-Days to RETURN the ST30, thanks for Amazon's Holiday Return Policy =



But now am wondering whether it is smart to try another ST or not....
 
#8,068 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dierkdr /forum/post/21400384


BD60, Just Over 25 months old - started having trouble with blu-ray discs about a week ago.


Now plays SD DVDs just fine, but REFUSES to play Blu-rays...



Multiple runs of DR. Blu-ray Disc Cleaner has failed to improve situation. Have also tried Blindly shooting canned air into the tray area, simply hoping for the best...

The BD60 has a blue laser for blu-ray and a red laser for dvd. I can pretty much assure you the blue laser needs to be replaced.
 
#8,071 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dierkdr /forum/post/21403200


Would it be a safe guess that replacing the blue laser probably costs more - or at least Nearly As Much - as simply buying a new player - ??

That's a good question that I'd like to know the answer to as well. I guess I would also like to know whether the blue laser in this player is more prone to failure over time, or whether all blue lasers are more subject to degradation and/or failure in all Blu-Ray players as compared to DVD lasers. Another way to look at this would be, is this another case of you get what you pay for, with a higher-end player likely having a higher quality and potentially longer lasting blue laser in it?
 
#8,072 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DECJ /forum/post/0


That's a good question that I'd like to know the answer to as well. I guess I would also like to know whether the blue laser in this player is more prone to failure over time, or whether all blue lasers are more subject to degradation and/or failure in all Blu-Ray players as compared to DVD lasers. Another way to look at this would be, is this another case of you get what you pay for, with a higher-end player likely having a higher quality and potentially longer lasting blue laser in it?

Re you get what you pay for, when I got my BD605 from Costco it was on sale for $259, not cheap. I would have expected more at those prices.
 
#8,073 ·
Yesterday I tried to play Toy Story 2(blu ray) on my player and it didn't work(the player can't read the disc), I never had problems with this disc before on the bd80(I also have parts 1 and 3 and they do play, other blu rays I own play fine too)...I tried it then on my PS3 and it played fine, is this the same problem others are having playing their discs? Does anyone know the cause of this?
 
#8,074 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dierkdr /forum/post/21400384


BD60, Just Over 25 months old - started having trouble with blu-ray discs about a week ago.


Now plays SD DVDs just fine, but REFUSES to play Blu-rays...



Multiple runs of DR. Blu-ray Disc Cleaner has failed to improve situation. Have also tried Blindly shooting canned air into the tray area, simply hoping for the best...


Add the GREEN BLOBS and INCREASING PINK TINT visible on our 60" ST30, and must confess am not too happy with Panasonic right now.



At least we still have 30-Days to RETURN the ST30, thanks for Amazon's Holiday Return Policy =



But now am wondering whether it is smart to try another ST or not....


The saying in electronics; If its going to go out, it goes out right away. I would definitely return it and get a new one. Pannys are great plasmas (it is a plasma, right?) and you should NOT have issues.
 
#8,075 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dierkdr /forum/post/21400384


BD60, Just Over 25 months old - started having trouble with blu-ray discs about a week ago.


Now plays SD DVDs just fine, but REFUSES to play Blu-rays...



Multiple runs of DR. Blu-ray Disc Cleaner has failed to improve situation. Have also tried Blindly shooting canned air into the tray area, simply hoping for the best...


Add the GREEN BLOBS and INCREASING PINK TINT visible on our 60" ST30, and must confess am not too happy with Panasonic right now.



At least we still have 30-Days to RETURN the ST30, thanks for Amazon's Holiday Return Policy =



But now am wondering whether it is smart to try another ST or not....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dierkdr /forum/post/21403200


Would it be a safe guess that replacing the blue laser probably costs more - or at least Nearly As Much - as simply buying a new player - ??

Try THIS .
 
#8,076 ·
So I have recently purchased the BD-80 used. I am very happy with the player. I wanted the 7.1 analog out to connect to the inputs of my HK AVR 525. I know this is an old AVR but after looking at some of the newer units and hearing about various problems with HDMI inputs or outputs flaking or other problems I decided to keep my perfectly good unit a bit longer.


I used to be using the Sony BDP-S1. It had 5.1 analog out and I decided I was going to jump to the ability to decode 7.1. When I was using the Sony I would go in and set up the optical output for PCM and Rt/Lt output of both Dolby and DTS audio and decode the soundtracks with the Logic 7 processing in 7.1 mode. It sounded pretty good.


Now with the Panasonic trying to decode surround using Logic 7 isn't working out so well. I have found, and read in this forum, that the Panasonic BD80 does 2 channel mixes to stereo, but there does not seem to be any matrix information for my AVR 525 to work with. The Sony did seem to pass the matrix encoding a lot better. OR am I missing something in the settings? It would be nice to have this on some soundtracks and I find sometimes I prefer the matrix decoded over some discrete mixes.


I know all of this equipment is older but between the new economy, fear of problems I read about with equipment, I have decided to keep the older stuff a bit longer. My Panasonic is hooked directly to my overhead projector and I have not experienced any freezing problems. I had deduced personally that it was due to the jump from Panasonic, to AVR, to display, that was causing the freezing problems. Just my opinion though.


Anyway I am very happy with the HK 525 and Panasonic combo. The HK has internal level sets with bass management that is working very well for me I can select to do 6 channel (5.1) or 8 channel (7.1) inputs with bass management. The 525 then plays into external amps and the result is better than any local theaters to date.


With the DTS "feature" to replicate the surround channels into the back surrounds, I have been able to bypass that by choosing the 6 channel (5.1) inputs which then mute the two back surrounds. If I let the back surrounds play I notice some sound tends to wrap back between the two surround channels. I prefer not to let this happen, so I do like that I can shut the back two off if the soundtrack is 5.1. But back to Logic 7, sometimes I just liked the less discreet surround it could give, and IF it was possible to get that back, I would be nice. If not, Oh well, I am very pleased with being able to do DTS and Dolby with the analog outputs. Thanks.
 
#8,077 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by awblackmon /forum/post/21547769


So I have recently purchased the BD-80 used. I am very happy with the player. I wanted the 7.1 analog out to connect to the inputs of my HK AVR 525. I know this is an old AVR but after looking at some of the newer units and hearing about various problems with HDMI inputs or outputs flaking or other problems I decided to keep my perfectly good unit a bit longer.


I used to be using the Sony BDP-S1. It had 5.1 analog out and I decided I was going to jump to the ability to decode 7.1. When I was using the Sony I would go in and set up the optical output for PCM and Rt/Lt output of both Dolby and DTS audio and decode the soundtracks with the Logic 7 processing in 7.1 mode. It sounded pretty good.


Now with the Panasonic trying to decode surround using Logic 7 isn't working out so well. I have found, and read in this forum, that the Panasonic BD80 does 2 channel mixes to stereo, but there does not seem to be any matrix information for my AVR 525 to work with. The Sony did seem to pass the matrix encoding a lot better. OR am I missing something in the settings? It would be nice to have this on some soundtracks and I find sometimes I prefer the matrix decoded over some discrete mixes.


I know all of this equipment is older but between the new economy, fear of problems I read about with equipment, I have decided to keep the older stuff a bit longer. My Panasonic is hooked directly to my overhead projector and I have not experienced any freezing problems. I had deduced personally that it was due to the jump from Panasonic, to AVR, to display, that was causing the freezing problems. Just my opinion though.


Anyway I am very happy with the HK 525 and Panasonic combo. The HK has internal level sets with bass management that is working very well for me I can select to do 6 channel (5.1) or 8 channel (7.1) inputs with bass management. The 525 then plays into external amps and the result is better than any local theaters to date.


With the DTS "feature" to replicate the surround channels into the back surrounds, I have been able to bypass that by choosing the 6 channel (5.1) inputs which then mute the two back surrounds. If I let the back surrounds play I notice some sound tends to wrap back between the two surround channels. I prefer not to let this happen, so I do like that I can shut the back two off if the soundtrack is 5.1. But back to Logic 7, sometimes I just liked the less discreet surround it could give, and IF it was possible to get that back, I would be nice. If not, Oh well, I am very pleased with being able to do DTS and Dolby with the analog outputs. Thanks.

Good luck with your project and hopefully someone will answer.


But ... wouldn't it be easier to just run SPDIF from the BD-80 to the amp and get pure digital 5.1 (decoded at the amp) and let the amp simulate 6.1 or 7.1?
 
#8,078 ·
But ... wouldn't it be easier to just run SPDIF from the BD-80 to the amp and get pure digital 5.1 (decoded at the amp) and let the amp simulate 6.1 or 7.1?[/quote]


That is what I will be doing now. I was finding sometimes that the matrix soundtrack which can be embedded into the stereo channels sometimes could actually sound better or hold some surprises. I had found sometimes that they were actually mixed better than the digital channels. It was as though the sound mixers were having a bit of fun and buried their play time in the matrix channels.


On my Directv receiver I have turned off the Dolby Digital out and use my AVR525 to decode the audio using Logic 7. On Stargate Universe, which isn't being produced any longer, I actually got better surround effects when A/B checks were made on a scene. One scene in particular was during a trip they made to a planet and they were in a forested area. The Dolby Digital was ok but mostly to the front with a slight side wrap in ambience. With Logic 7 the forest was alive with birds and other life all around you.


Any way now with the Panasonic BD80 I do have the 7.1 audio decode which is really what I was after. When I would only be able to rent a DVD on a movie title I would decode the audio with Logic 7 and that option is gone. Oh well, that really isn't the end of the world. I was just wondering if someone had found a way to get the PCM tracks to do something other than stereo?
 
#8,079 ·
hello,


I have DMP-BD60 player and last week I purchase Star Wars bluray set. I am unable to play movies 1, 4 and 5. The player is making weird clicking noises when I insert those discs and then it just says unable to read the disc. My friend tried the disc on his PS3 and it worked fine. Is there known issue with this player and Star Wars bluray ? I have the latest firmware
 
#8,081 ·
Hello,

I hope someone can help me to figure out what is wrong with my set up.

- Panasonic-BD 605

- Harman/Kardon AVR-125 receiver

- 5.1 set up of speakers

- Blu Ray to receiver connected through optical cable since the receiver has not hdmi.


I bought the Immersion Box set of Pink Floyd "Wish you were here" that contains a Blu Ray disc with uncompressed music.

When I'm on the disc menu music sounds from all speakers. Then I select 5.1 surround mix 24bit/96khz uncompressed to start the listening experience but then the receiver switch to 2 channel stereo.


On BluRay set up I've: Audio -> Digital Audio output -> bitstream/bitstream and off for sec. audio.


I have others music DVDs with 5.1 surround and there is no issue but this one that is bluray doesn't want to play in 5 channels. Any idea?

Thanks in advance.
 
#8,082 ·
The High Res audio on BluRay needs either an HDMI or multi-channel analog connection. Your optical connection does not have enough bandwidth so the player is down converting the signal to two channel.


The BD60 does not have multi-channel analog outputs (the BD80 did) so the best you can do with your player/receiver combination is to make sure your player is set to Downmix as "Surround Encoded" (Setup -> Audio -> Downmix). It is probably set to "Stereo". That should get you multi channel audio, although not in the full resolution.


You should also change your Digital Audio Output to PCM from Bitstream since your receiver is not capable of decoding the High Res audio bitstream.
 
#8,083 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gerhard911 /forum/post/21667270


The High Res audio on BluRay needs either an HDMI or multi-channel analog connection. Your optical connection does not have enough bandwidth so the player is down converting the signal to two channel.


The BD60 does not have multi-channel analog outputs (the BD80 did) so the best you can do with your player/receiver combination is to make sure your player is set to Downmix as "Surround Encoded" (Setup -> Audio -> Downmix). It is probably set to "Stereo". That should get you multi channel audio, although not in the full resolution.


You should also change your Digital Audio Output to PCM from Bitstream since your receiver is not capable of decoding the High Res audio bitstream.

I could try returning the unit at Costco and getting one with analog output terminals but I guess the right way to do should be buying a newest receiver to get the high Resolution audio that I'm trying to get.

Thank you so much for your clear explanation.
 
#8,085 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gulo /forum/post/21618375


hello,


I have DMP-BD60 player and last week I purchase Star Wars bluray set. I am unable to play movies 1, 4 and 5. The player is making weird clicking noises when I insert those discs and then it just says unable to read the disc. My friend tried the disc on his PS3 and it worked fine. Is there known issue with this player and Star Wars bluray ? I have the latest firmware

Try to do a lens/spindle cleaning as in the link provided by mdavej a few posts back, I had the same problems as you with some of my discs and after the cleaning everything's working fine again...
 
#8,086 ·
I'd like to burn some 720p MPEG-2 files to DVD-R without re-encoding, for playback on a DMP-BD605.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 /forum/post/19220024


BD60 does not play media files from SD or USB. You have to either make it as regular DVD on a DVD disc or create it as AVCHD directory structure (AVCHD does allow MPEG2 stream in place of AVC stream).

Can anyone confirm that this will work for these players?
 
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