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LG BH100 Quick Review

post #1 of 53
1/19/07 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
OK, got my LG BH100 today to review, and there are some pro's and con's, and some of the con's are pretty damn big, and not the one thing everyone has complained about: iHD or HDi.

Pro's:

1) EXTREMELY fast. The power-on time destroys the Samsung, Panny, Pioneer and Sony, and definitely the HD-A2 as well. The load times are on par if not faster than all as well for both HD-DVD and BD.
2) Ease of use. Very easy to setup and use. Picture quality is outstanding at 1080i and 1080p.

Con's:

1) Cheap build quality like the HD-A2
2) No ethernet for direct networking or updating. The RJ-45 is a service port only.
3) No 24P (at least for now)
4) Even though this is the first player with DTS-HD MA decoding internally, LG screwed the pooch as the HD decoding only decodes 2-channel over HDMI. Only the 5 analog outs decode 5.1 for HD. This should be an easy fix via firmware, but again, this is the biggest mistake I have seen on any of the players, as this was a bigger plus to me even than HD-DVD playback so I could enjoy Fox and MGM BDs with lossless compression over LPCM 5.1, but nope. I won't go back to analog out's when I have a preamp that can decode LPCM 5.1 over HDMI.
5) DD+ again is only 2-channel PCM over HDMI when set to PCM. It is decoded as DD legacy when set to bitstream. Plus must also be decode and sent to the analog outs to get 5.1.
6) DD True HD is also 2 channel PCM, and that does NOT change even on the analog outs. Again, as with plus and DTS-HD, this should be able to fixed just the A1 series was upgraded with a firmware upgrade.
7) No HD-DVD interactive support. This is really not a big deal for at least me, as I RARELY watch supplemental features, even though the Warner and Universal interactivity is pretty cool. The LG pre-renders an overlay menu on titles with the HDi layer, and it still does allow for scene selection, audio, play and the norms.

This player could be great if it got a quick firmware update, but for now, I wouldn't buy it unless you have no use for advance audio codecs via HDMI LPCM. This lack of support is a generation back at least, and something I am personally extremely disappointed in.

This mini-review is also posted in the BD forum.
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post #2 of 53
1/19/07 at 4:00pm
Good review. I hope some of the mentioned issues are addressed by LG. Otherwise, I'm afriad we have a dud on our hands.
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post #3 of 53
1/19/07 at 4:02pm
now if you hook up the 5.1 analog outs will it do true hd on the hd dvd side as well as the lossless on the blu-ray side.

this may actaully apeal to the people who don't want to upgrade to hdmi yet.
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post #4 of 53
1/19/07 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
No, only 2-channel for True HD on analog outs or HDMI.
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post #5 of 53
1/19/07 at 6:40pm
Thanks for the review, DocDVD. It seems the LG "dual-format" player is really a 1.35-format player. 0.9 of a Blu-ray player, and 0.45 of an HD DVD player.
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post #6 of 53
1/19/07 at 6:45pm
I just can't understand why LG would release such a subpar player. They really had a chance to capitalize on both markets, but I'm afraid they've shot themselves in the foot. J6P won't buy it because its too expensive, so that leaves it up to people like us to buy it, but we won't because of the lack of features. Hopefully a Firmware upgrade is in the works.
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post #7 of 53
1/19/07 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
I am sure they will, and I am not going to do my pro review on the site until they do out of fairness to them. It needs to be fixed though ASAP as this is beyond an "overlooking" error.
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post #8 of 53
1/19/07 at 7:22pm
I hooked the LG BH100 to a Lumagen HDQ today and the Lumagen reported 1080/24p playback. This could be an EDID issue.
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post #9 of 53
1/19/07 at 7:46pm
cons.
its lg
it cost more then what you can get a ps3 and hd2
it doesnt have ihd
ITS LG!

but really though they need to drop the price. i see this player failing miserably on the sales side. considering the top cons.
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post #10 of 53
1/19/07 at 8:09pm
The A2 has cheap build quality??

I do not agree with this....
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post #11 of 53
1/19/07 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deez View Post

The A2 has cheap build quality??

I do not agree with this....

Same here, not sure what he is talking about.
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post #12 of 53
1/19/07 at 8:31pm
Thanks for posting a review.

I also owned this player earlier this week, but ended up taking it back. You can find my comments on performance scattered around the various threads.

Couple of observations of mine:

I didn't find the load times particularly impressive. It took a while to boot up, and loading and HD-DVD was not fast at all. The player has to decided if it's a BD, DVD or HD-DVD and that takes some time.

How do you know DTS-MA decoding is happening in this player? The manual does not mention it's support at all.
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post #13 of 53
1/19/07 at 9:31pm
Quote from the Blu-ray forum thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterShipp View Post

DocDVD, did you really use the player or did you just read the manual?

The unit does support 1080p/24 and it works. We have it feeding our Lumagen Vision HDQ (with the latest firmware) and it looks great.

The service port is an Ethernet port and it works, however that's not how firmware will be updated, at least not yet. I imagine some future firmware upgrade will add some network settings in the setup.

We don't have an HDMI capable processor can I couldn't test that, but I can say that sound quality was notably better even when using the tosslink output to our Linn Kinos with Active Akurates.

Since this is not an HD-DVD licensed player it doesn't support iHD (LG officially said support will not be in any firmware release) since the use of iHD would require licensure.

I suspect we will see a firmware upgrade soon but I imagine it will be disc based and I can't guess what it will fix.

Overall I think this player is a big step in the right direction. For most people buying a player this year HDMI 1.3 and HD audio is not going to be at the top of the list and for them this player will get them off the fence.

Did you test Blu-ray disks or just HD-DVDs? Since others claim to be getting 24p from this unit, I wonder if that feature currently functions only on Blu-ray disks?
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post #14 of 53
1/19/07 at 9:46pm
and it's onsale at Circuit City right now. Wow that was fast!
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post #15 of 53
1/20/07 at 8:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deez View Post

The A2 has cheap build quality??

I do not agree with this....


people complain about this all the time but I have yet to hear a valid reason of how the build quality affects them...mine was unboxed and put in my component rack and hasnt moved since

unless you are playing catch with it whats the problem?
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post #16 of 53
1/20/07 at 9:14am
Nice assessment Josh. I agree. With an audio update, this player looks pretty killer. I wonder if the HD DVD part ofthe player will have any of the skips, freezes, audio drop outs, etc that plague many of the Tosh standalones.
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post #17 of 53
1/20/07 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfdtv View Post

Quote from the Blu-ray forum thread:
Did you test Blu-ray disks or just HD-DVDs? Since others claim to be getting 24p from this unit, I wonder if that feature currently functions only on Blu-ray disks?

PeterShipp, over at the BD board reports it working.
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post #18 of 53
1/20/07 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebland View Post

Nice assessment Josh. I agree. With an audio update, this player looks pretty killer. I wonder if the HD DVD part ofthe player will have any of the skips, freezes, audio drop outs, etc that plague many of the Tosh standalones.

I don't post very often, but I like to read many of the post here and let me say I see you posting quite often. It amazes me the time you take to negate Toshiba's product. I've owned a A1 since Sept. and have NEVER had any of the problems you keep mentioning, and yet I don't take the time or feel the need to tell everyone about it every chance I get.
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post #19 of 53
1/20/07 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by turansformer View Post

I just can't understand why LG would release such a subpar player. They really had a chance to capitalize on both markets, but I'm afraid they've shot themselves in the foot. J6P won't buy it because its too expensive, so that leaves it up to people like us to buy it, but we won't because of the lack of features. Hopefully a Firmware upgrade is in the works.

I don't see how this sells either. And since you can already pick up *good* HD DVD players for less than 1/2 the cost of this one, I wonder if the Bd component to it will be seen as the reason the player doesn't ultimately represent a good value?
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post #20 of 53
1/20/07 at 2:43pm
I had some interest in this unit. Kind of, anyway. I guess for now the PS3 and A2 will have to suffice.
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post #21 of 53
1/20/07 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSKTexas View Post

I don\\'t post very often, but I like to read many of the post here and let me say I see you posting quite often. It amazes me the time you take to negate Toshiba\\'s product. I\\'ve owned a A1 since Sept. and have NEVER had any of the problems you keep mentioning, and yet I don\\'t take the time or feel the need to tell everyone about it every chance I get.

thebland=the owned!
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post #22 of 53
1/20/07 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebland View Post

Nice assessment Josh. I agree. With an audio update, this player looks pretty killer. I wonder if the HD DVD part ofthe player will have any of the skips, freezes, audio drop outs, etc that plague many of the Tosh standalones.

I totally agree with this..but lets throw in the PS3 too...mine has freezed up a few times allready.....
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post #23 of 53
1/20/07 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deez View Post

I totally agree with this..but lets throw in the PS3 too...mine has freezed up a few times allready.....

mines did to and the new owner says its locking up on him to... i might get a new ps3 again if they ever fix that problem.
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post #24 of 53
1/20/07 at 3:16pm
NO WAY guys!!
The BD players have ZERO ISSUES, Jeff will tell ya himself, they are flawless.......

I have some seaside property in Iowa if anyone is interested.....

BTW thanks for the review, there seems to be a bit of conflicting info though.
Either way, I appreciate the effort!!
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post #25 of 53
1/20/07 at 6:21pm
OP,
Thanks.
Looking forward to a review of PQ & SQ.
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post #26 of 53
1/20/07 at 7:13pm
Random addendum: the eBay Gouge Posse is on the case already...
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post #27 of 53
1/20/07 at 8:11pm
Thread Starter 
In fairness to the stand-alone Toshibas, I have a Pioneer BD, Panny BD, Sammy and Sony, and a HD-XA1 and HD-A2, and all of them have frozen every now and then on different titles, and it really isn't that big of a deal, and it has gotten better with the firmware updates that have been done.

This is all new technology, and small bugs are expected. I am not trashing the LG, and in fact, I give them props for doing something first, and some firmware fixes, it will be a nice player.
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post #28 of 53
1/21/07 at 6:50am
I know this is like asking for everbody to help stop world hunger or wishing for world peace, but it would be nice to stick to the LG (unless comparing features) and refrain from the personal comments directed at other members. If you really feel a need to make a personal comment to somebody, please do so via PM.

larry
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post #29 of 53
1/21/07 at 8:12am
I'm glad too see someone, anyone, making a combo player. i am not a fan of LG, but at least they let me buy whatever software i want to. i'm not forced to choose. cost is still an issue, but when you compare it to standalone BD players, it looks pretty good. I have not really used iHD yet, even on titles that have it. i would like to see truehd 5.1, but that seems do-able, as with the A1. So, if you have been waiting out the war, this might move people to buy. if this product had debuted with the other initial players, i think many who would pony up 900 to 1100 dollars for blu-ray would have jumped on this.
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post #30 of 53
1/21/07 at 8:38am
How is the upconversion on this player? Everything isn't in HD yet...
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