Tag archive: Blu-ray Players

We enjoy reviewing iPhone docks and headphones just fine, but what really gets our blood pumping is home theater and home audio gear. This year saw some major improvements in LED TVs and some new audio components which completely obliterated preconceived notions about price versus performance. Putting together this best-of 2011 list of A/V gear was a piece of cake because each component, in its own way, stood way out front of the competition as… Read More

Girth isn't a typical consideration by which to judge a Blu-ray player. Nonetheless, Samsung has announced that it will be unveiling the “thinnest Blu-ray player in the world” at next week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Not much is known about the device's core features aside from the fact that it is just under an inch thick (23mm) and will be able to convert conventional 2D images into… Read More

Hackers have cracked the antipiracy code commonly used in set-top boxes, and Blu-ray and DVD players, Intel told several news outlets yesterday. Rumors flew Tuesday that the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) technology was compromised. Intel confirmed the news yesterday. Intel spokesman Tom Waldrop said the code published online “appears” to be a master key. Users can derive keys from this published master key that will work on… Read More

Update: After posting this story, we were contacted by an executive from Fox.  It is important to note that the issue is not with the title.  Firmware updates are common with technology, and blu-ray players are no different. More Avatar customers are having issues because more Avatar discs have been sold than any other.  The second best selling blu-ray disc, The Dark Knight, also faced similar issues.  Since the Avatar release, firmware has been… Read More

Owning a 1080p HDTV without a Blu-ray player is a lot like owning a Camaro without ever getting past half throttle. You’ll never really know what it’s capable of until you put the pedal to the metal (or connect the HDMI cable, as the case may be). With Blu-ray players now as cheap as $100, you don’t have much of an excuse not to see what she can do. But not all Blu-ray players are created equal. Before you go out and grab the cheapest you can… Read More

Most of America is still waiting for Blu-ray to get a little bit cheaper, but we’ll see how long they hold out when new players like this come onto the scene. OPPO released its new full-featured BDP-80 Blu-ray Disc player supporting BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live and BonusView), DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD (SACD), HDCD, CD and other media formats like AVCHD, MKV video files, digital photos and music–and it's under $300.

LG Electronics (LGE) launched their brand new, innovative blu-ray players of 2010 at 'Consumer Electronics Show 2010′ (CES). LG Electronics strengthened their strategic alliance with content-developing enterprises and thus will target the blu-ray players market. Kang shin-ik, LGE's head of operations said, “The combination of our technology and partnerships with content-making corporations has paved the way to control… Read More

After Sony’s grand debut of its 3D TV lineup for 2010, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) today announced the studio will begin releasing 3D content on Blu-ray Disc worldwide this year. The company says its first planned Blu-ray 3D release will be the recent animated blockbuster “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.”

Let’s not beat around the bush— Blu-ray has been disliked since it first appeared on the tech industry’s radar. And this controversial technology had even the most open-minded tech experts scratching their heads trying to figure out why it was here and why it was so expensive. Well, today’s industry pros are singing a different tune. Rumor has it: Blu-ray is only here to stay because it had a little help from its friends HDTV and Netflix, just… Read More

So you're thinking about buying a Blu-ray player, but they all seem so pricey and you're not quite sure what you should be looking for. You can quit your worrying for two reasons: Black Friday sales will bring Blu-ray players with low price points and we've conveniently complied the ten top-rated Blu-ray players to give you some shopping ideas. Oppo BDP-83 This Oppo Blu-ray disc player has full HD 1080p output and supports… Read More

JVC has announced (quite briefly, actually) its latest Blu-ray player today—the new JVC XV-BP11. This Blu-ray player offers playback of high definition Blu-ray discs, plus playback of the AVCHD format—the high definition format widely used for HD camcorders—and it is retailing for $199.95. The ultra-thin XV-BP11 is also equipped with HDMI 1.3 video composite, a USB socket and is compatible with a number of audio formats.       JVC describes its… Read More

Folks who have to archive serious amounts of content pour a lot of money into hard drives—but in many cases it would be handy to be able to move some of that content to less-expensive media, like Blu-ray discs. One problem, of course, is that burning to Blu-ray is much slower than writing to hard drives…plus, in the case of video content, you can't pop hard drives into many consumer disc players. Looking to ease the pain, Pioneer has… Read More

What you see is no longer what you get. With the advent of Blu-ray Profile 2.0, also known as BD-Live, the content pressed onto a disc when it leaves the factory no longer represents the limit of the experience. A live Internet connection allows Profile 2.0 players to deliver extra content through the Web: everything from trivia games and extra clips to mini games. And to really take advantage of the Internet connectivity that these players… Read More

When considering the best Blu-ray Disc players available today, we looked at audio and video quality—high-end video processing with 12-bit or 14-bit Deep Color—aiming to reproduce the most realistic picture. But a few caveats to note when doing your own research as well: • Most players now have Bonus View (a picture-in-picture capability for some discs) and BD-Live support for unlimited online special features. • Quick start is a convenience… Read More