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Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

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Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Old 12-27-08, 11:39 AM
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Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

As requested, a review of the Panasonic 55K Bluray player.

Short review for the easily bored:
Bluray rocks, you should upgrade. If you need analog audio output to match your other equipment, get this machine.

If you like details and impressions, read on…

Related equipment:
Panasonic AE900 projector
Onkyo 898 receiver + Monoprice 4x1 HDMI switcher
Klipsch Ref3 speakers, SVS sub (7.1 configuration)
Panny DMP-BD55K
Denon DVD-2900

I chose the 55 because I didn’t want to miss any Bluray features. This last summer saw manufacturers finally start getting complete machines on the market. The 55 is among 2-3 that were the first fully complete BD players available. This means they offer Profile 2.0 and BD-Live, decoded 7.1 analog output for ALL codecs, and HDMI output for the same OR bitstreamed. Another reason I chose the Panasonic over the Sony 550 or Samsung 2500 is Panny’s history of good compatibility with BDs. I was going to wait for a player that could also play DVD-A and SACD, but gave up. Yes, I know there is one coming soon, but I decided there was no reason to worry about it since my 2900 is still working just fine.

You gotta love the variation of video sources. I now have 3 HD sources hooked up via HDMI to my display. You might think they would be similar, being ATSC and all. But, they all require different color, gamma, brightness, etc. settings. And they aren’t close. If I use the settings that are good for my DirecTV HDDVR with the 55, everything is pretty darn blue. My AE900 has 3 memory slots for these settings, so I guess I can’t get any more HDMI sources! It’s probably time to hire an ISF pro to get the best settings for each source I have, which is 6 of them. But I digress….

Bluray:
Well, there’s little to say about Bluray video (audio is covered below) that isn’t known to everyone already. It looks great. There hasn’t been a player yet that has failed to surpass the quality of HD on TV when playing BDs, to say nothing of SDTV. The 55 is no exception, it has the best video I’ve seen, surpassing CBS network via my antenna, which is the 2nd best I have at my house. (our local CBS has no sub-channel, it is clearly the best TV here) What can I say? It makes me want to upgrade my projector to a 1080 model to see even more.

BD-Live is a bit difficult. You have to set yourself up with the studio websites, which can take time, email confirms, blah. But as to the 55, a couple times it has just stopped when switching to/from Live and the regular disc. It didn’t need to be reset or powered off, but it would sometimes go back to the disc menu instead of getting to Live content. Maybe this is just a network or website handshake issue, but if so, it would be nice to have a message saying something about a connection issue. I doubt Live will be a focus of my BD viewing in the future.

Settings/machine:
I like the minimalist front panel with only 2 barely visible buttons. And they are Power and Eject, the only 2 I ever use on any disc machine, so it has a pretty much perfect design for me. A couple transport buttons are hidden behind a door, along with the SD card slot. BTW, an SD card is mandatory for BD-Live (and some other features) and not included, so just figure an extra $5-10 for a 1GB or larger card if you look to buy the 55. One thing that is slightly off from a design standpoint is the location of the IR sensor, it is directly above that door, so if you hide this in a cabinet or rack with IR distribution, the door will likely be in the way of the emitter wire. It does not offer serial remote control.

The menus have a few things located somewhere that makes little sense to me. For instance, the Setup menu has these categories: Disc, Video, Audio, Display, TV/Device Connection, Network, Others. Now, the digital audio setup is under Audio, the analog audio setup is under TV/Device Connection. Huh? And the BD pattern of multiple menus can be difficult to remember. The menus in the 55 are Setup, Popup (this is the disc menu, so functionality will depend on the disc), Sub, Functions, and even Display is really a menu. Don’t forget which in-movie features fall under Display and which are in Sub. Or you could be looking awhile. And that’s assuming the disc doesn’t turn something off so you can’t get to it in-movie, anyway. Or maybe the disc will let you use Popup in-movie and you can change settings on the fly there. **Sigh** Sometimes we’ve just gone too far in “neato” technology. KISS is not a concept BD offers, and that’s partly on the discs, partly on the player.

I typically like the higher-quality build machines that feel like tanks, which the 55 is not. But I do have to say that the super-low-profile 55 was easier to fit into my cluttered rack.

This is my first BDp, so I don’t have a speed comparison between any. It is certainly slower than the 2900 when playing a DVD, although that may be unfair, since the 2900 is pretty much the fastest ever. It takes time to switch between Disc, SD card, or BD-Live modes, and of course, time to load a disc. But again it's not all on the player, much of the issue could be assuaged by BD studios making discs more user-friendly. Some just show a black screen while logging into Live so you wonder if it is still working after 20 seconds. Display SOMEthing and people will not notice the delay as much, or assume the machine has crashed. The one place I would like it to be faster is opening the tray. I usually turn the machine on by pressing the Open/Eject button. It ought to be able to open a little faster than 22 seconds with no disc inside. (not that a disc’s presence should matter in this case)

Remote:
The remote uses the same codes as probably any Panasonic DVD player, but it does offer 3 codesets so you can have more than one in the same room. I have a Panny DVD-R so I changed the 55 to set 2. This code is part of the IR signal, and as it typical these days, can be taught to a learning remote. I won’t need to use the Panny remote since I have a nice universal, but it is fairly well laid out with decent feel. No backlight, so feel and button differentiation is necessary. There should be more differentiation on the >, |>| buttons, otherwise good. It offers some TV or receiver control either with Panasonic’s Viera Link or just normal codes like many remotes do these days. So that might be useful for some.

Network:
This machine became the 3rd in my HT area to want an internet connection. So I finally bought a switch and just wired them all up. I’m tired of fighting wireless networking, and wired networking, and pretty much EVERYthing networking. The switch was already set up and running when I first fired up the 55. By the time I got video onto my screen after getting everything powered up, it was already asking if I wanted to download the latest firmware. So, networking seems pretty solid in the 55. Haven’t even touched a setting, everything just syncs up when necessary, like accessing BD-Live content. I would definitely recommend simply hooking the 55 (or any similar player) to your network. Don’t bother with firmware upgrades via CD.
Old 12-27-08, 11:40 AM
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Video:
I checked out a couple DVDs to compare the 55’s upconversion to my Denon 2900 player and Panasonic AE900. It was impressive.

I like to use To Catch A Thief, with the striped shirts and rooftops from hell. (despite its color being atrocious and being an overall poor transfer) It is moiré-madness with an interlaced signal, and takes a good de-interlacer to display it cleanly. Even the naked eye can see issues with a pattern like that in real life. The 2900 is the first player I ever saw that virtually eliminated the moiré, and the 55 matched it just about exactly. Some of the other artifacts present in this film also looked pretty much the same from both sources. That’s very good as the 2900 is one of the best DVD players ever made.

I watched some of the first Firefly disc to look at details. In the first “present day” scene, there is a closeup of Mal spreading some goo around a lock. I kept switching back and forth between players to focus on certain details: the goo, screw heads (apparently Phillips is still in use in the future ), scratches on the metal surface, etc. The 55 is sometimes a bit more detailed when the scene is still, but a bit less detailed during motion. In the same scene, the textured helmets have more detail from the 2900, probably due to less sharpening. (sharpening does NOT enhance detail) I tend to prefer the 2900 picture, but it’s so close it wouldn’t really matter for watching movies. This is a comparison of “nearly perfect” vs “nearly perfect”. For those of you who worship digital, keep in mind the 2900 is component only. The 2 Panasonic upconverters are pretty similar, but I think I would put the 55’s just ahead of the AE900’s based on the extra detail coming through on occasion. I do not have a test disc for progressive artifacts on DVD. Perhaps I should look into that. But this means I did not put the 55 or 2900 through torture tests of poor coding and screwed up software flags, like the extensive de-interlacer tests at the Secrets website. No doubt I could find several things on either machine that are not handled perfectly. I looked at overall picture quality, instead.

1080p24 is a big issue/desire these days. My display is supposed to be capable of accepting this (despite being 720p native), but I haven’t gotten it to work. They handshake and fail to hook up with 24p. I have a feeling this is more the AE900 at fault due to its age, difficult to say. I hear there is another setting to toggle for 24p in the Display menu. I thought that was just for playing DVDs, but I’ll have to check for BD. 1080i output does not look as nice as 720p direct to my display, which I expected. From the progressive BDs, there’s no reason for extra conversions.

Audio:
I do not have an HDMI receiver, this review is of the 7.1 analog output. Most receivers either have no adjustments for their 5.1/7.1 analog input, or they have to re-digitize, which most don’t want. So you want to use the setup in the player. The 55’s audio setup is a little tricky. It outputs 2 different test tone volume levels depending on the Large/Small speaker settings (or maybe something else), I'm not sure why, it says nothing in the manual about this. But it does offer Large settings on all channels, which would be useful for some, and not all products do this. However, changing the level settings does not change the actual test tone volume, which is different to my experience with other machines. Also, the delay settings need to be calculated, which seems a bit…1980s-ish. (you have pen and paper, right?) And it does not have a sub test tone. The manual actually says to “play something” and then set your sub by ear, which is laughable. I had to use a test disc afterwards to check the sub, although I would have used it, anyway. So, it is calibrated to proper levels now. At least it was possible to do so, if difficult.

My only other reference to HD audio is some listening elsewhere years back and DVD-A/SACD music on the 2900. With an orchestral HD disc, I can easily hear the limits of my Klipsch speakers in the high frequencies. That’s quality limits I’m referring to, not power. With movies, it is more difficult to find material that is high class, even with the latest codecs. So much of the special effects are mostly just processed noise, lossless audio hardly matters. That makes it difficult to give a real comparison. And I happen to have focused on action flicks in the first 2 weeks of owning BD, which are all explosions and whatnot. I need to compare to something a little more real. I’ll try to focus on this and add impressions if possible.

However, that said, I have found a few things so far. I do find the voices from lossless tracks to be a little more present than the lossy tracks on the same disc. It’s not quite the same as, say, Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me 5.1 SACD. That disc whispers seductively in your ear and it’s like you can feel her breath and, and….where was I? Um, ok, so one of the great things about Dolby/DTS has always been the dynamic range to allow soft conversations in movies to come through very clearly. TrueHD and Master Audio seem, if anything, to use this range even more than legacy tracks, or even the core on the same BD. Quiet comments amid explosions and the sea cracking the boat of Master And Commander are clear and distinct. The 55 seems an excellent audio player for BD.

Frankly, the only other audio comparison would be CD. Maybe if someone requests, I could test that. Not sure it’s on people’s minds, though.

Conclusion:
I am impressed. This is an excellent player, beating most DVD players at their own game, and DVD is only an afterthought since this is a BDp. It is, not surprisingly, excellent with BD, too. The menus may be convoluted in places, but the 55 does allow for everything I’ve needed to get the best audio and video out of discs. That is what is most important to me, and why I waited for a player that could actually do everything.

I would certainly recommend this to anyone needing 7.1 analog output. By all accounts, Panny’s BD35 is the same machine minus the 7.1 analog. So that might be a better choice if you have a receiver capable of audio via HDMI.
Old 12-27-08, 11:58 AM
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Another thought

It may be apparent that I had little to say about the Bluray audio and video. This is because, after a decade, it seems they have finally gotten it "right". Or at least much closer to right.

DVD began as a beta, if you take my meaning. There weren't any progressive players, even though the discs were programmed with flags for such players. Audio was ok, DTS wasn't ready, and other issues were evident. And 6.1 audio came later, too. Video was kinda crappy, actually. (and why many LD owners waited to upgrade) How many discs do/did you own that are non-anamorphic? And then, the 6.1 flags and the progressive flags have been hit/miss on many discs, causing visible or audible artifacts with all but the very latest or best players. The Secrets shootout database shows just how annoying the DVD saga has been.

With BD, most of this inherent industry incompetence is gone. Yes, it certainly has better color, resolution and audio than DVD and earlier tech, as does all ATSC. But the great thing about these improvements is that all of these are now available and functioning, a mere 2 years after launch.

So that left little to discuss about the quality of the audio and video. It is definitely an upgrade from DVD, in more ways than specs can show. I'd say the focus should really be on disc reviews, to see how they do individually. And we have plenty of those around here.
Old 12-27-08, 12:37 PM
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Spiky, thanks for the review. I'm on the fence about picking this up as my first BR player actually. I have an opportunity to get it for a good price, but I feel like if I wait a short 3-6 months the price will drop a good amount, and/or a replacement player will come out from Panasonic that is cheaper and runs/loads faster.

Plus I don't have a display that is large enough to take advantage of the display just now.
Old 12-27-08, 12:55 PM
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Thanks...good review!!

I'm sure this is a silly, basic question, but how does the lossless work if you have less then a 7.1 set up? Meaning if you only have a 5.1 or 6.1 does it still process the newest formats?

I'm still debating options. I'd like a basic player for the living room. The 55 is probably overkill. Course I could put the PS3 in the living room (where the Wii is anyway) and put the 55 in the media room. Hummmm
Old 12-27-08, 01:42 PM
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Yes, to 5.1. BD specs has that covered, and my understanding is the 55 works properly for this. There is a setting to use 5.1 instead of all 7.1 channels in the analog setup area. It downconverts properly so no data is lost.

No, to 6.1. BD specs has ignored that. Apparently the Bluray Forum has never heard of EX or ES. But you can probably use a Y cord to combine the 2 channels into one.

Last edited by Spiky; 12-27-08 at 01:49 PM.
Old 12-27-08, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Superman07
I feel like if I wait a short 3-6 months the price will drop a good amount, and/or a replacement player will come out from Panasonic that is cheaper
Well, that will certainly happen. And not just by Panasonic. Gotta jump in when you are ready.
Old 12-27-08, 02:05 PM
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Good review, Spiky!

I myself got your model's little brother, the Panasonic DMP-BD35K, as a part of Amazon's recent $100 off player + 4 movies promotion (now expired). And I have a set capable of 24fps playback (the 120Hz Samsung LN46A650), so I set the Panny Blu-ray player to use 24fps when possible and it works like a charm. As my first test, I played the James Bond "Thunderball" Blu-ray disc and the HDTV display showed that the input from the player was 24Hz. So that mode does work very well in the Panasonics if the set can accept it.

As for the slowness of the player, it's just standard issue for all Blu-ray (or HD-DVD players for that matter) and is something to get used to. (The better picture quality, even on standard DVDs, makes the slow startup worth it though.)


BTW, which Blu-ray player is coming that can also play SACD and DVD-Audio? (I don't know why these aren't standard features already given the need to get more people to adopt the Blu-ray format.)
.

Last edited by dhmac; 12-27-08 at 02:07 PM.
Old 12-27-08, 02:14 PM
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Oppo. And presumably they aren't standard features because so few people bought into those formats.
Old 12-27-08, 02:33 PM
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Awesome review Spiky, thanks. I appreciate the comparison to the Denon 2900 as that is my primary player along with my Oppo 971.

I'll be watching the prices here and may pull the trigger if I like the price before the new Oppo BD-83 comes out. In which case I will pick the better one for my theater and move the other one upstairs to my plasma.
Old 01-05-09, 02:16 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

I know this is a dumb question,... Any idea when this might come down in price? $400.00 seems awfully high for this... I debating between this and the Sony.
Sony BDP-S350 or even the Sony BDP-S550..

What about the BD35K?

Last edited by ANDREMIKE; 01-05-09 at 02:35 PM.
Old 01-05-09, 02:58 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

I like Panasonic products and was leaning towards these. I ended up finding a SONY 350 on eBay for much less than the closest Panasonic. The other thing was my universal remote was all programmed for a SONY so that will save me reprogramming when it shows up.
Old 01-05-09, 03:11 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Originally Posted by ANDREMIKE
I know this is a dumb question,... Any idea when this might come down in price? $400.00 seems awfully high for this... I debating between this and the Sony.
Sony BDP-S350 or even the Sony BDP-S550..

What about the BD35K?
Typically the biggest question is "do you need 5.1 or 7.1 analog outputs". Spiky would know better, but far as I can tell the 35 is essentially the same as the 55 without the analog outputs.

What do the analog outputs do for you? With analog outputs the BD player handles the newest audio formats on board. So assuming you have an older receiver with analog inputs you can still get the newest audio formats.

If you don't care about the newest audio formats (perhaps you only have a basic surround set up anyway), your receiver is can handle the newest formats (typically a mid range newer receiver), or you plan on upgrading your receiver, then you will save money by getting a BD player without the analog outputs.

This is from the Cnet review of this player:

The bottom line:
The Panasonic DMP-BD55 is the best standalone Blu-ray we've tested and it's a good choice for those with older receivers, but most people will get the same performance out of the cheaper DMP-BD35.

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-player...-33248633.html
Old 01-05-09, 03:23 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

I am planning on buying a yamha RX-V463. So I shouldn't need the analog outputs.

I'll wait till the DMP-BD35 comes down in price on Amazon. There are people complaining on their site that its $$50.00 higher then retail..

I'v always been a Sony fan for DVD players.. But I'll try the Panny
Old 01-05-09, 04:11 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Originally Posted by ANDREMIKE
I am planning on buying a yamha RX-V463. So I shouldn't need the analog outputs.

I'll wait till the DMP-BD35 comes down in price on Amazon. There are people complaining on their site that its $$50.00 higher then retail..

I'v always been a Sony fan for DVD players.. But I'll try the Panny
Word on the street - or over in the HD area anyway - is that the BD35K has finished its run and isn't being stocked anymore. Keep your eyes out this week to see if Pansonic announces any new players at CES.
Old 01-05-09, 04:22 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

So a new model and lower prices are very possible...
Old 01-05-09, 07:02 PM
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Thanks for the review, Spikey. I've been eyeing this player due to it being the best player for those needing analog outs. I almost pulled the trigger during the Amazon sale. It kept going up and down and now it's way up.
Old 01-05-09, 11:16 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

The 35 is now available at Costco for $230. There aren't many deals on anything right now. Too close to Christmas, on the wrong side.

The 55 will probably come down again, but stock has to come back up first. A lot of places are just plain out of BD players.
Old 01-06-09, 10:38 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Originally Posted by ANDREMIKE
I know this is a dumb question,... Any idea when this might come down in price? $400.00 seems awfully high for this... I debating between this and the Sony.
Sony BDP-S350 or even the Sony BDP-S550..

What about the BD35K?
Keep an eye out. I bought the BD55 for $324 minus a 15% coupon code that I found online at 6ave.com on Christmas day. It took forever to get here (just got it yesterday). Unfortunately, I see that it's sold out now though...

Last edited by edclem; 01-06-09 at 10:41 PM.
Old 01-07-09, 06:52 AM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Originally Posted by ANDREMIKE
I know this is a dumb question,... Any idea when this might come down in price? $400.00 seems awfully high for this... I debating between this and the Sony.
Sony BDP-S350 or even the Sony BDP-S550..

What about the BD35K?
No not a dumb question at all.

I have been around consumer electronics long enough to at least understand one thing. Prices drop to a point where a new model gets introduced. This cycle is constant.

You need to decide if a particular product fits your needs at a price you are willing to pay. If you are constantly waiting for the lowest price, you will never buy anything.
Old 01-07-09, 09:09 AM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Originally Posted by Brian Shannon
No not a dumb question at all.

I have been around consumer electronics long enough to at least understand one thing. Prices drop to a point where a new model gets introduced. This cycle is constant.

You need to decide if a particular product fits your needs at a price you are willing to pay. If you are constantly waiting for the lowest price, you will never buy anything.
Even though the s350 was a little more than Black Friday, since I was subsidizing it with the sale of my s300 I figured now was a good time. In a few weeks a new cheaper model will be out but then my profile 1.0 player will probably drop in value that much or more. Either way the s350 suits my needs and for about $75 is head and shoulders better than the s300.
Old 01-07-09, 10:42 AM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

I read this review aboutt he SOny... Any comments? I'm really concerned with the upconversion capabilities...



Sony BDP-S350: (Profile 1.1, but soon to be updated via firmware to 2.0)
The Sony player was a pleasant surprise. The start up time was very respectable, and was comparable to the Panasonic DMP-BD30K. After setting up the player I proceeded to run the same tests that I ran on the Panasonic. I had read online that people were impressed with the BDP-S350's upconvertion abilities, but having owned multiple Oppo DVD players (in my opinion, some of the best out there) I was skeptical. I put in a SD DVD and could immediately see the improvement over the Panasonic. Although the image is a little softer compared to my obsolete Toshiba HD-A20 HD-DVD player, and my other Oppo DVD players, it was still excellent. It made the Panasonic's upscaling abilities seem unrefined and outdated. Next, I then jumped into the players setup menu and changed the players output resolution. What really amazed me was that when I exited the menu the player began playing my disc where I had left off. Finally, I tried powering the BDP-S350 down while in the middle of a DVD. When I powered the player back on it remembered where I had left off and began to play the disc. The Sony BDP-S350 seems the winner in my opinion due to its superior upconversion and disc playback memory.
Old 01-07-09, 02:58 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

he is comparing it to an older verison - Panasonic DMP-BD30K, which is known for not having very good upconversion.

The newer 35K is supposed to have very good upconversion.
Old 01-08-09, 09:28 PM
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Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55K review

Home Theater magazine recently did a review on both Panasonic machines (the 35 and the 55). IIRC, both fared very well in their upconversion/scaling tests. Ultimately, I went with the 55 because I have an older receiver that doesn't have HDMI inputs (and don't want to upgrade that component right now to benefit from the latest audio formats)

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