Yesterday Denon announced the release of a “lower priced” Blu-ray player. The new DVD-1800BD player will sell for $749, about $450 less than their DVD-3800BDCI model currently available on the market. The new player will only have Profile 1.1, disappointing many people who want to have the Ethernet port and BD-Live capabilities of Profile 2.0 players. At this point it is not clear why manufacturers keep releasing profile 1.1 players. Maybe the objective is to sell all their players twice?? Sell everyone a 1.1 player, then next year sell them a 2.0 player. We would expect Denon to start putting out player with BD-Live already but we should have guessed as they are known for great quality, not the most cutting edge technology. As far as price $749 is still way more than what most people are willing to spend on a Blu-ray player.

Denon’s DVD-1800BD is expected to hit stores on October 2008. The new “bargain” features HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color and Bonus View support, full bitstream output of Dolby and DTS-HD audio formats, as well as 1080p scaling from DVDs and 2-channel analog audio output.

Bellow is the full press release:

DENON EXPANDS ITS BLU-RAY LINEUP WITH NEW MODEL DVD-1800BD PLAYER

New More Affordable Player Brings Denon-Quality Blu-ray Performance Within Reach of More Consumers; Features HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color Support

Mahwah, NJ, May 20, 2008 — Denon Electronics, one of the world’s premier manufacturers of high-quality home entertainment components, today announced the introduction of the third member in its highly successful and critically acclaimed Blu-ray DVD family, the model DVD-1800BD Profile 1 version 1.1 Blu-ray Disc Player (SRP: $749). Offering consumers extraordinary video quality and audio excellence at a more affordable price point, the DVD-1800BD features HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color and Bonus View support, full bitstream output of Dolby and DTS-HD audio formats, as well as 1080p scaling from SD DVDs and 2-channel analog audio output. The Denon DVD-1800BD is scheduled for availability in October 2008 Like Denon’s two recently introduced Blu-ray products, the DVD-3800BDCI Blu-ray Disc Player ($1,999) and the DVD-2500BTCI (SRP: $1,199) Blu-ray Disc Transport, the DVD-1800BD allows owners of advanced A/V receivers to add Blu-ray capability to their system and enjoy high definition video. The VD-1800BD will natively output an HD audio bit-stream to a connected receiver via HDMI. Once this signal is accepted in the receiver, it can then be decoded into its native format including Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. For those listeners who want to use the DVD-1800BD as a step-up CD player, this unit features a dedicated 2-channel analog output, equipped with high-class Burr-Brown D/A convertors and superior analog components to ensure the high level of sound quality for which Denon is renowned.

In keeping with the guidelines mandated by the Blu-ray Association for BD-ROM Profile 1 version 1.1 players, the Denon Model DVD-1800BD incorporates a secondary audio and video decoder. This allows for simultaneous playback of a secondary audio and video track which may be used for interactive audio and commentary and for picture-in-picture capability (respectively). Additional information (subtitles, audio streams, camera angles, trailers, games, etc.) can be downloaded from the Internet via computer and stored on a SD card that the player will accept. This content can be played with the original content of Blu-ray Discs.

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