If you are shopping around for a stand alone Blu-ray Player, this review will assist you by giving information about the new Panasonic DMP-BD50. This is a player that generated a lot of high expectations for being one of the first to be fully complaint with profile 2.0. This is definitely among the best stand alone Blu-ray players around. If you don’t believe me, there are many other reviews online that can confirm it.

The Panasonic DMP-BD50 has a reduced start up time, being far more acceptable than previous players. I’ve not really got any discs that are particularly BD-Java heavy so this may be a false indication, but we’ll see I suppose.

The player seems to do the job, all images have excellent edge definition and crispness, creating a fantastic sense of realism. Even when upscaling standard-definition material s, the DMP-BD50 creates an inviting, detailed image that’s easily among the best in class. Soundtrack support is outstanding on the DMP-BD50. It has onboard decoding for all high-resolution soundtrack formats, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, so you don’t need a new receiver to take advantage of the improved audio quality. The DMP-BD50 can also output high-resolution soundtracks in bit stream format, so you can opt to let your AV receiver handle the decoding duties. There should be absolutely no difference as to whether the receiver or Blu-ray player decodes the soundtracks but some people just like to see their receiver light up and say Dolby TrueHD.

An Ethernet port lets you connect the player to the Internet, not only for BD-Live online features, but for firmware updates as well. When the DMP-BD50 powered up for the first time, it informs you that a firmware update is available and gives you the option to update. The entire process takes about five minutes and couldn’t have been easier. Thankfully, the days of downloading and burning your own firmware disc will become a thing of the past with Profile 2.0.

The DMP-BD50 employs Panasonic’s Viera Link, which is based on the industry-standard HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control). This conveys control codes to any compatible equipment connected by HDMI, allowing one remote to control everything.

Unfortunately, the DMP-BD50 only sends decoded DD+, DD True HD and DTS M Audio via PCM through the HDMI only (not the 5.1 phonos) so you still need an amp with HDMI connections but not a decoder to get the best sound. The 5.1 outputs (say Panasonic) only output normal DD and DTS, Panasonic tell me that they didn’t want to go backwards with this unit! One more little possible negative, the remote code is the same for a panasonic DVD recorder. So for those with both units when you press ON/OFF button both units come on or  off with trays opening at the same time, which can be annoying.

It’s been worth the wait and I can’t recommend it highly enough. So why are you still sitting there reading this?

For more details and specs read our previous post here!

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