Denon DBP-1610

The Blu-ray market is slowly populating itself with plenty of Blu-ray players to offer by all the same companies that specialize in DVD players, home theater systems and high definition televisions. Most of these manufacturers are reaching out to the consumers that are not yet aware of the Blu-ray technology by making entry level players that complement nicely with their HDTVs. With the success of these affordable Blu-ray players, people are now willing to explore the better things that can be offered by Blu-ray players. Denon, which is a company well known for their universal media players provides a few Blu-ray players with the Denon DBP-1610 Blu-ray Player being the most affordable. Although it isn’t the most affordable player when pitted against other Blu-ray players by competitors, the DBP-1610 offers some nice enhancements that make it worth the $500 price.

Denon DBP-1610 | Player Details

Design

Like every other Denon model, the Denon DBP1610 has the solid brush metal black finish showing its durability and powerhouse looks. On the center lies the Blu-ray disc tray with a small info display just underneath it. The right side includes 8 buttons for playback purposes and an HDMI resolution button. The SD card slot can also be found on this side of the player. The left side of the player has nothing but the power/standby button. Underneath the player are several logos that show exactly what technologies are supported.

The back side of the player has all the usual parts including the component video out and video out along with the digital out and HDMI out. No multichannel outs are included though, but an Ethernet port is provided on the back instead highlighting its ability to connect online.

Features

The Denon DBP-1610 gets the positive marks for pouring all of its power on the audio and video quality rather than boasting lots of features like the more expensive models. Some technologies that are taken from older models including the HDMI source which bypasses the video processor and outputs the disc’s native resolution instead. It also utilizes 12-bit video processing to make the images sharper and more natural.

Audio quality is equally good with full compatibility with the DTS-HD digital and Dolby TrueHD formats. They can also be passed on using the HDMI cable directly to an AV receiver. It uses the high resolution Burr-Brown audio DACs to deliver pure sound quality.

Although the DBP-1610 lacks browsing capabilities, it can still connect to the Internet when a BD-Live supported Blu-ray disc is inserted. Any Blu-ray titles that have the Blu-ray Profile 2.0 can have their special content and online features accessed by the player and saved to an SD card that is to be played in the front slot prior to connecting. This allows firmware updates to be possible and some web interaction for certain titles.

The Denon DBP-1610 is aimed towards consumers that want to try Blu-ray players and be impressed with their first experience. A bigger impression can be made because of its wide handling of older formats including all flavors of standard DVDs, CDs, CD-RWs, and specially organized disks that hold mp3 files, DivXHD, WMA, and other file types. Pictures coming from Kodak, Fuji, and some other cameras can be burned onto discs too.

On the durability side, Denon applies the Separated Unit Structure which manages to get rid of the unwanted mutual interfaces by separating the electronic blocks into sections to keep the audio and video signals away from power supply currents.

Performance

For a mid-range model, the Denon DBP-1610 performs very well color accuracy and picture quality right out of the box. The interface of the player could use a little bit of work, the DBP-1610 still edges over the Playstation 3 in terms of picture quality. Standard DVDs can be upconverted to full 1080p playback and improved at the same time by eliminating any detected compression artifacts.

Bottom Line

This is a model that is recommended for people that solely want a Blu-ray player without the huge bells and whistles. While it is not considered a budget model, the Denon DBP-1610 does it right with the Profile 2.0 support, superb quality through HDMI and rugged design that can blend in with just about any home TV or theater system.

Actual user review:
“At the current price the Denon 1610 is a nice player with good Blu ray playback (same as their 2010) and pretty good SD dvd up conversion. I tested about 200 titles and it played them all! And I had no freezes to. For the money it is a good Blu ray player with a high end image” – J.Rodriguez (AZ,USA)

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