LG BD590

LG has come up with a unique idea that distinguishes its high end blu-ray player from the rest of the field. The LG BD590 is the first Blu-ray player to feature an integrated 250GB hard drive. This interesting feature allows for easy storage and instant playback of music, photos, personal videos and movies from VUDU™. It is also a fully networked player offering built-in Wi-Fi for internet connectivity and DLNA compatibility.

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LG BD 590 Network Blu-ray Player

Design

The BD 590 looks sleek and high tech with its glossy front panel. It is slightly slimmer and more compact than its predecessor allowing it to easily blend in with your home entertainment system.

USB port behind flip down panel

The power and eject buttons are conveniently located on top. The front panel automatically flips down when the disc tray is ejected. Under the front panel are playback buttons, chapter forward/backward, and a USB port. Once powered on, the front LCD display is bright and clearly readable from across the room.

At the back you get the a HDMI output, component and composite video outs, digital audio outs, 2 channels of analog audio and an Ethernet port. Unlike last year’s BD390, the BD590 lacks 7.1 analog outputs, a trend we will see continuing on mass-market players. The BD590 is capable of internally decoding lossless codecs like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio and you have the option of sending it via HDMI as lossless bitstream or PCM.

Features

LG was the first to release a networked blu-ray player with Netflix streaming (BD300) and has upped the ante with its latest player by adding convenient access to a virtually endless array of online entertainment options. With its own NetCast Entertainment Access you get instant streaming from Netflix, CinemaNow, VUDU and YouTube plus an impressive lineup of services from Picasa, Pandora and weather forecasts from AccuWeather.

To take full advantage of the Blu-ray format, the BD590 also provides convenient access to BD Live, which offers a wide variety of content, such as movie scene extras, new previews and the ability to read synopses and rate movies. Also included are Bonus View features which provide picture-in-picture access to Blu-ray Disc special features, allowing you to toggle between your favorite movie scenes and bonus features on the disc.

With its built-in 250GB hard drive, the BD590 enables you to consolidate your digital media files in a single device. You can rip and archive your CD music collection onto the hard drive by making use of the player’s MusicID® feature powered by Gracenote®. Bit rates of 128kbps, 192kbps, 320Kbps, or Lossless are selectable on the ‘CD archiving’ menu.

New LG Remote

For the first time in any home Blu-ray product, the Gracenote’s MusicID-Stream™ allows you to hear a song playing in a movie or TV show by simply pressing a button on their remote control. Gracenote then returns rich information on the song, such as artist and genre, along with album cover art. Photos or personal videos that may have been scattered throughout the home on PCs or digital cameras can now be simply imported via the USB or Ethernet port to create a single organized library of personal memories.

You also have built-in high speed 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity. This makes it very convenient to stream high definition movies from VUDU, with the option to stream or store movies directly on the hard drive, like on the standalone VUDU box.

DLNA functionality expands entertainment options by enabling easier access to family videos and pictures stored on other DLNA-enabled systems, allowing you to view your pictures and videos on you big screen.

LG has also improved on the design of the remote. There is now an easy to find ‘ridge’ to aid in finding the most used buttons in the dark. Buttons are large and generally well laid out. However it lacks backlighting.

Setup & Performance

The setup menu is nearly identical to the menu of the BD390. The home menu has been revamped to some extent. The clearly labeled selections look like floating ice cubes on a white background. Setting up a wireless connection to the internet was relatively quick and easy. If you prefer to use the wired option just connect it to the LAN port on the back panel. Updating of firmware is quick and hassle free.

Disc load times are fast but just a tad slower than the current crop of speedy machines from Sony. The Dark Knight blu-ray disc loads in 16 secs compared to 14 secs on the Sony BDP-S570. Still reasonably quick by any measure. Even with the most Java-intensive discs, the main menu arrived in less than a minute.

The suite of streaming features are robust and works straight out of the box. The BD590 allows for DLNA, providing you access to link your computer and stream data files, which is a useful feature for a lot of computer savvy users.

Blu-ray playback is nothing short of top-notch. The player passed all of the deinterlacing tests on the Spears and Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray test disc with ease. On The Dark Knight blu-ray disc images were presented in pristine quality that sometimes revealed the less than perfect CGI. Blacks are one of the richest seen on a Blu-ray. The brighter scenes pops with wonderful depth yet remains natural and appealing. It looks almost three-dimensional. One nice feature is that the BD590 allows you to perform an incremental zoom of BD movies to fill your entire 16:9 screen with minimal picture quality degradation.

Warner provides a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround (48kHz/16-bit) track for The Dark Knight. The BD590 renders dialog clearly and soundtrack is first-rate. Audio from the surrounds is natural and engaging providing a subtle, sustained ambiance. Batman’s voice and his Batmobile’s rumble were rich and deep giving the subwoofer a good workout. On CD music playback dynamics were excellent, with crisp highs and natural bass.

The only downside to the BD590’s video performance is its upscaling ability, which is only average when going from 480i to 1080p. Images on DVD are warm with a reddish hue and overall color lacks vibrancy.

Bottom Line

While the lack of 3D capabilities may make the LG BD 590 seem lacking compared to other top end players from Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, we found that the BD590 is actually a more useful product for the foreseeable future since 3D playback requires additional cost outlays in the form of a new 3DTV and 3D glasses for the whole family. Moreover 3D blu-ray titles will not be readily available this year or even next year. Having the option to rip CDs, store downloaded movies and access them from a central location is a feature you can use right away.

The BD590 doesn’t make any huge technological leaps, but it offers an excellent package of NetCast services that will make you glued to your screen all night long.

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