Panasonic DMP-BD45

The Panasonic DMP-BD45 is one of four new blu-ray players unveiled by Panasonic recently. The DMP-BD45 is the entry level model and comes equipped with a basic feature list at an attractive price.

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Panasonic DMP-BD45 Blu-ray Player

Design

The DMP-BD45 has a slim form factor in a black non-glossy finish that is tasteful. The player feels well made and the display panel is large and informative, showing the elapsed time in large illuminated numbers. Below the disc tray is a thin flap that conceals an SD card slot and USB port. You can view your digital photos and high definition videos shot on AVCHD format stored on the SD cards. The SD slot supports SDHC cards from 4GB to 32GB and SDXC cards from 32GB to 2TB. The USB port offers a way of playing MP3 music directly and viewing your digital photos.

Panasonic DMP-BD45 back panel

On the back panel, connectivity options are stripped down to the basics. You get HDMI, composite, analogue stereo and optical digital audio outputs, and that’s about it. No multichannel analogue ports, no component out and no Ethernet terminal. It makes this a Profile 1.1 player, and as such doesn’t allow you to access BD Live content. It’s clearly been omitted to keep the price of the player low.

In keeping with Panasonic’s pledge to reduce the planet’s carbon footprint, the BD45 has been designed to reduce power consumption. With Power Save Mode selected, the player automatically turns off when you return to TV operation using the VIERA Link menu.

In addition, the development of the UniPhier® single chip LSI makes it possible to pack an entire video signal processing circuit onto a single chip. This helps lower power consumption, reduces the number of parts needed and allows for a more compact design. Continuing its corporate commitment to improve the environment, Panasonic has reduced the players’ depth by 18%, resulting in a 15% reduction in the carton’s volume.

Features

Despite being the an entry level model, the DMP-BD45 employs the PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus image processing. Developed in collaboration with Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, this high image processing technology processes 15 billion pixels per second and optimizes each one to ensure the best possible detail and color reproduction. This technology is also responsible for motion detection and diagonal line processing, thus eliminating those irritating jaggies.

In the audio department, the BD45 is designed for 5.1 channel surround sound playback. It also features a high definition audio decoder that decodes Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio to take advantage of the high resolution surround sound incorporated in blu-ray discs.

The DMP-BD45 comes with an SD Memory card slot making it easy for you to view and share both digital photos and HD video in the AVCHD format. It is capable of doing 1080p up-conversion for DVDs or any content recorded in the 480i/p or 720p format. It also provides 1080/24p output, reproducing cinema images from a blu-ray disc in their original 24p form with no need for conversion. This enables you to enjoy film-like images in the same format used in cinema if you have a 1080/24p-compatible TV or projector.

Compared to previous generation Panasonic players, the BD45 reduces power consumption from 19 watts to 14 watts and stand by power consumption from 0.6 watts to 0.1 watts.

Performance

On paper Panasonic claims to have improved start-up and disc-loading times. These issues have plagued older blu-ray players. With Quick Start mode selected, it boots up pretty quickly in 5 seconds, although not as fast as the 0.5 secs claimed. With Quick Start turned off the player boots up in a considerably longer 13 seconds. Disc loading times also still leaves much to be desired. The Dark Knight, a fully loaded blu-ray disc with BD-Live, took one minute 15 seconds to load while Spider-Man 3 took about 48 seconds.

In terms of video performance the DMP-BD45 delivers superb picture quality, particularly for an entry level player. It reproduces images with clarity and color depths seen on more expensive players. Black levels and shadow details on The Dark Knight may not be the best we’ve seen but rendered evenly such that the enjoyment of the movie was not impaired. Compared to players like the Samsung BD-P1600 and the Sony BDP-S360, the BD45’s picture quality has a touch of extra sharpness and vibrancy, which we can only attribute to the processing effects of the PHL Reference Chroma processing chip. DVDs when upscaled looked great with smooth edges, terrific detail rendering and convincing colors.

Sound-wise, the DMP-BD45 does a reasonably good job. On music CDs it sounds smooth with plenty of air at the top-end but lacks solidity and depth in the bass. On high impact movies like The Dark Knight, it manages the gunfire and explosive scenes well with enough punch that will satisfy even the most ardent movie fan.

Conclusion

Although the Panasonic DMP-BD45 is positioned as a basic entry level player, its video and audio performance is not something to be scoffed at. Although it did not break new grounds in performance, it sure did as an eco-friendly player. Furthermore, being priced at such an attractive level, it is bound to woo a lot of new converts to experience high definition for the first time.

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