Panasonic DMP-BD60

The Panasonic DMP-60 remains one of the most popular blu-ray player in the market garnering numerous positive reviews by users with its excellent picture and audio qualities. It is a Profile 2.0 HD blu-ray player based on PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus high-image processing technology that reproduces clear, vivid, and realistic colors. Panasonic has jumped into the streaming video craze and added Viera Cast to the BD60.

Latest Update: There is a newer model of this item: Panasonic DMP-BD65

Panasonic DMP-BD60 | Player Details

Design

The overall design is slim and sleek  that will easily fit into even the tightest rack. The disc tray is in the center and there is a small flip-down panel on the bottom right with buttons for Play, Stop and Pause. The cool sleek lines work well, giving the BD-60 a nice high tech look.  To the right of these buttons there is a USB 2.0 port and a SD card slot.

Technologies

To get the most out of the DMP-BD60’s advanced audio capabilities, you will need a HDMI-equipped A/V receiver since the analog outputs are limited to 2-channels. It comes with onboard decoding of the latest Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio audio codecs. The HDMI output is version is 1.3a which has the ability to transmit these lossless audio formats as native bitstream.

It also fully supports Profile 2.0 or BD-Live which grants playback of Internet-enabled features found in some of the more recent Blu-ray discs. Although it does not have built-in Wi-Fi support like some of the other players, the Ethernet port still provides quick Internet access thanks to the Viera Cast technology. It’s LAN connection lets you link the player with your home network and download Blu-ray features and firmware updates. However be aware that you will need an SD card with at least a 1 GB storage for these updates and BD-Live features to work.

With onboard Viera Cast technology included in the BD60, it is now possible to stream multimedia content from the Internet directly. Viera Cast is an online content portal that allows special access to well-known online services including YouTube and Picasa for video and photo sharing respectively. Amazon’s Video on Demand service has recently been included. This service lets you stream movies and TV shows in HD.

The Panasonic DMP-BD60 provides video output resolutions up to 1080p/60 via HDMI. It also supports DVD upconversion to 1080p and is among the few players that offer an upconverted 1080p/24 output from DVDs.

Actual user review:
“I am relatively new to this whole HD/flat screen thing, but in just the last 2 months I have become a convert. I bought the Panasonic DMP-BD60 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player so I could get full enjoyment out of the Neil Young archives. While I waited forever for that oft postponed collection, I picked up a couple movies (2001 Space Odyssey & couple others). Awesome. I can never go back. SD Digital hurts my eyes now. Even standard DVD looks ordinary. It plays mp3 CDRs, Audio CDs, and bunch of other formats. It supports BD-Live which is an apparently new / developing technology that I do not fully understand yet. The player firmware can be updated directly via internet. I just discovered that I can play mp3s stored on a thumb drive plugged into the USB port on the front of the player. Very cool. No more burning mp3 CDs every time we entertain (unfortunately no random play feature). All things considered – this player is best quality/most features/fairest price option I found.” – R.W.Powell (CA,USA)

Performance

Panasonic uses its own UniPhier proprietary decoding solution that has onboard video processing for both blu-ray and DVD. It is one of the best performers for overall video processing. In terms of video performance, this player has hit all the right notes. It produces outstanding color fidelity and resolution with deep rich blacks. Its rendering of fast moving movie sequences without jaggies is nothing short of spectacular for its price range. It is thus no wonder why it is consistently rated as one of the top blu-ray players by users. You would be hard pressed to find material of any kind, SD or hi-def, that doesn’t look great on this player.

The onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD ensures that sound quality is not compromised for a better picture quality. It supports the common digital video standards including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, and AVCHD as well as audio standards MP3 and PCM.

DVD playback is solid and the 1080p/24 playback smooth and detailed with film based DVD sources. It is nice to see that Panasonic has paid as much attention to SD playback as it does HD.

Extra Features

You can launch the Viera Cast feature from the player’s remote and it brings up a widget style desktop that you can customize to your tastes. You can get updates on weather and news, access videos from YouTube and share photos on Picasa.

The Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray also includes some welcoming environmental friendly features. The intelligent Auto Standby feature combined with the Standby Power Save keeps the electricity consumption low and lowers it further when left on unintentionally.

Bottom Line

The Panasonic DMP-BD60 doesn’t aim to score in looks or features. Its real quality lies in its core features with good compatibility across file formats and superior image quality. The reasonable price also makes this one of the best Blu-ray players out there. For less than $300 Panasonic has delivered a player that is hard to beat!

Average User Rating:

• “I purchased this player to replace a Samsung BD-P2500 that was giving me major compatibility problems with Blu-ray discs, and so far haven’t been disappointed. Picture quality on Blu-ray is stunning and I’ve had no compatibility issues thus far; upscaling on standard DVDs is great. VieraCast is a novel feature that could someday find greatness if Panasonic expanded support to include Amazon, Netflix and Hulu. (I understand Amazon support is on the way.)” – B.Campbell (VA,USA)
• “This is a solid player at a great price. I play a mix of CDs, DVDs, purchased and rented (Netflix) Blu-ray movies on this player and thus far have had zero issues. I’m using it in conjunction with a Pioneer VSX-01TXH receiver, Panasonic 50″ Plasma and Harmony One remote. I do not use the network features of this player. I bought it for watching movies and at that it does an excellent job. The SD upconversion is outstanding and has brought new life to my existing DVDs. Load times aren’t the fastest but not terrible either. If you are looking for a solid player to play movies with great sound and picture reproduction and don’t care about network extras and streaming features, the BD60 is a great choice.” – Greg (CA,USA)

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