Panasonic DMP-BDT100 player test

Perfect color rendering, good 3D compatibility, price.

Incompatible with older receivers, minimum settings, limited network capabilities

PANASONIC budget version of the player did not bring us any surprises. As we expected, the picture quality both in 2D and 3D is close to ideal. On the best models of projectors and TVs, priced from one hundred thousand Dollars, a minor difference with the older three hundredth model can be noticed. But for the appropriate category of displays, you don’t need anything better, you can take the player with confidence. You should responsibly understand that this device is a Blu-ray player, and a highly specialized one at that. You can play multimedia files on it, but don’t expect to be 100% compatible with everything on the Internet. Nor is the DMP-BDT100 designed to replace a network player. High-quality Blu-ray and DVD player are the two things it can do better than most devices for the same price. Since 3D is a new technology, not all players are compatible with all discs at the moment. But this unit has probably the highest score in this aspect and works with all the titles we have. With phenomenally natural colors, it makes a great combination with PANASONIC 42-50 inch plasma displays. When buying this model the buyer receives an exclusive 3D-Blu-ray disc with the movie “Avatar.

Design Features

The new player model from PANASONIC is designed to fill the gap in the lineup and compete with low cost solutions from other major players on the market. The design is made in the best of modern traditions, the body is thin and minimalist. Under the cover on the front panel, there is a USB-port for USB flash drives with files. If you have a wired network, you can get by with the standard LAN connector. True, the full support for DLNA media networks does not exist, at least in the basic version of the firmware, the device is “friendly” with this protocol is not all devices. Can’t just surf the net and play all the shared video files. Equally limited is the compatibility with Viera Cast, especially in the American-speaking segment. The set of ports is not rich, but now, besides HDMI, you don’t need anything else. Version 1.4 requires a receiver with the same index, otherwise the 3D picture will not reach the TV. There is no second port where you can send separately the audio signal to the old receiver.

Service Features

The device boots up almost instantly in comparison to previous models. Worth mentioning is the 4:4:4 de-interlacing, previously rare in players in general, and in low cost ones even more. On the picture from Blu-ray discs it does not affect, but a number of programs recorded from the satellite will look much better. Naturally, the device is fully compatible with all audio formats found on Blu-ray. A set of playable codecs and multimedia containers includes all PANASONIC-compatible standards, including 3D video. Now fancy MKV is also supported, high definition DivX encoded movies are played back from discs, USB and SD card slot with no problems. The latter is convenient for the organization of a slideshow from the footage shot on the camera. Basically, any video file now can be easily reconverted into AVCHD or DivX HD.

Picture quality

If the image has any, even subtle, problems with stability in 2D, the three-dimensional mode reveals them more clearly than ever. Here the volumetric picture is as unshakable as a rock, which means that the viewer will never see a wobbly or jagged line, unless, of course, it was part of the director’s intention and the recording quality meets modern standards. Color reproduction is so gorgeous that only the latest generations of plasmas and the most expensive projectors can fully demonstrate it. For a device with such a price tag, it’s even excessively good. Perhaps if there is a stone to be thrown at PANASONIC, it is a relatively poor choice of adjustments to make the video signal and the display better match. But the vast majority of ordinary users are not even aware of their existence, and a perfectionist cinematographer can pay a little extra for the 300th model, designed just for the opponents of all kinds of compromises.

Advantages: perfect color reproduction, good 3D compatibility, price.

Disadvantages: not compatible with older receivers, minimum settings, limited network capabilities

14,990 Dollars.