1 2 Next page >
If like us you're sick and tired of the having your excitement at the arrival of high definition discs ruined by the interminable scrap between the rival Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, LG might be about to become your new best friend. For the Korean brand has boldly become the first brand to rise above the industry politics - and overcome some fairly significant technical barriers - to deliver a player that can handle BOTH of the warring HD disc formats. Wow. This has to be a dream come true, right? Er…
Things start sublimely well. For as well as the adrenaline rush inspired by the words 'Super Multi Blue Player' (LG-speak for dual HD DVD and Blu-ray compatibility) emblazoned across the BH100's disc tray, you can't help but lap up the deck's gorgeous design: a minimalist delight in its matt black fascia and metallic top panel. It's remarkably heavy too, suggesting uncompromising build quality inside and out.
Connections are okay, with all the staples of HD movie playback covered. Which is to say there's an HDMI, a component video output, digital audio outputs, and 5.1 audio line outs. But you don't get an Ethernet port for accessing any future online interactive features Blu-ray and HD DVD discs may carry, and the HDMI is a 1.2 version rather than 1.3, denying you such high-bandwidth 1.3 functions as the 'deep colour' extended colour palette, and digital delivery of the ultra high quality Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD 7.1-channel lossless audio formats.
The HDMI does have one nifty trick up its sleeve, though: it can ship out video from HD discs in a 'pure' 1080p/24Hz format. This matters because 1080p/24Hz is the format most films use when they're put on an HD disc, so if a deck can output 1080p/24Hz it doesn't have to add its own, potentially noise-inducing processing before handing the image over to a compatible TV.
Unexpectedly, though, you can only get 1080p out of this deck if it's found on the disc you're playing. The deck does carry upscaling processing to turn your old DVDs in to high definition, but this only offers 720p and 1080i options. Still, this is hardly a deal breaker; 1080i is perfectly acceptable for upscaling purposes. But sadly we now come to a couple of things that actually could put the mockers on any thoughts of buying this potentially ground-breaking piece of kit.
1 2 Next page >
