Group Test: High definition disc players

Sorry folks, but if you're reading this in the hopes of finding out which HD disc camp, HD DVD or Blu-ray, will win the format 'war', you've come to the wrong place. Both formats continue to have their numerous relative advantages - mainly cost on HD DVD's side and film studio support on Blu-ray's side - and it's just way too early to pick a potential winner. Presuming, of course, that both don't survive indefinitely. But what this feature certainly will do is pitch four of the highest profile HD disc players against each other to see which ones simply perform the best, irrespective of which format they belong to. Obviously we realise that this only solves half your problems for you, since it might turn out that the best performing models as picked out by us turn out in the months or years ahead to have backed the losing format. But the simple fact of the matter is that we're already thoroughly hooked on watching movies in HD, and we know that many of you are desperate to take a chance on an HD player right away too. So all of you who just can't wait any longer to get some HD disc action, read on… Overview Price comparison: Panasonic DMP-BD10EG More info: Panasonic Size: 430x85x332mm Weight: 4.7kg Plays: Blu-ray, DVD, DVD Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R/RW, MP3, JPEG 1080p output: Yes Connections: HDMI 1.2 output, component video output, 7.1 audio line outputs, optical/coaxial digital outputs, S-Video output, Stereo audio outputs, RGB Scart, composite video output Panasonic DMP-BD10EG Much to our surprise, this Panasonic Blu-ray model was the first HD disc player to arrive in the UK, back in December last year. But it's not actually aging too badly at all. Connectivity impresses, for starters, by including 7.1-channel audio outputs for output of next-gen audio formats. The HDMI socket, meanwhile, can deliver 1080p pictures to a suitably talented TV, and you get a component video output for progressive scan playback. It's slightly disappointing to find on a £950 machine that the HDMI is only a 1.2 version, not 1.3, which means that it can't digitally carry HD audio formats or the new Deep Colour system for a much greater colour palette. The BD10 can, though, upscale your ordinary DVDs from their standard PAL resolution to 720p, 1080i or 1080p, and is also capable of playing an unusually wide variety of disc and file formats for an HD deck, including MP3 and JPEG. The BD10's picture performance is very good indeed for such a vintage player. Crucially the deck delivers all the sumptuous extra fine detail that makes HD such a joy to behold, and it does so with precious little sign of any electrical, signal processing or blocky decoding noise. Colours, too, are scintillatingly vibrant and pure, and motion is likeably fluid for an HD deck, especially if you use the 1080p output mode. As well as being a cracking HD deck, the BD10 is a.decent upscaler of your old DVDs - though not quite as accomplished as our Pioneer and Toshiba contenders. And the same situation applies to its audio talents; it's certainly a good audio performer, reproducing CDs and movie tracks with plenty of clarity and an engaging tone. But again our Pioneer and Toshiba decks sound even better. There is one final complaint we have to raise about the BD10, too, and that's its failure to comply with the so-called 'BD Profile 1.1' standard that's set to become mandatory on Blu-ray players from this October. Players which don't comply with this standard will not be able to access certain JAVA-driven features on future Blu-ray discs, such as picture-in-picture director's commentaries - a situation which we personally find very hard to swallow. Verdict Plus points Very good pictures and good sound, fair feature count Minus points Too expensive, only v1.2 HDMI, not BD Profile 1.1 compatible

Overview Price comparison: Pioneer BDP-LX70 More info: Pioneer Size: 420x103x353mm Weight: 6.5kg Plays: Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-R/RW 1080p output: Yes Connections: HDMI 1.2 output, Control in, IR out, component video output, LAN (10/100), Composite output, S-Video output, Coaxial digital audio output, Optical digital audio output, 5.1ch audio line out, 2ch audio line out Pioneer BDP-LX70 The Blu-ray-based BDP-LX70 is the newest deck in this group test, and comes stuffed to the gunnels with fancy tricks. Arguably the most important of these from Pioneer's point of view is the ability to output directly the 1080p/24 frames per second format that films are nearly always encoded in when mastered to Blu-ray. By not having to convert these source images for output the LX70 should arguably present a purer, cleaner picture to a connected TV able to receive the 1080p/24fps signals. And wouldn't you know it, TVs that can accept these signals include Pioneer's own new 428XD and 508XD Kuro plasma models. In fact, these screens not only accept the 1080p/24fps format, they even carry a special 72Hz scanning mode so the 24fps images can be converted to a format that will look silky smooth on your screen using a simple 3:3 progressive scan algorithm. Most other TVs have to use relatively hard and therefore noise-inducing maths to convert 24fps images to 50, 60 or 100Hz. The LX70 also supports the Dolby TrueHD next-gen audio format, but arguably its most unusual feature is its ability to play a variety of video, picture and audio file types streamed in via Ethernet from a PC. Neat. It's not all sweetness and light on the features front, though, as the deck's HDMI input is, disappointingly for such a recent and premium player, a 1.2 affair. The LX70's performance is quite simply the best we've seen from a Blu-ray player to date - especially if it's connected to one of Pioneer's KURO plasmas. In this configuration the combination of outstanding detailing, tonal purity, and above all wonderfully smooth camera pans and motion make for easily the most cinematic Blu-ray experience we've ever enjoyed. Even connected to a screen that's not from Pioneer the LX70 looks special, with a slight increase in image judder being the only image quality sacrifice you have to make for not going the full Pioneer AV monty. With some genuinely 'hi-fi' audio and superior upscaling capabilities to back its HD performance up, you might be wondering why the LX70 only scores an overall mark of eight. But really it's pretty simple. For as well as lacking the HDMI 1.3 jack, the LX70 is also, like the other Blu-ray decks featured, incompatible with the BD Profile 1.1 system we discussed in the Panasonic review. Which to us hardly seems ideal on a machine costing £1,000.

Verdict Plus points Superb pictures, fair price, plenty of features Minus points Slightly orangey reds at times

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