Panasonic DMP-BD10A, an Affordable Second-Gen Blu-Ray Player

As with all new technologies, Blu-Ray is also slowly making its way into the homes of thousands of consumers and the reason behind this is the price decrease.

Panasonic yesterday announced the availability of the DMP-BD10A, the company's next generation Blu-ray Disc player. But the device itself would not be such a hot topic without the incredible low price of $599.95. Ok, so it's no that incredible; but since last year, Blu-Ray players had a MSRP of about $1,000, Panasonic's price tag for this second-generation unit is incredible.

The specifications are not that shabby either. You get a 1080p resolution, 7.1 channel surround, Dolby True HD and dts-HD and H.264 compatibility.

Other key features of the DMP-BD10A include proprietary P4HD technology to perform IP conversion at the pixel level for ultra-fine details, a 297MHz 14bit Video D/A Converter with 4X oversampling, video noise shaping that improves signal-to-noise ratios by shifting noise to an unused band, and theoretical support for nearly 4400 billion colors.

In addition to playing pre-recorded Blu-ray movie discs, the DMP-BD10A plays conventional standard-definition DVDs (with automatic 1080p up-conversion via HDMI) and conventional CDs.

The DMP-BD10A also incorporates Panasonic's proprietary EZ-Sync system for integrated one-touch operation of Panasonic home-theater components.

But Panasonic didn't settle with a good price and good specifications. They had to have something more and so they've bundled five Blu-Ray discs (Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic 4 and Crash) with each DMP-BD10A.

"With the continuing flow of hit movie titles on Blu-ray, combined with aggressive pricing and the increasing awareness of consumers about the unique entertainment experience provided by high definition, the future looks very bright for Blu-ray," commented Gene Kelsey, Vice President, Entertainment Group, Panasonic.

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