14 DAY TRIAL // Pioneer is showing its own assets on the multimedia front, although its own new products are going to show their worth in the US instead of Europe, where ASUS released its own, newest device.
Though the PC market seems to be getting the most attention when it comes to consumer technology, consumer electronics aren't any less important.
Not long ago, for instance, ASUS was revealed to have finalized preparations for the launching of the ASUS O!Play Mini Plus media player in Europe.
Now, it is Pioneer that is making the news, what with having already sent out the $199 BDP-140, the Elite BDP-52FD ($399) and the Elite BDP-53FD ($499) Blu-ray media players
Audio-wise, they come with DTS-HD Master Audio, Super Audio CD and Dolby TrueHD, plus a Precision Quartz Lock System on the Elite ones (jitter-free sound from DVDs and Blu-rays).
The Elite also boast the Sound Retriever Link and Stream Smoother Link features (detect audio and video bit rate and send commands to compatible Pioneer receivers to activate the features).
Speaking of video, the newcomers can stream from the web, from sites like NetFlix, YouTube and Pandora.
Full HD (1,080p) quality is supported, including the 3D mode, with streaming accomplished via the HDMI 1.4a interface.
Pioneer also implemented support for audio and video playback from USB and DLNA sources, plus 36-bit deep color support and upconverting video to 1,080p (with reduced image noise).
“An excellent home theater experience starts with the source so it is extremely important that we implement the highest quality audio and video reproduction with the latest technologies and features,” said Chris Walker, director AV marketing and product planning for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
“These new players let you access audio and video content from a variety of online and other personal sources so you’re never restricted to just your disc-based movie library.”
Of the three, the BDP-53FD stands out through the fact that its maker gave it an extra HDMI output and a Marvell Qdeo video processor.