PIONEER'S " 48 BIT " DEEP COLOR, BLU-RAY PLAYER

Author's Rating:

Pros: KURO Link, VIVID PICTURE with MANY ADJUSTMENTS, AUDIO, SOLID and PIONEER NAME.

Cons: Remote is a bit difficult, though very complete.

The Bottom Line: 
A step UP, in the Blu-Ray units, that offers MANY, MANY Adjstments making it a SOLID CHOICE for Novice or Video Audiophile, looking in this price range.

Author's Review
Pioneer has always been considered one of the HIGH END companies in the Audio & Video Industry. While this player, the BDP-320 is retailed at 299$, it would not be considered no  more than a low medium price unit. Blu-Ray players can still cost into the thousands, and as low as a bit below 100$, however the mass lineups fit into the 200$ price range.

What sets it apart, is it claims to offer " 48 " bit color, combined with x.v color, and DEEP COLOR, now all of that should be an exciting thing for picture quaility and even the most novice, Videophile.

Having a 240mhz LCD TV to test this with, that does do DEEP COLOR, I figured it should be awesome. However even with everything set correctly on both, the picture is really no more vivid, than the 36 bit color, which is WONDERFUL, and I have tried this with many of Blu-Rays, including those shot with special cameras. HOWEVER: The picture is very good, and perhaps, no disks are yet made to support the 48 bit color range. One would think you could see a difference in tests, though let me say never the less, the picture is SUPERIOR to most units, and as I said maybe I lack something.

What this player DOES have going for it, is it is a solid, nice looking unit, with an array of PICTURE ADJUSTMENTS, available;

CONTRAST
HUE
COLOR
TRUE CINEMA,
GAMMA,
BLACKS AND WHITES
SHARPNESS
COLOR SPECTRUM
4 SETTINGS to ENHANCE PICTURE via Blocking Various NOISE problems in the disks.

And many more, options to Adjust your picture. Truly a NICE option, and one FOUND ON PLAYERS COSTING HUNDREDS MORE.

AUDIO: Can and Does Preform WELL, with all NEW and previous Audio formats, incuding 7.1 Analog, including output.
Dolby Digital Plus, True HD, traditional 5.1 and DTS-Master HD Audio all play fine and are handled by built in decoders. Again a HIGH END feature. BURR-BROWN Audio DAC;s translate into fine sound.

REMOTE: Nice , long and large, with many selections, no back light, but very solid. Many features CAN BE adjusted while the DVD or Blu-Ray is playing, which not all units allow. Rather complex remote, back light would help.

SETUP: Can be SIMPLE, and the basics are. The MANY options to adjust the picture you can learn and play with, I find myself doing do often. THE GREAT PART, is there are several built in memory selections, so you can adjust, for day, night, or more vivid, for nature films, all this can be done under the Video settings button. PLUS there are many Pre-sets to choose from, LCD, PLASMA, PRO, etc..

KURO LINK: This option allows use of one remote to control all basic functions, similar to SONY Bravia and Toshiba Regza, and it does work with it's own brand as well as the other two mentioned here, very well.

USB: Offers this connection option, as well as BD-Live making it a BLU-RAY Profile 2.0 player.

DVDs: Yes it will take your DVD collection to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolutions with ABOVE AVERAGE for class, UPconversion.

HDMI: To gain FULL use of these features, you will need a HDMI version 1.3b cable, High Speed Transmission. I use the SONY brand for testing. And it allows DEEP color, and superior Audio. The unit is made for this.

CONSTRUCTION: Excellent, well made, not super heavy like some Pioneer units, BUT still solid, and offers the same STYLE as the top players made by Pioneer.

TESTS: Player was run for over 72 Hours without any Jitters or HEAT issues, with the Ocean Aquarium, Blu-Ray, and was fine. Unit was tested with a Toshiba 240mhz LCD, and a SONY 60mhz LCD TV. And with Version 1.3b SONY HDMI flat cable, and with Monster HDMI, High Speed Cable.

RESULTS: SUPERIOR Picture, still am wondering if 48bit is better than 36bit, but maybe nothing is recorded in this yet. The QUALITY of picture RIVALS big dollar machines. So I am happy. I love this and the Pioneer BDP-51FD, having both. GREAT Audio to please Audiophiles, even on a budget.

RATINGS: High on list, and worth the Extra 100 to 200$ over Bargain brands, IF you have a TV that will do DEEP COLOR, and you will need the HIGH SPEED HDMI Cable to fully enjoy this level of player. A REAL BUY, for Very Little Extra Money. I compare this to products in it's price range, and with the expectation the added cost equals added value, and in this case it is TRUE!