Denon's first Blu-ray player stuns with features and $2k pricetag
Denon has announced its first real Blu-ray player, with an appropriate assortment of never-before-seen features and price tag to match. The DVD-3800BDCI will launch this fall as the first high definition player to include Silicon Optix's 10-bit Realta HQV video processor, recently seen in Syntax-Brillian's $10k LCD and the big brother to the Toshiba HD-XA2's Reon. The first Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player we've seen, it supports separate picture-in-picture audio and video streams. Unfortunately, $1,999 isn't enough to provide an Ethernet port, so any online content will need to be downloaded on a PC and sneakernetted to the player via SD card. Finally, internal decoding for all Blu-ray surround sound formats is included, and it's the first player with an HDMI 1.3a output, providing enough bandwidth to pass sound natively to a receiver for decoding. Announced Read - TWICE
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Read - Press Release
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gosha @ Jul 25th 2007 10:07AM
For people who make over 100G/year I guess. Or for big big enthusiasts.
Sean @ Jul 25th 2007 11:02AM
Denon has internal DTS-HD MA decoding, now its time for PS3 to have it. Ive been waiting, patiently....
Alex @ Jul 25th 2007 11:11AM
seriously, how can they justify this price compared to $1000 BD players? Stupid, just stupid.
Rene @ Jul 25th 2007 11:26AM
Blu-ray = format for rich people.
MasterCKO @ Jul 25th 2007 6:21PM
No. Denon = Brand for rich people. Why you gotta be so ignorant?
adam green @ Jul 25th 2007 11:31AM
It is well worth the price! It is no secret that the HQV chip is worth the price of admission. The job it does in terms of scaling, is nothing less than breathtaking! It will help the integrity of the blu-ray picture as well. I've tried all the blu ray players to date, and in my opinion, the samsung 1200 has the best picture. It uses the lower end Realta HQV chip and it still outshines the others, in both SD upconversion, and cleaning up the bluray picture as well. It has a more 3 dimensional effect than the others i've tested. That includes the much revered panny dmp-bd10a. Count me in!
Michael @ Jul 25th 2007 11:37AM
Denon has always overpriced their stuff. This is no different than their other normal dvd players when first introduced. As to why they didn't include a $0.10 ethernet connector is mind boggling though.
chris @ Jul 25th 2007 12:14PM
lol ya the 10bit is cool and the 1.3a ... but give me a god damn break cheap hddvd players have the ethernet, why wouldnt a 2k$ bluray player have it?
and the fact that older cheaper players dont actively support the 1.1 picture in picture kind of makes it a moot point... studios wont use it because their wont be a demand for it since 99% of bluray users wont be able to use the feature anyway. It's kind of like sony adding that ethernet port to the ps2 as an afterthought, it just wont pan out in the long run (and im tlaking the non-standard ethernet and the 1.1 profile)
LOUiE @ Jul 25th 2007 3:50PM
Um, PS3 will have this function once the 1.1 spec is officially released. Warner has been waiting to release their Matrix collection on BD until this spec is released. Fox is probably still waiting for this to start releasing their product (this and BD+ to be finalized).
The PS3 getting it alone will be enough for all companies to start supporting the pip features.
Jeff N. @ Jul 25th 2007 12:41PM
Their are regular DVD players on the market that cost more than this one. Example: an Arcam DV29 is $2999. It upsamples regular DVD's to 1080i through HDMI. But it will not play Blu-ray or HD-DVDs. Denson's DVD-5910CI is a regular DVD player that upsamples to 1080 but will not play either Blu-ray or HD-DVD. This new Denon is an upscale Blu-ray player for people with expensive home theater systems. It will have it's own niche. I bet it does have a great picture with great sound. But it's not for everyone.
HDMike @ Jul 25th 2007 5:24PM
This week's news brought us two announced BD players from Samsung for $1000+, a Denon BD player for $2000, and an authorized online retailer offering the HD-A2 (with HDMI cable included) at $199 shipped.
Way to go BDA!
thomas @ Jul 26th 2007 6:08AM
There's a type in the product name, with is DVD-3800BDCI and not BCI
eric53110 @ Jul 26th 2007 10:42AM
$2,000 and no where does it state that it also does SACD and DVD-Audio. So if it doesn't, then IMO, it's not worth it.