Panasonic jacks up BD50 price!

[Ruined]

Panasonic USA Pressroom



What was originally expected to be $499-$599 is now officially $699.

Combine this with the terrible upconversion of BD50's Uniphier chip (same chip BD30 used) and Panasonic's past history of failing to pass 480i over HDMI for external upscaling means I am going to get a Sony 350/550 instead most likely.

$499 was reasonable.
$599 was a bit high.
$699 is a joke, especially with the 550 arriving in August which will have similar featureset and ability to output 480i native to scalers for $499 MSRP.

[dugpa]

Fair warning - I don't know what chip they're using in the new Sonys, but the BDP-S1 has horrible upconversion. Hopefully it won't be the same one.

[powerknowledge]

Well, at least I feel slightly less ripped off having paid $400 for the BD-30 many months ago, and certainly glad I didn't wait on the 50 given its reuse of the 30's terrible upscaling solution (adding to the "glad I didn't" list: selling my Sony DVP-NS77H, which while not perfect is a FAR better SD player than the BD-30).

Seriously, while the BD-30 is a fantastic SO which I don't for a second regret purchasing, for Panasonic to charge a $200 premium for an ethernet port and internal decoding is ridiculous. The savvy (or even conscious) consumer would either a) go for a lower-priced option with similar features (e.g., the new Sonys) or, if they lack a next-gen receiver, b) buy a BD-30 and put that $200 (or more, as it's bound to be price reduced soon) toward one.

More importantly, this was Panasonic's opportunity to begin to open the doors to BR for those holding off because of the HW cost. To introduce a 3rd (4th?) gen player at that price point won't help adoption rates a bit; and even if it does sell well enough, that all the more justifies the (IMO) unneccessarily inflated price point for BR SOs across the board.

[dugpa]

And thus we see the results of a lack of a format war. No reason to keep the price of players down now.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by dugpa

And thus we see the results of a lack of a format war. No reason to keep the price of players down now.

Probably more like lack of competition from other CEs for the same type of player. When the Sony comes out a lower price, it will drop. Panasonic is probably hoping to get more profit from early buyers before the other newer machines come out.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Probably more like lack of competition from other CEs for the same type of player. When the Sony comes out a lower price, it will drop. Panasonic is probably hoping to get more profit from early buyers before the other newer machines come out.

Maybe, but they are also overcharging for their BD30 player despite competition. Other players with similar speed and features such as the Philips BDP7200, Sylvania, and Magnavox found in Walmart cost over $100 less!

[Mr. Furious]

I've been watching and waiting for prices to drop on a BD player to begrudgingly enter the HD market again. Sadly, the PS3 seems to be the only player worth buying.

At this rate, BD may price themselves out of the market.

[sambow87]

Yeah, I don't understand why you wouldn't want a PS3. Isn't it the best player out there right now that features every spec? I know it doesn't have analog outs (which is killing me) but once I get an HDMI receiver I will be fine.

Personally, buying the PS3 makes up for HD DVD losing (my mistakes, haha). It's such a great system and it's incredibly fast and quiet. You can also play games on it! (I rarely do, our Xbox gets much more play, but that machine......you can hear it from the other room it's so loud).

I was actually interested in getting the Panasonic player but I am glad I went with the PS3.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

I've been watching and waiting for prices to drop on a BD player to begrudgingly enter the HD market again. Sadly, the PS3 seems to be the only player worth buying.

Even the PS3, though, is lacking some really important features like bitstream audio output and direct source output. All your DVDs and 1080i BDs won't benefit from your external scaler if you get a PS3. Stuff like Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time, Nature's Journey, Galapagos, and various other concerts/documentaries, will not be able to use an external scaler's superior deinterlacing. And the PS3 failed all of the Secrets upscaling tests even with the latest firmware, meaning once again due to lack of direct source output you can't use your scaler. There is no way to get 480i HDMI out of the PS3 when watching BDs. While not everyone might see this as a big deal, those of us with external scalers such as myself (reon), Taxi (reon), zepherman (realta), and challenger1970 (ABT) will not get optimal picture quality without direct source output. This should be of paramount importance to these members.

A real life standalone example? Panasonic BD30, for instance, with its shitty Uniphier video processor (same one BD50 uses) simply bobs Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time. Yep, if you have a BD30 or one of its derivatives - i.e. Denon 2500 - you are only getting 540p on 30fps 1080i material *even if you have a high end scaler* due to the Uniphier's botched deinterlacing and its failure to pass 1080i untouched. Unless Panasonic can fix this with the BD50, they have a non-starter with the ridiculous price of $699.

Right now I'm looking at either the Pioneer BDP-51FD or Sony BDP-S550 as holdover players until next year. The former will likely meet all of my criteria EXCEPT BD-Live, while the latter might be the real deal - if it doesn't lose direct source output... In that case its back in Pioneer's court. I'm fairly confident source direct will be in the Pioneer. I have a Reon and want to use it

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Even the PS3, though, is lacking some really important features like bitstream audio output and direct source output. All your DVDs and 1080i BDs won't benefit from your external scaler if you get a PS3. Stuff like Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time, Nature's Journey, etc, will not be able to use an external scaler's superior deinterlacing. And the PS3 failed all of the Secrets upscaling tests even with the latest firmware, meaning once again due to lack of direct source output you can't use your scaler. There is no way to get 480i HDMI out of the PS3 when watching BDs. While not everyone might see this as a big deal, those of us with external scalers such as myself (reon), Taxi (reon), zepherman (realta), and challenger1970 (ABT) will not get optimal picture quality without direct source output. This should be of paramount importance to these members.

Right now I'm looking at either the Pioneer BDP-51FD or Sony BDP-S550 as holdover players until next year. The former will likely meet all of my criteria EXCEPT BD-Live, while the latter might be the real deal - if it doesn't lose direct source output. I'm fairly confident source direct will be in the Pioneer. I have a Reon and want to use it

Yeah, your argument really only is geared towards those people that have external scalers. Every other forum member has been appreciative of the ps3's capabilities and the fact that their initial purchase has been able to upgrade over time. I bought my ps3 in January of 2007. In May of 2008, it is one of the few profile 2.0 players out there, and one of the few players that can decode dts-hdma. Bitstreaming audio and direct source output are irrelevant to me.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Yeah, your argument really only is geared towards those people that have external scalers. Every other forum member has been appreciative of the ps3's capabilities and the fact that their initial purchase has been able to upgrade over time. I bought my ps3 in January of 2007. In May of 2008, it is one of the few profile 2.0 players out there, and one of the few players that can decode dts-hdma. Bitstreaming audio and direct source output are irrelevant to me.

You don't ever plan to upgrade to a receiver with DCDi or better yet Reon/Realta/ABT deinterlacing? If so, lack of direct source output for both DVDs and 1080i BDs becomes a very sore point. For those of us who do have receivers with those processors or external scalers, it already is a sore point.

Point being, PS3 aside, the BD50 should at least include Direct Source for $699 since the Uniphier proved so terrible in the BD30 - but there has been no word of this by Panasonic. Luckily I have a nice HTPC setup to hold me over until a great standalone with the features I want comes along.