Panasonic DMP-BD10A

Panasonic's DMP-BD10A is their second generation Blu-ray player, and stands as an impressive and highly functional product. The unit has gone a long way towards correcting some of the problems its predecessor, the DMP-BD10 had, making it an attractive option for anyone looking to get into Blu-ray. With DVD upscaling to 1080p and a responsive and functional interface, the BD10A is marred only by a slightly quirky design and a relatively expensive price tag.

Blu-ray playback on the device is fantastic, and delivers everything one would expect from a high-definition player. The pop-up menus and disc navigation features still suffer from a slight lag time, under a second, although this is still a common problem in early high-definition players. During testing we noticed no display flaws or visual problems, and were glad to note that unlike its predecessor, the BD10A didn't seem to have any problems with reading certain discs quickly enough.

DVD upscaling is equally good; the BD10A handled it very well during our tests, delivering increased sharpness and definition to all our DVDs. Whilst it doesn't compare to content specifically designed for high definition, it nevertheless provides a noticeable increase in image quality.

Audio is well integrated, and support is provided for DTS HD, Dolby HD, as well as all other major surround sound formats. Connection options allow for a 7.1 speaker system to be connected to the player itself, making it an attractive option for those with large home theatres.

The interface is well designed, and quite simple to navigate. Options are provided which allow users to customise colour, brightness levels, and other similar variables. The remote is well laid out, and contains one little feature we enjoyed quite a bit - the one-touch play button. When pressed, it immediately starts playing a movie from the beginning, without the need to navigate through disc menus and advertisements or previews, etc.

The design is attractive, although the polished glass front panel covers the entirety of the front of the unit, blocking the tray from being opened unless the panel is flipped down first. While this is not a big problem, it may prove to be an annoyance for some users.

Overall, the BD10A is a well designed Blu-ray player, and certainly one that should satisfy AV enthusiasts. Although it is slightly more expensive than some of the other players on the market, it delivers a great amount of functionality and performance.