Toshiba, Samsung and LG are excellent alternatives to Sony – they are also very popular and economical choices. Sony's players are also the only players equipped for Amazon Instant Video on Demand. Known as the inventors of Blu-ray technology, Sony offers a lineup of high-quality, affordable players loaded with the latest technology, the most practical/useful features and an abundance of streaming apps. These offer subtle tonal differences, and while I could come to no clear preference, it’s fun to experiment.Note from our Techs:Currently, our most recommended & popular brand of Region-Free Blu-ray Players is from Sony. You can further fine tune the performance using a trio of digital filtering modes: Sharp Roll-Off, Short Delay, Slow Roll-Off. It’s perhaps not as accomplished as the ESS Sabre Reference ES9018 used in the older BDP-LX88, but it’s not sonically shabby either. NOTE: This Pioneer model we sell does not include any of Pioneers internet features. The BDP-150 handles multiple file types such as smartphone specific 3gp videos, as well as DivX + HD, MKV, WMA, MP3 and FLAC. Enjoy your smartphone content in high quality. The internal design goes some way to explaining this talent, with an optimised audiophile-style layout for the power supply, digital processing and analogue audio components: Serving the deck’s analogue output is an AKM AK4490EQ DAC. This Blu-ray disc player combines 3D Blu-ray disc, DVD, CD and SACD playback. The player is also High-Res audio file compatible. The deck also does a fine job with regular CDs. Most obviously, that comprehensive audio disc support, good news if you have a stockpile of DVD-Audio releases or are still snapping up SACDs.īoth of these venerable formats sound gorgeous, combining delicious clarity with toe-tapping musicality. Where the UDP-LX500 clearly scores over rivals is in its sonic performance. From a normal viewing distance though, there’s little to separate the two models. This removes any semblance of stepping from curves and edges, and providing smoother colour detailing. It’s only when you investigate (literally) under a magnifying glass that you’ll see that the Panasonic’s image processing technology, with proprietary 4:4:4 colour sub-sampling, has the edge. Side by side, both decks appear absolutely peerless. So is the UDP-LX800 comparable or even better than the Panasonic DP-UB9000? The answer to this isn’t immediately clear cut. Gloriously dynamic, with a rich, vibrant colour palette, the player offers wide colour candy and dynamics in abundance. Pacific Rim Uprising (4K Dolby Vision) really provides an opportunity for the deck to strut its HDR stuff. The deck’s video output can even be matched to different display technologies, be it LCD, OLED or projectors.
#Pioneer region free blu ray player update#
Out of the box, the deck handles standard HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and there’s the promise of a firmware update to include HDR10+, in due course. 4K Blu-rays are marvellously cinematic (the opening space battle in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is nothing short of breathtaking), while HD Blu-rays gain additional solidity. The player conveys astonishing levels of fine detail and nuance. Of course, at this level, performance is everything, and the UDP-LX500 doesn’t disappoint: The player shares video componentry with its reference grade stablemate, the UDP-LX800, which sells for twice as much, and picture quality is very fine indeed.
#Pioneer region free blu ray player movie#
The deck typically takes just over 40 seconds to go from tray in to menu onscreen, for movie discs, which is an average performance. The actual disc loader is slick, smooth and whisper quiet there’s no cheap clatter here. Do you really need a display capable of 1200 nits to make the most of your HDR discs? As it happens, in most cases not. This reveals Max FALL (Maximum Frame Average Light Level) and MaxCLL(Maximum Content Light Level) information, and offers a real insight into the mastering and display potential of 4K discs. The deck boasts a superb disc display function, which is able to read HDR10 metadata from compatible UHD discs. The Panasonic DP-UB9000 has Pioneer well beat here.īut there is still fresh excitement to be had. The brand has operated a policy of dour functionality for more years than I care to remember, and there’s no change to that philosophy here.Ĭonsequently, the Home menu is a bare bones affair, made more barren by the lack of any integrated streaming services, be they audio or visual. That said, Pioneer won’t win any plaudits for User Interface design.
Despite its obvious sophistication, this is pretty much a plug and play deck.
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