Pictures of 1st Blu Ray Disc Player from Pioneer

Maxwell

Pioneer Electronics (USA) today introduced one of the world’s first Blu-ray Disc players, marking an innovation in home entertainment that allows consumers to experience the ultimate in high-definition home theater.

“Blu-ray is one of the most exciting innovations in home theater consumers will see from the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, and Pioneer is at the forefront of this new market with one of the world’s first Blu-ray Disc players as well as a Blu-ray Disc computer drive,” said Russ Johnston, senior vice president of marketing and product planning for home entertainment at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

Blu-ray Discs have the capacity to store up to 50 gigabytes of information on a single disc to meet consumers growing demand for high definition content. This new optical disc format enables consumers to purchase or rent major movie titles and enjoy all the benefits of high definition audio and video quality with a 5-inch optical disc that looks very similar in size and shape to a DVD. The increased disc capacity will enable movie studios to include a complete high definition movie on a single disc with more features than currently available on DVD including interactive features. The same technology will be used in Pioneer computer drives that will record up to 25 gigabytes of data for computer back-ups, home movies, music and other computer files.

HD Quality & Interactivity
Pioneer’s new BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Disc player is designed to deliver 1920 x 1080p output, the highest of the three high definition signals. Hollywood studios should meet their end of the bargain and release movie titles on Blu-ray Disc and adding interactive features not possible with DVD because of its limited capacity. Pioneer’s BDP-HD1 does offer backward compatibility for standard DVDs so consumers can maintain their existing DVD movie collection as they begin a new Blu-ray Disc collection.

HD Home Networking
Pioneer’s full-featured unit takes home networking to another level with IP network capabilities that allow consumers to enjoy high definition video and multi-channel audio content directly through the player rather than a computer. For simple integration into the home theater, the unit provides a single high definition HDMI connection for users to view and hear all content transferred through the home network in HD.

For those operating a networked home, the BDP-HD1 was designed with Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) guidelines. When utilizing the IP networking capability, users will be able to access and easily load protected content currently stored on a DLNA compliant server or Windows XP PC using Windows Media Connect. In addition to favorite photos, music and movies, users can download new content straight to their computer for immediate viewing on a television through the player. The unit’s playsforsure™ compliance provides compatibility with all existing Microsoft software.

HD Connectivity
For even easier set-up options, the unit features single wire connection through HDMI for the transfer of both video and audio in HD. HDMI output ensures the best quality picture and sound for both standard definition and Blu-ray Disc content. The Blu-ray Disc player is designed for easy operation offering a visually rich high definition graphic user interface (GUI) for user-friendly navigation.

“Combining Blu-ray technology with Pioneer’s newest 1080p plasma and high-definition receivers and speakers, we are ushering in a new dimension of high-definition home entertainment that creates an experience never before seen or heard in the home,” Johnston said.

HD Audio
To complement the high-resolution picture capability, the BDP-HD1 reproduces new high-resolution audio formats: DTS-HD and Dolby Digital for a complete HD entertainment experience. Those with a large library of digital music files will be glad to know that the BDP-HD1 can playback compressed music files WMA (DRM compatible) and MP3, as well as LPCM.

Playback Compatibility
Blu-ray Disc BD-RE, BD-R, BD-ROM
DVD and other Video DVD-R, DVD-RW, +R, +RW, WMV
Audio DTS-HD, Dolby Digital, WMA, MP3, LPCM
Photos JPEG


The BDP-HD1 will begin shipping to retailers across the country in June under the Pioneer Elite brand. It will have a suggested price of $1,800. It should be available around May 2006. When purchased from an authorized dealer, consumers receive a limited warranty for one year with Pioneer products and two years with Pioneer Elite products.



Opinions?

Ru

If it's Pioneer you know it's gonna be great..........

http://www.blu-ray.com/

for more info

gs39t

It looks like a 1980's video recorder.

aidan_dunne

Jaysus, pretty big chunky-looking ba$tard, ain't it? Also, fairly strange to see something in black these days. Seems most manufacturers tend to do everything in silver nowadays.

TerrorFirmer

gs39t wrote:

It looks like a 1980's video recorder.

Gotta agree with you there.

aidan_dunne

gs39t wrote:

It looks like a 1980's video recorder.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I thought myself. Either that or a late-1980's/early-1990's hi-fi seperates CD player or something. :eek: Not exactly what you would call "modern contemporary design", is it? Perhaps Pioneer are going for some sort of retro-styling thing here with the design of it, who knows?

Ice_Box

My uncle bought one of the first video recorders on the market in the 70's. He said it cost about the same price as a Ford Cortina at the time. I wonder how much this yoke will cost?

gs39t

http://ces.engadget.com/2006/01/04/pioneer-bdp-hd1-blu-ray-player-coming-in-may/

$1,800.

that could buy you several Ford Cortina's now

Even the picture on that page shows that it looks huge. The huge faceplate on the drive is about as big as a VHS player. I wouldnt buy one (if i had the cash!) just on account of its ugliness.

Ru

In the past Pioneer always launched their top of the range products in Black and Gold.............. i'd prefer the black.

Anyway, as i'm sure we all know..........never buy the first generation of a new technology, wait for the second. You'll save a fortune and because so many brands are involved in BluRay they'll be desperately trying to outdo each other on cost and features. The second Generation is always worth the wait.

Maxwell

Seriously ugly I thought!

In this day of sexy machines attracting people's attention and leading to sales, I am really surprised at the "design" of this machine.

I understand it is targetted at high end users and they would mostly be only interested in the quality, but I think they should have put alot more thought into the design. Sure €40 dvd players look better than this!

Maxwell

And have a look at the alternative HDDVD player from Toshiba




...I know which one I would want under my plasma

Maxwell

Although here comes Sony with their Blu Ray player:

Ru

Maxwell wrote:

And have a look at the alternative HDDVD player from Toshiba

Looks familiar!!!

pioneer.jpg

Ru

Maxwell wrote:

Although here comes Sony with their Blu Ray player

And this one!!!!!!!

sony.jpg

Maxwell

Thanks lads,

Now the designs are getting much better!