Price
£1,000.00
Compare PricesFor
- Amazing 1080/24p pictures
- Superb upscaling performance
- Great sound
Against
- Only HDMI 1.2, not 1.3
- Not BD Profile 1.1 compliant
Verdict
If you've got the cash and the right plasma screen, we guarantee you'll be basking in hi-def picture heaven.
With a price tag of £1,000, it's just as well that Pioneer's debut Blu-ray player, the BDP-LX70, has some pretty high-end tricks up its sleeve.
One key factor is 1080/24p, the 1080-line progressive scan 24Hz format most movies are encoded in when they're put on Blu-ray discs.
The BDP-LX70 not only outputs pictures in this pure 1080/24p form for compatible TVs, but most of Pioneer's plasmas from generation six onwards not only take 1080p/24Hz, but also use 72Hz scanning. Since 72 is an exact multiple of 24 there's no chance of judder being introduced. In other words, Pioneer has a compelling HD story to tell.
Media mogul
More innovation comes from the BDP-LX70's Home Media Gallery functionality, which permits streaming of most video, photo and audio file formats from an Ethernet-connected PC.
Plus you get upscaling to 1080p of standard DVDs; CD playback; support for the Dolby TrueHD lossless audio format; and CEC compliancy on the HDMI for one-remote control of the BDP-LX70 and a compatible TV.
Your £1,000 doesn't get you an immaculate feature count, though. For instance, the HDMI socket is only a 1.2 affair, not HDMI 1.3, denying you 1.3 features like digital output for next-gen HD audio formats, the Deep Colour extended colour palette, and auto lip synching.
The deck also won't play CD-R/RWs. Finally it isn't made to the BD Profile 1.1 specification becoming mandatory from October, meaning it may not play BD Java-driven features on future Blu-ray discs. The 35 seconds the discs take to load is also irritating - it's over a minute if you're turning the deck on from cold.
The good news, though, is that the BDP-LX70's AV performance is dazzling. We played our Casino Royale Blu-ray test disc in the 1080/24p format into both 7th and 8th generation Pioneer plasma TVs set to 72Hz, and in both cases found ourselves staring at the finest Blu-ray performance yet.
The colours of the bright Bahamas sequences of Casino Royale are astonishingly vivid and realistic. We've never seen so much detail before during heavily textured scenes like those in Uganda at the film's start: motion is delivered with unprecedented clarity and smoothness during the opening credits. There's practically no video noise at all.
Switching to a different TV without pure 1080/24p support and 72Hz scanning finds more noise in the picture, but the results are still outstanding.
Upscaling new heights
The BDP-LX70 is also unusually good at upscaling standard DVDs, and finally delivers some gorgeous sonics from movie discs and CDs alike.
Despite all the performance glories, the high price and lack of HDMI 1.3 and BD Profile 1.1 prevent us from giving the BDP-LX70 an unreserved recommendation.
Still, if you want the best-performing Blu-ray player out there - especially if you have a recent Pioneer plasma - and can't wait for Pioneer's next Blu-ray offering, then your premium buck stops here.
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