Panasonic Corporation of North America announces the introduction of the anticipated DMP-BD50 BD player, Panasonic’s third generation Blu-ray disc player – the ultimate playback source for high definition 1080p content. Blu-ray Disc uses a “blue” (technically violet) laser operating at a wavelength of 405 nm to read and write data. Conventional DVDs and CDs use red and near infrared lasers at 650 nm and 780 nm respectively. The blue-violet laser’s shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a 12 cm CD/DVD sized disc. Blu-ray media offers a wide range of functions that foster the transition to HD – including 1080p image quality, lossless Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™ and versatile Picture-in-Picture applications.

The true to the original source images are complimented by an exceptionally pure, accurate sound achieved through Audio Re-master and integrated decoders for the lossless Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats. Furthermore, the DMP-BD50 can be combined with a 7.1 channel amplifier and speakers for full 7.1 channel surround sound. Both for the de-interlacing and scaling, the DMP-BD50’s super-high-speed PHD generates each pixel correctly according to information obtained from up to 60 surrounding pixels. Applying progressive processing to huge amounts of data, it delivers images of striking beauty. In reproducing the kinds of geometric patterns often seen in architecture, for example, the DMP-BD50 provides exceptionally smooth, sharp diagonal lines whether the image is still or moving. The DMP-BD50 BD player is Deep Colour ready, which means they can reproduce images with 12-bit, 4,096-step gradation. You enjoy exceptionally rich, natural-looking colours, with smooth, detailed gradation and minimal colour banding.

The BD50 blu-ray disc player adds the new BD-Live function, which uses the internet to further enhance the consumer’s entertainment experience and employs VIERA Link,™ a technology that allows the consumer to operate VIERA Link equipped home theater components with a single remote. BD-Live (BD-ROM Profile 2) lets users connect the Blu-ray Disc™ Players to the Internet to download data such as images and subtitles, and to join in quizzes and multi-player interactive games that are linked to bonus movie content contained on Blu-ray discs. This fusion of movie content and the Internet will open the door to countless new possibilities. BD-Live also supports other interactive functions, such as Picture-in-Picture and Audio Mixing.

Networking is an essential product of the DMP-BD50. The included SD Memory Card slot allows for easy transferring of images from an HD camcorder or digital still camera via an SD Memory card. The consumer simply inserts the SD card into the BD50 and then can view the images on a large screen HD flat panel television with AVCHD format video images or JPEG stills in full 1920 x 1080 resolution. In addition the DMP-BD50 has been awarded the Energy Star certification. The DMP-BD50 can play back AVCHD-format images shot with an HD camcorder, such as the Panasonic HDC-SD5. Images recorded onto the camcorder’s SD Memory Card are output directly from the DMP-BD50’s HDMI terminal in their original, high-quality 1920 x 1080 resolution. The DMP-BD50 also provides an AVCHD Direct Navigator function that makes it easy to search for particular scenes.

For optimum image quality the DMP-BD50 features the PHL Reference Chroma processor and P4HD i/p conversion processor, which combine to create Uniphier®, a precise digital video processor that produces sharp, crisp, natural colors that are extremely faithful to the original movie. Uniphier reflects the advance encoding and authoring technologies developed by Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory.

The DMP-BD50 blu-ray disc player is compatible with the newest Dolby® TrueHD and DTS™-HD 7.1-channel surround sound formats. The BD player is equipped with high-speed 50 Mbps optical output elements and a 192kHz 24bit digital-analogue converter (DAC). Sound enhancing capacitors are used to reinforce the power supply and reduce noise, to enable higher quality low- and medium-range sound reproduction. The DMP-BD50’s Audio Re-master function compensates for data lost in the compression process used in Blu-ray Disc and DVD recording.

BD-Live opens up a myriad of interactive possibilities for the consumer. In the future BD-Live will allow users to connect the DMP-BD50 BD player to the internet to download such data as images and subtitles, and to join in multi-player interactive games that are linked to bonus movie content contained on Blu-ray discs.

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