Panasonic DMP-BD70V 1080p Blu-Ray Disc / VHS Combo Player
Blu-ray Disc/VHS Combination Player with SD Memory Card Slot and USB Terminal 1. Ultimate Multi-Format Playback Blu-ray Disc Player 2. Premium Up-Conversion for ALL Movies 3. Enjoy YouTUbe and Various Content via Internet Video Features PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus High Precision 4:4:4 P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD) 1080/24p Playback (Blu-ray Disc and DVD) VHS Playback and 1080p HDMI Out Deep Color and x.v.ColorTM*1 148.5MHz/12bit Video D/A Converter Digital Noise Reduction (3D-NR/ Integrated NR) Picture Mode (Normal, Soft, Fine, Cinema, User) Picture Adjustment (Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Color, Gamma Correction) Audio Features Built-in Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTSTM-HD*2 Decoder 192kHz/24bit Audio D/A Converter 96kHz Surround Re-master for All Formats* (BD, DVD, CD and MP3 ) Output HDMI AV Output Component Video Output Video Outp (more…)
Why would someone want to buy a video player that accepts both the latest Blu-Ray format and the perhaps obsolete VHS formats? Well, as someone who has their foot in both the past and the future, let me tell you why I love this player.
Yes, I can definitely appreciate the crispness and clarity of the high definition Blu-Ray format, and I wish to experience that format. But Blu-Ray discs are pricey, so I will likely choose to purchase only a few new select and favorite films in that format. I feel no need, and don’t have the wallet, to replace my entire film library in a Blu-Ray format.
I also have a collection of nearly 500 VHS tapes, most of them unwatched, which I mostly purchased in thrift stores. (current standard price for VHS tape in a thrift – $1) I also have a fair number of films that have not yet been released on DVD yet.
It is nice to have a player that will accept both VHS and Blu-Ray, along with standard DVD formats. No switching back and forth of cables, etc.
The DMP-BD70V upconversion of the VHS to 1080p is really quite amazing. My current television is a 42″ HDTV (one year ago it was a 19 inch color set) When I connected my previous standard VHS player to the HDTV, the picture quality, as expected, was quite poor, with much of the image being rather pixelated – it was quite painful and distracting to watch.
Then I hooked up the DMP-BD70V, and lone behold, the picture quality was much, much better – and very watchable. At first I almost thought that the VHS tape had been replaced by a DVD – the improvement was that great. There was no pixelation at all, and the colors were quite bright. The overall quality of the picture was much better than the picture obtained with my old 19″ color TV and VHS player. The upscaling features of the DMP-BD70V is almost as if a magician had waved his wand over your entire library of VHS tapes, and suddenly replaced them, Cinderella-like, with a much higher quality product.
There are some things you cannot do with a VHS tape. The picture size remains at the older 4:3 format – meaning there is considerable empty space at the left and right sides of the HDTV screen. You also won’t get the added commentary tracks that appear on DVD and Blu-Ray discs, but sometimes all one really wants to do is simply watch a movie, with no other frills involved.
For a few years, I will have several options for my home movie viewing. On one end, the $1 VHS tapes (upgraded to 1080p), in the middle the standard DVD format, and on the high side, the Blu-Ray format. This DMP-BD70V allows me to watch all three formats, and allows me to choose whether I want to pay $1, $15, or $30 for each movie format. That is what I call flexibility.
I did a comparison price check for the DMP-BD70V model, versus a similar model without the VHS tape compatibility – the difference was about $50 more. For me, it was well worth it.
Obviously those without VHS tapes do not need this DMP-BD70V model. But those who do have some older VHS tapes, and wish to still view them, will love this model.
I purchased this to replace my DVD/VCR combo but this doesn’t record to VHS. Also the VHS video looked crappy compared to a 1080p disc. (duh) I thought the upconverting would be better. The blu-ray video looked superb and I was using the RGB inputs, not HDMI! I like that it has an instant-on feature which is really just standby. It doesn’t show a clock when powered off. Also, the audio would not play when plugged into my 1st gen 700 series panasonic blu-ray receiver. Youtube loads fast when connected to internet however I didn’t find search feature. Not sure if there is one. I just got it yesterday. It’s great if you have VHS tapes you can’t replace.