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| Product Details |
ISBN/ASIN: B001H4WPJM
Release Date:
Sales Rank: 34018
Average Rating: 
Media: Electronics
Audience Rating:
Product Group: CE
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| Product Description |
| True, original cinematic quality. Enjoy the art of film in its purest form. Films are typically produced and mastered to play at a speed of 24 frames per second. The BDP-LX71 lets you view film exactly as the filmmakers intended; in breathtaking 1080p resolution, at 24 frames per second. |
| Customer Reviews: Average Rating: 5.0/5 | | Premium Picture and Build Quality: Rating: 5/5 |
Around the turn of the new year I bought a Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray player. I loved the picture quality, design, and the fact it could play DVDs from any region (thanks to a hack). However, soon I noticed that the player was not as fantastic at handling lateral motion on on the Blu-ray format as I had hoped: for instance, a person walking slowly across screen would invariably produce a "heat haze" effect that I found distracting.
I decided to take the plunge, selling my 320 to a friend and getting a BDP-LX71 from eBay. Although many people have commented on the huge size of the LX71, I loved the design as soon as I took it out the box. The machine is made in Japan, and the build quality shows straight away in the sleek finish of the touch-sensitive buttons, gold-plated connectors, and general sense of solidity to the unit. Why are small things always thought of as better, even when they do not need to be small?
Picture quality on the LX71 is amazingly good. I find it can handle motion far better than the BDP-320, meaning sharpness can be turned up far higher on my TV and the 100Hz settings turned further down than was the case when using the cheaper model. Being far more interested in video quality than audio, this pleased me greatly.
It must be noted that whereas the BDP-320 has 48-bit Deep Colour, the LX71 only has the 36-bit variant. However, switching the colour space on my Samsung B7020 to Native often gave the colour pallette -especially reds- an unnaturally garish effect when used with the 320. With the LX71, the effect of this is lessened by the tighter colour range. With the emphasis that videophiles place on "like the director intended" Blu-ray and DVD transfers, I actually think this is no bad thing. So, for instance while the Blu-ray of Luchino Visconti's "The Leopard" may not not now how the ultra-vibrant reds on the soldiers' uniforms that the BDP-320 was able to provide, scenes such as the famous ballroom sequence are that much more fluid and assured on the LX71.
The lack of BD Live is a drawback for many people, but seeing as I watch mainly "arty" films, such as those from Masters Of Cinema and the BFI, it doesn't really bother me. And as for the oft-criticised "long" Blu-ray disc loading times: if you can't wait 35-40 seconds for a disc to load, then you really should be undergoing treatment for some sort of attention deficeit disorder rather than writing reviews.
The menus are the same sleek affair as the BDP-320, with plentiful options for fine-tuning picture during playback, and options dealing with things such as colour space, and the various permutations for audio outs (which are also far more comprehensive than the 320).
If you can overlook the obvious absense of BD Live and region-free DVD playback, plus the sheer monolithic size of the thing, the LX71 is a machine that's well worth tracking down.
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