The Denon DVD-3800 BD is a Blu-ray, DVD, and CD player, available since December 2008 and currently selling for around 1,000 GBP.

• Excellent 24p movie picture.
• Accurate DVD de-interlacing.
• High-definition audio as bitstream, PCM, and analog.
• Superb CD sound.

• Firmware is not yet perfect at time of testing.
• Lacks BD-Live functionality (no BD Profile 2.0).
• Disc drive is slightly audible during CD playback.

The DVD-3800 BD not only provides an excellent Blu-ray picture, but also an excellent DVD picture, thanks to the Japanese developers' speedy reaction to some advice from Televisions.com. The sound also meets our most stringent requirements. The only disappointment was the lack of support for BD-Live.

Connections:

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Introduction

Denon shows its true colors: The new player, the DVD-3800 BD, plays Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs in the best possible quality. The Japanese company has a reputation to uphold, since their DVD player, the DVD-3930, enjoys legendary renown for its flawless 1080p up-scaling of DVDs.

On the other hand, Denon's first Blu-ray player, the DVD-2500 BT, did suffer from a few shortcomings. For example, it could not produce flicker-free DVD de-interlacing, and - since Denon intended it as purely a "transport" player - it possessed just a single HDMI output. Transport players house no decoding electronics, and are intended simply as a playback unit, to be used in conjunction with a stand-alone AV processor. If you already have a high-quality AV receiver, this solution makes a lot of sense, but the spartan connections panel went down like a lead balloon with Denon fans.

It's a relief, therefore, to see that the DVD-3800 BD's rear panel presents an impressive collection of gold-plated sockets for analog video and audio signals, alongside the HDMI output. A Realta sxT2 processor and various picture-adjustment controls aim to provide perfect DVD playback. If that's not enough, the new player's analog audio interfaces promise first-rate sound, thanks to direct signal processing. The Denon's CD playback also aims to match the quality of high-end CD players (for a detailed look at the technology, see the Background info box below).

Features and Operation

Operating Noise and Loading Time:
As with the DVD-2500 BT, the new player uses Denon's own disc drive, which reduces vibrations and guarantees stable disc rotation. This emits a quiet, high-rev motor noise, but this only irritates occasionally during CD playback.

The Blu-ray loading time is average, at 45 seconds, but the Denon indulges itself with up to 90 seconds for building up Java-based menus, for example, with the movie "Iron Man".

The player's lack of a network interface means it cannot access BD-Live Internet content, but this is the DVD-3800 BD's only weakness.

Multimedia Capabilities:
Multimedia junkies, rejoice: The Denon will play back MP3, WMA, and JPEG files via its SD-card reader, but does not display preview thumbnails, and will not accept AVC-HD camcorder videos, unlike current Panasonic players. As with the player's predecessor, the 2500 BT, the SD-card activation is nestled deep within the menu, but we otherwise loved the clearly-arranged user interface and tidy graphics.

Remote Control:

Handy: The remote control's buttons glow in the dark, for easy operation in the darkened home-theater.

The remote's "Display" button brings up an indication of the currently selected resolution and color space, as well as the digital audio format in use. In 1080/24p playback, it also displays the current frame rate.

You can even force the player to output in 24p if the display has not signaled its compatibility with this format. In order to do this, however, remember to activate "I/P Direct" (Interlaced/Progressive) in the video menu - if you don't, the 1080/24p format remains unavailable.

Almost there: The 3800 BD offers gold-plated connections for all except the HDMI interface. An Internet connection is missing from the otherwise-ample connectivity.

Audio Formats and Settings:
The Denon not only relays high-bitrate audio formats as a bit stream, but can also optionally decode these internally. In the "HDMI Multi (LPCM)" setting, it will output decoded, 7.1-channel sound via HDMI, and simultaneously also an analog 7.1-channel signal via cinch. This is a very practical feature, allowing you to compare the sound quality of both outputs via your AV receiver. The full loudspeaker configuration is effective for both audio outputs, including the level adjustments, test-tone generator, and delay settings.

Picture Quality

Excellent: The new Denon's HDMI frequency response shows no high-frequency fall-off whatsoever.

Blu-ray:
The earlier DVD-2500 BT already stood out with its impeccable de-interlacing of HD movies and documentaries, but did suffer a slight dampening of almost one decibel on its HDMI output. The new model, however, delivers a reliable 100 percent of the output level, with no high-frequency fall-off, meaning high-quality Blu-ray discs won't need the three forms of picture sharpness control that this unit provides.

If you're looking for a top-class Blu-ray picture, look no further. For RGB output via HDMI, the color levels do exhibit slight deviations, but these are invisible to the naked eye. Playback in 24p is immaculate, as is de-interlacing of 1080i material at 50 or 60 hertz (for example, documentaries or concert videos). The quality meets the same superlative level as Panasonic's BD55, Samsung's BD-P2500, and Sony's S550, while only the Sony S5000, with its "Super Bit Mapping" technology, can produce a better Blu-ray picture.

Instead, Denon makes use of traditional image controls, a 10-band gamma correction, and a 3-level noise suppression. Their effect is easy to see in the animal-adventure movie "The Fox and the Child". In Chapter 4, the mist-shrouded tree tops show an obvious graininess, which the noise filter does a good job of reducing. The side effect is that lead-character Lily's freckles smooth out as soon as she turns her head. A good compromise, therefore, is to set the noise suppression to level 1.

Furthermore, the 10-band gamma correction allows you to store gamma curves for various ambient-light levels, and to a level of accuracy that projectors and flat-panel TVs rarely offer.

DVD:

Tricky: The Superbit version of "Gladiator" does not have progressive flags, but the 3800 BD's film-mode detection gives perfect, flicker-free playback.

As Denon promised, the DVD-3800 BD offers solid de-interlacing of DVDs. In our tests, even our favorite pitfall-sequences ran smoothly, such as the bird's-eye view of the Colosseum in the British ‘Superbit' edition of "Gladiator", or the camera-pan across the beach in "Six Days Seven Nights". The Roman roof tiles and wood grain of the beach loungers looked unusually soft and a little blurry.

Our laboratory measurements confirmed this impression: The player filters the vertical picture information - the finer the details, the stronger the filtering. Thankfully, however, this error only occurs for PAL DVDs.

Video Technology in Detail

The new DVD-3800 BD took on the much-praised DVD-3930's Interlaced/Progressive converter for SDTV video, as well as the Realta sxT2 scaler. The HQV technology - from Florida-based firm Teranex - boasts 10-bit processing. In the "Auto" mode, it delivers fast and solid de-interlacing for both movies and TV material, while the "Video 1" mode is purely for movies, and "Video 2" is intended for TV.

Unlike the DVD-2500 BT, the DVD-3800 BD analyzes sequential interlaced frames from movies, and compiles those with the same motion phase into sharp, progressive images. However, this film-mode detection is only relevant for DVD material. With HDTV, the HQV processor automatically de-interlaces movies and TV documentaries, so it is not necessary to switch between progressive modes.

"Denon Pixel Image Correction":
The Denon also has a built-in "Denon Pixel Image Correction" (D.P.I.C.). This takes data from the nearest nine pixels in the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions. It then carries out high-resolution video correction.

The user can call up the video settings using the direct button ("Mode") on the remote control, giving access to 14 settings that apply to both HDTV and SDTV. All 14 require a moving picture for their effect to be visible - you'll see nothing if the picture is paused.

Gamma Correction:

Fine tuning: The 10-band gamma correction is specific to Denon, allowing fine adjustments to the HDMI picture.

The video settings also include a 10-band gamma correction and three different kinds of sharpness control. You can also shift the picture position in small steps, by up to 14 pixels left or right, and 7 pixels up or down.

Sound Quality

Separate: The Denon processes audio and video on two separate circuits.

For our first audio run-through, we tried the Blu-ray demo disc "The sound of High Definition" - specifically, a live recording of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds in Dolby TrueHD format. In the "HDMI Multi (LPCM)" sound mode, we used our Denon AVR-2309 AV receiver to compare the analog and digital audio outputs. On both outputs, the acoustic guitars and the audience's applause sounded authentic, but the analog sound seemed to rouse more force and dynamism.

In fact, however, careful measurements showed that the receiver's analog input actually runs 0.5 decibels louder at the same level setting. After correcting for this, the differences were far less audible. With the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me", the battle between digital HDMI bit-stream audio and decoded PCM multichannel audio via HDMI produced inconclusive results. Switching over to analog 5.1 sound made Jane Monheit's voice sound more relaxed and rounded, and John Pizarelli's guitar and vocals sound less constrained.

CD audio sounds great from both types of analog Cinch output - that is, from the stereo connections, as well as the 7.1 cinch terminal's front-left and front-right outputs. With "Little Chubby", the Thom Rotella Band's percussion sounded powerful through our listening room's reference speakers (B&W 901), but at the same time, the beats sounded neither brash nor severe.

A further advantage of the analog 7.1 connection: When putting on a music CD, you don't have to switch the receiver into the stereo sound mode. If, on the other hand, you've just been using the HDMI output (that is, a digital output) to listen to a multichannel movie soundtrack, the receiver outputs the CD's 2-channel sound as matrixed, 7.1-multichannel sound. Therefore, it's definitely worth trying this out with the good old analog connection.

Audio Technology in Detail

Denon has developed "Advanced AL24 Processing", which we also saw in the legendary - and now discontinued - DVD-3930. The new DVD-3800 BD uses high-bitrate technology, in particular to convert 16-bit CD sound up to 24-bit resolution. It can also upsample signals from 44.1 kilohertz to as many as 192 kHz. An ALPHA processor suppresses quantization distortions and produces a harmonic spectrum extended to up to 80 kHz. After digital-analog conversion, the audio signal in quiet passages is therefore supposed to sound finer.

"Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit":
For 8-channel home-theater sound, Denon's "Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit" (D.D.S.C.-HD) comes in useful. This contains a decoder for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution. Denon's top AV receivers also contain comparable components. The DVD-3800 BD's direct signal-processing does, however, offer the advantage that it decodes and converts digital signals according to the shortest signal-processing path.

This helps to avoid jitter problems that can arise from digital HDMI-transmission. The separate construction, with individual circuits for each audio channel, also offers reduced jitter. The Denon combines separate circuit boards for audio and video with three "Pure Audio" modes: The first press of the button switches off the video section, increasing the analog front channels' signal-to-noise ratio from an already-high 109 decibels (dB) to an impressive 112 dB. The second mode deactivates the display (with the video section once again active), but this gave no measurable difference. In the third mode ("All off"), the display and video circuits switch off, but this also gave no detectable improvement over the first mode.