The Panasonic DMP-BD 60 is a Blu-ray player with BD-Live support and 7.1-channel audio output. Available since February 2009, the device currently sells for 250 GBP.

• Comprehensive multimedia functionality.
• Superb 24p movie picture.
• Excellent DVD playback.
• Seven picture controls.
• Also decodes digital 7.1-channel audio.

• Audible disc drive and fans.
• No analog multichannel output.
• Forgets "Film" mode for DVDs.

Put simply, this is an excellent Blu-ray player. Picture and sound both impress - even for DVD playback. We're more than happy to overlook the two small weaknesses - slight edge flicker in HD documentaries and a forgetfulness for "Film" mode - especially on account of the numerous multimedia capabilities, low power-consumption, and moderate price.

"Viera Cast":
Wow - a new multimedia master! The network interface not only enables BD-Live, but also gives access to diverse online services from Panasonic's cooperation-partners. Under the collective term "Viera Cast", these allow the user, for example, to display YouTube videos on the TV screen, to scour the latest headlines, or to fill up on the hottest football news from Eurosport.

A flap on the front right conceals the SD-card reader and the USB socket.

The player will also play back camcorder videos in AVCHD format, either from a disc or via the SD-card reader, which sits under a flap on the front of the unit. Rather bafflingly, however, the newly added USB socket (also under the said flap) cannot play back AVCHD - we've no idea what the developers were thinking here.

In comparison with its pricier big brother, the BD 80, the BD 60 is missing an analog output for multichannel sound. This, however, is only relevant for home-theater fans that are still using an older AV receiver with no HDMI input. Everyone else can simply save themselves the 50 GBP difference by buying the BD 60.

Power-consumption and "Quick Start" function:
Panasonic has reduced the energy consumption relative to that of predecessor models, such as the BD 35, as well as reducing the loading times.

The new "Quick Start" function means the player takes just nine seconds to begin Blu-ray playback when switched on from standby mode - that's greased lightning compared to competing models! The disadvantage is that "Quick Start" increases the standby power-consumption from 0.3 watts to a ripe four watts.

Users must decide for themselves whether the faster access is worth the extra power. The operational power consumption measures just 14.8 watts - very economical indeed!

Remote Control:

Not even dropping it on the floor could harm the BD 60's robust remote control.

Though anything but small and dainty, the remote control sits comfortably in the hand. The clear, intuitive layout, however, isn't nearly as impressive as the extremely robust feel. Even when we accidentally dropped it onto a hard floor, it just kept on working as perfectly as ever. Praise also goes to the seven picture controls - contrast, brightness, sharpness, colour, gamma, 3D NR, and Integrated NR - that aren't yet a matter of course in this price class.

HDTV:
Older Panasonic Blu-ray players already left no cause for complaint in terms of HDTV playback - and this is once again the case here: The BD 60 even manages to play back tricky scenes faultlessly - in movies such as "Casino Royale" (jam-packed with stumbling blocks), camera pans and close-ups of faces go off perfectly! Try as we might, even our probing test patterns couldn't interrupt the Panasonic's stride. What's more, if you ever do find slight weaknesses - too much noise or low sharpness, for example - you can quickly eliminate them using the picture controls.

Of course, nobody's perfect: De-interlacing of video-based material with 60 frames per second (1080i/60 Hz) sometimes falls short of top-notch - we eventually caught the BD 60 out with the Pioneer Demo Disc "Demo Contents 2008 Summer". Normal HD documentaries, however, such as "Antarctica Dreaming" or HD concerts such as "Doktor Faust", display flawlessly - the de-interlacing is back on perfect form.

DVD:
No matter how good the BD 60's DVD playback might be, the Japanese developers still haven't managed to overcome one problem in particular: Every time you put in a new DVD, even this new player forgets that it was in "Film" mode. The users that are aware this is happening are the lucky ones - at least they know to set it again each time to get the best quality out of their DVDs. But what about the users that don't know?

This is a real shame, since the BD 60 actually performs excellent de-interlacing when set to the correct mode. Even DVDs without a progressive flag (a massive hurdle for most Blu-ray players) convert magnificently, as we observed using "Mission to Mars". Furthermore - yes, another plus point! - the noise-filter setting helped us to reduce noise significantly on the ageing aforementioned disc.

Conversely, DVDs with little noise - such as "Cars" or "Monsters, Inc." - can benefit from the player's sharpness control: A subtle increase in sharpness teases out a better overall picture. Even concert DVDs were up-scaled to Full HD resolution stunningly on the BD 60, which relays guitar strings to the screen crisply and with precise anti-aliasing.

In the measurements lab, we observed slightly increased levels on the finest details in HDMI transmissions, but this didn't look unnatural and even had a positive effect on the picture. And, since the digital HDMI levels are otherwise reproduced correctly, we actually found nothing to criticize about the Panasonic's DVD-playback quality. Exemplary!

The BD 60's rear panel keeps to the essentials, but only markedly lacks analog multichannel outputs.

The player unhesitatingly transmits DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD to an amplifier as a bitstream, delivering powerful and precise sound: Brutal explosions, masterful multichannel music, and clear speech leave no doubt that the modern HD audio formats are far superior to standard DTS and Dolby. Multichannel PCM audio via HDMI fails to impress quite as much, so we thoroughly recommend opting for bitstream audio output. For outputting CD sound, the optical output turns out to be the best option for digital stereo. Overall, the BD 60 also performs excellently as a CD player, which isn't always the case among Blu-ray players - just another reason why the Panasonic is such a top product.