The Panasonic DMP-BD 80 is a Blu-ray player released in February 2009. Though it carries a recommended retail price of 392 GBP, the device now sells for around 250 GBP online.

• Superb 24p movie picture.
• Excellent DVD playback.
• Great multimedia functions.
• Accesses YouTube videos online.
• Low power-consumption.
• Decodes all HD audio formats.

• Disc drive is too loud.
• DVD "Film" mode must be activated manually each time.

A real do-it-all! The DMP-BD 80 impresses with an almost perfect Blu-ray picture, as well as with modern multimedia and networking extras. Older receivers benefit from internally decoded HD audio, either as PCM or from the analog outputs, in outstanding quality.

DVD playback also impresses, but with one irritating hiccup: Every time the disc changes, the BD 80 forgets to use its excellent DVD playback mode - similarly to other Panasonic models. Furthermore, the overly loud disc drive irritates during quiet movie scenes.

Multimedia

Like in the player's DMP-BD 60 predecessor, the "Viera Cast" function is one of the BD 80's top highlights. Via this internet service, the Panasonic provides access to YouTube videos, Picasa photo albums, news tickers, and sports results - there are also plans to extend the service significantly.

Surfing the net works impressively well - with our 3-megabit-per-second DSL connection, Viera Cast searched for videos, images, and information with pleasing swiftness and, crucially, in amazingly high quality. Obviously, however, no Blu-ray player can fully replace a PC browser with a mouse and keyboard - especially because of the awkward Softkey text-input.

Hidden beneath a flap: the SD-card reader and USB port.

Camcorder videos in AVCHD format and JPEG photos will play back via the Panasonic's SD-card reader, which sits under a flap on the front right of the player, beside the USB connection. DivX videos and MP3 music, on the other hand, will only play back from a CD or DVD.

What gets in the way of the BD 80 reaching full multimedia-idol status is the lack of DLNA compatibility - this would allow the player to access multimedia content on a PC and play it back over the network.

Loading Time and "Quick Start" Mode:
Sadly, when loading discs, the Panasonic is no sprinter - the player requires 26 seconds on average for a Blu-ray disc. Compared to competing players, this almost looks ‘speedy', but in absolute terms the value remains unacceptable - why do manufacturers struggle so much in this respect?

Panasonic's "Quick Start" mode only partially relieves the problem: The loading time reduces to nine seconds (still pretty slow!) if the disc was already in the player when it entered standby mode. If, on the other hand, you give the player a new disc, you can forget about a so-called quick start.

What's more - and it has to be said - "Quick Start" drives up standby-mode power consumption from 0.3 watts to a bulky five watts. Still, we were impressed with the low operating power-consumption: Here, the Panasonic was content with just under 15 watts - an exemplary value!

Remote Control:

The remote control proffers clear button-grouping and a comfortable grip.

We loved the handy remote control, into which Panasonic has clearly put a lot of thought - important functions surround the cursor cross to provide speedy access.

Noisy Disc Drive:
Criticism goes, however, to the noisy disc drive: At the start of a disc, the noise level surges because of the higher rotation-speed. Later, the speed drops a little, but the noise remains irritating during quiet passages.

Picture Quality

HDTV:
If the user switches on the 24p movie-playback mode, which is inactive in the factory setup, the BD 80 impresses with judder-free 24p playback that borders on true perfection. The digital HDMI levels match perfectly, and test patterns and movies appear completely without flicker.

Picture controls abound on this player - not to be taken for granted in this price class. They allow, for example, correction of the excessive graininess in the war drama "The Patriot" - or, in "The Fox and the Child", significant noise reduction thanks to the two digital noise filters. The controls even work for BD-Live material downloaded via the Internet.

De-interlacing of HD video material with 50 or 60 motion phases per second (1080/50i or 1080/60i) poses no problems for the BD 80. License plates of cars moving through the picture at different speeds, on Pioneer's test disc "Pioneer Demo Contents", show no comb-effects whatsoever. Only as the camera moves slowly past a woman's face does the player exhibit some tiny weaknesses, with the eyelashes flickering slightly.

DVD:
Just like the DMP-BD 60, the BD 80 also offers superb film-mode detection for DVD movies: In the "Film" mode, de-interlacing works perfectly - even for DVDs that lack a progressive flag.

But there's one problem: The user has to set the player manually to "Film" mode each time - the Panasonic forgets the mode whenever you insert a new disc and simply switches back to "Auto". The latter mode is nowhere near as good for DVDs, and renders an unpleasant flicker in more challenging scenes.

Sound Quality

Thanks to an analog, 7.1-channel audio output, the BD 80 also serves excellently for older receivers that lack an HDMI input.

To get a full bitstream-output of HD audio via HDMI, the user must switch off "BD-Video Secondary Audio", since otherwise the player only outputs Dolby Digital or - with DTS - only the core, both of which offer more modest sound quality. The drums in a concert by German band "Silbermond", recorded in DTS High Resolution Audio, sound much more powerful in the full audio signal, and even the audience's applause sounds much clearer and more realistic in comparison to the DTS core.

If the DMP-BD 80's internal decoder processes the sound, there's an audible difference between the HD audio output and the bitstream output. Furthermore, the BD 80 behaves confusingly with 5.1-channel DTS-HD soundtracks: both PCM audio and analog multichannel sound always output in 7.1 format! On the one hand, this makes the rear sound more spacious, but, on the other hand, the sound loses some liveliness and dynamics.