The Pioneer BDP-320 is a Blu-ray player, available since summer 2009 for a recommended retail price of 400 GBP. While that's already fairly cheap in Pioneer terms, the device is available for as little as 350 GBP online.

• Outstanding Blu-ray movie picture - including 24p.
• DVD picture quality also impresses.
• HD-audio output as bitstream.
• BD-Live support.
• Extensive video settings.

• Extremely long loading times.
• The fans are a little too loud.

If picture quality is your main concern, the BDP-320 won't disappoint: This is one of the most professional BD players, offering some the best video technology available - and all at an extremely fair price. On the other hand, buyers will have to make do without YouTube videos and DLNA features. They'll also have to put up with very long loading times.

Connections:

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Introduction

It's not always expensive if it's a Pioneer - with the BDP-320, the Japanese high-end manufacturer presents a Blu-ray player that will appeal to both pro and entry-level users, thanks to its attractive 400 GBP price point. Although this fledgling model's price places it significantly below Pioneer's LX models, the BDP-320 shines nevertheless, offering extensive picture-adjustment options, just like its bigger brothers. The only corner-cutting comes with the analog audio section, which only offers stereo output. But - to be totally honest - very few customers still need analog, multi-channel sound.

Elegant and practical: The remote control gives easy access to all important menu entries.

Multimedia Capabilities:
Even though the Pioneer BDP-320 is no multimedia superstar, it does surpass, for example, its significantly more expensive relative the BDP-LX 08 in certain aspects: Besides AVCHD and DivX videos, the BDP-320 also plays back JPEG photos - in outstanding quality, and with excellent scaling options for both low- and high-resolution images.

The LAN socket allows the player to access BD-Live extras from the Internet. The player then stores these data its internal 1-GB memory, and there's a USB socket on the rear of the unit to allow storage of larger quantities of BD-Live downloads. The navigation for these functions could have been a touch more snappy.

Loading Time:
Unfortunately, the 320 turns out to be pretty slow: 43 seconds to load a Blu-ray is almost unacceptable - it really doesn't get slower than this! Another shocking figure: 28 seconds tick by between switching the device on from standby mode and the disc tray opening - 28! The rather-too-loud fan also irritates, but we've grumbled enough by now - the BDP-320 also reveals many positive characteristics.

"Pure Cinema Mode" and picture settings:
First and foremost of these is the "Pure Cinema Mode", which provides a whole arsenal of picture settings - not to be taken for granted from a player in this price class. Tweak-lovers can therefore set up the Blu-ray picture to suit their taste perfectly by changing, for example, the sharpness level or the gamma characteristic.

This also works - by the way - for output in 24 frames per second (24p format), which many movie-fans prefer. The only limitation in that case is that you cannot also use the four noise filters.

Connectivity:

The connectivity sticks to the essentials, and the Pioneer isn't exactly the fastest player on the market.

The rear-panel of the BDP-320 offers only the most important connections: an HDMI 1.3 output (compatible with 48-bit Deep Color and x.v.Color), an optical digital output, and cinch sockets for analog stereo sound - and that's it.

The video frequency response is perfect via HDMI.

Blu-ray:
It's no huge surprise: The Pioneer BDP-320 gave perfect measurements in all of our laboratory tests! In the "Source Direct" HDMI mode, the player relays Blu-ray movies to AV receivers or TVs in absolutely impeccable 24p movie-theater quality - there's nothing, and we mean literally nothing, to complain about.

Our summary is just as positive for playback of HDTV productions with 30, 50, or 60 frames per second: In this price class, nothing competes with the player's excellent progressive-picture quality - the BDP-320 hasn't even heard of line flicker. Our pitfall test-sequences go off without a hitch, appearing in the same lofty picture quality as on bigger-brother models the BDP-LX08 or the BDP-LX91.

Even slow-moving portrait photos, for example, cannot fluster the player in "Pure Cinema" mode - eyelashes show no flicker whatsoever. The "Auto 1" mode also works flawlessly; TV productions and movies are exceedingly accurate. You can probably tell: We're impressed!

DVD:
If you switch from "Auto 1" to "Pure Cinema", DVD playback on the BDP-320 also provides extremely stable progressive pictures - even in DVDs that lack a progressive flag (for example, "Six Days Seven Nights"). In combination with the video settings and noise filters, you can therefore tease optimum quality from your DVD collection, so long as you're prepared to devote a little time to the exercise.

The propeller blade shows slight stair-step effects.

Nevertheless, we do have one criticism: Scaling of vertical edges isn't always 100-percent correct. In "Six Days Seven Nights", for example, a downward-pointing propeller blade carries slight stair-step effects even in up-scaled 1080p resolution - here, other Blu-ray players in the price class perform better.

The linear frequency response of the analog stereo output.

The BDP-320 is an ideal source device for both older and modern AV receivers, since its HDMI interface can output all HD formats either as a bitstream or decoded into PCM. The 320 also passes the music listening-test with bravura: Music sounds pleasantly rounded and spacious through the player's analog stereo outputs.

Via HDMI, CD audio sounds brighter and less pleasant - or, at least, it does if the PQLS function (Precision Quartz Lock System, Pioneer's proprietary function for eliminating jitter in combination with Pioneer receivers) is switched off.