Pioneer Refreshes Blu-ray Player Line-up

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Pioneer, as you surely know, just announced its Second Generation Kuro sets, but TVs isn't all the company makes. In addition to the new HDTVs touted yesterday, a pair of Blu-ray players have also just been pushed out - the Elite BDP-05FD (pictured) and the BDP-51FD BonusView.

The clue to the significant new features over Pioneer's last lineup of Blu-ray players is in the name of the BDP-51FD. BonusView, if you didn't already know, is the name many manufacturers are applying to BD Profile 1.1, which includes functionality such as picture-in-picture modes and directors' commentaries overplayed on top of the original footage.

The players support 7.1 channel sound, including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD and DTS HD Master audio. Video-wise, 12-bit video processing is sported by both players and ever-importantly, the HDMI 1.3 port supports 1080p/24 outputs.

The BDP-05FD and BDP-51FD both offer plenty in the way of picture tweaking, all optimised for various scenarios. A special Pioneer PDP mode is optimised for Kuro plasma sets, with other options including LCD, Projector and non-Kuro plasma modes. Picture Control Suite claims 13 levels of video adjustment should a manual configuration be desired.

Differentiating the two players; the Elite BDP-05FD improves on the BDP-51FD's 108MHz video encoder with a 297MHz chip. Elsewhere the Elite also packs an aluminium front panel, touch-sensitive controls and gold-plated connections. No UK pricing or release date yet, but in the US the BDP-51FD will cost $599 (£300) with the BDP-05FD coming in at $799 (£400).

Link:
Pioneer press release.

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