The next generation of Blu-ray players is coming in waves. Yesterday we highlighted Pioneer’s latest Blu-ray player; today it’s Panasonic’s turn at a next-gen standalone Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD10A.

Available at an SRP of $599.95, the DMP-BD10A, like Pioneer’s new model, showcases its audio upgrades to complement the HD picture. The DMP-BD10A features an audio upgrade package with the inclusion of 7.1 channel surround, Dolby TrueHD and ‘dts-HD ‘ High Resolution Audio decoding technology, the company says.

In addition to playing pre-recorded Blu-ray movie discs, the DMP-BD10A plays conventional standard-definition DVDs, with automatic 1080p up-conversion via HDMI, and conventional CDs. Other features include: proprietary P4HD technology for performing IP conversion at the pixel level for ultra-fine details, a 297MHz 14bit Video D/A Converter with 4X oversampling, video noise shaping that improves signal-to-noise ratios by shifting noise to an unused band, and theoretical support for nearly 4400 billion colors.

Go to www.panasonic.com for further details.

Arlen Schweiger - Editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com and Electronic House magazine.