- Twin HDMI output for Video/Audio
- It has SKYPE video calls
- It has built-in Wi-Fi
- VIERA CAST has been further enhanced with CinemaNow and VUDU, which allow you to stream movies
It is nearly identical to the 210, except it has a second HDMI output so you can bring HD audio into your non-3D-ready receiver. If your receiver has HDMI spec 1.4 (or if you don't care about 3D), then go with the 210.
The setup process was simple with the exception of the trial and error process of getting the right audio signal to my receiver. First, make sure that you send the 'main' HDMI to the TV and the 'sub' HDMI to your receiver. In order to get full resolution, surround sound audio out of the second HDMI output you will need to disable the second video signal. Which means no video going to your receiver. This is less than ideal since I will rarely be watching 3D content and would have preferred to route video through the AVR most of the time for simplicity. I guess they set it up this way to save a few pennies per unit but it stinks.
I have watched a couple of movies so far, and was truly blown away by the sound. I don't want to neglect the picture quality here, but honestly while the picture was quite clear and detailed, it didn't impact me quite as hard as the jump in sound quality did. I probably fall into the audiophile category, and have invested a lot in my surround sound system. The clarity of the dialog, and the raw impact of the effects and soundtrack are truly outstanding.
Some Blu-ray discs (including the two I have watched) include DTS-HD Master audio tracks. To compare, the audio on DVD's tops out at 448kbps* (data transfer rate) and standard Dolby Digital on Blu-rays is about 40% better at 640kbps. But DTS-HD Master streams at 25Mbps (25,000kbps). That is 50 times as much detail in the audio signal! Check for the DTS-HD Master logo on the back when you buy or rent BD's.
To enjoy the DTS-HD Master audio stream, you will need a receiver that can decode the digital stream. Since the new panasonic blu-ray players don't have 5.1 analog outputs, you will have to use the HDMI cable to send the digital signal to your receiver for processing.
I will probably do a bit more tweaking with the settings, and as I learn more I will update my review. I will play around with 3D soon, as my glasses should arrive tomorrow. I also do not have Netflix at this point but plan to add it in the future.
All and all, I couldn't be happier that I chose this player as my first dive into Blu-ray. It isn't as big a jump as VHS to DVD was, but if you want to take full advantage of your flat screen HDTV or surround sound setup then I highly recommend taking the plunge.
*Source: wikipedia "Comparison of high definition optical disc formats"
*Here is a tidbit from the Netflix blog "Currently, our top HD streams are about 4800 kilobits per second" (kbps). If you are picky about your picture or sound, keep in mind that this is about half the fidelity as a standard DVD. I'm not a netflix hater, and I'll join for the unmatched convenience but this is one reason I haven't joined yet. Low-fi is fine for sitcoms and cartoons but for movies and shows like Lost and Heroes, quality trumps convenience in my living room.
***UPDATE***
Still loving this player. It is quick to start up, and resumes playback on discs that don't have blu-ray live content (such as Advertisements on the menu screens......yuck!)
I have also joined Netflix and tried out a couple of streams. One was a Thomas the Train movie for the kiddo. The SD picture was okay, but motion was very jumpy (really bad with moving trains!). We are currently watching Heroes S4 in Blu-ray. The other night we finished a disc and wanted to watch another episode so I streamed it in Netflix HD with 5.1 Dolby Digital. The picture was quite good, though obviously not as crisp as the 1080p from the Blu-ray. Same was true with the audio...The dialog wasn't quite as clear and we had to turn it up a bit louder to catch everything that was said. Missed out on some of the "thereness" experience of Blu-Ray discs, but still quite good. Keep in mind this is coming from a certified audiophile, my wife didn't notice the difference (but asked me to turn it up and rewind so she could hear the dialog).
This player continues to impress me with its features. On my son's 'movie night' we pulled up youtube, watched some trailers of 4 or 5 kids movies, and let him choose which one he wanted to watch. Jumped straight over to netflix (dedicated button on remote, but you have to be on the home screen (?) for it to work) and had the movie running by the time the popcorn was finished popping! Very nice!! Still highly recommended
***UPDATE***
Update on the 'resume' feature of Blu-Rays. Since discs with online content won't automatically resume, Some studio (ABC?) has come up with a nice feature (I forget what it's called!). The only disc I have seen this on is Lost season 5. It allows you to set up a viewer profile (takes 5 seconds), and when you get to the main menu there is an option to continue where you left off. I haven't tried it with multiple profiles, but that is a nice feature for if the wife and I were watching it separately. Another nice feature is when you finish a disc and put the next one in right away, it will skip all the legal stuff/menus and jump straight into the next episode! Nice!! Too bad this isn't standard!?!
Buy Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player Now
Using this blu-ray player with a non-3D HDTV and a Sony receiver that doesn't handle 3D signal passthrough but does playback HD sound, I was a bit concerned about the 2nd HDMI connection for legacy receivers like mine. No worries, I just used the HDMI main out to the receiver's HDMI input, then the receiver's HDMI output to the HDTV. Worked fine, but to get HD audio, I had to switch the audio to PCM, not bitstream. The reason I bring this up is because the instructions ignore those who don't have a 3D HDTV. But this works fine without 3D."Easy Setup" involved location of my wireless network and a few other minor settings. Easy setup was truly easy. I went directly to the setting to upgrade the firmware. Updating the firmware (highly recommended) which took about 10 minutes total, is essential for proper function. I cannot emphasize this enough.
Pressed the red Netflix button on the remote, and it took me to the main VieraCast screen. It does this only the first time, since you have to agree to some terms and log into your Netflix account. Easy to do, no issues (firmware 1.6.3 needed for smooth operation). On my 802.11n wireless network, HD Netflix movies played back okay, except for a few black flashes. Can't imagine that being my network. Also tried Pandora and it worked flawlessly. Weather was quite nice, as was several other apps. Nice collection, and VieraCast menu is easy to customize. Didn't try Skype. Gotta buy Panasonic's cam? Forget it.
Blu-ray 2D was gorgeous and disc boot up was faster than Playstation 3. Believe it. That is, if you enable the quick start feature, which makes the player use a bit more electricity. HD audio was supreme, but had to adjust the audio setting to PCM output from the Panasonic. My first test disc was Billy Joel Live in Shea (2011 release). Haven't tried a DVD yet, but I anticipate the usual.
I don't have 3D anything, but wanted a new blu-ray player to reduce use of my Playstation 3 and its noisy fan. This Panasonic is quiet, quick, tiny, and works with old and new. If this 3D thing does become mainstream, at least I am future proofed with this player. Highly recommended.
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player Here
I was expecting to replace my media player (ASUS) using this one. I believed that it will be faster, easier to use and would support everything I need. So to cut the cr** here are pros and cons.PROS:
Fast. Boot, MKV rewind, Network Access.
HDMI CEC together with Viera TV works perfectly! There is much more than it is required according to CEC standard. Navigation, options works using TV remote.
Works fine with Windows 7 shared folders and DLNA.
I thought touchless sensor is not relevant, but my kids like it a lot and they do not touch the equipment :)
MKV and DTS combinations are supported.
SETUP IS EASY. If you have normal TV (HDMI CEC and HDMI ARC) then setup of TV/AV Receiver/Player can be done using wizard. No additional settings need to be changed.
Option to turn off TV while playing music. Works correctly and does not turn off AV receiver.
BD-RE with movies works fine.
Completely silent. That is awesome.
CONS:
"Play to" aka Media Renderer function is buggy or maybe it is router. Don't know. Stops playing after couple of minutes
No MPEG2 support in MKV.
USB supports only divx and mkv videos. That is nonsense, cause to backup your DVD collection you will need pay additional $ to divx. This is hidden and you will discover the fact only when you buy the player.
It is nonsense that there are different formats supported on BD-RE and BD-R disks. MKV is not supported on BD-RE. Even VOB files are not recognized on BD-RE, though they claim that "Video" is supported on DVD/BD-R/BD-RE discs.
USB sticks with exFAT are not supported. So if you have larger file you will have to buy expensive SDHC cards or use hard drive. It is stupid, but USB HDD with exFAT are supported, but USB sticks are not.
No MKV chapter navigation, so you have to rewind the video.
Changing subtitles or audio channels is incovenient. Really inconvenient.
Overall: Good quality and almost easy to operate, but inconsistent/incomplete format/external device support.
UPDATE AFTER ~2011-09 firmware:
+ Now it has normal support for MPEG 2 in MKV with multiple audio tracks and multiple subtitles. There is still no support for PGS subtitles and chapter navigation, however player now seem to ignore unsupported things instead of throwing error messages.
+ It seems that "Play to" bugs are gone, but it is hard to say for sure.
MKV with VC-1 streams still not supported
HDMV PGS subtitles in MKV are not supported.
"Play to" works with LAN cable only. This just doesn't make sense. Why would you pay extra money for integrated wifi if you still need cable.
Want Panasonic DMP-BDT310 Integrated-Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player Discount?
After reading all the reviews, and the warnings that some of the reviews post, I went ahead and bought this unit anyway. It is rated as the top dog in blu-ray players. It is, but first the warning/advice:Out of the box, this machine will not access Netflix, just as some of the other buyers warned. Performed the update with the latest firmware, and still had problems (make sure that the minute you connect it up, do a firmware update). What I did was to contact Panasonic customer service and then was routed through to technical service department. This took some doing, but finally I was in contact with a wonderful and very knowledgable technician. She walked me through reprogramming the network settings, which has to be done to get this player to talk with your wi-fi network. She walked me through the re-programming codes and entering into the player's software, and bingo; Netflix!!!
Once the player's network was reprogrammed to conform with my wi-fi, there was no problem. ATTENTION!!! Make sure that you write down the codes and store them somewhere safe, most likely with your owner's manual.
Now to the machine. It is a wonderful hi-grade player, and I recommend it highly. It produces and incredible crisp and clean picture, on any television. But what it does to a high end Plasma (most specifically a Panasonic 50" Viera) is beyond words. Just like being there, in the theatre. Other than the re-program, easy to set up. Actually, once you know how to re-program, it too is an easy set-up.
Definitely worth the money (I got a great price here at Amazon). As good, if not better picture than anything else I have seen, even in the showrooms. FIVE STARS!!!
Hooking everything up was a breeze. The TV/entertainment center is in the great room, which is all windows and bright as the sun during the day. I had always heard it best to view 3D DVDs in the darkness for full effect. I wasn't about to wait until nighttime to try out the 3D Blu-ray disk that came with the kit. I turned on the Blu-ray player and inserted the 3D disk. The 3D adapter from the kit automatically turned on. I put the wireless glasses over my prescription glasses and -WOW! The Blu-ray DVD that comes with the kit is really a Disney promo thing that showcases their 3D movies. I ended up buying a few of the 3D titles featured just because they suddenly looked interesting to me. The 3D effects are that stunning. And this was in broad daylight on a rear-projection television set.
My DSL modem is a wireless router. I have two computers that share the signal from the router. In effect, I've set up a very small home network. To be honest, Windows actually set it up for me. All I had to do was enter the security code (written on the side of the router) when Windows asked me to. I did that for both computers and suddenly the two PCs were "talking" to each other and sharing the same signal from the router.
"That was easy," I thought. I decided to press my luck and bought a wireless printer. Setting it up was a bit more of a hassle because I didn't know anything about encryption settings. The only setting I had ever heard of was WEP, which I believe was once the default for Windows. The encryption setting of the router and the setting in Windows must match in order for the router to communicate with your Windows computer. I had no problems setting up the Home Network because both Windows and the router just happened to have the same encryption setting: WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA2-PSK (AES).
I was trying to get the printer to communicate with the modem using the WEP encryption setting. The printer asked me which setting I wanted. I had never heard of WPA or WPA2. And I certainly didn't know that WPA and WPA2 were the new defaults for Windows; just like I didn't know the router's default setting was WPA/WPA2. Trial and error and looking at the router's setting made me realize I needed to set the printer's encryption setting to WPA/WPA2. I then entered the router's key into the printer's panel and, yay!, the printer was now on the network. Windows recognized the printer and automatically downloaded and installed the right drivers for it.
So no more kicking sand and saying I would get around to it. It was now time to make the DMP-BDT310 Blu-ray player part of my modest home network. Man, how I was dreading it. I prepared myself to spend hours tinkering with settings. I turned on the Blu-ray player. I used the Blu-ray's remote control to highlight "Network" on the Blu-ray player's first screen. I followed the prompts and the player "found" my network. It asked me to enter the router's key. I did that and -yes, it was that easy -the Blu-ray player joined the home network.
I pressed the green "VIERA CAST" button on the remote. I had heard of Viera Cast before, but I had no idea what it was. But as soon as I pressed the button, WOW! There were literally dozens of "destinations" or sites on the Internet to select from -sites that have video content. For example, you could select YouTube, sign in to your account (if you want), and watch YouTube videos on your TV! Or you can select Amazon, look at your own Amazon video library, or rent an Amazon video, and watch it now or later. I immediately rented "Bridesmaids" and watched it two days later. The picture and sound were beautiful. HULU was another choice, as was Netflix. There were so many to choose from, but I'm new to this, so I didn't recognize most of them.
However, one I did recognize was SKYPE. Long-distance video phone calls for free.
Finally, another thing I had heard of, but never knew what it was, is something called BD Live. Some Blu-ray disks have the BD Live feature, and some don't. Apparently, if you select BD Live from the disk's menu, your player connects to the Internet and downloads additional content that you can watch and interact with (using the Blu-ray player's remote). The content may be games, documentaries and interviews, and even a way to rearrange the scenes in the movie to make your own movie.
To be able to download BD Live content, the Blu-ray player requires additional storage in the form of a SD Memory Card. The front panel opens on the player and the SD card slot is immediately visible. The specs for the SD Memory card are listed in the player's manual, which can be downloaded directly from Panasonic's website. The SD card that you insert for BD Live programming should be empty and formatted, again, according to the manual's specifications.
But if you have content, like pictures or videos, on your SD card, you can insert it into the Blu-ray player and watch it all on your TV.
Oh, by the way, if you have the player in your network -meaning, it's communicating with your wireless router -you don't have to worry about looking at the manufacturer's website for FIRMWARE updates. You can set the player to search, download and install firmware updates automatically, or you can do it manually.
At the end of it all, I suppose what really matters is the quality of the video and audio that the DMP-BDT310 is capable of. With Blu-day disks, whether 2D or 3D, the picture and sound are phenomenal. When it plays regular DVDs, it must up-convert because the typical pixelization artifacts (seen so clearly on a 72" TV) are not there. The picture from a regular DVD is not as sharp as that from a Blu-ray disk, but the picture is clean.
I realize this is a long review, but I hope it's been helpful for people like me -people who want something nice, easy to use, and cutting edge in terms of technology, but want to learn about it without feeling lost ("What's Viera Cast? What's BD Live? What's an SD Memory Card? Where do I get firmware updates?") or intimidated by the techno jargon used by bona fide video aficionados.
Simply put: "Is the DMP-BDT310 a really good player, and does it have features that I can actually learn to use and enjoy?"
Emphatically, the answer to that is "Yes!"
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