Blu-ray

I think I really fell in love with the glories of High Definition TV when I saw my first movie on Blu-ray disc. Though Blu-ray movies, Blu-ray discs, and Blu-ray players continue to be disparaged as yesterday's news -- some feel Blu-ray's win over the rival HD DVD format in 2008 was a case of "too little, too late" -- I still get genuinely excited when I hear that one of my favorite movies has been released on Blu-ray.

I really saw the light -- so to speak -- when "Batman: The Dark Knight" came out on Blu-ray. The incredible amount of detail and gorgeous cinematography of that movie didn't really hit me until I saw it on Blu-ray. I had originally watched the film in Upper Manhattan in a rundown movie theater with terrible picture quality and poor sound.

At home though, while playing The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc on my Sony Playstation 3 hooked into my Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U, the picture quality was astounding. Furthermore, many of the behind-the-scenes extras and downloadable BD Live bonus features enhanced my movie-watching experience and even explained how some of the crucial scenes in the movie were shot. Plus, there were no kids chattering away on their cell phones as there were when I saw The Dark Night in the theater. 

Though standard DVDs don't look bad on a Blu-ray players with good upscaling capabilities -- the Sony Playstation 3 is actually one of the best upscaling devices around -- DVD's native 480p resolution is no match for a good, 1080p Blu-ray disc. If you care about image quality in your movies -- heck if you care about cinema in general -- Blu-ray will get you hooked. Sure there are downloadable HD movies online but quality is not nearly on par to Blu-ray while download times can be annoyingly slow.

Sales of Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray players have been moribund since the format was introduced in 2003. That's changing though now that HD DVD has disappeared and retailers have dropped the prices on Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs. Indeed, one of the biggest misperceptions about Blu-ray is how much it costs. Lower prices on Blu-ray discs -- which now sell for $10-15 -- have pushed sales up 91%, according to The Digital Entertainment Group. Meanwhile prices on good Blu-ray players, which once sold for nearly $1,000, have dropped dramatically.

In fact, Wal-Mart was recently seen offering a Blu-ray player for just $98. I think the sweet spot though is still slightly higher than that so here are my picks for the best Blu-ray players for under $200.

Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-ray Player
Picture quality and features are top-notch on this solid Blu-ray player which is why it's surprising that it's now selling for under $200 from several online retailers. For instance, at the time of this story, Beach Camera was offering the Panasonic DMP-BD60K for $189 though supplies were limited. Crisp picture quality comes from the DMP-BD60K's image processor which is designed to produce punchy but accurate color. Meanwhile, audio is handled by built-in Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD decoders which means just about any AV receiver with an HDMI input can play the movie soundtracks on your Blu-ray discs. Also nice on this BD-Live 2.0 compliant disc player is Panasonic's Viera Cast feature which gives you direct online access to YouTube, Picasa, and Amazon On Demand video steaming, along with weather and stock quotes and other live web feeds.

Price: $199
Info: www.panasonic.com


Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player
This sleek Sony Blu-ray player barely made it onto our list mostly because it's price tag was moving in and out of the $200 range at the time of this writing. Most stores are selling it for around $250-300 but RefurbDepot.com has a refurbished version for $187. Even at $300 though, the Sony BDP-S350 is a pretty good deal. The BDP-S350 has full BD-Live (2.0) compatibility, giving you great web interactivity and allowing you to download and stream bonus content including extra scenes, shorts, trailers, and movie-based games. Best of all, Blu-ray picture quality is around the best we've seen while standard DVD upscaling -- always a Sony strong suit -- is superior. The BDP-S350 also has Dolby TrueHD decoding and the ability to bit-stream just about every audio format out there. Sony's Quick start-up means it powers on in just over 6 seconds.

Price: $200-$300
Info: www.sonystyle.com

Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player
One of the lowest priced yet decent quality Blu-ray players we've seen, the Samsung BD-P1500 is not particularly fancy but it is a good bargain and offers a solid overall value. Best Buy had the best price on the BD-P1500 we saw, selling a "factory reburbished" version for $149 at the time of this writing. Like the other top-tier players on this list, the Samsung BD-P1500 is BD Live 2.0 compatible and offers full 1080p Blu-ray playback. While it's great as a basic Blu-ray player, the BD-1500 only offers mediocre upscaling for standard DVD discs so if you still have a lot of DVDs lying around, you might want to stay away from this model. On the other hand, Dolby TrueHD decoding is a nice feature for this price as is the BD-P1500's Ethernet connectivity which makes firmware updates a breeze.

Price: $149-$199
Info: www.samsung.com

Sharp BD-HP21U AQUOS Blu-ray Player
Speaking of low-priced Blu-ray players, the Sharp BD-HP21U has a lot going for it yet sells for as little as $169 from NewEgg.com. One of the BD-HP21U's best features is its Quick Start function which loads a Blu-ray disk in 6-10 seconds, putting it on par with the Sony BDP-S350 (reviewed above) but at a lower price. Unlike the Sony BDP-S350 though, the Sharp only offers Blu-ray profile 1.1 not BD Live 2.0, so it doesn't have quite the same web interactivity of pricer models. On the plus side, it offers decent 1080p Blu-ray picture quality but only so-so DVD upscaling. There is, however, built-in audio decoding for both Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio so movie soundtracks will sound great on your AV system.

Price: $170-$199
Info: www.sharpusa.com

Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Player
And finally, there's the Sony BDP-S300 which is a couple years old now and bare bones when it comes to features but still offers very good 1080p Blu-ray playback and not bad standard DVD upscaling. First off, the downside to buying a two-year-old Blu-ray player that is selling for as low as $149 (refurbished) directly from Sony, is that there's no Ethernet port for upgrading the firmware. Blu-ray disc load times are also slow by 2009 standards. On the other hand, Blu-ray picture quality is on par to Sony's slightly more expensive S350 model and standard DVD upscaling to 1080p is surprisingly good. If you're looking for a better-than-average low-priced Blu-ray player from a name you can trust, Sony's S300 just might have your number.

Price: $150-$200
Info: www.sonystyle.com