Lately, audio brands have been reminiscent of someone in a midlife crisis. They are so afraid of being misunderstood by young people that they are headlong throwing all their efforts into developing something mega-progressive - wireless, smartphone-controlled and covered in rough gray fabric. Of course, there is nothing wrong with trying to catch current trends, especially if such a pursuit does not displace truly serious solutions from the point of view of sound from the catalogues. Pioneer fortunately does not forget about them, and this time we will talk about the classic A-70DA integrated unit.
The device cannot be called an absolute novelty, but this is where the intrigue lies. Agree, when product lines are updated almost every six months, a model that has confidently maintained its flagship position for several years definitely makes you want to get to know each other better.
Pioneer BDP-LX70. With an eye to the future. Magazine "DVD Expert"
We welcome the long-awaited Blu-ray player from the AV king of the planet - Pioneer! This player is the first to use a new standard for processing digitized films, called HD digital film direct 24.
Save and read later -
Universal Blu-ray player Pioneer BDP-LX70
54,000 rub.
PROS:
Excellent picture and sound, support for 1080p mode, modern design
CONS
Lack of backlighting of the remote control keys
The New Frontier
The metal body of the device has a classic rectangular shape, and its sophisticated design fully corresponds to the high class of the product. The massive double-layer chassis guarantees the necessary stability and increases the rigidity of the overall structure. The player is given a special charm by two chrome buttons (“network” and “play”), located symmetrically on the front panel. Indication of operating modes is carried out using a luminescent display with a pleasant blue glow and adjustable brightness.
In this model, Pioneer for the first time used a new standard called HD digital film direct 24. Its main purpose is to provide high-quality processing of video material shot at 24 frames per second, because this is the speed at which all films are shot. Thanks to the use of this technology, the player reproduces sound and image exactly as it happens in a movie theater, in full accordance with the director's intent. When playing a DVD, the player, using the built-in high-quality interpolator processor Pixel Scaler, scales the standard video sequence pixel by pixel to HD resolution.
The audio path is equipped with a 24-bit DAC, but the most important thing for us is expanded support for new generation audio formats. The presence of a built-in Dolby TrueHD decoder allows the player to transmit sound as close as possible to the original studio track on the master recording. In addition, the Dolby Digital Plus codec is also supported, the increased quality and flexibility of which allows you to get multi-channel sound of impeccable quality. However, it should be understood that via HDMI these streams will be output to a maximum of PCM. It will be possible to capture a Dolby TrueHD signal via HDMI starting with the next model - the Pioneer BDP-LX70A, on sale this fall. Of course, our product is fully compatible with all previous codecs, such as DTS.
Another feature of the BDP-LX70 is a built-in network adapter for connecting to an Ethernet computer network with a data transfer rate of 10/100 Mbit/s. With its help, the device is able to play digital video and photos and compressed music files from one or more computers on a local network. And thanks to the “Home Gallery” function, you can even view video files with a resolution of up to 1920x1080p located on your computer’s hard drive. Considering the convenience of storing HD movies on a hard drive, as well as the reduced cost of SAN drives and multimedia servers, this feature offered by the player will come in handy for fans of home video.
The switching equipment also corresponds to the High End class. All output connectors are gold plated. The included remote control has special finger grooves on the back, making it fit perfectly in the hand. The layout of the buttons on it is familiar, with convenient zoning; it’s just a pity that there is no backlighting of the keys.
Finding differences
Having chosen the Russian interface language, we were convinced that the localization was done perfectly - all terms were translated correctly and without errors. The menu has a familiar structure with easy navigation; a small number of nesting levels also makes working with the device convenient. The built-in fan operates almost silently and does not create problems when watching movies.
When connected via the HDMI port, the player showed a wide dynamic range of the video path, easily displaying the full gray scale without artifacts or interference, and it was noticeable that it still had a significant margin in this parameter. The color chart impressed with its impeccably clear separation of boundaries and correct color rendition. Brightness clarity was also very high, and displaying the full test clarity scale was no problem for the player.
After successfully passing the static tests, we started watching the Broken Arrow DVD (R1 NTSC). Highest clarity, excellent detail, complete absence of noise and correct color rendition - all this was already observed in 576p resolution. The 720p and 1080i source signal upscaling modes pleased us with even higher-quality video - with impeccable detail and excellent elaboration of dynamic scenes, bringing the video on the screen as close as possible to the HD format.
Another interesting and useful feature of the player is the ability to change the color signal transmission mode via the HDMI interface; the use of RGB and component signals is allowed. When using an RGB signal, you can select the full range of levels (0-255) or a reduced range to optimally match the characteristics of the display device.
The device also coped well with test material in the PAL system. The built-in interpolator processor scaled the image extremely correctly, and it was flawless across the entire resolution range. Excellent spatial detail and correct color rendering were pleasing to the eye.
Since the model is equipped with a network adapter, we simply had to check its operation as part of a computer network. The Pioneer BDP-LX70 showed its best side here too. Fragments of films in HD format from the hard drive of our computer demonstrated the highest picture quality. As expected, the device effortlessly demonstrated digital photographs - they had the correct color balance and good detailing in volume and were impeccably scaled.
Finally, we put on the Blu-ray of the movie Swordfish. The stunning visuals had us completely immersed in the action. Turning off the lights, we enjoyed this beautiful spectacle - the picture created by the Pioneer BDP-LX70 was so perfect that at times we noticed errors in the scenery and makeup. But, of course, this in no way spoiled the viewing experience, quite the contrary. Activating the HD digital film direct 24 mode allowed us to see an almost cinematic image, and we could not shake the feeling that we were sitting in a large cinema hall in the first row - everything looked so perfect.
Zonal subtleties
The player provided to us for testing is designed to work with Blu-ray media of the second, or European, zone (zone B). Russia, as you know, is classified together with China in zone number 3 (aka C). But for the time being, disc manufacturers do not install regional protection on them, and that is why the device played without problems all the test releases on Blu-ray that we have in our editorial office and related to various zones. But in the future, when zonal restrictions come into force, you should not expect such omnivorousness from the player. Moreover, given the non-obviousness of the “whiteness” of the channels for supplying discs to our stores, in order to avoid misunderstandings, you should come to the purchase fully armed - not only with HD -releases, but also from DVDs - both from our region (fifth) and from the first zone.
Prepared based on materials from DVD Expert magazine, October 2007
www.dvdexpert.ru This review was read 6,668 times
