…its solid build quality makes it look and feel like a more ‘high-end’ piece of kit, but it lacks the Samsung’s aesthetic pizzazz. Pull down
the reflective front panel (which sadly isn’t motorised) and it reveals a stark, minimal fascia with only the key playback buttons to keep your fingers happy. The brushed aluminium adds a bit of refinement but overall we can’t help feel that the deck looks a bit dull. And at 85mm, it’s also very chunky, which could cause chaos under your TV if you’ve only got limited space. But there’s a positive side to the deck’s portly physique – it enables Panasonic to pack the rear panel with sockets, an area where the DMP-BD10 steals a march on the BD-P1000 and the HD-E1.
Chief among these is the HDMI output, which should be your first port of call when connecting the player to your HD display. It’s worth noting that the socket is version 1.2 and not 1.3, which means that you don’t get the extra functionality afforded by the newer version.
Panasonic also provides an RGB-capable Scart output plus component, S-video and composite outputs. On the audio front, there are 7.1-channel analogue audio outputs, which reveals that the DMP-BD10 is fitted with a Dolby Digital Plus decoder (alongside decoders for Dolby Digital and DTS) and can therefore pipe this new 7.1 format to an amplifier with the relevant analogue inputs. Trouble is, Dolby Digital Plus isn’t a mandatory sound format for Blu-ray (it is for HD DVD) and few of the Blu-ray discs released so far actually use it. You’ll also find optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, which carry regular 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. TrustedReviews - Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player