CES 2009: Pioneer unveils new Blu-ray and upconverting DVD players, new AV receivers

Blu-ray, CES 2009, Home audio, Home cinema
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Pioneer has been showing off its latest range of Blu-ray players, upconverting DVD player, and AV receivers.

First up is a new collection of advanced Blu-ray players, all capable of handling BD Live for advanced disc features.

The BDP-120 and BDP-320 are aimed at consumers who want a simple high definition disc player right out of the box and come with 1GB of memory (either via a flash drive or internal memory), full BD-Live functionality, USB and Ethernet ports, True24FPS feature for realistic reproduction of discs recorded at 24fps, full support of all high resolution audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstream output, and up to 7.1-channel analogue output.

The BDP-320 has additional features such as 48-bit Deep Colour support, a picture control suite that allows the image to be adjusted in 13 different ways, plus noise-reduction circuitry which improves the quality of standard definition DVDs.

The Elite BDP-23FD (pictured) has many of the same advanced features of the BDP-320 but has been designed for those wishing to install it into a dedicated home cinema set up. To this end, it features an RS232C interface for adding automation features. It also features KURO Link Picture Mode and a Precision Quartz Lock System for jitter-free audio transmission.

Available from the summer with pricing to be confirmed.

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Pioneer has also announced its DV-420P 1080p upscaling (upconverting) DVD player which also includes an MP3 encoding capability that allows users to rip CDs from the unit and then store them on a USB drive, hard drive or PMP.

On the video side, an advanced digital-analogue converter ensures that regular DVDs look their best when upscaled on to a high definition TV. The device can also play back DivX and WMV video files.

Available in the States this summer for US$90, UK price to be confirmed.

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And for some gear to play your Blu-ray and DVDs through comes a new range of Pioneer AV receivers — the VSX-519V, VSX-819H, VSX-919AH and VSX-1019AH. Each model offers a range of features, significantly iPod and iPhone certification for enhanced compatibility with Apple’s portable players, compressed audio restoration, volume level equalisation, full handling of high definition audio and video formats, multi-zone options, and Precision Quartz Lock System for jitter-free audio.

Exact pricing and availability to be confirmed.

Complete CES 2009 coverage roundup

Andy Merrett
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