Pros & Cons
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- Plays HD DVD and Blu-ray movies.
- Supports 1080p24 output via HDMI.
- Useful and well-crafted on-screen display.
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- Does not support interactive/online/graphical HD DVD features.
- Remote is missing a basic HD DVD navigation-control feature.
- Remote's backlight is essentially useless.
- No 1080p upconversion.
- No support for 1080p60 output.
LG Super Blu Player (BH100) Specs
| Panel Type | Blu-ray Players |
The so-called high-definition disc-format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD shows no sign of being settled anytime soon. HDTV owners who wish to enjoy the impressive image quality that these formats offer have been forced to choose sides and hope for the best—until now. The LG BH100 is the first, and currently the only, set-top disc player that will play discs of either HD format. This disc dexterity does not come cheap, and the unit has a few image-quality quirks, but the BH100 earns praise for taking the first step toward providing some neutral territory in this format battle.
The BH100's black exterior has a metal top and is adorned with what appears to be laser-etched logos, including a prominent Blu-ray Disc logo in the center. Sharp eyes will note the absence of an official HD DVD logo, as support for this format is limited to basic playback, and the BH100 does not include the persistent storage or integrated-networking options that are required for official licensing. LG apparently wants its new player placed at the top of the stack of your A/V components, as this is the first set-top device I've seen with all the control buttons on the top of the chassis. The face of the BH100 is uncluttered, with the disc tray in the middle and the display immediately to the right.
Video connections located on the back of the BH100 include component video and HDMI (v1.2) connections. Audio output options include 5.1 and stereo RCA-style ports as well as coaxial and optical (TOSLINK) digital audio outputs. There is also an Ethernet port on the back, but this is for service updates only and does not provide regular networking functionality. Unlike many premium-priced disc players, the BH100 lacks an RS-232C port for use with custom control systems.
The BH100's remote control is of a typically flat rectangular shape with a comfortably rounded bottom that has a notched area for a solid grip using your forefinger. When I held the remote naturally, my thumb landed near the small playback controls; I would have appreciated larger buttons for these primary controls. The BH100's spec sheet describes the remote as a backlit device, but only its circular menu-navigation pad and the enter button are actually illuminated—all other buttons are dark.
The BH100's remote also failed to include the "top menu" button that is provided with official HD DVD player remotes, making it impossible to return to the main menu in some HD DVD titles without ejecting the disc or completely restarting playback. But I did find that the player's on-screen display option made direct title and chapter navigation easy and quick.
The BH100 is touted as a "FullHD 1080p" device. This is technically true, but there are some interesting limitations here. The 1080p video output from the BH100 is limited to 24-Hz and 30-Hz signaling; it doesn't support the more common 60-Hz format. Also, 1080p output is only available when playing a disc that is encoded at 1080p/24-Hz resolution—upconverted DVD videos are displayed at a maximum upscaled resolution of 720p or 1080i. Unfortunately, there are very few 1080p HDTVs that support 1080p 24-Hz/30-Hz input, and in such cases the BH100 is limited to 1080i output. Most Pioneer plasma televisions, including the
Testing the Super Blu BH100
For my disc player reviews, I measure system start-up and disc-loading times using a variety of supported media formats. The BH100 took 32.2 seconds from start-up to the tray opening, less than the
My testing setup was similar to the one I used when reviewing the Toshiba HD-XA2 player. I connected the BH100 to a
Starting with some of my favorite test scenes from our library of DVD movies, I was pleased to see good upconverted image detail with no signs of jagged-edge artifacts. The player's reverse 3:2 pulldown feature was quick to detect 24p video, minimizing moiré and flicker artifacts, too. Interestingly, the BH100 choked on my HQV Benchmark test DVD, turning in the second worst result I've recorded to date (the Microsoft Xbox 360 earns this dubious top spot). The HQV tests indicated that the BH100 was subpar at deinterlacing video containing motion, but my subjective examinations did not detect this problem. On HQV's new HD DVD test, I was dismayed to find that the BH100 failed the resolution-loss tests (indicating half-resolution processing) and the jagged-edge-reduction test. Subjectively, I had a difficult time distinguishing any significant differences between the imagery of the BH100 and the Toshiba HD-XA2, which scored quite well on the HQV HD DVD test. I even tried to find some obvious visible differences by using high-resolution images taken of the same frame from an HD DVD movie. Though I noticed a few very slight blocky artifacts along curved edges in the BH100's imagery, overall detail appeared practically identical to the Toshiba's impressive performance with HD DVD titles.
The LG BH100 is a space-saving convenience, albeit an expensive one. The player works great with Blu-ray titles, but its HD DVD support is essentially limited to playback only, with just the most basic navigation features. I was a bit miffed that LG didn't clarify the BH100's limited 1080p resolution support. It is not mentioned anywhere in the manual, yet the "FullHD 1080p" logo is present on the outside of the box, the front of the manual, and the player itself. Image-quality results were mixed: The BH100 performed well with subjective viewing examinations (using progressive scan output), but its results on the more objective HQV test were a downright mess.
If LG can offer the BH100 at a significant discount, I'd be more inclined to recommend it. But with its $1,300 list price, you're better off with a 60GB Sony PlayStation 3 as well as an Xbox 360 with the HD DVD add-on drive. Though these are not nearly as elegant as an all-in-one high-definition disc player, at least you could enjoy some HD gaming goodness in addition to those high-resolution movies.
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