Along with the other big manufacturers, Panasonic has just launched an updated range of Blu-ray disc players, and the DMP-BD55 is at the top of its range.

The chunky exterior of the earlier BD10 has disappeared, with the BD55 adopting a disc compartment that's much closer to the standard size which can also now be opened using the remote control.  The rest of the design is relatively traditional, with the real treats at the back of this model.


For those with compatible sound equipment, there is a 7.1 digital audio output, and the DAC treatment has been updated to an audio quality that's better than the majority of Blu-ray players can manage.

Listening to our test tracks produced a very listenable sound, but it's a shame that so few people will be able to profit from it given the rarity of such advanced sound systems.

This is a situation which is unlikely to change in the near future, as consumers are more and more likely to choose amplifiers with built-in decoding of HD signals, using a HDMI cable to receive 7.1 sound as a PCM signal.  In this configuration, the BD55 can send DD, DD Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD (HR or MA) signals.

If that's all Greek to you, then don't worry: what you need to know is that this model does everything that you can reasonable expect from a Blu-ray player when it comes to sound.

Test Results

What about video though?  Well, you'll need to wait 1 minute 10 seconds before you see the first frames appear on screen, an annoying lag that seems increasingly to be the norm.

Once it gets going though, the video quality is absolutely incredible.  We had begun to thought that it was becoming difficult to use image quality to differentiate between different manufacturers, but when it comes to upscaled DVDs, there is still a little room to make comparisons and here, if there's any advantage to be had, it's definitely Panasonic that has it. 

DiVX files are less well-handled and DiVX HD files aren't supported at all, but we've yet to see any Blu-ray player that can handle the format. Sometimes subtitle files in the .SRT format don't work perfectly and are sometimes poorly overlaid on top of the video signal. 


This player offers the very best of what can be done right now, but the majority of its innovation is in the audio department which will probably be lost on most people. 

If you have a HD TV but don't have an expensive audio system, then you might prefer to the DMP-BD35, which is the same model but without the 7.1 audio outputs.