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Panasonic BD65
| Caractéristiques | |||
| Compatible formats (write) | - | ||
| Compatible formats (read) | Blu-ray, DVD, CD, AVCHD (video cameras), DivX, MPEG-2, MP3, JPEG | ||
| Built-in decoders | Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD HR, DTS HD MA | ||
| Internal hard drive | N.A. | ||
| Connectivity | HDMI, component video, composite, stereo analogue, Ethernet, USB, SD-XC | ||
 Show all specifications
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| Dimensions (W x L x D) | 43 x 4.9 x 20.7 cm |
| Weight | 1.9 kg |
 Hide specifications | |
Vincent Lheur
Test date: March 30, 2010
Test date: March 30, 2010
The remote
Like the menus, the remote remains very "Panasonic" and hasn't changed much over the years. It's design and handling remain excellent, but it's a shame there's no backlighting or at least fluorescent buttons.
New for 2010, the BD65 succeeds one of the Panasonic bestsellers: the BD60. Armed for the same sort of success? Let's see.
Hardware, design and build
We should say straight off, the BD65 isn't the 3D version of the BD60. It isn't compatible with 3D Blu-rays and is no more than a minor development of the BD60. Those looking for Panasonic 3D need to go for the BDT300.
The first innovation is the SD card reader on the front, which moves towards the SDXC standard, so as to support this format with increased storage. SD-XC cards are gradually coming onto the market. The player is of course still compatible with standard SD cards. There's still a USB connector on the front that allows you to link up an external hard drive or USB key. Only FAT32 is supported and NTFS discs don't run. A shame! This means it doesn't support files that are above 2 GB.
Here are the formats supported by the BD65 in our tests: JPEG images, MP3s with Tags, as well as DivX 5 and 6 video in SD and HD. DivX6 1080p encoding is jumpy as of 38 Mbps and becomes very jerky at 50 Mbps. These files can come in AVI or DivX containers with several audio tracks and subtitle formats. SRT and SUB external subtitles are also supported but you can't synchronise them when the audio is out of sync.
Apart from AVCHD file playback from video cameras, none of the other formats in our test sample were accepted. This means no X.264, VC1 or VOB rips. Nor are MKV, TS or M2TS containers supported.
This player will soon be dated then: nothing above and beyond DivX! There is however an Ethernet socket to update the firmware via Internet and retrieve content online thanks to Viera Cast (YouTube,...), or access Blu-ray BD-Live bonusses. A wireless USB adaptor is available on option as an alternative to the network cable.
At the back, there's a standard mid-range player panel: HDMI, Ethernet, YUV, composite, analogue stereo audio and digital optic audio outs. No multichannel analogue!
The menu is very much in the Panasonic tradition and hasn't changed much over the years:
Start-up is quite fast at 40 seconds from full standby to display of the first Blu-ray image. The old players took 50 seconds to a minute for the same operation.
Image quality
The first sensor readings show good calibration from the video out. The results are comparable to those of other players we've tested and to our reference PS3 player:
The small imperfections on the cures are linked to the TV and not the players. This is why you see them on all the curves. What's important to note is that the curves of the two players are similar. Just the brightness of whites on the gamma curve (on the left) are too high.
This was mirrored in the excellent playback quality of Blu-ray films we tried on the BD65: the colours are natural and the different levels of brightness correctly displayed. No parasites. For those who want to customise the display or improve small rendering errors on the TV or projector, this player offers the option of playing with various image settings (brightness, noise reduction, sharpness) by moving from one of the default modes to customise.
With DVDs, results are also good. The same natural colours but also good upscaling of SD to HD. Here's a screenshot of what you get on the BD65 compared to the PS3, which we use as a reference for image quality:
The PS3 gives a smoother more natural image. The BD65 gives a harder image with some aliasing if you look closely.
Overall the BD65 gives excellent image quality for your investment.
Audio formats
The BD65 decodes all HD formats! Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD HR and DTS HD MA are available in bitstream and PCM via the HDMI out. You can't however retrieve audio signals on the analogue outs as you only have the two stereo analogue RCAs.
Energy consumption
At under 0.1W on standby and 13W during Blu-ray or DVD playback, the BD65 is among the greenest of current players.
Hardware, design and buildWe should say straight off, the BD65 isn't the 3D version of the BD60. It isn't compatible with 3D Blu-rays and is no more than a minor development of the BD60. Those looking for Panasonic 3D need to go for the BDT300.
The first innovation is the SD card reader on the front, which moves towards the SDXC standard, so as to support this format with increased storage. SD-XC cards are gradually coming onto the market. The player is of course still compatible with standard SD cards. There's still a USB connector on the front that allows you to link up an external hard drive or USB key. Only FAT32 is supported and NTFS discs don't run. A shame! This means it doesn't support files that are above 2 GB.
Here are the formats supported by the BD65 in our tests: JPEG images, MP3s with Tags, as well as DivX 5 and 6 video in SD and HD. DivX6 1080p encoding is jumpy as of 38 Mbps and becomes very jerky at 50 Mbps. These files can come in AVI or DivX containers with several audio tracks and subtitle formats. SRT and SUB external subtitles are also supported but you can't synchronise them when the audio is out of sync.
Apart from AVCHD file playback from video cameras, none of the other formats in our test sample were accepted. This means no X.264, VC1 or VOB rips. Nor are MKV, TS or M2TS containers supported.
This player will soon be dated then: nothing above and beyond DivX! There is however an Ethernet socket to update the firmware via Internet and retrieve content online thanks to Viera Cast (YouTube,...), or access Blu-ray BD-Live bonusses. A wireless USB adaptor is available on option as an alternative to the network cable.
At the back, there's a standard mid-range player panel: HDMI, Ethernet, YUV, composite, analogue stereo audio and digital optic audio outs. No multichannel analogue!
The menu is very much in the Panasonic tradition and hasn't changed much over the years:
Start-up is quite fast at 40 seconds from full standby to display of the first Blu-ray image. The old players took 50 seconds to a minute for the same operation.
Image qualityThe first sensor readings show good calibration from the video out. The results are comparable to those of other players we've tested and to our reference PS3 player:
The small imperfections on the cures are linked to the TV and not the players. This is why you see them on all the curves. What's important to note is that the curves of the two players are similar. Just the brightness of whites on the gamma curve (on the left) are too high.
This was mirrored in the excellent playback quality of Blu-ray films we tried on the BD65: the colours are natural and the different levels of brightness correctly displayed. No parasites. For those who want to customise the display or improve small rendering errors on the TV or projector, this player offers the option of playing with various image settings (brightness, noise reduction, sharpness) by moving from one of the default modes to customise.
With DVDs, results are also good. The same natural colours but also good upscaling of SD to HD. Here's a screenshot of what you get on the BD65 compared to the PS3, which we use as a reference for image quality:
The PS3 gives a smoother more natural image. The BD65 gives a harder image with some aliasing if you look closely.
Overall the BD65 gives excellent image quality for your investment.
Audio formatsThe BD65 decodes all HD formats! Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD HR and DTS HD MA are available in bitstream and PCM via the HDMI out. You can't however retrieve audio signals on the analogue outs as you only have the two stereo analogue RCAs.
Energy consumptionAt under 0.1W on standby and 13W during Blu-ray or DVD playback, the BD65 is among the greenest of current players.
Pluses
-
Image quality
-
Good SD upscaling
-
DivX SD and HD playback
Minuses
-
Analogue outs limited to stereo
-
A multimedia player that doesn't accept many formats
-
Remote not backlit
A very good mid-range player that is limited by its analogue audio outs and its multimedia player that only gives DivX SD and HD playback (as well as JPEGs and MP3s). This won't be a problem for most users.
