On to the players... I will be listing players that are 1.1 compatible as there are no 2.0 players on the market at this time. It is a future specification, so do your research before you buy. To be clear, 1.0 and 1.1 players will play the movies on Blu-ray discs, but the supplementary or BD-Live features will not be available.
PlayStation 3 - This is currently the best Blu-ray player as far as value and future proofing. The PlayStation 3 will be 2.0 compliant by May or June and has already been upgraded to the 1.1 specification via a firmware update. At $399 US for the base 40GB model, the PlayStation 3 is not only a very affordable player, it also outputs a great image and stunning audio. Let's also not forget that it is a very capable multimedia device (supporting DivX, DVD upsampling, SA-CD, every major audio format, and CD upsampling) as well as a cutting edge video game console.
Panasonic DMP-BD10A - This standalone Blu-ray player is not only more expensive then the PS3, but it is not future proofed for version 2.0. Having said that, this is a great 1.1 player that outputs amazing Blu-ray visuals and upsampled DVD streams. It supports on-board decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD High Resolution audio formats, and at its price point those are amazing features. If you want a standalone Blu-ray player this is the one to buy (until the Sony BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 players come out).
Panasonic DMP-BD30K - Rounding out the list is another Panasonic player that, while it does not have on-board decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD High Resolution audio formats, is a very capable 1.1 compliant Blu-ray player that supports HDMI 1.3b output (the DMP-BD10A does not). The output quality from Blu-ray discs is excellent with a clear image and very few issues even in complex scenes; upsampled DVDs also fare very well, with crisp visuals. Even though there is no on-board decoding for HD audio, the player will output it and if your receiver can, it will receive the signal. While this player is also not future-proofed it is a great unit as a standalone Blu-ray player.
Now that many people will start to buy players and movies in the format as confidence in Blu-ray rises daily it is fitting to have a list of the top 10 Blu-rays to have for your shiny player or PS3. The list presents the best Blu-ray discs to own whether it be for value, quality, innovation or a mix of many reasons. Not all of these movies are Academy Award worthy, but they are all great films and demonstration quality Blu-rays for your collection. Often I will refer to a proper setup in the movie notes; a proper setup in my mind for reference is the following:
- 1080p display
- 5.1 or 7.1 receiver
- 5.1 or greater speaker setup with a powered sub-woofer
![Close Encounters of the Third Kind (30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51syEMVSt0L._SL120_.jpg)
![2001: A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jYA7Mv32L._SL120_.jpg)
![Spider-Man - The High Definition Trilogy (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cFvZy9liL._SL120_.jpg)
![Cars [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ac%2BFpIaTL._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Bill
What a horrible top 10 list.
2 - Daniel
No Sin City?
No Matrix?
Pan's Labyrinth?
I assumed you were going to take into the account the film's overall quality as opposed to which film has the best picture and sound quality....
3 - the truth
why does it say top 10 when there are only 5?
4 - Travis
Nice list. I would've liked to see Sunshine crack the top 5 but your top 3 redeemed it all! Good list.