[B3D News]

Denon Electronics announced today its first foray into the heated high-definition media battle with the announcement of the DVD-3800BDCI, a top-of-the-line Blu-ray disc player expected to launch sometime this fall. Set to retail for the normal-for-Denon price-point of $1,999, the 3800BDCI is the first Blu-ray player yet announced to formally support BD Profile 1.1, required of all Blu-ray players brought to market after October 31st. <br /><br />Read the full news item

[pakotlar]

that's big. unless dennon makes a hd-dvd player as well, this is huge for the Blu-Ray camp's legitimacy.

[Cypher]

Denon? I thought they made yogurt...

[archie4oz]

That's Dannon...

[AlexV]

Perhaps you meant Danone?

[Graham]

Maybe it's just new zealand, but I didn't think denon was that bigger a player in the HT industry..
I would have put them in with the likes of HK, NAD and such, very niche and expensive

[Skrying]

Originally Posted by Graham

Maybe it's just new zealand, but I didn't think denon was that bigger a player in the HT industry..
I would have put them in with the likes of HK, NAD and such, very niche and expensive

That's how they are, they won't see a lot of units this simply gives the format a super high end presence I guess. If you ask me its nothing major, Denon is a brand that people wish they could own, not a brand they actually own. Super niche/expensive.

[pcchen]

Actually Denon is not that niche. They manufacture "high-end" video/audio devices which are actually mostly "low-end" in the eyes of audiophiles.

[Nick]

I've absolutely never heard of Denon.

Anyway, could someone summarize for me the technical and economical benefits of Blu-Ray (both from a manufacturer and consumer point of view)? As far as I know it delivers HD just the same but it's more expensive and more restrictive.

[sir doris]

Originally Posted by pcchen

Actually Denon is not that niche. They manufacture "high-end" video/audio devices which are actually mostly "low-end" in the eyes of audiophiles.

I think as far as pure audio goes, they are seen as "low-end", but there entire A/V stuff is highly regarded and stretches up to the audiophile level (£2000 amp) where it competes very well with more legendary brands (on A/V performance).

But Denon doesn't offer anything in the really silly money catagory

[Gubbi]

Originally Posted by sir doris

I think as far as pure audio goes, they are seen as "low-end", but there entire A/V stuff is highly regarded and stretches up to the audiophile level (£2000 amp) where it competes very well with more legendary brands (on A/V performance).

But Denon doesn't offer anything in the really silly money catagory

I agree, they nest in the higher end of the consumer and lower end of the audiophile segment, same as Pioneer.

In this segment they have excellent bang/$ (power, features, build quality) compared to most of the competition. Their main problem is their UIs are in many cases directly user-hostile (especially compared to other japanese products from Pioneer, Sony etc.).

Cheers

[bigtabs]

Hmm, Denon made some great tape decks back in the early to mid 90's, don't really know much about them since then.

[Maintank]

Never heard of them. At 1999, most people wont be interested anyways.

[Mintmaster]

Anyone interested in this player already has either a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player, so the news is rather irrelevant.

The next 6 months are big. In holiday 2008, BR and HD-DVD will likely have a small price differential, so HD-DVD has to take advantage now if it wants to make a statement (e.g. get a studio to go neutral). Even if that doesn't happen, though, I don't see HD-DVD dying before dual-format players have a minimal price premium.

[pcchen]

Originally Posted by Gubbi

In this segment they have excellent bang/$ (power, features, build quality) compared to most of the competition. Their main problem is their UIs are in many cases directly user-hostile (especially compared to other japanese products from Pioneer, Sony etc.).

I think they probably just hate the users. Or maybe they think only users smart enough should be able to use their equipments. I have a Denon AV receiver and after years of usage I still have to check the manual to know what it's doing.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Originally Posted by pcchen

I think they probably just hate the users. Or maybe they think only users smart enough should be able to use their equipments. I have a Denon AV receiver and after years of usage I still have to check the manual to know what it's doing.

I think they believe too much in their elitist reputation. There's been a lot of complaints on AV forums about things like lip-sysc delay problem, poor Mpeg 4 support, etc and Denon arn't really interested in dealing with customer complaints on these issues. AFAICT, mainstream suppliers like Pioneer provide better, more compatible products at the lower end, and if you are willing to pay a premium for Denon, you're better off looking at more capable equipment from the likes of Oppo.

[Gubbi]

Originally Posted by pcchen

I think they probably just hate the users. Or maybe they think only users smart enough should be able to use their equipments.

I just think their products are made by EEs, and they have zero emphasis on human engineering. I've got a 3806 (a 2006 product), which has OSD graphics comparable to the original PONG! video game.

Originally Posted by pcchen

I have a Denon AV receiver and after years of usage I still have to check the manual to know what it's doing.

Same here.

Cheers

[sir doris]

I think the important thing to take from this annoucement is that Denon now see it as worth while to produce Bluray solutions, and thus that Bluray may be the format with more future?

Previously the smaller niche manufactuers have waited before dipping into either HD pools.

Another note is that this should be the first player which supports DTS Master Audio, although suprisingly no ethernet.

[pascal]

In a related news Denon announced 13 new A/V receivers. All with HDMI 1.3a
http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...receivers.html

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Just read that there have been comments from Denon in Germany that they are also preparing a HD-DVD unit, so this Blu-Ray announcement may not be as meaningful as it's being painted.

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/95040

This player has been delayed until some date in 2008.