The BDP9000 is the first Blu-ray DVD player from the Philips brand, a smartly designed device that delivers some excellent images from both Blu-ray discs and standard DVDs but falls a little short on audio options. Blu-ray playback on the Philips BDP9000 matches anything from other first generation Blu-ray players. The colors are rich and well saturated and the resolution absolutely stunning. While more and more titles continue to become available on Blu-ray, with any high definition player you're more likely to be viewing titles from your existing library of standard resolution DVDs. As well as playing these DVDs in standard resolution, the BDP9000/ also performs extremely well at upconverting these titles to 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolutions via HDMI. More unusually, Philips even includes an HDMI cable with the unit.

The BDP9000 does not support either of the high resolution audio formats, SACD and DVD-Audio, although it does play standard audio CDs. The front panel of the unit also sports a 10 in 2 multi format memory card slot for easy access to video clips, digital stills and digital audio files on just about any flash card. As with all first generation Blu-ray players, the load times of the BDP9000 are noticeably slower than on standard DVD players. Compared to the HD DVD players and some of other Blu-ray devices, the BDP9000 is positively nifty, playing most discs in a little more than 20 seconds after loading.

As well as superior picture quality, another advantage of Blu-ray discs is the ability to support improved lossless audio formats Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD. Unfortunately, this is the area where the BDP9000 disappoints. The player supports Dolby Digital Plus, but not the other high resolution soundtrack formats. If you want to experience standard DVD soundtracks via analog audio outputs, you will also be disappointed--to experience full surround sound from a DVD you'll need a digital connection.

The BDP9000 is a well designed Blu-ray player, with an eye-catching black and silver finish and an easy to navigate remote control. Overall, we were greatly impressed with many aspects of the Philips BDP9000 but the price and limited audio options prevent us from giving this Blu-ray DVD player a more enthusiastic recommendation.


Pros: First generation Blu-ray player, excellent picture quality, offers HDMI upscaling, 10 in 2 multi format memory card slot, smart design
Cons: Expensive, limited audio options

Warranty
90 days, labor; 1 year, parts