LG BH100 High Definition Player

If you’ve been paying attention to one of the hottest topics in high definition TV then you probably know that one of the biggest recent innovations in home entertainment (after canned Guinness) is the development of high definition movies on optical discs—like DVDs. The two existing formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray, are both fantastic formats, containing tons of data capacity and potentially delivering exceptional picture and sound quality to HDTVs.

Both formats claim success, and both are still struggling to gain the movie-lovers’ confidence. We’ve been stung by format wars before (DVD-A/SACD). Imagine having to choose between white toast or wheat toast because your toaster couldn’t make both? LG came forward as the peacemaker between the two disc formats by offering the BH100, a DVD machine that plays back both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. This is the kind of product that many enthusiasts, sitting on the fence, were waiting for.

The LG high def player is a very attractive and uncomplicated-looking product. There are no buttons on the front and barely any lights to decorate or distract. The player’s buttons are located on top and are flush, touch-sensitive buttons similar to what’s on Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Around the back the player includes one HDMI output, a set of component jacks, a composite jack, stereo jacks and both optical and coaxial digital audio jacks. It has a set of 5.1 analog audio outputs for passing uncompressed audio—common on a lot of high definition discs. There’s also an Ethernet jack for service updates.

In addition to the Blu-ray and HD DVD playback, the unit will work with most other DVD recordable formats. It supports the new high definition audio formats Dolby Digital+, Dolby Tru HD and DTS-HD in addition to standard Dolby Digital and DTS. The player will up-convert standard DVDs to either 720p or 1080i via the HDMI output.

I hooked the player up to a 56-inch Samsung HS-S5679W DLP TV with a Monster HDMI cable and started tossing in a few Blu-ray and HD DVD discs to see just how well this peacemaker worked. The first disc, the Blu-ray version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, took about 30 seconds to load. The HD DVD version of Peter Jackson’s King Kong took about 45. While neither of those load times compares well to a good standard DVD player, they’re much better than most other high def players on the market. The first HD DVD launched last year took one and a half minutes to load, while the first Blu-ray only rated slightly better.

Both movies looked superb. The Hitchhiker is one of the better-looking Blu-ray titles (and a pretty good take on the book), and this player managed its picture very well. Details were rich, colors vibrant and edges sharp. Kong, however, looked even better. The high definition picture on King Kong so impressed me because I had been disappointed with the standard DVD version of the movie when I first saw it. Whereas the standard DVD Kong was soft and pale, the HD DVD version was brilliant. All of the discs in both formats I threw at the machine played without problem. The player didn’t experience any lockups or HDMI handshaking issues that some of the early single-format players did. It responded quickly to the remote and generally behaved itself.

There are two issues with the player that potential buyers should be aware of however. The first, is that, by one way of looking at it, it’s not a complete HD DVD player. In fact it’s not officially an HD DVD player (and does not bear the HD DVD logo) because the player doesn’t support the HD Interactive (iHD) menus of the format. While the BH100 plays back HD DVD movie content flawlessly (better than the Toshiba player we reviewed in 2006), it won’t display the disc’s menu or some of the interactive features that are unique to that format. When you play an HD DVD disc, the movie (or main title) will start playing automatically. In order to access specific scenes, you need to press the disc menu button which will allow you to change scenes while the movie is still playing. But unlike Blu-ray discs or other HD DVD players, you get the exact same menu layout for every HD DVD—it’s built into the player. Any unique menu designed specifically for that disc won’t be viewable. If all you want is to watch the movie (which describes most of my DVD viewing), then there’s no problem. If you want to view the disc’s special features then you’ll be out of luck. On the Mission Impossible:3 HD DVD I wasn’t able to find the actor commentary on disc 1 and was completely hampered in navigating any of the extra features on disc two.

The player does fully support all of the interactive features of Blu-ray discs.

The other issue with the player is also intriguing, and may or may not be important to you. The BH100 is capable of outputting 1080p resolution—the highest high definition resolution—but only at 24Hz, which happens to be the native frame rate of 35mm film which the movies are shot on. If your HDTV is capable of accepting a 1080p/24Hz signal, you’ll get an astounding picture, theoretically superior to one that converts the 24Hz signal into a 60Hz signal (which other Blu-ray players do). If your TV can’t accept the 24Hz signal then the player will default to a 1080i signal, even if your TV is a 1080p model, but it’s still an exceptional high definition picture. We experienced this on our Samsung DLP TV that displays 1080p at 60Hz. Does this affect picture quality? Maybe very slightly. On our Samsung, the picture was awesome. When played on an LG 768p resolution plasma the picture was equally good (output at 720p). Given that most HDTVs in people’s homes now are either flat panels or DLPs displaying 720p resolution, the 1080p issue may not be as important as it sounds. If you plan on connecting the player with component cables rather than HDMI, the 24Hz issue also doesn’t matter at all because it will output 720p or 1080i via component just like any other high def player on the market.

A third issue which also may or may not be important, is that the BH100 doesn’t play CDs, so you’ll have to make sure you have another disc machine in your collection for your music CDs (if you haven’t already moved them all to an MP3 player).

So is the LG BH100 the answer to the high definition format war and the ultimate high definition player? (Rant warning.) Yes and no. I was thrilled that LG went forward and built a product that shuffled aside the format issue. I am thrilled at how well the product plays movies in both formats, therefore making it easier on people who just want to buy the title they want without having to worry about what initials are printed on the box (aside from the MPAA film rating of course). However, the 1080p playback issue on some TVs (probably very few) and the lack of iHD may be deal breakers for some shoppers. Will you be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i? Most people can’t—in fact a lot of people can’t tell the difference between standard DVD and high definition. Is the lack of HD DVD interactive menus a problem for you? In my house, the only people who ever (well, almost ever) watch any of the extras on a DVD are my kids. I watch DVDs for the movies and couldn’t care less about the director commentaries, outtakes or making-of videos. That said, if I paid $5-$10 extra for a two-disc special edition, I’d be annoyed if I couldn’t get to all that extra stuff.

This player is a conundrum. It is groundbreaking, does what it says it does very well, and does most of what people would expect out of it. The few things it doesn’t do make it difficult for me to draw a conclusion on it. I look at this player as a very good Blu-ray player with HD DVD playback as a bonus, much like Divx would be a bonus on a standard player. If you want a Blu-ray player but don’t want to be left cold if a really good movie comes out exclusively on HD DVD, then the BH100 will be a good bet. Add to this issue the fact that Warner Home Video plans to start offering Total HD discs that feature a Blu-ray version on one side and an HD DVD version on the other, and you’ll see that we’re right back to the format war. At least my toaster is compatible with white bread, wheat bread and bagels.