



The Blu-ray compromise


Rod Easdown


Buying a Blu-ray player is not an easy business, and it's likely to become more difficult as ultra-high definition comes on stream. It seems that no matter how much you spend, you're going to have to compromise somewhere along the line.

Take the new Oppo BDP-105AU. This is an absolutely stunning player. The picture quality is brilliant but it's the sound that blows you away - crisp, clear and full of body. It plays Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio too, and in full surround - it's amazing how much spaciousness and airiness rear speakers add to the music.

But it doesn't play out-of-region Blu-rays or DVDs, and the only place you can use all its features is in the US. In Australia, you just feel like a poor relation. There are four movie download services in its menu - none available to local email addresses.

You can get around that, and you can get around the other way they ping you, when you pay with an Australian credit card. But it's a hassle and it costs. There may be a mod to get it to play overseas DVDs, but that would cost, too.

So you look at the cheaper Cambridge Audio Azur 651BD. Also a terrific player, and it handles SACD and DVD-A. The big selling point is that with a modification, which some dealers do for free and others have already done, it plays Blu-rays from all regions. And, like the Oppo, it supports the high-quality FLAC music format and 3D vision. But its internet capability is basic.

So you start looking at players with internet features that are tailored for the 2 per cent of the world market living in this wide brown land. Quickflix would be nice, and the local catch-up channels, too, please.

Yep, you can get these and more for less than $400 with a Sony. But you can't have Pandora and you definitely won't find multi-region Blu-ray. Some cheaper players are multi-region capable, but involve mucking around every time you change regions.

The Sony's picture quality is good, but still down enough from the Oppo and the Cambridge Audio to remind you of what you're missing.

So you come back to the Oppo's gorgeous picture and sound and you're torn again. What do you go for? Not an easy business.

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