Blu-ray popularity is clearly on the rise, and one of the most important factors proving this ascending trend is the appearance of more and more standalone players on the market, even during this period of economic crisis, when consumers are more trenched down than ever before. And one of the latest such devices to make an appearance is Harman-Kardon's BDP 1 Blu-ray player, which has just been officially launched by the company.

Quite obviously, the device is compatible with pretty much every type of Blu-ray Disc media available out there, including BD-R/RE, BD-Live and BonusView, and supports a vast array of audio formats (LPCM, MP3, Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio and WMA).

It's important to mention that the BDP 1 is backward-compatible with standard DVDs and CDs (DVD/DVD+R/DVD-RW, CD/CD-RW formats), the player being able to upscale standard DVDs to 1080p (via HDMI connection), which lets movie aficionados enjoy higher quality playback than that from a standard DVD player. Plus, the BDP 1 allows for simultaneous JPEG and MP3 music file playback from discs or USB memory sticks.

Besides the HDMI and USB interface mentioned above, the BDP 1 also sports a RJ-45 connection for Internet access, plus optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. Moreover, it has a fairly interesting design and measures 66mm x 440mm x 352mm, at a weight of around 3.7kg.

“The Harman Kardon brand has a rich history of delivering the right combination of power, performance, flexibility and ease of use in the home,” says Christopher M. Dragon, director of consumer and field marketing for Harman Consumer. “The introduction of our first Blu-ray Disc player balances our portfolio of home products, which have always featured great sound but, now, thanks to the BDP 1, offer crystal-clear video playback.”

The Harman-Kardon BDP 1 Blu-ray player sells for somewhere in the vicinity of $499 and should be available in stores at some point during the month of June (at least, across the US).


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