At a press event in New York City earlier today, Denon unveiled their new 2009/2010 model line including two new Blu-ray Disc players, the DBP-1610CI and DBP-2010CI. The new models are both their most full-featured and their most affordable players to date.
While other CE manufacturers are adding internet audio and video streaming capabilities to their Blu-ray Disc players, Denon is sticking to its roots: high performance audio and video. Coming in at around half the cost of last year's least expensive model, the new entry-level DBP-1610CI ($499, June) will be one of Denon's first to support BD-Live (BD-ROM Profile 2.0) in addition to Bonus View (profile 1.1). It will also play back Divx content, including DivxHD as well as high definition AVCHD format videos, such as those made from an HD camcorder.
To satisfy the A/V enthusiast, the BDP-1610CI will offer native bitstreaming of the latest surround sound codecs (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD) as well as a "Source Direct" mode that will automatically pass Blu-ray Discs and DVDs to your display or external video processor at their native video resolution (480i for DVDs 1080i or 1080p for Blu-ray Discs).
The step-up Blu-ray Player, the DBP-2010CI ($699, June) will be Denon's first to include Anchor Bay Technology's ABT1030* VRS video processing engine for enhanced upconversion of standard definition DVDs to high definition resolutions, as well as improved treatment of native 1080i and 1080p source material on Blu-ray Disc. The player will be one of a select few on the market that can output DVDs at 1080p resolution at a native 24 frames/second rate (1080/24p). In the audio department, the player can bitstream the output of advanced audio codecs over HDMI to a compatible receiver or decode them on-board for output over 7.1-channel analog outputs for compatibility with older non-HDMI receivers.
And speaking of receivers, Denon also unveiled a full suite of enhanced home theater receivers which provide a perfect complement to their upcoming Blu-ray Disc players. In a bold but welcome move, Denon's complete line of receivers -- even the entry-level AVR-590 at $349 -- will include HDMI audio decoding of the next generation codecs (including DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD) as well as analog video conversion to HDMI. This provides a true "one cable" solution for simplified connections between source components, receiver and display. The new receivers will also begin shipping in June.
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*Note: We originally published that the DBP-2010CI would use the ABT2010 VRS chip set based on information we gleaned from the press conference but have later corrected this based on updated information from Denon.
