LG's CEDIA Press Conference

LG Electronics got the 2008 CEDIA Expo started with the first press conference of the week. Most press conferences from major manufacturers are a 50-minute sprint through their new product lineup, but LG decided to spend the entire time speaking about a single product, the BD300 Blu-ray Disc™ player.

We have reported on LG’s BD300 on our Web site and in the magazine in the past, but LG finally released specifics on the player today. The most differentiating aspect of the BD300 is its ability to stream video off the Internet. And not just any video, but movies and TV shows from Netflix’s 12,000+ title library. It is the first Blu-ray Disc player, and only the second stand-alone box that can be connected to your TV, that has the native ability to connect to Netflix’s servers for streaming video content.

But LG wants to be sure to emphasize that this is first and foremost a “premium” Blu-ray Disc player. It is BD-Live™ “ready,” meaning it can access the Internet-enabled special features that are on BD-Live titles but does not have the 1-gigabyte of on-board storage capacity needed to be compatible with BD-Live. Instead, you must connect an external

storage device (via USB) if the BD-Live material must be stored locally.

The BD300 can internally decode Dolby® TrueHD and output it as linear PCM over its HDMI 1.3 output, and it can also transmit the raw bitstreams from TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™ encodings on Blu-ray Discs. The player does not have 5.1- or 7.1-channel analog outputs, instead limited to HDMI, coaxial S/PDIF, and 2.0-channel analog. Audio encoded with the more advanced codecs from Dolby and DTS® can only be transmitted over HDMI, S/PDIF is limited to Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Surround™ or 2.0-channel PCM.

The player will also output 1080p24/60 over its HDMI output. It includes an Ethernet port for connecting to the Internet and does not include WiFi capability. LG actually touted the BD300’s ability to download firmware updates over the Ethernet port, so it looks like the current trend of “fix the problem after the consumer finds it” will continue with this player.

As for streaming content from Netflix, the BD300 will automatically determine your Internet connection speed and adjust the quality of the incoming feed to suit. A representative from Netflix was on hand to

answer questions, and while he wouldn’t (couldn’t?) say what resolution the video was streamed at, he did say it is “almost” standard-definition DVD quality. There was a promise that high-definition video would be available in the future and that the BD300 will be firmware updateable to enable high-definition streaming. There was no mention as to what video codec is used, but the video files are encoded anywhere from 2.2 Mbps to 500 kbps in total bandwidth. The player outputs the video over HDMI or component at 480p, with no internal scaling to higher resolutions.

Audio from Netflix is currently limited to 2.0-channel stereo, but again there was a promise that future releases would be available with multichannel soundtracks.

Watching the BD300 in action, it seemed like a very easy device to use for streaming content from the Internet to your TV. You cannot directly choose from the list of 12,000+ titles on the player, rather you must create a queue on the Netflix Web site (using a computer), which will be automatically refreshed on the BD300. From there, you get cover art and synopsis information on the title, as well as additional information like the cast and crew and rating. The streaming process was almost instantaneous, and the picture was definitely watchable.

There were problems, though. Omega Man was showing on one display in a 4:3 (1.33:1) format, even though it was originally shot in 2.39:1. Netflix’s representative said that some of their titles are available in the original aspect ratio, but he couldn’t elaborate on what percentage were. NBC’s TV show The Office was also playing, and while it was shown in a 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio, it was obviously cropped with the heads of many actors cut off at the top and sides of the screen. He also let me know that there is no mention on the Netflix Web site whether or not the movie or TV show was in its original aspect ratio, and he really didn’t seem to think anyone would care whether or not the original aspect ratio was used.

When I told him it is a big deal and there are many people who would rather not watch a movie at all rather than see its original aspect ratio cut, he let me know that Netflix is more interested in the broader market than those who care about that kind of thing. Even the simple addition of the video’s aspect ratio to their Web site seems to be too much of a bother to be worth it to Netflix.

We will report more on the LG BD300 once it becomes available for review. The $399 player will be available in October and will come with a two-week subscription to Netflix for free. Netflix’s video streaming is included with their regular subscription costs, which start at $8.99 per month for unlimited viewing.