Reviewers looking at the LG BD390 have all come away impressed. Image calibre with Blu-ray Discs is terrific. While DVD image calibre is not quite as good, reports state that it is superior than many competing Blu-ray players, and good enough to satisfy all but the pickiest of viewers. The BD390 is one of the speediest Blu-ray players available, keeping up with or beating all comers, including the Sony PlayStation 3 (*Est. $400). Audio support is first-rate, and includes built-in decoders for the latest high-definition audio formats and multichannel (7.1) analog outputs for compatibility with older audiovisual receivers.
In terms of features, the LG BD390 is loaded. The built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi broadcasting means you won’t need to run an Ethernet connection to your home theater’s location to enjoy BD Live features on Blu-ray Discs. Additionally, the LG BD390 can connect to the World wide web to stream content from partners such as Netflix, CinemaNow and YouTube. This player meets Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standards and includes software (Windows only, unfortunately), to add a DLNA server to your computer so you can stream videos, pictures and other types of files directly from it as well. If you have a smaller budget, the Panasonic DMP-BD60K (*Est. $220) delivers rock-solid image calibre with Blu-ray Discs and standard-definition DVDs, but it is slower and lacks some bells and whistles, such as Wi-Fi and multichannel analog outputs. It does offer World wide web streaming, but despite the current addition of Amazon Video on Demand as a content partner, critics state that the streaming content acquirable via the LG BD390 is more compelling.
In 2009, it’s not enough for a Blu-ray player to just play Blu-ray movies. With the presence of online media streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand, consumers already anticipate Blu-ray players to offer up a wide variety of standard-definition, instant-gratification media options to complement their high-definition Blu-ray experience. LG was the first company to realize this trend with the BD300–the first Blu-ray player with Netflix streaming. The company’s flagship Blu-ray player, the BD390, stays a step ahead of the competition with its outstanding feature set–Netflix, YouTube, CinemaNow, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi (a first), 7.1 analog outputs, geek-friendly MKV-video file playback over USB, and 1GB of onboard memory. Even better, the BD390 is an excellent Blu-ray player, with top-notch image quality, lightning fast load times, and onboard decoding for all the high-resolution audio soundtracks. The biggest knock against the BD390 is its $400 list price; that’s the same as Sony’s PS3, which is still a superior value if you’re into gaming. If you’re not, the LG BD390 is our top pick for premium standalone Blu-ray players, narrowly besting the competing Samsung BD-P3600.
* Blu-ray disc playback provides users an exceptional Full HD 1080p video experience
* 1GB on-board memory and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity
* Streams instant, and virtually endless, entertainment from CinemaNow, Netflix and YouTube, thanks to NetCast Entertainment Access
* Supports surround sound up to 7.1 channels with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Advanced Digital Out technologies
* 1080p upscaling for standard DVDs aiming to deliver optimal image quality
Samsung has a lock on otherworldly designs, but the BD390 has a more conventional and refined look. The front faceplate is a glossy, reflective black accented by a strip of silver metal on the top and silver feet below. The LCD screen is just off center, and its massive size and bright white color make it easy to see from crossways your home theater, even though some will be disappointed that it can’t be dimmed. There are four playback controls crossways the front of the unit, along with a extractable plastic cover that reveals a USB port. We had it sitting right next to the Samsung BD-P3600 in our work and if we had to pick one, we’d give the nod to the BD390.
The included remote control is one of the superior ones we’ve seen on a Blu-ray player. LG keeps it simple, with a huge direction pad toward the top, surrounded by important buttons like disc menu and home. Playback controls are right below and they’re sensibly separated, instead of being cluttered next to infrequently used buttons. There are additional controls under a slide-down cover, which is surprisingly stiff and tough to open. Luckily we found ourselves rarely using those buttons, even though if you plan on using the BD390’s remote to control your television as well, you’ll be peeved that important buttons like volume and channel controls are under the cover. (As always, a good universal remote is the easiest fix.)
We’ve always liked the interface on LG’s Blu-ray players and now that there are so many additional streaming services, the easy menus are even nicer. The home menu presents your options in seven straightforward icons: Movie, Photo, Music, My Media, Netflix, YouTube, CinemaNow, and Setup. The colorful high-definition graphics are also a nice touch, compared with the more drab menus found on the Panasonic DMP-BD60
All of LG’s 2009 Blu-ray players include Netflix Instant streaming. The individual experience is almost same to that of the Roku Digital Video Player, and we advocate you check out that review for more information. In short, you can stream anything in Netflix’s “Watch Now” section, and while there are some flaws–much of the SD content is not wide screen, for example–it’s a pretty great individual experience overall. The initial catalog of movies and television shows was evenhandedly lackluster, but current deals with CBS and Disney have significantly improved the content selection.
Like virtually all 2009 Blu-ray players, the BD390 is Profile 2.0-compatible, which means it access playback BD-Live features acquirable on some Blu-ray movies. It has 1GB of onboard storage, so you won’t need to plug in a USB memory stick to download extra content. You’ll need an World wide web connection to access BD-Live features and the BD390 is equipped with both an Ethernet port and built-in Wi-Fi. The BD390 is the first player we’ve tested to support a faster Draft-N Wi-Fi connection and it will still work with slower 802.11b/g networks.
In addition to Blu-ray playback, the BD390 can play back an extensive variety of media formats via its USB port. Video, music, and pic files are support and the list of supported formats is lengthy: MP3, JPEG, PNG, AVI, WMA, DivX-HD, XVID, and yes, even MKV. We plugged in a 250GB USB hard drive and tested a massive variety of files, including some high-definition MKV and MPEG-2 files, and for the most part our experience was excellent, with only some very high bandwidth MPEG-2 files occasionally showing some artifacts.
The BD390 is also capable of streaming media from networked connected PCs, even though we found we couldn’t stream MKV files off the network. Otherwise, we had no problem streaming DivX and MPEG video files using only the wireless connection. Our network connection wasn’t 100 percent reliable–sometimes it took a while for our media servers to be recognized–but it worked well once we were connected. LG provides a Nero server software for Windows, but the free TVersity program worked well for us, and we suspect any UPnP-compatible software would do the job. (The included software doesn’t support Macs, but the BD390 should work with any UPnP or DLNA-compliant software on the network.) It’s worth pointing out that the experience was significantly superior than the streaming functionality on the Samsung BD-P3600, but you’re superior off using the USB port if you want superior reliability.
