Gadget Show Ch5 BDR players !
£50, £150, £800 players compared. All identical PQ. Yea, I know. Very basic test. What about sound etc. But. Does this represent a realistic 'domestic' test/environment? Mmmm?
The test is of the usual GS standard. Representative of how not to run a test
Just seen a cheap Toshiba, Panasonic and Cambridge Audio. I ain't a fan of any of them. I did demo the Cambridge Audio one recently and it was definitely different to my Pioneer. Even my 9 year old niece could tell that! 
I was in the Big Question last year comparing cheap and expensive blu-ray players - big differences on a big screen and in audio quality.
Gadget show - 
I think they only used 32" screens too.
From a purely technical point of view any bluray player that sends an untouched 1080p 24 signal down through hdmi will be identical to the next. With a few exceptions (the sony 490 comes to mind) this is true of all bluray players irrespective of cost. I will concede that there may be differences in audio quality on high end machines if using analogue outs though.
Sorry. All players except sony .... ugh? Please explain/justify
I didnt say all sony players. I only mentioned the 490 as this has picuture mode which interfere with the gamma on the 1080p signal as opposed to the the 790 which has a direct mode whiich passes the signal thorugh unmolested. I have nothing against sony as a brand. I have one myself. Hope that explains it.
I must admit that I didn't notice any improvement when upgrading from my cheapy Panasonic to my Marantz blu-ray with HD pictures. I did notice a vast improvement in DVD playback though.
Pah, next the GS will be opining that all HDMI cables are the same 
Hang on, they already have - and they were correct. Who'da thunk it 
Gadget Show take the view that they're ordinary people testing products in ordinary environments, not specialists like WHF reviewers, testing products with state-of-the-art anciliaries in a purpose-built listening/AV room. That's why they would no doubt argue that their results are more representative of the results Joe Public would get for himself. That said, I don't know how many people blowing £800+ on a BD player will be watching it on a 32" screen and listening through a budget 5.1 set-up in the middle of a TV studio. (I haven't seen this test BTW, but have seen other similar ones in the past on GS, and that's often how they've been carried out).
Not seen it Major? I recon yr summary is about right but I also guess we 'JoePublics' can make up our minds when considering those issues. Cheers
No not yet Robin, and yes absolutely. 
That made me smile. 
£50, £150, £800 players compared. All identical PQ. Yea, I know. Very basic test. What about sound etc. But. Does this represent a realistic 'domestic' test/environment? Mmmm?
What were the Blu-ray players? And what was the screen?
Panasonic 50GT50, Pioneer Bdp-lx71, Pioneer Vsx-lx70, B&W FPM Series & B&W PV1.