NEWS: Pioneer's BDP-LX70 Blu-ray player - coming to a dealer near you soon

Arguments may still be raging over whether Blu-ray or HD DVD is winning the hi-def format war, but Pioneer is firmly in the Blu-ray camp. And to prove the point, it has just released details of its forthcoming Blu-ray player, the £1000 BDP-LX70.

It's a smart-looking device, sporting Pioneer's traditional gloss-black finish, and will handle 1080p video signals at 24 frames-per-second. On the audio side, it can convert Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks to linear PCM when connected via HDMI, and the same with Dolby TrueHD, but can't output DTS HD.

However, it will handle JPEG photo files, MP3 and WMA music and WMV video. Connections include HDMI (1.2a), Ethernet for hooking up to a home network, component and composite video and the usual digital and analogue audio outputs.

The BDP-LX70 is due in dealers' showrooms later this month. And the really good news is that we'll be getting our review sample this week. So look out for the full First Test in the September issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, on sale July 26.

Technorati Tags: 1080p, Blu-ray, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD, DTS HD, HDMI, home cinema

Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.